Chris Knights

[J_Moore]

Curious to see what Crows fans think of his current position? Do you reeckon sticking him in the forward line is getting the most out of him?

Obviously, you're going to be pretty happy with the games where he kicked a few big bags of big goals, but I think he's been a touch less influential than he could be since then.

I remember last year when the kid was an absolute ball magnet. Sure, his disposal was often frustrating, but, judging from his efforts in the forward line this year, that's something he's done a great deal of work on. I just feel that you might be missing out by playing a guy that was comfortably racking up 25+ disposals a game (a lot of them from around packs) away from the ball.

I reckon he might've been especially valuable today, considering you seemed to struggle to find possessions around the stoppages, and had trouble getting the ball forward.

So, yeah, are there any fans that would like to see him back in the middle?

 

[seababoon]

personally i always saw him as a goal kicking midfielder in the simon goodwin mould.. i think in the long term he will move back into midfield anyways, and have stints at half forward

 

[Drummond]

Curious to see what Crows fans think of his current position? Do you reeckon sticking him in the forward line is getting the most out of him?

So, yeah, are there any fans that would like to see him back in the middle?

Very interesting post, thanks for asking.

To be honest I tend to agree, I’d like to see him pushed back into the midfield more often rather than stay up forward for the whole game. As seababoon said, I think he’s a goalkicking midfield who can move forward when the time calls for it but I’d like to see him predominantly stay in the midfield. Look at his form in 2007, as well as patches in 2008, he was a ball-winning machine, regularly racking up 25+ disposals.

He’s a very effective forward who can kick bags and consistently kick 2 goals a game but is that worth robbing the side of a midfielder who clearly possesses the ability to win a stack of the ball? I think there’s a place for him as a forward but I think when Burton finds form and fitness we’ll eventually see Knighta used more as a midfielder. We need his ball winning skills, ability to win the clearances and his ferocious tackling to have the best midfield possible. No doubt he’s added another dimension to our forward line but I think the balance needs to be shifted back to predominantly midfielder, part time forward instead of the other way around.

 

[moogerfooger]

seems like he's had to deal with a pretty tight tag ever since those handful of 5 goal hauls - and he hasn't been able to handle that too well.

I tend to agree he's more dangerous as a winger/midfield type, especially with the depth of his kicking.

 

[Coopers]

seems like he's had to deal with a pretty tight tag ever since those handful of 5 goal hauls - and he hasn't been able to handle that too well.

I tend to agree he's more dangerous as a winger/midfield type, especially with the depth of his kicking.

I think that's probably the most frustrating thing with Knighta now that he's corrected his disposal issues.

It's the next challenge for him. He was pretty much completely held out of the game after the 1st quarter.

 

[hippyhippy]

seems like he's had to deal with a pretty tight tag ever since those handful of 5 goal hauls - and he hasn't been able to handle that too well.

I tend to agree he's more dangerous as a winger/midfield type, especially with the depth of his kicking.

hes been getting alot more attention lately ... he needs to learn how to get by with the extra attention which i think he is struggling with now.

 

[spexau]

It will be good for his development to deal with this pressure. I hope he plays more midfield next week, with some of our injuries we need bigger bodies around the ball. We might be able to get away with it against Port though.

 

[WALL-e]

Wouldn't mind him splitting his game time more, maybe 60% mid 40% forward. His booming kick can get over zones, we need some of that, plus when he's resting forward he's less liekely to get a proper defensive tag.

 

[jackster83]

Put him back on the ball this week. We need another solid body in there to help Bernie and Thommo. He doesn't mind a bit of aggro which could be handy in the midfield this week. Knighta kicks most of his goals from inside the centre square anyway...

 

[seababoon]

he's good in close.. which is where we found ourselves in trouble yesterday.. he gives good little handpasses in traffic at the stoppages also.. and he's always looking to go forward, instead of backwards

 

[tiggsy]

From what I heard one of the Adelaide coaching staff say, Knights has always had great disposal, it has been more of a problem with his decision making. He struggles when he sees a lot of movement ahead of him in deciding what would be the best thing to do. That was one of the main reasons he was moved into the forward line, as the decision is generally pretty easy - put it between the 2 big sticks. So I'm not really sure if it's his disposal that has improved or it's just that the coaching staff have found a better niche for him. If he still is struggling to make the right decision when faced with a lot of options, then he would probably be better kept relatively close to goal.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I think that's probably the most frustrating thing with Knighta now that he's corrected his disposal issues.

Has he?

I reckon Knights' kicking is like Mitchell Johnson's bowling. Capable of some exceptional kicks at times but equally capable of a complete shank.

From what I heard one of the Adelaide coaching staff say, Knights has always had great disposal, it has been more of a problem with his decision making. He struggles when he sees a lot of movement ahead of him in deciding what would be the best thing to do. That was one of the main reasons he was moved into the forward line, as the decision is generally pretty easy - put it between the 2 big sticks. So I'm not really sure if it's his disposal that has improved or it's just that the coaching staff have found a better niche for him. If he still is struggling to make the right decision when faced with a lot of options, then he would probably be better kept relatively close to goal.

Interetsing post. Removing the decision-making from his disposal has perhaps side-stepped what was becoming a stumbling block for him.

The other benefit I see from him playing near the goals is it doesn't matter whether your shot at goal makes it over the line by 2m, 10m or 30m. The depth of the kick is irrelevant, only the accuracy matters. Which isn't the case at all in field kicking. Knights seems to be a kicker that is ok when thumping the ball at maximum power, but not quite so good when some precision, touch or finesse is required.

A bloke is paired up with a gorilla on a golf day. They tee off on the first hole, a 400m par 4. The bloke hits his ball 220m down the middle and then watches in wonder as the gorilla steps up over his ball and - BANG -smokes his drive 400m and onto the green. "Jesus Christ," he thinks. "This gorilla is going to take the golf world by storm." So they end up on the green. The bloke scrambles his par and then watches as the gorilla lines up for his eagle - BANG - and the gorilla smashes the ball 400m.

 

[seababoon]

moral of the story..?.. monkeys cant play golf

 

[tinman]

moral of the story..?.. monkeys cant play golf

Quentin Lynch makes a better footballer than a golfer?

I dunno......it was lost on me too.

But a gorilla isn't a monkey. A baboon should know that

 

[seababoon]

yeh i thought so.. wasnt 100%.. it just sounded funnier saying monkey instead of gorilla though.. so i went with the monkey option.. now that i think about it, ape would have been sufficient