Remove this Banner Ad

Higgins - returning early

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

M

mfbetterman

Draftee
Mar 23, 2007
14
0
Melbourne
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
The link below is from the dogs website, just saying that Higgins is hoping to be playing round 15 down at williamstown & his recovery is so far going well!
http://westernbulldogs.com.au/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsid=61245

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on him, what position he is best suited to & from the weekend's side who would have to be dropped for him to get a game? Its hard considering murphy & west are automatic selections with a few others to come back from injury & playing well for williamstown.
 
mfbetterman said:
The link below is from the dogs website, just saying that Higgins is hoping to be playing round 15 down at williamstown & his recovery is so far going well!
http://westernbulldogs.com.au/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsid=61245

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on him, what position he is best suited to & from the weekend's side who would have to be dropped for him to get a game? Its hard considering murphy & west are automatic selections with a few others to come back from injury & playing well for williamstown.
Click to expand...

It is a good problem to have. I think higgins is a good player who has the potential to be a very good player, he needs to work on his disposal however. It's hard to predict who would be dropped for him as it is still a few weeks away and injuries play a part. If I had to say, I'd pick Hargrave.
 

Log in to remove this Banner Ad

Saw in the paper he is still 6 away today. If that is the case I don't like his chances of getting in. I would have thought that even Scotty West if not back before round 15 might struggle to get back in.
 
bludger said:
Saw in the paper he is still 6 away today. If that is the case I don't like his chances of getting in. I would have thought that even Scotty West if not back before round 15 might struggle to get back in.
Click to expand...

Boyd, Cooney, Cross and Griffen

Where the bloody hell is Scott West going to play ?
 
Agree Acker, tough on him seeing as he has carried the load for so long, but none of those guys deserve or will be dropped
 
Im sure we can squeeze Westy in.

Higgins will be a gun. A player like Didak I would say. Might struggle to get back this however the way we are playing if he doesnt return soon.
 
bludger said:
Agree Acker, tough on him seeing as he has carried the load for so long, but none of those guys deserve or will be dropped
Click to expand...

It doesn't get any easier on the bench

Eagle has got that penetrating left foot, Gia's got that forward game, Addison's got those run down tackles and Farren's got a bit of everything.

Then you have got Hill, Ward and Stack bubbling away looking to slot in as well, and Callen and Higgins coming back from injury.

The dogs 2008 finals campaign will end in tears for some pretty good AFL players. You can only play 22 not 25-26
 
Maybe he could come back in a shut down role, but most of the players he might try to shut down would just go down to the goalsquare and exploit his lack of height and pace. Bit of a conundrum, I am of the belief that he is a player that can really only play in the centre square. He loves the contested ball, but now that we have Griff, Coon, Boydy and Crossy all with stronger physical attributes it is hard to build a case.
I kind of feel sorry for him, because we look as threatening as a club since probably 97 and by rights he should be there.
 
Interesting. I've read people compare him to Gia and Didak in this thread, but I still think he has a bit of something even better about him - a young Ben Cousins.

Unfortunately for Higgins, Cousins didn't have those injury worries early on in his career, but Cousins started as a FP, and Higgins has previously shown glimpses of goal sneak Cousins. As a midfielder, it might be totally different, and Cousins blossomed into a gun midfielder very quickly.

Doubt his midfield game will be like Cousins', though. His style is completely unique, absolute freak with an enormous tank. Sure we'd all settle for him being half as good as Cousins.
 
X_box_X said:
Interesting. I've read people compare him to Gia and Didak in this thread, but I still think he has a bit of something even better about him - a young Ben Cousins.

Unfortunately for Higgins, Cousins didn't have those injury worries early on in his career, but Cousins started as a FP, and Higgins has previously shown glimpses of goal sneak Cousins. As a midfielder, it might be totally different, and Cousins blossomed into a gun midfielder very quickly.

Doubt his midfield game will be like Cousins', though. His style is completely unique, absolute freak with an enormous tank. Sure we'd all settle for him being half as good as Cousins.
Click to expand...
I heard other people say Cousins and i agree with that. I was just thinking of someone in our side that plays a similar role to Higgins.
But i completely agree with what you say about him and Cousins. Ill be glad if he becomes half as good as Cousins. And doesnt have any of the off-field problems Cousins has ;):D
 

Remove this Banner Ad

acker said:
Big call son..
Click to expand...

also a logical and easy call. To suggest that West won't be in the side is just taking your hatred of him to all new levels. To even mention people like Hill, Ward and Stack as being competition to him is just plain stupid.

You ask where he will play because of Boyd, Cross, Cooney and Griffen. Well Aker those 4 players didn't just start playing in the past 8 weeks. There have been there playing with West for some time. They even played together this year!

