Opinion First Captain under Walsh?

[baldandbroke]

Brilliant article. Thanks for posting. Love the Rendell story.

Pretty thought provoking.

Yeah, I liked GT's position on a lot of things ... I reckon he only does "man" conversations.

 

[King Elvis]

Half Back probably - or as a follower.

Mid-sized defender or bust, for mine. HBF, sort of, but his disposal isn't good enough to have him in the distributor part of that position.

 

[baldandbroke]

Mid-sized defender or bust, for mine. HBF, sort of, but his disposal isn't good enough to have him in the distributor part of that position.

I don't think VB has bad disposal, maybe he is a but slow with his decisions on where to dispose it to ... but his kicking is usually pretty good (if it doesn't get smothered !!)

He has years of work on that Tank of his that is always a handy asset. I don't want to waste Kerridge on a shut down style role - but VB seems to thrive on it and with fewer strings to his bow is a better choice in my mind.

I know we have a coach who says he doesn't want to tag - but I don't think he will let players like Gary Ablett or Pendelbury run ragged for too long in a game before he tries to put a lock on them. VB fits that role pretty well.

VB also rarely does the really bad thing, sure he makes mistakes but is different to a player like Reilly who seems to make howlers when he stuffs up.

Will be interesting to see how he is used, but I do think he has a part to play.

 

[King Elvis]

Your reasoning is good mate, and VB as a tagger is worth discussion, but I still remember getting him absolutely slaughtered by a couple of the elite mids in 2013; they destroyed him.

Happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and blame Sando for poor midfield structures and defensive work, but he didn't thrive in that position in 2013.

 

[Jars458]

On the plus side, I think I found the demographic that the 'man talk' line market tested well with

Ha, that's all spin as far as I am concerned. Proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

 

[Mismatched]

As far as VB goes - who was the last player in a leadership group to play in the 2's ?

If he is fully fit - surely he plays.

Rutten played in the magoo's last year didn't he?

 

[baldandbroke]

Rutten played in the magoo's last year didn't he?

That was resting / injury related - not form.

VB is 28 ... and one of the best conditioned runners we have ... don't see any need to rest him in the 2's.

I'm not saying it won't happen, but lets not pretend he is falling off the perch. VB has qualities we need on match day, I want to see him in the 22.

 

[Elite Crow]

Your reasoning is good mate, and VB as a tagger is worth discussion, but I still remember getting him absolutely slaughtered by a couple of the elite mids in 2013; they destroyed him.

Happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and blame Sando for poor midfield structures and defensive work, but he didn't thrive in that position in 2013.

I think you are being tough on VB, remember when he kept Pendles to 26 possessions in a half? According to Vader he did a great job.

 

[Jars458]

I think you are being tough on VB, remember when he kept Pendles to 26 possessions in a half? According to Vader he did a great job.

He's the second best player in the comp, cut some slack.

 

[Red mist]

A good tagger sacrifices his game to nullify an opponent. A great tagger has game as well so also has the ability to hurt his opponent eg on the scoreboard while nullifying his opponent. Comparing VB and Kerridge ATM I think Kerridge might be able to hurt his opponent more so think VB be better suited to HBF or backup to Kerridge for that matter.

 

[Elite Crow]

He's the second best player in the comp, cut some slack.

Kerridge did a better job last season. Pendles slaughtered VB and yet at the time we were told he did well.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

A good tagger sacrifices his game to nullify an opponent. A great tagger has game as well so also has the ability to hurt his opponent eg on the scoreboard while nullifying his opponent. Comparing VB and Kerridge ATM I think Kerridge might be able to hurt his opponent more so think VB be better suited to HBF or backup to Kerridge for that matter.

I would like to see us double team the top line players with both vb & keg at different stages.

 

[Jars458]

Kerridge did a better job last season. Pendles slaughtered VB and yet at the time we were told he did well.

I get that but now there is no need to be whacking into VB. He is in for a big year this year and will fit Walsh's style beautifully.

 

[Elite Crow]

I get that but now there is no need to be whacking into VB. He is in for a big year this year and will fit Walsh's style beautifully.

Let's hope he's in for a big year

 

[Red mist]

I would like to see us double team the top line players with both vb & keg at different stages.

Yes some form of rotation with those two guys with big tanks would be good.

 

[Jars458]

Let's hope he's in for a big year

Exactly, glass full.

