Houli

[Madison]

Just wanted to give a shout out to a player that cops a lot on this forum.

I get the feeling people tend to read something about a player and then make that their opinion, regardless of what they see. And to me, Houli is the main victim of this.

This myth that he is soft and poor defensively, and is purely an outside offensive HB who doesn't tackle is just that, a myth.

But people see this on here, and they think it's true and they keep regurgitating it like it's their own opinion.

And this isn't in response to the most recent game, though I thought he was brilliant defensively. But all season he seems to be charging down a player to spoil a mark out of bounds when the opposition looks to be away. His tackling has gone to another level and he has been crunched a few times already this year sitting under a mark when he knew contact was coming.

I think people need to start watching him on his merits, cos he is pretty much doing everything that people complain he doesn't do.

 

[Martin#4]

Nothing pisses me more than when a Richmond supporter who claims to watch the games calls Houli soft. Clearly have some sort of perception ingrained in their heads they seem to fail to ignore.

Very good aerialy as well. I've noticed multiple times where he and a forward are running back with the flight of the ball, and the forward has prime position facing the ball and Houli has his back to it, but he's still able to jump over his opponent and spoil the ball clear without infringing. People don't understand how difficult it is to do what Houli does on a regular basis, the majority of players end up making front on contact or chop the arms and give away a free OR can't affect a spoil full stop, which allows a mark and more often than not a goal.

Some of the criticism he cops on here is ridiculous. At least it points out which supporters don't know much about the game.

 

[TJTIGER]

Good call Madison, I have a lot of time for Bachar. Calls of soft just left me scratching my head. I posted this elsewhere and I still think it. He may not go in like Tucky or Morris but few players do. He does tackle and as you say puts his body on the line under the high ball regularly. For me is one of those guys that cares about his team mates, (glue of the squad). I would suggest is respected within the team/club more than we know, he is also not one to blow his own praises either (at least not publicly). At the minimum is a solid citizen, with 22-25 of those you can go deep into September. Just my 2c worth......

 

[SJ17]

One of our best pick ups. Read somewhere a week or so ago that he had been working on his defensive game this year. Has become a very good player. Happy he wanted to play for us.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Some of the criticism he cops on here is ridiculous. At least it points out which supporters don't know much about the game.

Where do we sign up for the Houli fan club so i can get a better understanding of the game?

 

[Tigertrain9]

He's definitely an important part of our side, but I stand by my opinion that he is soft, not because of the outside role he plays, but I believe he panics under pressure with the ball and doesn't attack contests as hard as he should.

Just as some of you fellas cannot see how some people think he is soft, me and a few of my tiges supporter friends cannot see how anyone could not think he is soft. It stands out every game and costs us goals.

He's certainly a polarizing player! Fair thread though, he is playing an important role at the moment, runs as hard as anyone out of defense. Shame he's soft as butter

 

[TigermanM2]

At the minimum is a solid citizen, with 22-25 of those you can go deep into September. Just my 2c worth......

Would go further than "solid" and say he is an outstanding citizen. I agree that our playing group can achieve great things with these qualities within its midst.

 

[T4P]

Gee he does some ****ing dumb things though...

 

[TerraTiger]

Opinion divided no doubt. Per this thread's posts. Mine? I really like Houli. Good offense/delivery, good pace and run. Not soft at all from my observation. My personally belief is folks are mixing up 'soft' with not great tackling technique. I've seen opponents break tackles more than i'd like with Bachar but that's about it - i don't equate this as soft at all, at least not in the sense of courage. Also, i think he's improved in one on one contests - used to get beaten too easily on these in previous years but not as much now. Again, that's not soft it's just a skill.

I also really like what he brings in terms of off the field and seems to be a genuine solid citizen and good role model.

interesting debate.....

 

[sante]

Having his best season. Been very good defensively. Offensively been quieter but would be in our top 5 for B&F IMO.

 

[Groupie_]

GUN

 

[Grockadoc]

I'll admit I've knocked Houli on occasion. Happy he is doing well. I felt in 2011 he was fantastic for us, but last year he went a little backwards in terms of output. That may be because he was working on his defensive game, playing a more team orientated game, I don't know.

This year, he started much the same as 2012, but the past month or so has really gotten back to where we saw him in 2011. That being said, my only knock on Houli has been his tackling technique, and whilst he has worked on it, I still think it is his biggest flaw.

Glad to see he is doing well, and I hope he can keep this up, as he has shown that he can be a damaging player for us. I just hope in a couple of years we have a silky skilled half back flanker, either via the draft, trading/FA or if McIntosh comes on, so we can have Houli pushed up the ground, where I think he is far more damaging.

 

[tugga]

I love him as much as I love hot pumpkin soup with a dollop of sour cream and a warm bread roll on a cold winter's day.

 

[Capitano_Cotch]

Love Bachar.
Vital to our side.
Very good at finding space for himself and can be extremely damaging by foot.
The only criticism I have of him is that he sometimes doesn't stick his tackles that he should.
But hey, at least he attempts to tackle, which some people believe he does not do.
Definitely not soft.
The only people who think so, are bombers supporters.

 

[DustinsGuns]

Agree with OP. He is a seriously good player and everyone knows it except our own supporters.

It has been widely publicized that if you stop Houli, you stop Richmond because of the run he gives us off the half back.