One of Tiller, Ward and Addison would be out of the side as soon as Westy is available. That's not to say that they are bad players but they are not Scott West.


BTW the OX said that Higgins is 4 weeks ahead of schedule during the 3rd quarter of the Saints game.
 
boydsno1 said:
west will have a spot. he fitted in the team early in the yr and was playing very well.
Click to expand...

Agree with the above, westy will be in our best side when returning from injury. I cant believe people are saying we might not be able to fit him in? Barring any injuries i believe Addison, Tiller, Hill, Ward, Callan & Higgins will be fighting for the last couple of spots in our side. It definitely puts pressure on these blokes to perform every week & provides the coaching staff with a healthy problem!
 
mfbetterman said:
Agree with the above, westy will be in our best side when returning from injury. I cant believe people are saying we might not be able to fit him in? Barring any injuries i believe Addison, Tiller, Hill, Ward, Callan & Higgins will be fighting for the last couple of spots in our side. It definitely puts pressure on these blokes to perform every week & provides the coaching staff with a healthy problem!
Click to expand...

Acker is 1 person. Thats all.
 
Borgsta said:
also a logical and easy call. To suggest that West won't be in the side is just taking your hatred of him to all new levels. To even mention people like Hill, Ward and Stack as being competition to him is just plain stupid.

You ask where he will play because of Boyd, Cross, Cooney and Griffen. Well Aker those 4 players didn't just start playing in the past 8 weeks. There have been there playing with West for some time. They even played together this year!

One of Tiller, Ward and Addison would be out of the side as soon as Westy is available. That's not to say that they are bad players but they are not Scott West.


BTW the OX said that Higgins is 4 weeks ahead of schedule during the 3rd quarter of the Saints game.
Click to expand...

No hatred just hard to fit, Tiller will probably make way for Robbie Murphy this week, Addison's form does not warrant being dropped.

So that leaves Ward...and lets not forget Callen is due to come back hopefully soon as well.
 

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Very simple equation. If West is fully fit he will play.

Early last year Higgins did some sensational things. It was pretty obvious from those games that he was going to be a special player.

The display against Collingwood last year was special (4 goals and a brownlow vote). Fully fit he has to also be in our best 22.

Johnson was being interviewed tonight on 3AW and basically said that Shaun will be back around round 15. He will need 3 games in at Willy and then will be a big asset for the team.
 
AngeloPetraglia said:
Very simple equation. If West is fully fit he will play.
The display against Collingwood last year was special (4 goals and a brownlow vote). Fully fit he has to also be in our best 22.
Click to expand...

Since we are looking backwards

Farren's display against Collingwood in the 2006 Elimination final in front of 80000 + thousand in a sudden death game was pretty special too.

Equaly good reason why if fully fit he should be in our best 22 midfeild with Boyd, Cooney, Griffen and Cross.
 
West not in our best 22? gee, what a controversial statement! you must be a very cool person, acker.

I want to be cool too!
I reckon Cooney will struggle to get a game once Hill, Higgins and OKeefe hit their straps.
 
acker said:
Since we are looking backwards

Farren's display against Collingwood in the 2006 Elimination final in front of 80000 + thousand in a sudden death game was pretty special too.

Equaly good reason why if fully fit he should be in our best 22 midfeild with Boyd, Cooney, Griffen and Cross.
Click to expand...
Farren, Higgins, West are all in our BEST 22.

We have a number of guys - Addison, Hill, Ward, Tiller, et al who are GOOD enough to be in our 22, but may not quite be in our BEST 22.

West and Higgins definitely are.
 
I hate to be controversial also people but unless one of our on-ballers fall over i find it hard to justify a spot for Westy automatically. It is not that i don't want him there, I just don't see where he can fit in at the moment. He is a gun at getting the ball in the clinches at the bottom of packs, but we seem to be playing a different type of game now.
To say he is a better player than the guys mentioned is definitely true in an overall sense, but not in a positional sense. Callen and Addison can shut down blokes, they are willing to sacrifice their games for the good of the side. They are tough and uncompromising at the contest and have size and pace to run with bigger opponents. I agree that he would be in the team ahead of Ward and Hill.
He has never been a noted tagger, and even though in the past he has always run a game out, he is not quick.
His disposal other than his handball is poor, he doesn't hurt other sides with his field or goal kicking.
He will have lost a lot of match fitness over the 10 or so weeks he has been out.

On the positives for Westy to be balanced.
Nobody gets the hard ball better than him.
His vision with handball creates space as well as anyone going around.
His lack of pace in the centre square alone is not a huge issue as he knows angles and shortcuts, you cannot buy that experience.

Overall it is going to be a tough and interesting time for our beloved number 7, the selectors, and the fans. Hopefully he does enough to convince everybody that he is right to go and will be selected.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Higgins - returning early

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Back
Top