Chris Tarrant

[socrates]

I love tazza, one of my absolute favourites. Do u boys and girls think that taz can or will ever re-capture his all australian form of 2003?
Was watching games from 03 and he looks like a completely different player.

I sure hope he can produce what i know he is capable of for us in the future.

 

[Hard Yakka]

Absolutely he can regain that form BUT only when he is back to playing a role that he is suited to. HFF pushing up the wing.

 

[Jabso]

Yakka I agree to an extent.
In 2003, there was no question that Tarrant was our full forward. Sure he lead far away up the ground. He played as hybrid of a full forward and CHF due to his ability to cover ground quickly and directly. The key in all of this is Rocca. Rocca was able to work with a player like Tarrant, filling the space at fullforward to create an option when Tarrant leads.
2004/2005 we had unstable sides and more recently injury niggles to Taz. So 1. he wasn't able to cover enough ground to play his best role and 2. with Rocca and Taz in and out along with other players, there was no stability in the forward line, the forward line, which would change every week, didn't know how to work with Taz and vice versa. There was no chemistry between the forwards, which worked so well for us in 2002/2003.

Tarrant's ideal role is HFF because he can slot in there without having to worry about Rocca or anyone else working with him.

 

[magpies42]

Tarrant can do whatever he likes, he oozes talent and the physical attributes and if he gets his head right he will be more dominant then before

 

[Mossi]

Tarrant and Rocca is a combination I can't wait to see espescially as all reports on their fitness (touch wood) are good. Last year in the early games before Rocca was out in round 4 they were not fully fit taz with his knee nad Pebs with the start of his ruptured tendon, 2004 a likewize year with both carrying problems. We have to go back to 2003 to see them at their best toghethor. Bucks Burns and Lica provided them with good delivery. With Bucks going to play a lesser part in the middle i'ts going to be interesting who is going to fill that role? Thomas has got great skills and awareness but is still a kid , Davis can produce some great passes and hopefully has a full season, Davies is one hope, O'bree often does (getting the hard ball usually puts you in difficult situations). Dutchy and Johnno are good and honest, Racer was kicking the ball to perfection before he wrecked his knee. Let's hope our coaches get them all firing as this has been our weakness but potential stength in the last couple of years.

 

[Lockyer24]

His pre-season this year has actually reminded me of his 2003 pre-season form.

Expecting a good year, wont have as much midfield supply as 03 but should go close to leading the goalkicking again with a much bigger figure than last year and also should be high up in the marks again with Trav and Ant's support deep in the forward line

 

[Nesian]

Look I think Tarrant should have a huge year, provided that Rocca is there and we have forward line stability (not chopping and changing like jabso said). And yes considering that both have been as fit as ever compared too 2004 2005 should also be the significant factor on keeping them on the park!! I think the delivery to them will be alright, I think Daisy's delivery will just get better, in the Freo Game he gave perfect kicks to tarrant like 3 or 4 times. People question our delivery into the forward line but its not as bad as its made out to be, esp if they say 2004-2005 where we had limited targets for starters anyway. and with johno, didak, davis etc rotating through the midfield that will help also. Tarrant should do very well this year

 

[Coin_Toss]

I think Tarrant hasn't played his best football as of yet.

2003 was a very good season on his and the teams behalf, hence the fact why he is so important to our chances at a flag. Not only did he kick 54 goals, he was rewarded with AA status. But I believe he hasn't reached his full capacity yet. For instance, Tarrant was 23 years of age in 2003. Now he is three years older, and more mature on and off the field.

People say players hit their prime when they turn 27 years of age. Tarrant will be 26 this year, so if everything goes to plan, his best football is around the corner.

How many goals can he kick in a season playing from HFF? If he stays injury free, I would think Taz is capable of kicking 60+ goals.

Can he improve his game? Probably not, but he can lift his game another notch or two.

Like people have stated above me, it's all up to the man. The next year or two will determine whether he can take his game up another notch and find "true" consistency. But he can't leave his run too late.

 

[ruperto]

taz has been so injured in the last few years that its no wonder that he has had little impact. opposition supporters and even pie supporters seem to forget this. When taz was living in clifton hill my mate would see him every week (for the last 3 years or so) at the local coffee shop and taz could barely walk properly even on a thursday. People give him a lot of crap about heart and determination - but it's a credit to the guy that he has even been on the park most weeks. here's to a season where the pressure is off him and the injury niggles are gone. we haven't seen the best of taz for the pies.

