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Des Hedland...

  • Thread starter Thread starter speedy
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speedy

speedy

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How good is he going to be without the fab 4 soaking up all the attention and feeding him the ball?

There were a few snipes at him from the media for being too muh of a reciever at times this year.

His problems in the past have been his low fittness base. Did he only have one big pre-seson in him, or can he sustain his fittness level?
 
Originally posted by speedy
How good is he going to be without the fab 4 soaking up all the attention and feeding him the ball?

There were a few snipes at him from the media for being too muh of a reciever at times this year.

His problems in the past have been his low fittness base. Did he only have one big pre-seson in him, or can he sustain his fittness level?
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Just watching a few games on Fox Footy over the last few days, Headland seems to be pretty hard at the ball. I don't think his disposal is all that flash though. I mean its solid, but nothing special. Can he kick it over 50m?
 
I think Des' form will be good, but I'm not expecting him to dominate games week in and week out. He'll have his good games no doubt, but we don't really know how he'll play if he has a decent tagger playing on him consistently as Voss, Aker, Lappin and Black took more of the attention from taggers at the Lions.
 
Re: Re: Des Hedland...

Originally posted by Kenny_01


Just watching a few games on Fox Footy over the last few days, Headland seems to be pretty hard at the ball. I don't think his disposal is all that flash though. I mean its solid, but nothing special. Can he kick it over 50m?
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Not questioning his hardness, but rather his ball getting ability if he is the no1 or no2 midfielder and had to win his possesions under more attention from the opposition.
 

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Re: Re: Re: Des Hedland...

Originally posted by speedy


Not questioning his hardness, but rather his ball getting ability if he is the no1 or no2 midfielder and had to win his possesions under more attention from the opposition.
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He is at his best when someone like black or voss gets the hard ball, and then handballs it out, his burst of speed of the edge of the pack clears the ball out and in to attack. His size is also an asset he is big and strong for a midfielder, curiously i thought he was a tweener - not big enough for 'key positional role' but too big for a midfielder until this year when he could do both! He is a thumping kick and seems to have a nose for goal. Yes hes a great player and we are sad to see him go, but like all good midfielders he will struggle unless there are others around him to stop the taggers. My prediction he will be a mild disappointment to freo but still a very solid player. At brisbane he was a very good cog in a great midfield, i'm not sure if he can be a great cog in a good midfield at freo.
 
Headland is a cherry picker. Wait and see. He will be a good, but not a great player away from Brisbane. Caracella will take over his mantle as Brisbane's receiver and should enjoy a stella season with Voss and Black spoon feeding him.
 
I'm pretty sure he will be good. If you have a look at the history of good midfielders, there is a distinct pattern.

1) They step up and get noticed
2) They start to get tagged regularly
3) Their performance suffers a bit as a result of the tags
4) They work out how to cope with the tags and step up again.

Not all, but most midfielders who are any good go through this pattern. I'm pretty sure headland will be up to the task.
 
I think headland will do fine providing the fremantle faithful dont put pressure on him to perform like say croad and farmer. If he comes in and simply plays his natural game i can see him having a season much like simmonds, a recruit who really didnt have much fan fare comming in but by the end of the season had proved his worth.
 
Originally posted by bunsen burner
I'm pretty sure he will be good. If you have a look at the history of good midfielders, there is a distinct pattern.

1) They step up and get noticed
2) They start to get tagged regularly
3) Their performance suffers a bit as a result of the tags
4) They work out how to cope with the tags and step up again.

Not all, but most midfielders who are any good go through this pattern. I'm pretty sure headland will be up to the task.
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Good points, i think Bell and Hasleby can provide him with plenty of ball.
 
Originally posted by fabulousphil


Good points, i think Bell and Hasleby can provide him with plenty of ball.
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Exactly.

The Dockers have plenty of in and under players, with Hasleby and Cook being amongst the best in this area. What they have missed is players who can run with the ball and use their speed.

Headland is a perfect fit IMO, and in the same way Chick is a good fit for the Eagles (in the other way around if you know what I mean)
 
Originally posted by larrikin

Exactly.

The Dockers have plenty of in and under players, with Hasleby and Cook being amongst the best in this area. What they have missed is players who can run with the ball and use their speed.

