Bock books his place in defence

[The Crows Truth]

Bock books his place in defence
By MICHELANGELO RUCCI
23may05

NATHAN Bock, it would seem, has found his place. Half-back. If Adelaide could be certain of its attack, 22-year-old Bock would be assured a place in the Crows' defence.

Bock's two stellar performances against St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt in the past year would seem to settle the debate. The first time - in Launceston in round 17 last year - Bock had no notice.
Team-mate Ken McGregor suffered a hamstring strain in the first term leaving Bock to deal, quite admirably, with Riewoldt without warning.

While McGregor's move from defence to full forward was flagged early last week, Bock yesterday revealed he did not get the Riewoldt file until the day before standing the Saints matchwinner. "There was not a helluva lot of warning - and sometimes that is better," said Bock. "It's good to know early, but you don't want to be thinking too much about it."

Bock held a seemingly under-prepared Riewoldt to six marks and two goals at the Telstra Dome on Friday night with much learned from the first encounter in Launceston.

"Anticipate," said Bock of the task of standing Riewoldt. "They (St Kilda) use him a fair bit as their way to goal, so you learn you have to be on your game and fully aware of what is happening around you 100 per cent of the time.

"Be prepared for his quick breaks, be with him for the first couple of metres and be aware of where he leads. It also helps when there are a few of the boys blocking the holes he can lead into." Bock's self-described challenge in becoming a regular for Adelaide is to find consistency. After being wasted at half-forward, it seems Bock's chances are significantly enhanced at half-back.

"I think so; I definitely play my best footy down back, particularly off the half-back line," said Bock, who was elevated from Adelaide's rookie list in 2002 with the tag of being equal to a top-10 draft pick. "If I can string together a few decent games, I'm sure that will be recognised.

"I certainly enjoy it there (at half-back). It's a good position to play with Ben Hart, Nathan Bassett and Jason Torney running from half-back. It is good to watch them - and inspiring to play around them."

 

[Gets!]

Sounds like he has a great head on his shoulders.

 

[- PC -]

Sounds like he has a great head on his shoulders.

Who? Rucci? Nah

I get a bit annoyed when journos put these fluff pieces up too early in a players career. He had 1 good game and now hes a star? He is a good ordinary player who needs self belief.Let him develop it on his own .

 

[mymansyd]

The article should have read "Bock books his place in defence for another couple of weeks".

One good game does not make you a permanent member of any side, anywhere. And Bock's gotta' long way to go before he can convince 'us' that he's a regular contributing member of our team. Still, his effort was a nice surprise on Friday night...let's hope he can keep it up. If yes, then Kenny may end up booting 30-odd goals IMHO.

Once again, another beef-up from the Cockrooch.

 

[crowsarethebest]

IMO so many guys have stepped up a gear this year .. they were in danger of being delisted an they have stepped up. The list is.. Mattner, Bock, Skippy, Shirley and the list goes on..

 

[Bockchoy67]

The article should have read "Bock books his place in defence for another couple of weeks".

One good game does not make you a permanent member of any side, anywhere. And Bock's gotta' long way to go before he can convince 'us' that he's a regular contributing member of our team. Still, his effort was a nice surprise on Friday night...let's hope he can keep it up. If yes, then Kenny may end up booting 30-odd goals IMHO.

Once again, another beef-up from the Cockrooch.

Exactly. What if Bock plays like a hack for the next two weeks and gets dropped?

He's got some tools needed to make it at AFL level. He's got a nice kick on him, but drops way too many marks, lacks confidence and isn't great on the ground. Has reasonable mobility for his height but is un-coordinated and doesn't have many tricks.

Nevertheless, the next few weeks will be VERY interesting to see whether Bock has what it takes, or whether he's useless and is holding back guys like Fergus.

 

[jo172]

Typical bandwagoning ********er Rucci!!

Watch him sink the teeth in next time Bock underperforms!

 

[dA Crow]

Typical bandwagoning ********er Rucci!!

Watch him sink the teeth in next time Bock underperforms!

Hopefully Bock will stand up and be counted a little more now; maybe a solid game like the one last week was just the tonic he needs to begin taking the next step; or maybe it was a flash in the pan. Craig has offered him the chance, lets see if he REALLY wants to take it.

 

[baaaallllll]

The article should have read "Bock books his place in defence for another couple of weeks".

One good game does not make you a permanent member of any side, anywhere. And Bock's gotta' long way to go before he can convince 'us' that he's a regular contributing member of our team. Still, his effort was a nice surprise on Friday night...let's hope he can keep it up. If yes, then Kenny may end up booting 30-odd goals IMHO.

Once again, another beef-up from the Cockrooch.

Good post.

However he could not do more than he did last Friday night. He should keep the video of that game and replay it before each match for some confidence.

The jury is still out but the defence made a good opening.

 

[jmorg1]

Typical bandwagoning ********er Rucci!!

Watch him sink the teeth in next time Bock underperforms!

Yeah he'll probably say, the AFC can only most talk, talk, talk about most Bock's ability but most telling is most Bock's most revealing most inability to most play in most AFL standard.