Analysis Free kick Cox.

[Shaneprice97]

Looks alot better than Mike Pyke did this early in his career

 

[Justlokan]

The key difference there, IMO, is that all those you mentioned are ruckman and he'll never be our first choice ruckman whilst Grundy is fit. Without that first ruck exposure he's left to fill a peripheral role which he's not quite productive enough in his marking or ruckwork to fill adequately ATM (it may come with time).

How's about this from left field. Would we have been any worse off last night playing Goldsack as the relief ruck? I don't rate his marking or ruckwork, but Cox gave us neither and I know Goldsack would have provided a shitload more at ground level.

I like the lateral thinking although given that clearances were an issue for us, not sure if Goldy could've helped. Which makes Blair coming in for JdG damming (another story)

Back to Cox - just like White, we're trying to turn him into a genuine 2nd tall which he isn't. He's a part time ruck part time fwd. No more no less. I'm happy to persist with him but we need a genuine partner for Cloke/Moore.

 

[OniAu]

I believe there's a multitude of threads already shitcanning Cloke so why bring it to this one?

Given we've excused Cox for the umpires shit work why don't we analyse the other two times he held the ball in his hands in 90% game time? What does he do off the ball? How well does he go on the hit up lead? Does he create space for other forwards or is he always anchored to the square when not in the ruck?

Are those areas of his game improving enough for him to be a contributor of a top four team? Because that's what its all about isn't it. Building a premiership list and the lack of continuous improvement is starting to concern me.

Its releveant in the sense we have two other experienced forwards with basically less output than Cox. Cox will improve, he has already. He looks eager to learn the game and improve his weaknesses.

What did you expect out of him at the start of the year to be massively concerned with his improvement so far at this stage? Did you expect 40 goals ? 20 hit outs a match ? If we are to be a top four team , we need to cull the areas which aren't improving , Cox isn't one of those, Cloke and White should be in the firing line. This is all relevant as they are playing similar positions.

 

[pablo disco bar]

Midas wellplay him for rest of season unless injured keep learning and judge him next season..

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Starting to think he wont make it. Not as a forward anyway. Maybe as a ruckman. Its just too hard to transition into a different game.

Needs to play out the season in the VFL. We cant afford passengers

 

[left at home]

forward line of cloke white and cox wont work yet manly because no one is dangerous enough.
to help cox the other two main forwards have to work hard and to be in spots that demand the others team
defenders go to them and not zone off there man and go to cox. to manly times that happen. at this stage
of his career he needs help to get more one on ones, and having some one camped at his feet as well
could also help

 

[Leviathan Pie]

His lack of body strength is concerning, and he certainly does go at the pill above his head with the intent he needs to.

Reckon a very solid pre-season will do him wonders, can see him greatly improving next year.

 

[Countrypie]

His lack of body strength is concerning, and he certainly does go at the pill above his head with the intent he needs to.

Reckon a very solid pre-season will do him wonders, can see him greatly improving next year.

Agree - he needs to bulk up a little and strengthen his core - if he does that he'll create some real headaches. Bloody hard being a forward with the way the ball was delivered on Friday night,
A case in oint was a lead he made in the third nad Reid kicked t over his head by at least 6 feet. That's totally inexcusabel.
That said he needs to improve defensively.

 

[legendstatus]

He certainly showing the lack of footy nous, he needs to work on two/three things, body strength & positioning & marking the ball at the highest point!

 

[whiskeytown]

On Friday he hurt himself early and never fully recovered from it.

He was also playing as the no1 or no 2 marking forward with Moore and fasolo missing... and with cloke not firing, he was double teamed at times. He's a no 4 ruck/forward who will get his best results when the no 1 and no 2 defenders are not on him. Cox is one of our few success stories this year and deserves an upgrade to the senior list at years end

 

[THATSGOLD]

Next project player we get from America needs to be 16-18 and learn the game earlier. 25 is too late.

 

[Hardas]

On Friday he hurt himself early and never fully recovered from it.

He was also playing as the no1 or no 2 marking forward with Moore and fasolo missing... and with cloke not firing, he was double teamed at times. He's a no 4 ruck/forward who will get his best results when the no 1 and no 2 defenders are not on him. Cox is one of our few success stories this year and deserves an upgrade to the senior list at years end

Keen to see what he can do with two or three good mobile marking targets working in front of him, such as, Fas, Moore and Elliott (fingers crossed).
As already stated, he needs work on his core to be able to hold his ground better in the contest.

 

[Prochard123]

Played against Rance, the best KPD for a proportion of the game. Injured his shoulder early on, 20 games into the season as a first year foreign ruck. Everyone calm down.

 

[Hardas]

Next project player we get from America needs to be 16-18 and learn the game earlier. 25 is too late.

I take your point that younger would likely be better, but if we end up with an above average tall forward for about 5 years from the Cat. B LIST, it is still valuable.

 

[Shaneprice97]

Averages over 1.5 goals a game, as a second ruckman thats solid and almost more than you should expect from one. If he kicks his goals from free kicks, so be it.

All he needs to average is 1 goal, 10-20 hitouts a few strong marks and about 20 disposals a game. Hes a 3rd forward second ruck, not our CHF far out.