Headland is a perfect fit IMO, and in the same way Chick is a good fit for the Eagles (in the other way around if you know what I mean)
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Exactly this is what I have said all along.........
Forget amongst the best Haselby and Bell are the best as far as in and under players.
Fremantle as stated have never had the reciever bar Black but he was never strong enough to break the packs.
Headland is quite simply perfect.
Tag him all you want and Haselby will rip you apart.
Tag Haselby and Headland will do the same.
How many top class Taggers are there in a side??
2 max
Well we have 3 must tags
So I am not worried
 

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Didn't Des play 3 quarters, get 25 + possies and about 4 goals and get about 4 different opponents vs Port in the Prelimary final?

Would have thought that would have qualified as being tagged.

As everyone else has already said, if there is one thing that the Freo midfield is good at is winning the hard possession, its what happens to it that has always been a problem.

Headland can be a receiver as much as he likes. Its exactly what our team needs.
 
Originally posted by sabre_ac


Forget amongst the best Haselby and Bell are the best as far as in and under players.
Click to expand...
Hasleby and Cook are your two best ball winners. Bell floats between ball winner and receiver.
 

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Forget this myth about Headland being a receiver.

He gets plenty of the hard ball and also is capable of a good overhead mark.

His performance in the Prelim Final against Port was just about the standout of the entire Finals series(maybe wiyh the exception of Licuria's effort in the Qualifying Final.)

Headland didn't get 30 plus possessions in that final by standing around waiting for his mates to kick or handball to him. He got stuck in and made the play all night.

Ok, so he didn't have a great Grand Final, but he wasn't alone...........at least half the Lions side performed only average or worse..............plus theconditions didn't suit his game at all.

There is no reason why he can't develop his game to an even higher level playing for Freo.

I'm extremely disappointed that he decided to leave the Lions but I'm confident he will live up to the undoubtedly high expectations that Freo have for him.
 
Originally posted by luthor
Forget this myth about Headland being a receiver.

He gets plenty of the hard ball and also is capable of a good overhead mark.

His performance in the Prelim Final against Port was just about the standout of the entire Finals series(maybe wiyh the exception of Licuria's effort in the Qualifying Final.)

Headland didn't get 30 plus possessions in that final by standing around waiting for his mates to kick or handball to him. He got stuck in and made the play all night.

Ok, so he didn't have a great Grand Final, but he wasn't alone...........at least half the Lions side performed only average or worse..............plus theconditions didn't suit his game at all.

There is no reason why he can't develop his game to an even higher level playing for Freo.

I'm extremely disappointed that he decided to leave the Lions but I'm confident he will live up to the undoubtedly high expectations that Freo have for him.
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How do you rate his disposal, luthor?
 
A new twist in the Des Headland homesickness saga..

When he moved to Brisbane his family moved with him to help ease the homesickness angle and keep the family together.

After all the hoo-haa, the rest of the Headland family love it there and are staying put. :)

Go figure.
 
Originally posted by Docker_Brat
A new twist in the Des Headland homesickness saga..

When he moved to Brisbane his family moved with him to help ease the homesickness angle and keep the family together.

After all the hoo-haa, the rest of the Headland family love it there and are staying put.

Go figure.
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:o

He probably just needed an excuse to do what he always wanted, to put on a Freo guernsey ;)
 
Originally posted by luthor
Forget this myth about Headland being a receiver.

He gets plenty of the hard ball and also is capable of a good overhead mark.

His performance in the Prelim Final against Port was just about the standout of the entire Finals series(maybe wiyh the exception of Licuria's effort in the Qualifying Final.)

Headland didn't get 30 plus possessions in that final by standing around waiting for his mates to kick or handball to him. He got stuck in and made the play all night.

Ok, so he didn't have a great Grand Final, but he wasn't alone...........at least half the Lions side performed only average or worse..............plus theconditions didn't suit his game at all.

There is no reason why he can't develop his game to an even higher level playing for Freo.

I'm extremely disappointed that he decided to leave the Lions but I'm confident he will live up to the undoubtedly high expectations that Freo have for him.
Click to expand...


Fremantle have ruined many a good players career. Loko at Jeff Farmer and Trent Croad.... they played like absolute monkeys. Headland was ok at Brisbane where he "received" a lot of the ball but it will be interesting to see how he goes with Fremantle when he has crabs like McManus kicking to him and Peter Bell in his way trying to be a seagull too.
 

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