Remove this Banner Ad

Higgins - returning early

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

bludger said:
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.
Click to expand...

addison, callan, eagleton or ray would make way for a fit scott west. a fit scott west is simply is our best midfielder behind cooney and cross.

If addison and callan were both out of the side due to form/injury, you could play griffen at hbf and west in the guts come finals time. Griffen is way better than either of those two in defence and he is yet to consistantly play better than west in the guts, especially if tagged.

heres what our best might look like come finals time 22 barring injury or bad form: (I think eade will try to play williams and everitt into form)

gilbee lake hargrave
callan williams morris
cross west griff
johno murph hahn
welsh minson aker

r: hudson cooney boyd
i: everitt, ray, eagleton, guido

you might consider replacing eagleton or ray on the bench with higgins or hill if (somehow) they managed to string together a few blisteringly good games for williamstown.
 
Why are some people making it sound like West hasn't played a game this year?

He was easily in our best 22 6 weeks ago and barring injury will easily be in our best 22 in 6 weeks.
 
Struggled in the first 6 games, was okay without being dominant self. What is the word? "servicable".
That may have to do with the fact he was playing injured, i don't know.
We tend to look backwards in life rather than forwards, looking backwards sometimes makes us look at things with biased opinions either good or bad. It is easier to make decisions on what has happened on the past rather than make decisions that are hard that may affect our future.
I am not saying Scotty is finished, i am saying he will have to work very hard to get back.
To presume he is an automatic selection is in my opinion short-sighted.
 

Log in to remove this Banner Ad

bludger said:
Struggled in the first 6 games, was okay without being dominant self. What is the word? "servicable".
That may have to do with the fact he was playing injured, i don't know.
We tend to look backwards in life rather than forwards, looking backwards sometimes makes us look at things with biased opinions either good or bad. It is easier to make decisions on what has happened on the past rather than make decisions that are hard that may affect our future.
I am not saying Scotty is finished, i am saying he will have to work very hard to get back.
To presume he is an automatic selection is in my opinion short-sighted.
Click to expand...

A fit scott west, as he was in the first couple of games this year, will generate high 20s posessions games, with about 1/3rd of those posessions contested, 4 or 5 clearances and 4 or 5 tackles.

If he is fit, he will play.
 
Scott West will play if fit..simple as that.
There is no way possible that he won't get picked, i mean c'mon guys he is alot better then half of the 22 playing at the moment..i think use have all forgotten how good he is, his been in our top 3 players over the past 10 years and that's not going to stop.
 
cisek19 said:
Scott West will play if fit..simple as that.
There is no way possible that he won't get picked, i mean c'mon guys he is alot better then half of the 22 playing at the moment..i think use have all forgotten how good he is, his been in our top 3 players over the past 10 years and that's not going to stop.
Click to expand...
My exact point we are looking backwards at his form. YES he has been one of our best players for a long time, there has been some examples shown on this thread how to fit him into the side e.g moving Griff to hbf etc etc.
My reasoning is how many positions can Scotty play? I would say one and a half and that is in the guts for sure and possibly a tag role. No other player in the side barring Huddo is limited to one position. I think it is a bit of a millstone to have around your neck.
I am not going to post after this post on this thread as i don't want to be seen to be the one that shot Bambi.
I want him in the team sooner rather than later, but if he cannot come up soon then I think it is going to be a tough decision that faces the selectors.
 
bludger said:
My exact point we are looking backwards at his form. YES he has been one of our best players for a long time, there has been some examples shown on this thread how to fit him into the side e.g moving Griff to hbf etc etc.
My reasoning is how many positions can Scotty play? I would say one and a half and that is in the guts for sure and possibly a tag role. No other player in the side barring Huddo is limited to one position. I think it is a bit of a millstone to have around your neck.
I am not going to post after this post on this thread as i don't want to be seen to be the one that shot Bambi.
I want him in the team sooner rather than later, but if he cannot come up soon then I think it is going to be a tough decision that faces the selectors.
Click to expand...
That's like saying a heart specialist is a crap doctor because he's only good with hearts.

Seriously, West is a gun at the role he plays. He doesn't need to be able to play any others. Versatility is good, but being a gun at one role is just as good.
 
BenF said:
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.
Click to expand...


Can't buy that - Hargy has been amongst our best players in the last few weeks and it would be replacing a defender with an attacking player.

