Can we stop the myth about Wirrpunda yet

[Danny Chook Fan Club]

Five more goals on him, this time by Matthew Rogers.

Someone tell the kid that the idea of playing in defence is that you're somewhere near your opponent when the footy comes down.

Whoever has him as the best back pocket in the league needs their head read. Very talented, but hopelessly unaccountable.

 

[Guest]

Hahaha....yep....another "great" call by that "supercoach" Robert Walls. He named Wirrapunda the best backpocket going around in the AFL.

This further highlights the fact that Walls doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. He'd be at home in the UK, as he has a severe case of foot-and-mouth!!

 

[Visro]

Wirrpunda is 174cm...how tall was his opponent

!!! No wonder he kicked 5 goals on him! You obviously didn't see his freakish mark in the last quarter. Wirrpunda plays his best footy as a spare man in defence. He is technically not a proper defender, just a crumber in the backline.

Vis

PS I cant believe you start bagging him after 1 game...so far he has been playing good footy.

[This message has been edited by Visro (edited 28 April 2001).]

 

[Frodo]

I think the comment is fair, Vis.
He rebounds well and has fantastic skills but he is a ball watcher. So many times he is caught out with his man in space fifteen meters away.
On the ball, wing, half forward or pocket for Wirra but not defence

 

[Visro]

well it depends on which comments you are referring to. His title makes it sound as if Wirra is overated. DCFC is right though when about wirra in defence. He shouldn't be played in defence as he aint tall enough but KJ doesn't have many options at the moment with our injuries so it will have to do.

 

[walshy1993]

visro i can understand what your saying, and your spot on, but i still think its bad coaching by judge

wirrpunda plays his best footy as an attacking defender

why not have him on a wing or start off forward and have him zone back
dont give him an opponent

i didnt see the game but from what ive heard, micky prior spent a bit of time on the bench

in the last quarter why wasnt he on rodgers when wirrpunda could have been free and set up the play, u do have to kick goals to win

 

[choppy]

Looks to be carrying to much fat

 

[WCE2000]

Originally posted by Danny Chook Fan Club:
Five more goals on him, this time by Matthew Rogers.

Who else has kicked 5 goals on him - first time i can remember its happened.

And did you know that Steve Silvagni - the "fullback of the century" = had 5 goals kicked on him on several occasions.

God, 1 bad game and you guys jump on him.

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[This message has been edited by WCE2000 (edited 28 April 2001).]

 

[Hatters]

Wirrpunda is a quality player....he has terrific skills and rarely misuses the ball....he had a horrible injury last year just when he was in incredible form...and now he is just starting to hit his strides again.......
I agree he tends to give his man too much room on ocasions......and last night he got caught out by trying to direct the footy elsewhere......on times he tried to counter richmonds drive and create his own ..but the footy came back too quickly (poor eagles play) and he got caught out....however it wasn't all his fault...most of the team played pathetic.......
One thing i hate about the eagles play this season is that a number of the players run with their men when the ball is right next to them.......they tend to spend too much time looking for thier own men when they should attack the footy and try to use the footy for themselves....peter matera does not just stick to his man he leaves his man if he knows an opposition near him has the ball and is going to hurt them by using it.........too many eagles don't do the same......I agree he could have been moved to the midfield last night ...but don't bag wirrpunda after only watching one game.........
I'd pick wirrpunda in my team straight away.......you name a few back pockets you'd rather have....
and if he doesn't get injured this season...hes gonna hurt a lot of the clubs you guys barrack for....

 

[Carey_is_King]

If anyone at the Eagles is listening to this crap, let me know when you want to release Wirrpunda. I would gladly pay his airfare to Melbourne. Some people wouldn't know a good player when they see one.

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Trample the Weak,
Hurdle the Dead.

 

[Eagle_Fan]

Originally posted by walshy1993:
but i still think its bad coaching by judge

Bad coaching by good 'ol KJ? How could that possibly be?

 

[Blues_Brat]

Originally posted by Eagle_Fan:
Bad coaching by good 'ol KJ? How could that possibly be?

there is no doubt that Ken Judge is "the Mole"

 

[jod23]

Dont worry CIK none of us are listening. We know he is probably the best back pocket going around and we know he can sometimes get caught out by attacking the footy instead of playing on his man but to be honest i like him attacking the footy. He usually wins it 9 times out of 10 and always uses it well. Might be an idea though to use him as a spare man in defence ... just think Wirrpunda roaming free with no worries but the football. He would run riot in back lines across the country.