 

[Lonie_from_50]

Tarrant was lacking attitude towards football at the lowest points during 2004 and 2005 and there we see a trend on the performance of himself and the team. He still managed to be our leading goalkicker in those seasons however. He was also having minor injuries that held him back, and influenced on his attitude I am sure. He then comes out and says he wants to play for Collingwood, and that was great to hear the loyalty of Taz.

This pre-season, yes, only a pre-season, but he showed what he was going to do. Play every match on his values and also, have the attitude. He wants to play football this year by seeing his ways of going about the game.

I was watching the 2003 Season Highlights on DVD only 2 nights back and Tarrant was superb when he got near it. From memory though he was playing Full Forward, and leading up towards that HFF area. He also got the ball on the wing, but I don't think he was as much up there as a Tredrea of 2005. Tredders however managed to kick 60 plus goals, if only Tazza can play a Tredrea role, considering he has more of an asset to play that role, (speed), he is able to have a strong influence when he has got Rocca and Fraser to fill in inside 50. Also, Tarrant can return with 50 goals in the season, which will be great, because Pebbles can also chip in with 50 quite easily.

Barry Hall (80) and Michael O'Loughlin (50) were in a premiership side, and in brackets is how many goals they kicked. Davis and O'Keefe each kicked 30 aswell. We will see Finals if we have Tarrant (50), Rocca (50), Fraser (30), Didak (30). So as a team up forward, that should be our aim, with Tarrant the focus man, as Rocca will play more permanent forward than ever before.

 

[MarkT]

I wish he could kick like a player paid as much as he is should be able to. Apart from that he’s a gun with an unstable mind who lacks consistency. The upside of all that is he gives us the x factor you need to win a premiership. The problem is he doesn’t display it in man big games. His kicking for goal in the 2002 GF was ordinary at best and his 2003 GF was very disappointing (not alone there), particularly for an AA quality player. Until he makes up for the 2 GF efforts he owes us big time.

The fact he doesn’t generally perform without Rocca taking attention downgrades his quality significantly compared to the gun forwards. Like many at Collingwood on and off the field there are questions to be answered in 2006 and things could go very well or very poorly but unlikely in between.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

It may take a while before we see the best of Rocca and Tarrant playing together, as the one game they've played together, they both played badly.

Granted, if they kicked well, they could have had 6 between them, but that aside, their best footy in the pre-season has been apart.

Taz was highly encouraging in the Freo game, while against the Kangaroos, Anthony rocked their socks off. I just hope they can quickly gel to their new positions and get back to the complimentary style of play that makes them so dangerous.

 

[ant22]

taz has been so injured in the last few years that its no wonder that he has had little impact. opposition supporters and even pie supporters seem to forget this. When taz was living in clifton hill my mate would see him every week (for the last 3 years or so) at the local coffee shop and taz could barely walk properly even on a thursday. People give him a lot of crap about heart and determination - but it's a credit to the guy that he has even been on the park most weeks. here's to a season where the pressure is off him and the injury niggles are gone. we haven't seen the best of taz for the pies.

Sorry ruperto I reckon you may have the blinkers on a little. If your on the park you have no excuses . Bucks came back underdone with no preseaon missed the first 10 games and played 1 vfl at half pace. His first game back was against the side that won the flag on their turf and got 28 ps in 2 and half quaters. This is the difference between champs and good ordinary players. Look at Kosi. He is always underdone but when he is playing for the saints he has a very good impact regardless of his condition. Taz has a stack of talent but we have only seen it in 1 season. Can anyone on this board honestly tell me that Taz has had more than 1 very good season. On his day he can be unstopable but if we are all being completely honest we have to admit with all his talent he has been very dissapointing(injuries or no injuries) . The other thing about Taz is that he needs his teammates to be playing well for him to have an impact. Hence the AA in 2003. I don't think he is lazy, infact I reckon he is one of the hardest working forwards in the comp but I still question his hunger. With his body language its hard not to.

I hope like hell he does recapture his 2003 form , for us to alright this year he will need to be .