 

[RodnyDangrfield]

Kerridge did a better job last season. Pendles slaughtered VB and yet at the time we were told he did well.

Wasn't the ol' Sando Stats Spin was it re VB vs Pendles? Turn 100 point loss into a small defeat just by looking at the stats page on the AFL live app that bloke

 

[Elite Crow]

Wasn't the ol' Sando Stats Spin was it re VB vs Pendles? Turn 100 point loss into a small defeat just by looking at the stats page on the AFL live app that bloke

No it was Vader spin

 

[Sanders]

Grant Thomas would agree with your sentiment, but also came to understand why he was having trouble getting his point across ...

http://wwos.9msn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=319434&showcomments=true

I've said this for a while, what leadership traits VB shows we will still enjoy them even if he's not rolled out in front of the media as much

 

[FR0GGY]

I've said this for a while, what leadership traits VB shows we will still enjoy them even if he's not rolled out in front of the media as much

He never really seemed to be the media front man anyway.

 

[Allefgib]

Those saying VB is tearing up the track again so his body is in good nick.. he's always been a great runner. I'm more concerned with his ability to play with the desperation he had early in his career. Over time he had to back away from going where angels fear to tread... I think this hurt his game more than is discussed as it has limited his ability to perform at his best in the way he started his career.

Essentially, I'd caution waiting to see him in a few games before getting too seduced by his running ability. How his body handles the hits and can back up will be more telling than his ability to run well. Without the sacrifice of his body I'm still not convinced he has enough to offer to be best 22 every week.

 

[Allefgib]

See, this is where I think we have a disconnect.

People are simultaneously saying that it was obvious from point 1 that vB didn't make the criteria, but also that we couldn't have dealt with his not being captain at an earlier junction. That's contradictory.

I also don't but this there's no need to treat people at your football club with respect line of thinking. Nothing would have been lost by dealing with it in a better way.

Who said we didn't deal with it earlier mate? Perhaps everyone was told all bets are off, the history is largely irrelevant.

"Nathan, Danger, Sloaney - thanks for your time and dedication to leading this club in the past - well done, your contributions will always be valued. You may get it again, or it may be someone else. But here is what I want in this clubs captain - x. y. z.

All bets are off. Show me why you should be leading this club."

And then it's ended up being Tex. I'm not sure what you are looking for? Do you have inside information that VB had no pre-warning he might be losing the gig?

Who said it wasn't done with respect?

I'm confused on what you think has or has not been done and why you would base it on assumptions (unless you have facts, in which case share them please).

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Those saying VB is tearing up the track again so his body is in good nick.. he's always been a great runner. I'm more concerned with his ability to play with the desperation he had early in his career. Over time he had to back away from going where angels fear to tread... I think this hurt his game more than is discussed as it has limited his ability to perform at his best in the way he started his career.

Essentially, I'd caution waiting to see him in a few games before getting too seduced by his running ability. How his body handles the hits and can back up will be more telling than his ability to run well. Without the sacrifice of his body I'm still not convinced he has enough to offer to be best 22 every week.

I can't recall being too much drop off in VB's desperation.

My main issue was Sando used VB in a "fixit" role, which meant he was playing a different role most weeks & IMO that impacted on his form.

I would like to see Walsh settle him in 1-2 different roles (HBF & relief run-with) & let him concentrate on getting back to his best footy.

Could added some much needed experience to our backline, where he played most of his earlier football with success.

 

[GROTTO]

I can't recall being too much drop off in VB's desperation.
.

VB will be desperate as his place in the 22 is no longer guaranteed and a drop in form will see him in the 2nds a lot sooner than later unlike the past. Not sure if this is his final year of his contract but he would want to hit the NAB Cup with some strong form, as this year is very unusual touchwood in that aside from MC and Otten we have a full list to choose from for R1.

 

[ftmch]

Gold pass? C'mon man - you really don't believe that do you.

Just curious though. How can his gold pass have been removed if he is playing rd 1? The guy hasn't kicked a football in anger in about 18 months.

Unless of course you think that Phil Walsh rates him an automatic best 22 player even though the last information he has to go by is his dismal form of 2013. If he was that bad in 2013 combined with missing an entire year of football in 2014 - surely he would be forced to work his way back into the side through the SANFL (no excuses now he isn't the captain).

There were patches of games in 2013 where, had he not held the captaincy, his place in the side would have been under scrutiny, such was his form. Surely you acknowledge that?

That's the 'gold pass' that he enjoyed by having the C against his name.