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Higgins leads our contested ball

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stefoid

stefoid

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At 13 per game based on a sample size of 4 games. averaging 25 disposals a match which is pretty good!

I find this surprising and also alarming. Higgins and Grif should be concentrating more on receiving and kicking. where is the spread?

Is it because he is too slow to receive a ball without fighting for it?

I mean, its great to be able to win the contested ball, but I dont want one of supposedly better kicks having to scrap for 50% of his possessions and dispose with some guy hanging off him.

We have enough inside midfielders, don't we?

Grif and Higgins lead our turnovers, based on turnovers per disposal. They shouldnt.
 
Kelvin31 said:
That is an amazing stat. Thought Cross or Boyd (or Libba) would be leading this based on per game average.
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By a whisker, but its true according to pro-stats.

As for scoring involvement, Boyd, Cross and Ward lead that, with Higgins and Cooney 8th and 9th when I think those two guys should be top 4 considering the amount of ball they are getting.

There is just something wrong with our midfield balance as a unit. We need to get the guys who can carry and kick spreading and doing their job effectively to mix it with the pies and cats.

Thank god Ward seems to be adding some of the run and kick polish we desperately need.
 
The good thing about this stat though is it shows all the fools on this board that Higgins isn't soft, and he doesn't shirk contests.

The bad thing is, as you said Stefoid, he should be on the outside hitting players up further afield. Im not sure why he is going in for the contest ball so much.
 

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Igloo said:
The bad thing is, as you said Stefoid, he should be on the outside hitting players up further afield. Im not sure why he is going in for the contest ball so much.
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A contested ball can be when it is kicked to him one out inside 50 as well. Not all about being under a pack fighting for it.
 
This stat makes me like the idea of Higgins off half back even more. We need good users of the ball off half back and Higgins isn't really the crumber we need up forward. There's already Gia up forward so Higgins may be better used further upfield.
 
CyclopsRules said:
A contested ball can be when it is kicked to him one out inside 50 as well. Not all about being under a pack fighting for it.
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Our inside 50 targets average per game are:

1 Barry Hall 12.2
2 Liam Jones 5.0
3 Will Minson 3.7
4 Jarrad Grant 3.6
5 Daniel Giansiracusa 3.2
6 Zephaniah Skinner 3.0
7 Lindsay Gilbee 2.8
8 Shaun Higgins 2.8
 
dogwatch said:
This stat makes me like the idea of Higgins off half back even more. We need good users of the ball off half back and Higgins isn't really the crumber we need up forward. There's already Gia up forward so Higgins may be better used further upfield.
Click to expand...

Did you not read the stat...
Grif and Higgins lead our turnovers, based on turnovers per disposal.
 
CyclopsRules said:
Did you not read the stat...
Grif and Higgins lead our turnovers, based on turnovers per disposal.
Click to expand...

I take your point (no, I hadn't registered that) but anyway Griff was a pretty handy half back before we moved him to the midfield.

So what do we do with them? Drop them? What's the greater evil, an occasional turnover from a possession or not winning much contested footy? (I'm not trying to be a smartarse ... it's an interesting question!)

It would be interesting to see if there are stats on how effective their possessions are when they don't turn it over, which is presumably most of the time. My guess is Griff's possessions are much more damaging than a player like Cross who often gets 80% disposal efficiency, because he breaks the line and often kicks long. Where would Higgins rate? How would his game change if asked to play at half back?
 
I dont think there is a solution except that those guys we need to be spreading and kicking need to do it better. In cooneys case we know he is capable, its just a matter of if and when he can get his mojo back.

With higgins, grif and sherman - they have to work towards better disposal by the business end of the season.

We cant just shift every onballer who can kick the ball but struggles to hit targets under pressure to half back. We have to have someone there! murph and gilbee, while great kickers, arent midfielders.

Im still not entirely sure why we dont play guido in the middle more often. It may just be that he has been more valuable up forward than in the midfield, but I would have thought with the number of new faces in the forward line, he could get more onball time. I remember him killing it when he was played on ball for a short while - was it early last season?
 
dogwatch said:
This stat makes me like the idea of Higgins off half back even more. We need good users of the ball off half back and Higgins isn't really the crumber we need up forward. There's already Gia up forward so Higgins may be better used further upfield.
Click to expand...

I would like to see this trialled. He rarely loses a contest and is a good decision maker which makes him a good option. Would love to see our guys run through him ala Luke Hodge 2008.

CyclopsRules said:
Did you not read the stat...
Grif and Higgins lead our turnovers, based on turnovers per disposal.
Click to expand...

A really poor measure of disposal, these two take way more risks with their disposal and win way more inside ball than almost any of our other midfielders. We know they have elite disposal.

In regards to the OP, this stat doesn't surprise me at all. I've been saying for years that Higgins is an inside midfielder, and should be played there instead of perpetually stagnating as a forward.

Griffen, Higgins, Cooney, Ward and Liberatore are complete midfielders, they can win the football inside and use it effectively once outside, they need to be played through the middle. On talent alone they should be the next fab five by the end of this year. Boyd and Cross need to learn new roles in my opinion, because as good as they are, the five mentioned above can be exceptional. Cross can play the floating defender role very well, and we know that Boyd can play as a defender. It's silly that these two spend almost no time in other parts of the ground, yet Cooney, Griffen, Higgins and Ward are constantly asked to move elsewhere because there's not enough space in the midfield.
 

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No doubt kicks into the f50 are the hardest kicks in footy to pull off, and that the forwards have to do the work to present as good targets for the midfield to hit up. No doubt at all.

Nevertheless we have to get better at it, and Higgins, Griffen, Sherman and Cooney are the experienced senior players who have to take on responsibility for that.

Grant and Jones are still babies, they arent going be able to take up that much slack this year.

Hall already knows where to lead, but when we are under the pump , we cant spot him up.
 

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Higgins leads our contested ball

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