I think Higgins anywhere near his best should be in our best 22 as should a fit Westy - one dimension, two dimensions, the fifth dimension it doesn't matter how many dimensions he has!
 
i cant believe one or two people are thinking of not playing westy. He is a 7 time b & f and a legend of this club. He rarely ever gets under twenty touches and has been so close to a brownlow many times. He is a 300 game superstar and will be playing finals time.
 
bludger said:
My exact point we are looking backwards at his form. YES he has been one of our best players for a long time, there has been some examples shown on this thread how to fit him into the side e.g moving Griff to hbf etc etc.
My reasoning is how many positions can Scotty play? I would say one and a half and that is in the guts for sure and possibly a tag role. No other player in the side barring Huddo is limited to one position. I think it is a bit of a millstone to have around your neck.
I am not going to post after this post on this thread as i don't want to be seen to be the one that shot Bambi.
I want him in the team sooner rather than later, but if he cannot come up soon then I think it is going to be a tough decision that faces the selectors.
Click to expand...


and whats wrong with moving griffen to a hbf if that improves the team? West offers us more in the middle than griffen has shown so far, and griffen offers way more than either addison or callan in defence - win - win.

its not looking backwards its looking forwards to a grand final, possibly as soon as this year. there isnt a team in the league that is so strong in the midfield that a fit scott west wouldnt improve it.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

I'd like to add something if i may..
Look i think Scotty is a champion and has served our club like a true champion that he is.

But having Boyd or Grif playing in the role West does has given our midfield a new look. Now hear me out.. West is a great in and under player but the one thing he lacks in his game is speed and burst.

Grif has been doing West's job but he has these extra quality's and that may be the reason why our midfield has been dominating this year.

You hear people saying that the dogs are just too quick thru the midfield. With West in the mid it will slow us down.

This is my view, some will call me crazy but this is how i see things.

I still think West should be in the team but maybe a more off the bench role.
 
its not looking backwards its looking forwards to a grand final, possibly as soon as this year. there isnt a team in the league that is so strong in the midfield that a fit scott west wouldnt improve it

Hawthorn....Geelong...Sydney...Port

I know people think i don't want Scott West in the team. THAT IS WRONG I want him there.
I am saying that the longer he is out the harder it is to justify him as an automatic selection. Which in turn puts a lot of pressure on the selectors as well as himself.

As for Griff playing hbf yes of course he can play there and do a good job. But would the team be as effective as it is now, that is the question that will be answered down the track i guess.
Couldn't help myself i said no more posts lol
ps once again I want Scotty in the team.
 
Boyd is not faster than West. Neither is cross. This isnt about anything other than Wests ability - he is an elite runner, he wins huge amounts of contested ball and generates clearances, his vision and disposal is excellent and his footy nous to be in the right place to help out other teammates with run and carry is second to none.

When we enter the finals the physical contests and pressure on disposal will go up to another level - that wont worry Westy but a few guys whoose disposal is already a bit on the iffy side will be under the pump.

When our run stagnates out of defence due to zones or clusters or people being tired or loosing concentration or due to Sydney's intense manning up - you will se the value of someone like Westy who is always busting a gut to provide a handball recieve option all over the ground, release pressure on the ball carrier or bring an another teamate into the play and get the ball flowing again.

Congrats on Boyd for bringing his game almost up to Westys level in terms of running power and hardness at the ball, but Westy is still better at disposal under pressure than Boyd. Congrats to Gia for improving his game in the same areas, but he cant touch West yet in any category when playing in the midfield. Ray? nu-uh. Eagleton? dont get me started.

This is how I rate our midfielders when fit and in the best form (that they are showing now)

1) Cooney
2) West / Cross (cant split em - Cross is better overhead but westy is a better kick)
3) Boyd - disposal could be better
4) Griffen (yes potential, but has a lot to learn and needs to imrpove his fitness to the next level)
5) Gia - disposal could be better
6) Eagleton / Ray (cant spit em - eagleton has 'the kick' and works harder to recieve but ray is a more rounded player)
 
Come finals time west will be extremely valuable, he's done it all pretty much and he'll be as hungry as ever to go that extra step this year. He's proven at the start of the year he wasn't slowing down much at all if any and I feel that his inclusion will just make our midfield rotations that much better, it means guys like cooney can spend half a quarter sitting down at full foward where he is extremely dangerous and allows griffen to grive drive off half back etc.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Higgins - returning early

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Back
Top