 

[CoggaRules]

Yep, he might make a mistake every now and then, purely because he gets given the ball out of panic onto his wrong side, but safe to say, one of a few now in the tigers line up that I dont hold my breath with when he has the ball in his hands..

 

[rado]

I rate houli and I like the offensive side of his game, however I think he is still capable of having the odd brain fade where he will panic under pressure, eg. Letting that handball from dea slip right through his hands in the 1st qtr on Monday, resulting in a goal. Wouldn't call him soft, but yes he does panic occasionally.
If he can clean those silly mistakes up he would be so much better than he is.

 

[CoggaRules]

I rate houli and I like the offensive side of his game, however I think he is still capable of having the odd brain fade where he will panic under pressure, eg. Letting that handball from dea slip right through his hands in the 1st qtr on Monday, resulting in a goal. Wouldn't call him soft, but yes he does panic occasionally.
If he can clean those silly mistakes up he would be so much better than he is.

Naa man, if he was a serial offender I would be really worried. The thing with Bash is that he makes one or two each third week and they stand out and everyone goes to town...and the mistakes are 99% due to him being on his wrong side...his pluses are lightyears ahead of his negatives...he is a gun IMO, top notch kick of the ball

 

[Ralll]

I'll play devils advocate here.

I did some stats a while back over 2 games (Geelong and Coll iirc) identifying who was failing in the backline enabling the opposition to score, based on obvious errors as opposed to simply good play from the opposition.
Houli was almost double the next player in mistakes made, mostly from ball watching while his man slipped him and set up or kicked the goal, and sometimes from brain fades like the missed handball from Dea on Monday.
I also noticed he isnt exactly a Morris when it comes to hardness at the ball, he definitely has his moments of 'squibness' more so than other tougher hbf's going around.

Now Houli is our quarterback off the backline and that is his strength, the whole theory with Houli is, if he can help setup 5-6 goals off his running play and yet only concede 1-3 from defensive errors, then he has done his job and we are well on the way to winning the game.

Take the quarterback factor away from his game and theres no way he would make it as a defensive stopper at AFL level imo, he's defending is simply not good enough.

If he could improve his defending(its good to hear he's working on it) he would be close to the best hbf in the league. But for now he's a great rebounder with average defending abilities imo.

 

[nobulltiger]

Just wanted to give a shout out to a player that cops a lot on this forum.

I get the feeling people tend to read something about a player and then make that their opinion, regardless of what they see. And to me, Houli is the main victim of this.

This myth that he is soft and poor defensively, and is purely an outside offensive HB who doesn't tackle is just that, a myth.

But people see this on here, and they think it's true and they keep regurgitating it like it's their own opinion.

And this isn't in response to the most recent game, though I thought he was brilliant defensively. But all season he seems to be charging down a player to spoil a mark out of bounds when the opposition looks to be away. His tackling has gone to another level and he has been crunched a few times already this year sitting under a mark when he knew contact was coming.

I think people need to start watching him on his merits, cos he is pretty much doing everything that people complain he doesn't do.

SPOT ON!!!!!

 

[scarecrow2k1]

Truer words have never been spoken than those in this OP. One of the best value pickups that has walked in our clubs doors since we snagged Foley for cheap. Love him

 

[WATIGE]

I rate houli and I like the offensive side of his game, however I think he is still capable of having the odd brain fade where he will panic under pressure, eg. Letting that handball from dea slip right through his hands in the 1st qtr on Monday, resulting in a goal. Wouldn't call him soft, but yes he does panic occasionally.
If he can clean those silly mistakes up he would be so much better than he is.

that pisses me orf - why don't knock the handball from Dea that was pannicked, placed way too high over Houli's head making the poor prick jump for it. FFS if you're going to pick something pick something real.

BTW - don't mind Dea, reckon he played a solid game and that was his only real error.

And don't mind Houli being soft as butter cause he obviously keeps it in the Freezer.

 

[rado]

Naa man, if he was a serial offender I would be really worried. The thing with Bash is that he makes one or two each third week and they stand out and everyone goes to town...and the mistakes are 99% due to him being on his wrong side...his pluses are lightyears ahead of his negatives...he is a gun IMO, top notch kick of the ball

Wouldn't go as far to call him a gun....from what I've seen when he makes a mistake it's a real **** up, causing a goal. He might only do it occasionally but they are demoralising to the team when we work so hard to get our goals and then see a player cough one up so easily. Don't get me wrong I rate him as a player, just hope he can fix this issue in the future.

 

[rado]

that pisses me orf - why don't knock the handball from Dea that was pannicked, placed way too high over Houli's head making the poor prick jump for it. FFS if you're going to pick something pick something real.

BTW - don't mind Dea, reckon he played a solid game and that was his only real error.

And don't mind Houli being soft as butter cause he obviously keeps it in the Freezer.

No doubt dea's handball was unnecessary, but come on it was easily catchable lol. Houli never should have been given the ball, however he was and then reacted in a typical houli way by shitting himself and trying to spend it before he had it. If he can fix this issue he will become a very good afl player.

 

[WATIGE]

No doubt dea's handball was unnecessary, but come on it was easily catchable lol. Houli never should have been given the ball, however he was and then reacted in a typical houli way by shitting himself and trying to spend it before he had it. If he can fix this issue he will become a very good afl player.

Agree to disagree