Opinion Dawson Simpson

[Scottland2007]

Hi. Article in Addy about big Dawson pushing for senior selection. Can anyone please comment on his Vfl form? Does it warrant senior selection?

 

[catempire]

Hi. Article in Addy about big Dawson pushing for senior selection. Can anyone please comment on his Vfl form? Does it warrant senior selection?

Watching him last week at Windy Hill, I was very surprised he wasn't picked against GWS. Simply must be played next game.

 

[Rodriguez Mendoza]

Watched Dawson this weekend, loved his work in the centre circle with tap outs to advantage but he still struggles to get around the ground. However I think the combination Of Dawson in the Middle and Blicavs around the ground could be very successful, West would have to go out IMO.

 

[footscore]

Watching him last week at Windy Hill, I was very surprised he wasn't picked against GWS. Simply must be played next game.

I've seen you post this a few times already but ask anyone who was at the game yesterday and they will say similar...Simpson's fitness base is still relatively poor to bring into the seniors.

He needs to run out full games in the magoo's before even getting mentioned for a call up.

Same thing happened with Vardy, only played 3 weeks? Comes into the senior team and struggled in his 2nd game because his fitness is not upto AFL standard.
Guys 6ft'6 - 6ft'9 and over 100kg's need even more time so hopefully we hold em back until they are literally breaking down the door.

 

[AM]

There's a piece on Dawson in the link.

Particularly liked the following para:

“I thought one of the reasons we won today is that we were on top of the clearances and dominated particularly in the first half and a lot of the credit has to go to Dawson and Andrew Banjanin.”

http://is.gd/zuAQsu

 

[Catsmaninamerica]

would be surprised to see him in. He needs a mountain of running. not there yet...

 

[catempire]

I've seen you post this a few times already but ask anyone who was at the game yesterday and they will say similar...Simpson's fitness base is still relatively poor to bring into the seniors.

He needs to run out full games in the magoo's before even getting mentioned for a call up.

Same thing happened with Vardy, only played 3 weeks? Comes into the senior team and struggled in his 2nd game because his fitness is not upto AFL standard.
Guys 6ft'6 - 6ft'9 and over 100kg's need even more time so hopefully we hold em back until they are literally breaking down the door.

I can only judge on what I see and he showed no signs of lacking fitness. Covered the ground effortlessly and got so contests very well. It's not like he's going to get more fitness playing VFL than AFL...

 

[footscore]

I can only judge on what I see and he showed no signs of lacking fitness. Covered the ground effortlessly and got so contests very well. It's not like he's going to get more fitness playing VFL than AFL...

ok fair enough.
Sounds like he is progressing much better than I thought.
Great signs!

I agree with the VFL/AFL fitness issue but the main difference is West/Blicavs are endurance freaks and it's their strongest attribute as athletes which is allowing them to get on top of their opponent later in the game.
AFL is so much faster than the VFL and Simpson would be getting worked up and down the field against quality rucks but if you guys reckon he looks fit enough then that's good enough for me

Maybe he's a real genuine chance of returning at the Gabba.

 

[Son_Of_God29]

Westy will need a rest i think before Finals and Blitz will come back in unless we need to rest Hawkins and play Vardy perm forward i cant see dawson getting in

 

[Scottland2007]

Watching him last week at Windy Hill, I was very surprised he wasn't picked against GWS. Simply must be played next game.

Cheers

 

[The Casey Cat]

Watching him last week at Windy Hill, I was very surprised he wasn't picked against GWS. Simply must be played next game.

Must? Not without West and one of Hawkins or Vardy coming out. Sick of us fielding stupidly big sides badly out of balance to the point even GWS can easily stream the ball out of our forward line. And by the sounds he is no where near fit enough plus Blicavs will be back.

 

[catempire]

Must? Not without West and one of Hawkins or Vardy coming out. Sick of us fielding stupidly big sides badly out of balance to the point even GWS can easily stream the ball out of our forward line. And by the sounds he is no where near fit enough plus Blicavs will be back.

Yes, must and yes someone - probably West - should have a break. Another tall would be a chance to miss too - perhaps Hawk or Lonergan who hasn't had a break this year IIRC.

Blicavs will be back but I suspect they will be happy to play him even with two other rucks playing, such is his mobility and versatility.

 

[Partridge]

Must? Not without West and one of Hawkins or Vardy coming out. Sick of us fielding stupidly big sides badly out of balance to the point even GWS can easily stream the ball out of our forward line. And by the sounds he is no where near fit enough plus Blicavs will be back.

Exactly. Especially when in three games now - North, Gold Coast and GWS - we've clearly struggled due to being too tall, and Scott has had to sub out a big guy for a small. Brown for Stokes against North, Brown for Christensen against Gold Coast, and Vardy for Duncan against GWS. It's almost as if they want to play these guys so much they're not paying enough attention to team structure.

The critical thing is they all get gametime. If that means Blicavs and Vardy play VFL while Simpson and West play AFL, so be it. If it means Simpson and Blicavs play seniors and Vardy and West play full games in the VFL so be it. The key thing is we don't play too many tall guys, because the game just demands that you can't (no matter what some like to think), and that everyone is maintaining match fitness.

 

[Turbocat]

Westy will need a rest i think before Finals and Blitz will come back in unless we need to rest Hawkins and play Vardy perm forward i cant see dawson getting in

We cant wait that long to give him a rest , we play Freo and Hawks soon , id say 2 weeks off may be ideal.

 

[CatFan79]

Hi. Article in Addy about big Dawson pushing for senior selection. Can anyone please comment on his Vfl form? Does it warrant senior selection?

