Daniel Cross - No Passengers Player Critique

[theone5]

DANIEL CROSS
Not much can be said about Crossy that all of you here do not already know.
A hard running, handballing machine who always puts his body on the line for his beloved club.

His biggest attribute is by far his fitness.
The fittest player down at The Kennel and one of the fittest players in the entire competition.
I have heard from a few sources who attend the training sessions of the Western Bulldogs that D.Cross does as much work as he can on the training track, especially running.
He will join other groups once his program is complete and he will always be one of the last players to leave the track.

This is great commitment and motivation from the lad and good signs from a future captain.

D.Cross averages:

2005: 94.6
2006: 100.4
2007: 92.6 (injuries scaled this down)
THIS YEAR: 103.4


He has only scored under 73 points 5 times in his past 66 games and 2 of these games were from an injury and from a first game back from the injury.
That is a ridiculous stat and makes him a very popular captain choice.

He is at the peak of his career and his scores are showing this.

It is quite evident to us that he will be in the Top 7 midfielders this year, well at least it is for me.
For this reason, he was an immediate "lock" for me pre-season due to his undervalued price.

It is very surprising to see that only 12,115 coaches have selected him.
Mind you, this number was A LOT lower before the season stared.

You should have had him from the start but he has raised $18,700 in value so far this year so he is not so juicy to the naked eye anymore.
Still undervalued but in my opinion, he will never drop below his starting value, barring injury.

 

[54Dogs]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

Cross was in a surprisingly low number of teams IMO for what was arguably one of the 4-5 best value picks this season.

Initially only in 7% of teams, Cross was effectively underpriced by around 10 ppw due to a knee injury in the middle of last season which impacted on his scoring in the later rounds when he returned. Prior to the injury Cross was averaging over 100 ppw and heading for a similar season to 2006 when he averaged over 100.

Cross has often been described down at the Bulldogs as the next Scotty West because of his awareness of what is around him, quick hands and ability to win the contested ball. His DT scoring is sometimes impacted by the level of hanballs he has however he makes up for this with very high total possies, good tackle and mark numbers.

As one5 mentioned by far his greatest attribute is his aerobic capacity and ability to run all day. In 3 matches this season Cross has scored over 40 points in the last quarter including 53 against Melbourne. Against Richmond at 3 qrtr time he had 48 and finished with 90.

I have done very little further research on Cross as he was in my team at the start and (barring injury) will be there at the end. I would, however think that he will average around 100 - 105 (currently 103) so to bring into your team as a value pick would need to be priced in the mid 350s. Hard for him to get down there without an injury because of his level of consistency.

 

[nighthawk]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

Was always a lock for me too, his obvious flaw is his k/hb ratio (1 kick : 1.51 hb this year, which is almost double most premiums who are more like 1:0.8). But as you've said his work ethic is his selling point.

Not sure about being top 7, although he should be around the fringes of that, but am happy to be proven wrong.

I would say the boat has sailed on him, and when players like Kornes, Swan and Scotland are so undervalued, you'd have to pick one of them over him purely on value for money. Those who have him should be glad, those who don't should probably look elsewhere atm.

 

[FandangoDingo]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

I've had Cross from the start. Love this guy and was my 2nd lock, behind Chad. Severely underrated, and obviously undervalued this year. He was my only starting mid above $255k this year. Obviously, would love him to kick more, but I love the way he goes about his football (They're the best players to have!). He's starting to kick a few goals too, which would really solidify him as an elite Dt'er. As others have said, very, very fit and even if he's been quiet, will rack 'em up late. Count on it! Big ticker. Super reliable. You're probably not going to draft him in now, but I'm rapt he's a Mulligan, and (touch wood), barring LTI, will be for the rest of 2008!

 

[frantelle]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

i havent watched many bulldogs games yet, but in theory handballing first isnt overly bad
it creates the open for the 1-2
and a bad handball could lead to a tackle, whether cross has been doing this or not im not sure

at his price (at the start of the year) i thought he would be top 3 players selected
cant figure out why he wasnt?
absolute gun and nothing short of it

IMO on the cusp of the dreamteam gods in k/c cornes bartel

 

[Jolldo87]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

A fit Daniel Cross at 400,000 was a must have for all teams. He has proven his ability to scores big scores over a number of years. If he remains fit all year i could definitely see him averaging over 105 which would easily put him in the top 6 midfielders. If you don't already have him the sooner you jump on board the better as his price will only rise.

 

[Beau_Waters for PM]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

One of the great things about Cross is his tackle count.

In 2004 he averaged 4.3 tackles per game, and in 05 he had 108 tackles for the season at an average of 4.5/game.
So far in 08 he has 30 tackles @ 5 per game.

Interestingly, his best DT games have not coincided with his high tackle-count games.

In Round 2 he scored 139 but only had 3 tackles.
Last round (6) he scored 131 and had the 4 tackles.

The high-score indicator of Daniel Cross appears to be the number of marks he takes.

In round 2 he had 11 marks, and last round he had 12. This is what enables him to jump from a score of 90 to 130. Marks. And more marks generally means more kicks (at least a couple more).

Looking back at his 06/07 numbers, this trend continues. In the games where he scored 149, 120, 127, 138 he took 14,12,9 and 9 marks respectively.

 

[54Dogs]

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

One of the great things about Cross is his tackle count.

In 2004 he averaged 4.3 tackles per game, and in 05 he had 108 tackles for the season at an average of 4.5/game.
So far in 08 he has 30 tackles @ 5 per game.

Interestingly, his best DT games have not coincided with his high tackle-count games.

In Round 2 he scored 139 but only had 3 tackles.
Last round (6) he scored 131 and had the 4 tackles.

The high-score indicator of Daniel Cross appears to be the number of marks he takes.

In round 2 he had 11 marks, and last round he had 12. This is what enables him to jump from a score of 90 to 130. Marks. And more marks generally means more kicks (at least a couple more).

Looking back at his 06/07 numbers, this trend continues. In the games where he scored 149, 120, 127, 138 he took 14,12,9 and 9 marks respectively.

Nice point Beau and there's a very simple reason for this, his role in the team. With West out Cross plays the "in and under" role getting plenty of tackles but less space. With West in the team he plays the "behind the ball midfielder" supporting the defence and getting a lot of cheap marks at half back as a link player. West playing is extremely important to Cross's scores as was shown when West was recently out due to injury.