Early season news:- We will miss Leon

[Blessed]

The Collingwood administration made a huge mistake when they couldn't find an extra $100,000 to keep Leon Davis , a two time AA player at the Club?

Why they decided to make a stand with him can only be imagined.

But from tonight's performance, we missed Leon's grace and composure.

I fear this will be exposed many more times during the year as we try and take the ball out of the back line.

Without Leon, too much pressure is put onto Heath Shaw who is not the type of player they are trying to use him as.

Leon was sublime.

His skill and class was surely worth $300,000 a year.

I miss him already.

 

[TradeDraft]

Yes we will miss him but I don't think giving him the Extra Money he wanted was a Mistake as we wanted to sign the Younger Players who had a Future at the Club - more then 2 Seasons at the very max

 

[danielnajdek]

Great regular season player.

Poor finals player.

Now please stop being negative because it's getting on my nerves.

 

[mattys123]

Great regular season player.

Poor finals player.

Now please stop being negative because it's getting on my nerves.

We'll miss him from now till the end of August, then we'll be thanking our lucky stars that he decided to leave.

 

[rustyg70]

Didn't he leave for "Family Reasons"?

p.s: Any chance of you either saying something positive about the Pies,or telling us who you really support?

 

[TradeDraft]

Great regular season player.

Poor finals player.

Now please stop being negative because it's getting on my nerves.

Spot On - Fantastic Regular Season Player but Shocking Finals player

 

[Tarkyn_24]

I too am going to miss his abysmal efforts in Grand Finals.

Oh wait, no I'm not.

 

[Blessed]

So much misinformation. And so much dislike for a Collingwood great. Leon played one bad Grand Final against Brisbane, when the whole team was horid and because some moron like Throbbie Walls gets on his case, the rest fall in line.

Leon was worth the extra money for sure.

I still don't know how we replace an AA superstar with the silkest skills in the game.

Also you must have missed the last quarter of the preliminary final v Hawthorn last year when we were gone and Leon lifted us over the line.

Anyway - who is going to replace him?

Because 70% of our outlet play last year was funneled through him.

Melbourne set up zones tonight. Obviously Neild had some inside information. But basically we struggled to break the Melbourne Zones to get the ball out of our defensive areas. And by the time we had, it was so slow our forwards were all covered.

Leon was the difference maker in this regard.

People have seemed to forget his quality and influence.

Hard to replace for as little as $100k.

 

[ksardog]

I agree, his failure in finals has been blown well out of proportion and when u think he got a pay cut and toovey got a pay rise it does leave me scratching my head a bit. His pace and precision passing is truly going to b missed this year.

 

[Swooop]

I think we'll miss Leon's silky skills out of the backline as well this year aswell.

I'm still not sure if his relatively poor finals record is simply a statistical coincidental blip or if he does lose composure / get overwhelmed and would have continued to do so.

But we'll miss him definitely in H&A

It seems Yagmoor is being groomed for the role, but he's young and will make more mistakes than Leon did last year, as you'd expect at this early stage of his career.
But he does look a great prospect for sure.

Btw, Blessed is clearly a passionate Pies supporter, who can see both sides and is willing to state as much, can we leave the refs otherwise please.

 

[Mick98]

So much misinformation. And so much dislike for a Collingwood great. Leon played one bad Grand Final against Brisbane, when the whole team was horid and because some moron like Throbbie Walls gets on his case, the rest fall in line.

Leon was worth the extra money for sure.

I still don't know how we replace an AA superstar with the silkest skills in the game.

Also you must have missed the last quarter of the preliminary final v Hawthorn last year when we were gone and Leon lifted us over the line.

Anyway - who is going to replace him?

Because 70% of our outlet play last year was funneled through him.

Melbourne set up zones tonight. Obviously Neild had some inside information. But basically we struggled to break the Melbourne Zones to get the ball out of our defensive areas. And by the time we had, it was so slow our forwards were all covered.

Leon was the difference maker in this regard.

People have seemed to forget his quality and influence.

Hard to replace for as little as $100k.

How do you know it had anything to do with money?Please enlighten us all.

