Joel Bowden.....

[The Passenger]

gday folks, I was just wondering how Joel Bowden was going this season.

I remember during 2001 he was generally considered amongst the best 10 or 20 players in the competition at only 23 years of age, and it was only a matter of consistency that seemed to be stopping him from being in the top 5 players.

But recently, despite moving into his mid 20s where he should be about to hit his peak, there doesn't seem to be as much talk about him and he isn't really talked about when people mention they're best players in the competition.

 

[Foxtrot]

I don't know what to think of him. He get's the footy a lot and sometimes uses it really well - but other times makes an awful decision or execution error.. and these "other times" occur pretty regularly. Plenty of other Tiger fans seem to question his toughness but I see that as not as bigger problem as those lazy skill errors.

Sometimes I can't help thinking if he was coached by a MM or Pagan type he would be a 25% better footballer.

At the moment he is the footy equivalent of Mark Waugh if MW had averaged in the high 20s.

 

[CJH]

Originally posted by Foxtrot


...

At the moment he is the footy equivalent of Mark Waugh if MW had averaged in the high 20s.

An excellent analogy!

Bowden has all it takes to be an elite player in this competition but does let himself down by being lazy or too cute in his disposal.

He is fairly laconic which can lead to an overall lazy perception though I don't really think that his workrate can be questioned.

 

[nut]

That was my analogy.

http://www.bigfooty.com//forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60056&highlight=Waugh

 

[Foxtrot]

Originally posted by nut
That was my analogy.

http://www.bigfooty.com//forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60056&highlight=Waugh

Sorry Nut - didn't mean to plagiarise.

Great minds?

I do think a direct comparison is a bit unfair on Junior which is why I added the "if he averaged in the high 20s" bit.

The fact is despite Waugh's seemingly laconic attitude he has delivered the goods for Australia under extreme pressure in both South Africa and the Windies (when both countries fielded ultra competetive sides).

I don't think Joel has delivered the same for the Tigers yet. Maybe Ian Harvey is a better comparison? Actually - I think I'm being a bit too harsh on Joel there.

 

[nut]

Originally posted by Foxtrot
Sorry Nut - didn't mean to plagiarise.

Great minds?

I do think a direct comparison is a bit unfair on Junior which is why I added the "if he averaged in the high 20s" bit.

The fact is despite Waugh's seemingly laconic attitude he has delivered the goods for Australia under extreme pressure in both South Africa and the Windies (when both countries fielded ultra competetive sides).

I don't think Joel has delivered the same for the Tigers yet. Maybe Ian Harvey is a better comparison? Actually - I think I'm being a bit too harsh on Joel there.

I'm a believer that you play as you train.
Not that I'm a regular at Tiger training sessions but I would predict that he is a very competitive at training and shows of his ability when ever he can. Almost to the piont that he is so good that he has a smart arsre attitude about it.
Banana kicks here. Under passes there. Look away passes etc...... and he would execute them with precision 9 time out of 10. With the Coaching staff letting him experiment and add to his already loaded bag of tricks.
Come game day, the pressure of the occassion etc...I think he carries that mind set out on to the ground an almost Arrogant attitude in his own ability. When he fails at something he wants to prove he can do it so he tries again and makes the same mistake again, rather than being just content to beat his opponent.

If he concentrated and had the training mind set of say, Chaffey we would have a player that would be again considered to 20 in the comp.