West's inability to compete even with average ruckmen warrants his selection..

 

[AM]

How would you rate Dawson's marking catempire? Haven't seen much of him first hand this year but on previous occasions have generally thought that aspect of his game and his lack of mobility were limiting factors.

Agree, however, he needs some ones game time soon. Particularly with the continuing cloud over HMac.

 

[catempire]

How would you rate Dawson's marking catempire? Haven't seen much of him first hand this year but on previous occasions have generally thought that and his lack of mobility were limiting factors.

Agree, however, he needs some ones game time soon. Particularly with the continuing cloud over HMac.

Yeah, I would have been with you 100% until the Bombers game last week. It was actually his marking and mobility which impressed me most because on previous occasions I thought he wasn't good enough in these areas. He got to a lot of contests (not just stoppages) and either marked or made a good account of himself in the air.

 

[catswhiskers]

Exactly. Especially when in three games now - North, Gold Coast and GWS - we've clearly struggled due to being too tall, and Scott has had to sub out a big guy for a small. ........

We have struggled as well because we can't get first use at centre bounces and boundary throw ins. Thats part of the reason we see GWS etc get away early in the piece. We need to see if we can't change things by getting a big tap ruckman into the middle. Its time I reckon to find out.

The preferred GFC premiership mix is two rucks and two key forwards. At this point in time one of those rucks has to be Simpson or Hmac. So that means Simpson for mine for the next couple.

 

[Vdubs]

Not sure he and HMc will play together, but it would be nice to have one of them partnering Westy in the finals.

Yep, VFL you mean.
Blicavs will be #2 in seniors, with West, or HMC, or Simpson, depending on availability/fitness.
But I get the serious impression Blic has gone past Westy.

 

[AM]

Yep, VFL you mean.
Blicavs will be #2 in seniors, with West, or HMC, or Simpson, depending on availability/fitness.
But I get the serious impression Blic has gone past Westy.

We're speculating a long way out of course. However, judging by the comments by the coach, Blitz will be in the 22. Can't see him playing anywhere other than in a mobile ruck role (at this point in his career) so that leaves one ruck position. Which you would think would be HMac if they get him right with Vards operating in the forward half and perhaps giving a hand in the ruck.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

We're speculating a long way out of course. However, judging by the comments by the coach, Blitz will be in the 22. Can't see him playing anywhere other than in a mobile ruck role (at this point in his career) so that leaves one ruck position. Which you would think would be HMac if they get him right with Vards operating in the forward half and perhaps giving a hand in the ruck.

I'm not sure Vardy is a lock in the 22 just yet.
It may have been 2nd up Blues but he was nothing to get excited about against GWS and the reality is he hasn't played a lot of Footy in the 1's and will be like any other young KPF - inconsistent for a period.
Pods showed he's defenitely not ready for the pension - easy to forget how much of an animal and contested mark he is , not too shabby at putting it through the sticks either.
On topic it would be great to get games into DS and HMac so we can assess the best ruck combo for September.
I'm a huge Ballrooom fan as #2 ruck / utility but I rate West a better option going forward at this stage and rate him a very good #2 ruck ( average #1 ruck). Choice between them as #2 ruck will come down to what the MC values most from their attributes.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Simpson should be taken as serious threat to number 1 poistion....was very good when he regained fitness late in last years VFL season and worked well with O.

His marking has improved substantially and so to has his tanks. I have always thought his mobility is pretty good for a big guy, but if there is one criticism I have it is I would like to see a bit more mongrel in him....which I know he has.

Wouldn't surprise to see him get a solid month in the seniors.

 

[supahoops]

We have struggled as well because we can't get first use at centre bounces and boundary throw ins. Thats part of the reason we see GWS etc get away early in the piece. We need to see if we can't change things by getting a big tap ruckman into the middle. Its time I reckon to find out.

The preferred GFC premiership mix is two rucks and two key forwards. At this point in time one of those rucks has to be Simpson or Hmac. So that means Simpson for mine for the next couple.

This is it for me. Play Simpson v. Brisbane and see what effect it has on our clearances. If he tires and/or it's not working with luck we can sub him and Blitz sees out the game. Also gives Westy a nice break before Freo/Dawks if called upon.

My suspicion is the big fella might just suprise a few with the way he covers the ground, his field kicking and big body around the contest.

Have banged on about this before but his game against Sandilands some years ago still sticks in my mind, and I really think the Simpson/Blitz combo would worry plenty. Let's see it before we hit what will likely be 2 of our 3 likely challengers for the flag in the next month.

 

[supahoops]

We're speculating a long way out of course. However, judging by the comments by the coach, Blitz will be in the 22. Can't see him playing anywhere other than in a mobile ruck role (at this point in his career) so that leaves one ruck position. Which you would think would be HMac if they get him right with Vards operating in the forward half and perhaps giving a hand in the ruck.

Can't see Vardy Blitz and HMac in the same side unless Pods is chopped - and that is a way off yet.

If all our talls are fit and firing I just can't see Vardy getting in on balance - cant believe I just said that and, yes, a long way to go but would be a nice problem to have.

 

[catempire]

I think in a final you could potentially play three "rucks" as long as Blitz and Vardy are two of them:

- HMac/Vardy/Blitz
- Simpson/Vardy/Blitz
- West/Vardy/Blitz

But I wouldn't like to see two of HMac, Simpson and West plus either Blitz or Vardy. That's when I think the lack of a runner starts to bite.

To be honest, I think Blitz's best work has been when he hasn't been rucking.