The guy has been threatening to leave for years,and now that he has you are blaming the club because we are stuffed without him all of a sudden.

Melbourne beat us in a NAB cup game so we need Leon even though if he was still at the club he most likely would not have even played tonight.
Please don't panic and get some perspective on the big picture,which isn't the NAB cup it's the home and away season.

 

[Blessed]

The fact is if we offered Leon $300k rather than $200k, he would have stayed.

The fact is, the biggest issue we will have this year, is transitioning play out of the backline quickly.

That was Leon's forte last year.

The fact is, we haven't replaced Leon.

And don't look like it based on looking at tonight and Neilds high pressure defensive zones and our inability to unlock them.

 

[Jesus Baulks]

Too bad he actually left because he was homesick then, huh?

 

[Jesus Baulks]

The fact is if we offered Leon $300k rather than $200k, he would have stayed.

The fact is, the biggest issue we will have this year, is transitioning play out of the backline quickly.

That was Leon's forte last year.

The fact is, we haven't replaced Leon.

And don't look like it based on Neilds high pressure defensive zones and our inability to unlock them.

I don't think 'fact' means what you think it means.

 

[Blessed]

Leon would have stayed if, we offere him $300k.

Pontless discussion like how long is a piece of string.

http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2011/10/25/davis-walks-out-on-collingwood-reports/

Reports on 3AW said that despite pledging his allegiance to the Pies, a deal could not be reached between the All-Australian defender and the 2010 premiers.
Davis wrestled between a desire to go home and to stay in Melbourne for most of the year, eventually telling the club shortly after the grand final defeat he wanted to stay.
However, it would appear a deal was never signed - with respected commentator and sometime Collingwood goalkicking coach Brian Taylor saying Davis had now left the club.
Taylor claimed a failure to agree a salary - with a difference of around $100,000 - was said to be the reason behind the walkout.

 

[Ed D]

We would have missed him if he could have backed his AA year up. Lets be honest, he didn't want to stick around, he was getting old and he was lucky last season to not pick up an injury.

On the flip side we wouldn't have had Macaffer (who is a loss this season but hopefully not next) or Toovey who IMO has been looking great in the NAB Cup so far.

So will we miss Leon? That's debatable.

 

[Blessed]

The problem is Leon was so important to our game plan last year and let us cut corners coming out of defence by funneling through Leon as the outlet on 70% of the releases.

Who now takes that role?

Will teams put a high press on us now knowing that our defenders, while being strong are not as talented with ball in hand.

That is basically what Neild did last night.


Anyway time will tell.

Heath Shaw is not thr outlet deliverer.

Most of our guys like Heater, O'Brien and Tooves and even Maxy and Reildy would rather play on and go over the lines.

Hence a high press forces them to kick through the lines and they need to be more pin point in their disposal

A criticism of the Collingwood defence with ball in hand if there is one.

 

[Ed D]

The problem is Leon was so important to our game plan last year and let us cut corners coming out of defence by funneling through Leon as the outlet on 70% of the releases.

Who now takes that role?

Will teams put a high press on us now knowing that our defenders, while being strong are not as talented with ball in hand.

That is basically what Neild did last night.


Anyway time will tell.

Heath Shaw is not thr outlet deliverer.

Most of our guys like Heater, O'Brien and Tooves and even Maxy and Reildy would rather play on and go over the lines.

Hence a high press forces them to kick through the lines and they need to be more pin point in their disposal

A criticism of the Collingwood defence with ball in hand if there is one.

We didn't have a problem in 2010 when teams like the Saints were flooding. I think it's almost a positive that the team won't rely on one player to take the ball out of the backline. Then again I don't think we relied on Davis a lot either apart from kick ins, and most of that happened after Shaw got suspended and wasn't playing.

As for who does it now, I'd say Shaw, Ried, O'Brien and whichever midfielder drifts back to get the ball will be used to extract the ball. It's not going to be a problem IMO.

 

[THATSGOLD]

So much misinformation. And so much dislike for a Collingwood great. Leon played one bad Grand Final against Brisbane, when the whole team was horid and because some moron like Throbbie Walls gets on his case, the rest fall in line.