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Use the force Luke ....

 

[Danny Chook Fan Club]

Sorry, but you're all missing the point. Who is disputing Wirrpunda's skills and talent?

Originally posted by Danny Chook Fan Club:
Very talented, but hopelessly unaccountable.

The key phrase is "hopelessly unaccountable".

It's all very well to say "Oh, we'll play him loose in defence", but opposition coaches won't allow it. They'll do to him what they're doing to Byron Pickett: isolate him one-out on a player with mismatched skills.

Like Matthew Rogers. Yes, he is much taller, so move Wirrpunda off him Kenny! I forgot, Captain Matchup doesn't like making moves. It's no excuse to say he was playing on an opponent who was too big/strong/fast/smelly for him, that happens everywhere on the ground, and it's up to the coach to ensure that the situation is rectified.

For mine, the reason he is in the back pocket is that he doesn't have the match fitness to run out games in the middle. Until that match fitness comes along, he'll continue to be exposed as the loose checking player he is.

As for being the best back pocket in the league, maybe I'm a little old fashioned, but surely the primary goal of playing in the last line of defence is to stop the opposition in general, and your direct opponent in particular, from kicking goals. If you can provide run and set up play when your teams got the ball then that's a bonus, but when the other team's got the ball then get back on your bloke and play on him. It's your job after all.

The best back pockets in the league are the ones that opposition supporters would either (a) not know much about, or (b) scoff at. I'm talking about blokes like Peter Walsh at Melbourne, Mark Chaffey at Richmond, Ben Mathews in Sydney and Luke McCabe at Hawthorn. These players do the stopping job first, and then worry about providing drive from defence. The better known ones would be Damien Hardwicke, Ben Hart and Jason Akermanis.

 

[phreeze77]

How quickly you forget bad games...remember farmer cut him up last yeah at colonial...farmer was kicking goasl out of his ass....oh that doesnt count now does is!!!!!

 

[Visro]

Oh, one bad game for the year...oh gee!!

Everyone has one bad game a year. Personally I dont remember the game against Melbourne but I will take your word on it. Was Farmer even lined up on Wirrpunda?

Vis

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

there,s no doubting his skills and speed my opinion altho id say it has to do with his lack of fitness is that he is been totally wasted in the full back line even if he,s unfit play him where he would do most of the damage at the moment and thats in the fwd line and when he gets back to full fitness onto the ball.judge,s coaching has to come under question on why leave him on rogers for so long when it was obvious the tigers were bombing the ball to rogers so he can take full use of his hieght and weight advantage i thought someone like prior would have been more of a ideal match up.
my advice to judge would be play him in a more attacking role.
cheers!

 

[GoEagles]

Brilliant player, if he was free to take I'm sure the other 15 clubs would want to talk to him. However he needs to be more accountable for his man. Andrew Kellaway was a fantastic example of sticking to his man during the game.

 

[WCE2000]

For David Wirrpunda's skills to be full shown, he should be played as loose backman in defense.

That way he doesn't have to worry about a man, and he should be given instructions to go down the field and attack wherever possible.

Wirrpunda runs with the ball so much better than any other eagle (in fact, he, Cousins and Banfield are the only ealges players who run with the ball). Coming out of defense he absolutely awesome.

But, because we don't have such a skillful team at the moment we turn the ball over a lot, and Wirrpunda is caught out.

If he's loose, he won't get caught out, because he doesn't have a man to mark up on.

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[jod23]

WCE supporters, i wouldnt worry about some of the comments in this thread. Its just a little jealousy.

Go WIRRPUNDA!

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Use the force Luke ....

 

[CJH]

Originally posted by jod23:
WCE supporters, i wouldnt worry about some of the comments in this thread. Its just a little jealousy.

Go WIRRPUNDA!

Yep, I am so jealous of Wirrpunda's skill. If he were any less of a player, Rogers would have kicked 10!



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[raoulski]

Originally posted by topdon:
Hahaha....yep....another "great" call by that "supercoach" Robert Walls. He named Wirrapunda the best backpocket going around in the AFL.

This further highlights the fact that Walls doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. He'd be at home in the UK, as he has a severe case of foot-and-mouth!!

In defence of Robert, and more importantly, the super gifted Healsville boy, did you listen to Wallsy's superconsistent wrap for Matty Roger's during the call, topdon?

The two provided a top contest which Rogers eventually got on top of - and yes Wirr is not being used flatteringly by Judge.

So blame the sh it coach and and check out the talent that isn't on the Ess endon list.