Fletcher

[Dan26]

Okay, I'm going on a limb here and I know a lot of supporters will disagree.

Fletcher has no football brain and is overrated. Yep, there, I said it. No, I'm not saying this based on one match back from a lengthy layoff - it is something I have noticed with Fletch over a long period of time. I have seen every match of his career live (in Victoria), and have watched him closely since he made his debut in '93. I am mystified at how people state that Flecther is the backbone of our side. First of all, Wellman is far more important to our defence than Fletcher. I worship Wellman. He is the Bombers' unsung hero. And Lloyd and Jason Johnson are far more important to "what makes us tick" than Fletcher, also.

I think Dustin is great when there is a one-on-one contest and he can use his long arms and athleticism to spoil the ball. But when he has the ball and is forced to make a decision, he can be terrible, and for some reason he escapes the wrath of supporters. His football brain is woeful. Usually he will escape the wrath, because after a dumb mistake, he launches into a 60 metre torpedo, everyone says "Wow what a player," and everything is rosy.

On Friday he attempted a running torpedo, 30 metres out from the Kangaroos goal, with loose Bombers everywhere. What the hell is he doing? He regularly gets the ball, and doesn't know what to do, so he kicks it long. If he doesn't kick it long, he will do some dinky grubber kick, (that is usually unnecessary) to the boundary, which might be considered good defensive play except that he doens't need to do it.

I'm not saying he isn't a valuable player, but he is not even close to the pedestal we put him on. Watch him closely for the rest of the season, and you will see what I mean. Nothing to do with his long kicking or spoiling. Just his general football brain and decision making.

 

[windyhill]

Can`t agree.
He does have brain explosions Fletch and stuffs up, but Matty Lloyd can`t kick them all either and he also takes the wrong option at times. What you see is what you get with the best fullback in the competition.
Champion.

 

[Dan26]

He's the best full-back in terms of spoiling and one-on-one contests.

But fullbacks also have to make decisions when they get the ball, and Fletch's brain doesn't seem to have developed when faced with this situation. That's why I like Wellman so much. He is a footballer, and he makes decision that a footbller needs to make.

Would you take Fletcher over Wellman?

 

[TD]

Originally posted by Dan26
Would you take Fletcher over Wellman?

Any day of the week and twice on sundays. Wellman is a very good footballer, but struggles against bigger, stronger opposition.

Blokes like Fletcher don't come along very often where you can rely on him to do the job on the oppositions most dangerous forward. Try telling me that we couldn't have used Fletch against Port when Tredrea was tearing us a new @rsehole, or against Barry Hall when he was destroying us. Every time Fletch doesnt play, we inevietably get destroyed by a big strong key forward.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by TD
Any day of the week and twice on sundays. Wellman is a very good footballer, but struggles against bigger, stronger opposition.

Blokes like Fletcher don't come along very often where you can rely on him to do the job on the oppositions most dangerous forward. Try telling me that we couldn't have used Fletch against Port when Tredrea was tearing us a new @rsehole, or against Barry Hall when he was destroying us. Every time Fletch doesnt play, we inevietably get destroyed by a big strong key forward.

Well, I'd take Wellman any day of the week, and three times on Sundays. Wellman is our most underrated star. Always does his job, never makes mistakes, and creates a lot of run. He is a bona-fide footballer with a footballer's brain. When was the last time Wellman made a mistake?

He is so much better than Fletcher it isn't funny. Watch Fletch closely for the rest of the seaosn and you will see what I mean. I promise. It is unbelievable how he is immune from criticism by a supporter base who is know for getting stuck into struggling performers.

 

[windyhill]

Love Wellman. Brilliant player swapping by Essendon, what a deal what a beautiful set of numbers.
Would take Fletch without blinking.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by windyhill

Would take Fletch without blinking.

I simply don't understand this, but fair enough. Your call!

 

[grinspoon]

i have always said fletcher was way over rated, but i think wellman is to a degree, but he is better than fletcher. the backman i want are soloman and jacobs.

 

[TD]

Originally posted by grinspoon
i have always said fletcher was way over rated, but i think wellman is to a degree, but he is better than fletcher. the backman i want are soloman and jacobs.

We could have all the Soloman's, Jacob's and Wellman's that we want, but we would still be without a defender who can stop a Barry Hall, Tredrea or Lynch. Fletcher is the ONLY one on Essendon's list who is capable of taking on, and beating these types of forwards.

 

[Pevers-Legend]

Once again Dan you amaze me.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by Pevers-Legend
Once again Dan you amaze me.

Thankyou for that insightful contribution.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by TD
Fletcher is the ONLY one on Essendon's list who is capable of taking on, and beating these types of forwards.

True, but he's also the only one who seems to have regular brain freezes whenever he has to use his football brain, to make a decsion when he has the ball.

Fantastic player when he hasn't got the ball - one of the best in the AFL. Awful, however, when he's got the ball. I'd prefer it if he played on-one one for the whole match, and was never forced to make a decison whilst holding the pill.

 

[windyhill]

So Danny, who would you suggest takes the kick ins ?

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by windyhill
So Danny, who would you suggest takes the kick ins ?

If Fletcher wasn't there? it wouldn't matter, as long as they can find a target. I've always thought Ramanuaskas would be a good "designated kicker" and he has kicked out on occasions.

I know Fletcher is excellent with his long bombs, but there is more to "kicking-out" than that, these days as we all know.

 

[windyhill]

He can go long or short, no problem for the worlds greatest fullback.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by windyhill
He can go long or short.

So can a lot of players. He should be okay at it (kicking in), given that he would pratice it at training more than any other player. There are other parts of his game which are far more important.

 

[go team]

best kick-er-outer-rer in the comp.

if they used the term kick-er-outer-rer in gridiron, dermie would have already used it on friday night football.

 

[M29]

Go team, don't start. With any luck that tw at will read that and no doubt drop it one night alongside 'The zoning is great' and 'he shifts up, quarterback' calls the annoying **** uses.

Anyway, on to fletch.

I started noticing Dans phenomina a while back. But, the thing is he'll clear with a ****house 80m barrel, but he is able to run back to his man(most of the time). Eventually, they'll stop kicking to that target (Fletchs' opp) and move onto someone else. Usually Wellmans or Jacobs' opponent. Unless it's on a strong lead, which Wellman has trouble with, most of the time Wellman and Jacobs are strong in back situations and one of them is able to run it out. Wellman is definately a better kick on the run than Fletcher.

As for kick outs, Rama's good, great, but not as good as Dustin.

 

[Stealth bomber]

I dunno if it is just me, but I think Essendon must be the worst kick-out side in the competition. It has been shocking, even with Fletch in sometimes.

I would guess bad kicking out on average probably leads to 3 or 4 scoring shots for the opposition. It was particularly bad against Port and Sydney.

 

[Chiz]

Fletch is one of those players we need in the side.
All you have to do is look at our win/loss ratio with and without him. Even when he doesn't seem to contribute much, we're still more likely to win with him in.

I'd probably take Fletch over Wellman, however they both work best when they support each other, eg against Melbourne.

 

[whirl]

The Fletch brain explosions that actually hurt us are the ones that get him suspended.

If Essendon players are going to make decisional errors I'd rather they'd be a Fletch style 80 metre bomb away from goal than a sideways short pass inside the defensive 50 to a contest.

If it came down to a decision between Fletch and Wellmann I'd also go for Fletch, though Wellmann is excellent. When Fletch takes the kick-outs however we statistically become one of the best kick-out teams out there.