Leon was worth the extra money for sure.

I still don't know how we replace an AA superstar with the silkest skills in the game.

Also you must have missed the last quarter of the preliminary final v Hawthorn last year when we were gone and Leon lifted us over the line.

Anyway - who is going to replace him?

Because 70% of our outlet play last year was funneled through him.

Melbourne set up zones tonight. Obviously Neild had some inside information. But basically we struggled to break the Melbourne Zones to get the ball out of our defensive areas. And by the time we had, it was so slow our forwards were all covered.

Leon was the difference maker in this regard.

People have seemed to forget his quality and influence.

Hard to replace for as little as $100k.

At the end of the day we need a bloke who can stand up in finals. Maybe its a blessing.

 

[Blessed]

At the end of the day we need a bloke who can stand up in finals. Maybe its a blessing.

and I say rewatch the last quarter of the Hawthorn Preliminary final last year.

and if you think Leon was the worst player on Grand Final day against Geelong, you must have missed Toovey and Blair's games. Even Maxwell and Reid were ordinary for injury reason.

If anything Mick tried to use Leon in defence and attack and wanted him to be cloned.

 

[legendstatus]

Should of binned MaCaffer (hindsight out for the year) and use the money to keep Leon...... Hindsight.

 

[ipswichpies]

Well we are back on Leon now,I did not want him to leave but he CHOSE too he stuck it out all these years and then with 250 and beyond in sight he went home.


If we are talking about a lack of commitment from some of our players now,people should look at Leon,I don,t know about most of you but I would give my right arm to play 250 at the Pies or any other club.

On last season,s form we will miss him but we won,t miss he,s commitment to the cause,For what it is worth I have high very high hopes for Yagmoor I think he will tougher mentally than Leon.

I don,t think we should worry about Leon anymore he made his choice and there is no going back,In Yagmoor I think we have the perfect replacement but if Leon had stayed and helped him it would have been perfect.

 

[orion21]

and I say rewatch the last quarter of the Hawthorn Preliminary final last year.

and if you think Leon was the worst player on Grand Final day against Geelong, you must have missed Toovey and Blair's games. Even Maxwell and Reid were ordinary for injury reason.

If anything Mick tried to use Leon in defence and attack and wanted him to be cloned.

One good quarter doesent make up for three very very poor grandfinals and other below par finals Leon played. YES we will miss him. He was very important to our structure and direction out of our backline. Yes we lack quality ball users out of our backline even more now he is gone. But thats the beauty of being a top four team over the past 4 years. We will develope another player like Leon. Bucks and Co would have a fair idea who that will be. He will get all the big game exposure as we play in front of massive crowds week in week out. And his senior coach is one of the best kicks the game has seen. He will have Harry'o, Heater, Maxy, Reidy to guide him. It is hard to guage this nab cup due to the first week playing two short matches. Last nights match and next fridays against Crows will be better. Either Tooves or Clarke will step up......or my CHOICE is a kid like Yager Bomb. I think and hope he takes it with both hands and develope into the role.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

The fact is if we offered Leon $300k rather than $200k, he would have stayed.

The fact is, the biggest issue we will have this year, is transitioning play out of the backline quickly.

That was Leon's forte last year.

The fact is, we haven't replaced Leon.

And don't look like it based on looking at tonight and Neilds high pressure defensive zones and our inability to unlock them.

I've never taken guess work and opinion to be facts, unless you have some supporting evidence, or as some posters like to say "Nice story Bro"

 

[the woodsmen2010]

The Collingwood administration made a huge mistake when they couldn't find an extra $100,000 to keep Leon Davis , a two time AA player at the Club?

Why they decided to make a stand with him can only be imagined.

But from tonight's performance, we missed Leon's grace and composure.

I fear this will be exposed many more times during the year as we try and take the ball out of the back line.

Without Leon, too much pressure is put onto Heath Shaw who is not the type of player they are trying to use him as.

Leon was sublime.

His skill and class was surely worth $300,000 a year.

I miss him already.

3 nab games down and ur already talking negative, how did i know u would have started this thread...