De Boer the mid

[Patty_Moz]

Not the same as this year. I don't want him being beaten badly every other time he actually has an opponent.

He was shaded by Jones, Armfield, Rawlings in the second North game, Smith, Picken etc.

So in the end all you want is for him to improve the quality of his poor games? Thats fair but its hardly that much of an improvement on this yr and hardly suggests that Hill's 2011 was terrible.

I'm not entirely convinced Hill will ever be as good as Mcleod or Matera, I get the feeling that he will be more of your Wells type player mostly because of his size. But to me Wells is still a very good player, with IMO possibly the best disposal in the league which often gets overlooked and I'd be happy with that but perhaps it doesnt quite live up to the expectations that most people have of Hill. Unfortunately I think Hill will all be susceptible to a very good tag cos he just isnt big enough.

 

[free at last]

This thread should be re-named 'hilly the mid'...
I'm pretty sure that this pre-season will be hilly's first full pre-season, I read in the paper that Luke shuey was embarking on his first full pre-season.
All to do with their age, I think.

 

[prattsta]

I love how this turned to statistics...

Can someone keep track of how many times Hill gets off a scrubby little handball, whilst some chump - who shouldn't even be playing the same sport, let alone be in the same league as Hill - is hanging off his jumper next season?

If they could also let me know how many times that same chump gets a face full of grass after Hill burns him off and gets himself into space, I'd appreciate it.

My expectation is for the later to happen more than the former in 2012. Actually that's not right, my expectation is for the later to appear to happen, more than the former. It is true for every player, but Hill's game - Morabito is the same - in particular, is measured by moments, not numbers.

A 100m possession here, a handball receive there, a goal against the play to end a quarter, whatever really. He can have 18 disposals and be the clear BOG, or 18 disposals that you don't even notice.

I want to see the improvement, not read about it.

Almost a perfect post. You just left Fyfe out of the list of top class players Hill will have alongside him in the midfield next year

To say Fyfe is a midfielder, is akin to saying sharks are fish. They are more than simply fish. They are THE fish. They are sharks. They eat fish. They eat whatever they want; whenever they want. They can mother ****ing eat, mother ****ing Samuel L Jackson. They will eat you. Can your goldfish eat you?

Fyfe is not a midfielder. Fyfe is Fyfe. Fyfe is THE Fyfe. Fyfe does whatever he wants; whenever he wants. Can your goldfish Fyfe?

This thread should be re-named 'hilly the mid'...

Probably, if De Boer thought we were talking about him...

I'm pretty sure that this pre-season will be hilly's first full pre-season, I read in the paper that Luke shuey was embarking on his first full pre-season.
All to do with their age, I think.

That's why some of us expect big things.

 

[Nickos66]

Sooo close to unsubscribing right now..

 

[prattsta]

I'm not entirely convinced Hill will ever be as good as Mcleod or Matera, I get the feeling that he will be more of your Wells type player mostly because of his size. But to me Wells is still a very good player, with IMO possibly the best disposal in the league which often gets overlooked and I'd be happy with that but perhaps it doesnt quite live up to the expectations that most people have of Hill. Unfortunately I think Hill will all be susceptible to a very good tag cos he just isnt big enough.

I don't get the size argument. He sits comfortably in this group (bigger than most) and he'll possibly be 1-2kg heavier by the time the 2012 season starts.

Andrew McLeod
Playing Height: 181cm Playing Weight: 82kg

Peter Matera
Playing Height: 183cm Playing Weight: 89kg
(Note: he was definitely skinnier in his prime)

Daniel Wells
Height: 181cm Weight: 79kg

Gary Ablett (Jnr)
Height: 182cm Weight: 85kg

Simon Black
Height: 186cm Weight: 82kg

Stephen Hill
Height: 184cm Weight: 80kg

It wasn't until last season - and the later parts of 2010 - when Wells finally started getting more of an on-ball role. He could've and should've been challenged with that responsibility earlier in his career (27 next season). Being able to play in both roles (inside/outside) ended up with him having what I consider to be his best season in the AFL.

 

[E Shed]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lyon use Hill as cream rather than cake initially. Play him in defense or perhaps as sub. Give him a backseat role for a while till other teams are forced to put their focus onto someone else who is cutting them up like Fyfe, Mundy or Mora.
Ease him in & out of the limelight. The way Carlton have had the luxury of using Yarran.
Hill is a few years away from his prime, it would be nice if he could be staggered a bit in his development now & we are starting to have a good enough support cast to allow that.

 

[prattsta]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lyon use Hill as cream rather than cake initially. Play him in defense or perhaps as sub. Give him a backseat role for a while till other teams are forced to put their focus onto someone else who is cutting them up like Fyfe, Mundy or Mora.
Ease him in & out of the limelight. The way Carlton have had the luxury of using Yarran.
Hill is a few years away from his prime, it would be nice if he could be staggered a bit in his development now & we are starting to have a good enough support cast to allow that.

I think Lyon will look at Hill and see a far more athletic version of Dal Santo. As such, I can't see any reason why he wouldn't play him in a very similar manner.

Predominately played outside, but still expected to get heavily involved on the inside and share the load.

 

[Shaymuhz]

I think Lyon will look at Hill and see a far more athletic version of Dal Santo. As such, I can't see any reason why he wouldn't play him in a very similar manner.

Predominately played outside, but still expected to get heavily involved on the inside and share the load.

This. Fingers crossed it doesnt take as long as it did with Dal Santo..

 

[Clay Davis]

I don't know, Dal Santo came third in the Brownlow in his fourth year of footy. Next year is Hill's fourth year of footy.

 

[Shaymuhz]

I don't know, Dal Santo came third in the Brownlow in his fourth year of footy. Next year is Hill's fourth year of footy.

And yet he only came fourth in his clubs b&f that year - something Hill achieved in his second year.

I would like to think we could judge players on more than their brownlow medal placings and with that in mind I don't think Dal Santo really started playing to his full potential until this year when Hayes and Ball were not in the side feeding him endlessly from the stoppages and he had to get his hands dirty himself.

He became less of an outside player and was subsequently less easier to shut down (something he was criticised for a lot earlier in his career).

In 2011 Dal Santo was more of a complete player and imo had his best year - if Hill can perform a similar role then threads like this will become moot.

 

[Clay Davis]

In a side that finished top four and made a prelim. A bit of a difference.

 

[Shaymuhz]

In a side that finished top four and made a prelim. A bit of a difference.

A marginal difference imo, especially seeing as though we finished 5th in 2010 with a number of valued contributors. Nick also only received 16 votes that year, which wouldn't have got him very far in many other counts.

But all that is irrelevant as my initial point was his change in game style to becoming a more well rounded mid didn't really start to occur until at least 2010 and wasn't complete until this year - nine years after he was drafted.

As I said before, let's hope it doesn't take Hill that long.

 

[Clay Davis]

6th in 2010.

 

[Shaymuhz]

6th in 2010.

Haha ok. Point still stands.