Is Ballantyne our most important player?

[longsuffreosupp]

Possibly, but I don't even think he could have lifted us today.

Fine line between winning and losing in the AFL. If we get the first couple of goals, St Kilda go in their shell, all over..

 

[clogged]

Sandilands IMO

 

[tacopavlich]

Sandilands IMO

He's been insanely good for us this year, and gifted our mids countless easy clearances. Our mids are clearly not used to being on the opposite end of a ruckman getting monstered.

 

[tesseract]

Found this interesting piece on Champion Data's twitter. http://t.co/v73fNDxB7t

Since Rd 1 2010 we have won 68% of games when Ballantyne has played. In contrast, we have only won 28% games where he hasn't played. I think the sample size here is large enough for this to be a significant trend.

Even since Lyon took over, we have won 42 of 56 games with Ballantyne but only won 3 of 8 without. I dare say we would have beaten North earlier this year had Ballantyne played.

Hopefully we can buck the trend this week but we need Ballantyne for the finals. His defensive work cannot be replaced by anyone on our list and this season he has also added a very strong offensive element to his game.

Using stats like these to propose Ballantyne being Freo's most important player is akin to Ashley Hansen being WC's most important player during the Cousins, Judd and Kerr years. When Hansen played, WC rarely lost.

 

[Kenny_01]

Using stats like these to propose Ballantyne being Freo's most important player is akin to Ashley Hansen being WC's most important player during the Cousins, Judd and Kerr years. When Hansen played, WC rarely lost.

No it's not because even under Lyon, we have won 3 of 9 games (33%) when our regular winning percentage under Lyon is over 70%. These stats completely support the point that he is. Anyway, personally I think Fyfe is however our performances with and without Ballantyne are so far apart that it is beginning to become a worrying trend.

 

[Admiral Byng]

I can't see what Ballantyne could have done to avoid a loss today.

 

[Gekko71]

how that selfish pric k ballas gets away with any criticism is beyond me after that forgetable gf you would think he would make amends but NO
gets suspended against north ,we would have won that game if he played and now against st kilda when he was our most inform player

The guy kicked a bag of goals playing with a plate in his face and looking like he's had a root canal ffs. Sure I would have preferred he played today, but calling him selfish is a bit bloody rich.

 

[benfica]

The guy kicked a bag of goals playing with a plate in his face and looking like he's had a root canal ffs. Sure I would have preferred he played today, but calling him selfish is a bit bloody rich.

selfish as in getting suspended

 

[Gekko71]

selfish as in getting suspended

I don't think selfish is quite the right word. Stupid and rash yes, but not selfish.

 

[FreoRicci]

Anyone hoping he comes out and smash Carlton a new one?. Hayden should've watched it and be all motivated. Needed him out there today as well as Sandilands. Getting suspended vs GWS isn't a great idea.

 

[eaglesfan99]

Ballantyne could be more important then players like fyfe and sand because you have good cover in both those areas and feel free to disagree but your forward line is your weakest line by the length of flemington straight.

 

[FreoGirl]

Sandi and Ballantyne are up there as our most important...the two of them out of the side has the same impact as no Gaz for the Gold Coast.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Ballas is good mates with both Subes and Duff, he would have sat at home fuming watching 2 of his mates play in milestone games with him on the sidelines and get belted. He will be a raging bull against Carlton with his chase and tackling, I can absolutely guarantee you that.

 

[Kram]

I can't see what Ballantyne could have done to avoid a loss today.

Maybe but the moron still should have been out there.

 

[Allikat]

Sure Ballas shouldn't have done it, but he was getting baited & pushed around & hit off the ball all day. We play him knowing he's going to snap when presented with situations like that, and you can tell by the way he plays after that he regrets it. In hindsight it may have been smart to move him off Bugg, but that's what we get for having a player like Ballas.

I think he is a barometer for this side, and one of our most important players, because he's always one to lift & put pressure on the opposition when it's needed, and the rest of the side tends to reflect this.

 

[strobe00]

Sandilands IMO

Yesterday was proof of that. Glaring proof.

 

[Ripper]

Yesterday was proof of that. Glaring proof.

It is not just the tapwork either , It is all the blocks that He puts on to free up the Mids.

 

[Borry]

And to think that we have a few that have gone missing here bleating on about how overrated he is.

 

[Cobbler]

I'll put my house on it that Gray won't receive anything for his punch to Jones in the stomach. Exact same as Ballantyne but because Jones doesn't go down it's a nothing event. This is where I have the problem, consistency.

We'll wait and see but my house is on it!

 

[estibador]

I can't stay mad at Ballas when I see how he runs himself to exhaustion every week for the team.

I'd take every player getting suspended occasionally if it meant they played with that sort of intensity the other 95% of the time.

 

[clivenator26]

how that selfish pric k ballas gets away with any criticism is beyond me after that forgetable gf you would think he would make amends but NO
gets suspended against north ,we would have won that game if he played and now against st kilda when he was our most inform player

Fair point, just discussing this with someone now. The time will come when the bad outweighs the good, already lost his spot in the player voted leadership group. Mundy & Kirk both publicly called him out post game,
Ross didn't but you get he feeling he has had enough. 6 times suspended/fined in 100 games is average especially in a game we were winning well and he was even kicking goals - no need for frustration.

Champions like Ablett, Pendles and even Fyfe cop their fair share. He owes us a bag against Geelong & Hawthorn.

 

[gaskin]

no need for frustration.

Let's see you take what he was copping off the ball and see how long you last. Besides, whatever GWS **** he hit went down like a sack of crap and made it look a lot worse than it was. Fair play to Ballas for going so long before retaliating because I know I would have swung a lot earlier.

 

[GordonT]

I think that Freo have evolved beyond a team that requires a "most important player".

I retract that statement.

If I had to pick one Sandi gets my vote and Hill comes a close 2nd.
The loss of Ballantyne I fell is exaggerated by Walters being injured, having both smalls out throws our balance.

 

[strobe00]

I can't stay mad at Ballas when I see how he runs himself to exhaustion every week for the team.

I'd take every player getting suspended occasionally if it meant they played with that sort of intensity the other 95% of the time.

Ditto really.

As for punching bugg... folks seem to be thinking that balla premeditatively punched that little pr!ck bugg in the guts. Bugg hit him with a round arm Harvey shot in the jaw in one marking contest. Then round armed him in the back of the head in another. And landed on him whenever he could. And I'd guarantee he was doing it on other occasions I didn't see on tv.

and from memory balla didn't get a single f!cking free.

He shouldn't have hit bugg. But that little pr!ck is appropriately named, because he was a grub. I saw a number of times that balla wanted to lash out but resorted to a push instead. I thought he was doing really well to keep it under wraps. But everyone focusses on the one time he let go than the 5 or 10 that he didn't.

The fact that our forward line is a defective mess without him isn't balla's fault. He didn't take the week off because he wanted to mow the lawn or drink cocktails. He was omitted because he snapped after continued hitting and baiting, which the umpires utterly ignored. Folks saying he was being selfish or thoughtless like he rationally chose to omit himself are creating a false scenario.

 

[Harry Reems]

I didn't realise that Ballas has kicked more goals in less games than Josh"Twinkle-Toes"Kennedy.