 

[Mateyman]

Edit: there's a big difference between Aish and Cox in terms of talent anyone doubting Aish was ill advised. Aish was put on this earth to play AFL footy everything he does is AFL quality. Cox on the other hand is playing because he's tall. They are literally incomparable.

Odd that lots of people were saying that Aish was a spud, a bust and would never be any good earlier this season then, if everything he does is AFL quality

 

[Kappa]

Where's the big fella at?

Last night we saw one mark from him, four of his six possessions came from free kicks, he had just one hitout and he would've made Witts seem imposing given how limply he attacked a few contests. His previous appearance v Carlton was worse.

He played a lot like a bloke that had just one match in a five week period and skipped one of those to meet a politician. At 25 (26 by the time 2017 kicks off) I'd advise him to get a wriggle on and start making the most of every opportunity at this level. I'm not saying he's not going to make the grade more opening up discussion about the lack of progress from him over the past 8 weeks. Given he's foreign to the game continual improvement is crucial because no doubt everyone remembers Marty Clarke and what happened once the improvement slowed.

The one question I'll leave everyone to ponder is if he weren't really ridiculously super tall what would he have going for him as an AFL footballer? Following on from that what's the point of being that tall at AFL level if you go through games with 1 hitout and 1 mark?..

Premature thread, was quite good early in the year.

"what does he have going for him" when his confidence is up he is a very good mark for someone of his size, plus his speed and agility are ELITE for a super tall player. Also a great kick for goal at close to medium range

He looked rusty and he should be, but he still kicked goals and will be better next week

 

[Somebody]

PRobably first season burn-out. Plenty of improvement but age is a bit against him. OR is it more matches/seasons played than actual age, ie like an engine your body can only take so many seasons of AFL before wearing out?

 

[Scodog10]

Odd that lots of people were saying that Aish was a spud, a bust and would never be any good earlier this season then, if everything he does is AFL quality

I agree and it probably reflects how many poor judges are out there.

Premature thread, was quite good early in the year.

"what does he have going for him" when his confidence is up he is a very good mark for someone of his size, plus his speed and agility are ELITE for a super tall player. Also a great kick for goal at close to medium range

He looked rusty and he should be, but he still kicked goals and will be better next week

A very good mark that averages 2 per game? I'd say he's close to the worst player overhead on our list given how easily he can be buffeted off the ball. Speed and agility elite for a super tall player? I mean that's like saying your Fiat Qubo is super fast for a Fiat Qubo!

He also kicked goals because of dodgy free kicks which happens to him most weeks. He can't always rely on that because teams will constantly be working in on how to better handle him. We've already seen them make him a non-event in some areas so what happens when he stops receiving those soft frees?

I think some of the gushing that went on over Cox may have been a bit premature and opening up a discussion about his progress is the aim of the thread. Right now that progress is moving as quickly as that elite speed of his...

 

[Scodog10]

Its releveant in the sense we have two other experienced forwards with basically less output than Cox. Cox will improve, he has already. He looks eager to learn the game and improve his weaknesses.

What did you expect out of him at the start of the year to be massively concerned with his improvement so far at this stage? Did you expect 40 goals ? 20 hit outs a match ? If we are to be a top four team , we need to cull the areas which aren't improving , Cox isn't one of those, Cloke and White should be in the firing line. This is all relevant as they are playing similar positions.

They aren't giving us less output lol.

My expectation was that he would either provide a marking presence I50 (which the other two have) or that he could compete through the ruck.

Given he isn't improving in either of those areas it's a conundrum. I wouldn't be cutting him as you touched on, but we need to see more.

 

[Quicky]

Next project player we get from America needs to be 16-18 and learn the game earlier. 25 is too late.

That'll never happen. The only reason most Americans give AFL a go is because it is a unique opportunity of a professional sporting career; at a time they have completed college and failed to get drafted. That age in America is 22-23. We aren't going to get them earlier.

You're right to highlight it as a challenge, but when they come as an international rookie they are essentially a free list hit. I think in fact more thought needs to be given to the support they are provided when they arrive. The Shae McNamara story provides a lot of lessons there if we want to look closely enough. Poor communication was an issue, which to me says poor coaching. I hope we have learned from this and are giving Cox a better chance of it.

 

[Good_Old]

Needs to play out the season in the VFL. We cant afford passengers

We're not playing finals, wouldn't it be beneficial to give games to the less experienced at AFL level to see what they have/help them develop?

 

[HenrikLundqvist]

Can't believe people are writing him off so quickly after a game where he was injured after featuring prominently early. He actually attacks the ball unlike Cloke.

A big offseason in the gym to work on strength and his tank will do him a world of good to become a marking machine.

 

[Maggie5]

They aren't giving us less output lol.

My expectation was that he would either provide a marking presence I50 (which the other two have) or that he could compete through the ruck.

Given he isn't improving in either of those areas it's a conundrum. I wouldn't be cutting him as you touched on, but we need to see more.

Actually his ruck work hasn't been as good as early on - again just goes to show what we are missing in our footy department.

 

[OniAu]

They aren't giving us less output lol.

My expectation was that he would either provide a marking presence I50 (which the other two have) or that he could compete through the ruck.

Given he isn't improving in either of those areas it's a conundrum. I wouldn't be cutting him as you touched on, but we need to see more.

That's why your opening post is all sorts of confusing if you truly believe that