hendo

[lunacy]

Our defense looks so much more assured and dangerous without Reilly in it. Loving the work of Hendles

I remember Sando and Harley etc talking about geelong's young defense back in the early 2000s with Sanderson, Harley, Scarlett, Rooke, Enright, Mackie and Milburn. They were all young and developing together at the same time. They grew really close and after playing 30-50 games together they became a powerhouse defense.

I see Milburn building a similar unit in our defense. We have:
- the 2 small defender positions covered (Brown & Laird) they're already doing a good reliable job and will be unbelieveable with another 20-30 games each.
- 2 mid sized running half backs (Hendo & Smith). Their size is important and gives greater flexibility rather than having a 180cm player in that role. It means they have enough height to play as loose man and effect the aerial contest as well as ground level. Also means they can play on a A.Walker type or Chris Mayne etc. if required. it's important having 2 guys capable of the attacking quarterback roles (like Geelong) because if one gets tagged we have someone else who can do it.
- 2 reliable KPD (Talia & Rutten). Hartigan will replace Rutten IMO and I like what I see. I'm not too worried about that. We also have Siggins developing who I also think will be a genuine KPP who can play at either end like Hurley (big call but I believe it).
- then we have Shaw and Otten to fight it out for 3rd tall. Personally I think an in form Shaw would be the best case because he always has high rebound 50 numbers and is quick and athletic which provides the defense with greater flexibility (like Mackie).

The real temptation is to move Smith into the midfield but if we manage to get Polec next year I think he could play on the wing and we could afford the luxury of leaving Smith at half back. If he continues to get 20+ possessions from half back I think it would be great to leave him there. If however we do move him into the midfield next year maybe Reilly goes back to half back and Hendo & Reilly team up across half back. I'd probably rather see Hendo & Smith and hopefully see Polec on the wing.

 

[Vader]

He has usurped Reilly.
Radar might struggle to make the 22 now consdiering he is totally unaccountable and cant really play anywhere else.

Reilly will come back, because (as the coaches have said on far too many occasions) "he's too good not to play". What position he fills, what role he plays? Only time will tell.

 

[TARANTULA]

Had him pegged for a HFF spot at season's start, but his last few weeks have looked so natural down back. He is doing Reilly's job better than Reilly.

But where does that leave Otten/Shaw in all of this?

 

[DangerSloane]

Reilly will come back, because (as the coaches have said on far too many occasions) "he's too good not to play". What position he fills, what role he plays? Only time will tell.

Totally agree, could he be tried up forward? He has a pretty lenghty kick and can take a mark.

 

[JP Sauce]

Totally agree, could he be tried up forward? He has a pretty lenghty kick and can take a mark.

Well he's not a midfielder, can't defend and Hendo might be the new owner of his loose man role, so the forward line seems to be the last spot available for him.

 

[threefa9]

reminding me of Goddard

 

[VSTone]

His last couple of weeks have been good against quality opposition and he does give make our defense quicker where we were a little slow.

Does kind of make you wonder where Reilly plays next year?

GWS?

 

[Vader]

Totally agree, could he be tried up forward? He has a pretty lenghty kick and can take a mark.

Could well go back to the midfield, or the HFF? Or we could move one of our young small defenders into the midfield, using him in their position.

 

[DangerSloane]

Could well go back to the midfield, or the HFF? Or we could move one of our young small defenders into the midfield, using him in their position.

I do NOT want Reilly to attempt to be a shutdown defender.
HFF it is.

 

[Slippery Pete]

He is not bad for a basketballer.

 

[OrdinaryJoel]

reminding me of Goddard

Agreed.

Also a bit of Enright about his intercept marks...

 

[Mismatched]

Had him pegged for a HFF spot at season's start, but his last few weeks have looked so natural down back. He is doing Reilly's job better than Reilly.

But where does that leave Otten/Shaw in all of this?

Otten/Shaw still have a place, Hendo has been doing well as loose man, but still can't man up on anyone with any sort of marking ability. We still need a 3rd tall defender.

 

[Mismatched]

I do NOT want Reilly to attempt to be a shutdown defender.
HFF it is.

Could get him to slim down a heap and move him up to the wing maybe, I think it's pretty bloody clear that he's not a contested ball player, but he is decent on the outside. I think he'll have a tough time though.

 

[WAG]

Had him pegged for a HFF spot at season's start, but his last few weeks have looked so natural down back. He is doing Reilly's job better than Reilly.

He was on 5AA this afternoon and said the same thing. He's really enjoying his role and he'd be quite happy not getting moved into the forward line again (or words to that effect). What I love about him is that he can give it a good 60m+ roost to break the press. He's a genuine 100m player which bodes well for our struggling forward line.

But where does that leave Otten/Shaw in all of this?

Traded.

 

[Kerleys Ghost]

when I first heard we had hidden away a basketball convert with some footy experience I had high hopes the we had that gem that we were looking for. move on a few years and he has given us some great moments but unfortunately we remember him mainly for his lack of ticker. I feel that I have judged him quite harshly,everybody deserves a chance to settle in especially someone from his basketball background.
fast forward to this year and im not sure what hendo has been taking but hes been a revelation in the backlines,his marking,his kicking to position is up with the best of them and his run out of the backlines absolutely first class.bloody great effort from hendo and I hope he plays a lot more games for the crows.

meh, most of us have seen that in him for a couple of years now.

he's 24 or so now, around the age players like him start to develop some real consistency.

starting to see the same thing with otten now too

 

[Allefgib]

Hendo, if developed well, will become one of our more damaging players in a few years.
He's westhoff with better skills and more pace Just needs a few more years playing at the top level to adjust to the game.
Couple of backing into packs moments yesterday really really pleased me as he would have pea-hearted out of those in the past.
Must play close to every game to develop an AFL game style.

Keep it coming hendo

 

[Tex200]

One thing I only noticed on replay with commentators picking it up - there was a couple of occasions where he had simple high % short options, but he chose to run and look for a longer, more creative option.

Of course there are always times for short safe options, but as a poster said earlier he becomes 60 - 80 m carrier. Smith is similar and these guys are becoming very good architects - or as Bruce so eloquently observed of Andrew Mackie " he's a good setter upperrer