Langford

[Gaston]

Look thats why stats some times lie you just have to watch the game to know he hasn't been great by hand or foot

He just lacks smarts at times. Last week he delivered a few bullet hand balls when soft give and goes were required leading to fumbles from team mates. Langford also allows perceived pressure to get the better of him thus lacking composure and greater awareness.
And the one thing that irritates me no end from him is when there is a high ball he never taps it on, always grabs it at its apex and then gets tackled as he lands leading to a ball up or turn over (holding the ball).

 

[savagelunchbox]

The biggest issue with Disposal efficiency is context.
Short kick to a team mate under no pressure 1 effective disposal
Long kick to a 50/50 your team loses that results in a turn over 1 effective disposal
As far as I'm aware kick out in front for a team mate to run onto uncontested not an effective disposal.

You could kick long to a contest, missing the shorter option, turn it over and still get an effective disposal.

One of Jordy's 70 metre barrels for Poppy to win a foot race not an effective disposal

A long kick out of your D50, directly to an opponent, is an 'effective disposal'.

 

[Gralin]

A long kick out of your D50, directly to an opponent, is an 'effective disposal'.

Even worse.

 

[LuckyHawk]

I agree: I'm sure Clarko loves his manic attack on the ball and the opposition.
It allows our more creative players to stand away from the pack and find options.

And the poster above talking about weaknesses in the team, there were always 2 or 3 players in our premiership teams in the 1970's and 1980's who wouldn't get a game in other clubs of the day.
But they played their roles.

For example, Google "David Polkinghorne" and "Mike McCarthy".

Good examples and very honest players especially Polkers and what about Peter Murnane ('76,'78 flags), he made Hill and Hartung
look like attack dogs but had the most incredible left foot kick.

 

[Hawker55]

A few have mentioned in here, his biggest problem is awareness. He has the engine and the attack to be a fantastic mid, but he lacks the awareness of knowing when to get rid and when to keep hold of the ball. I love the bloke, but I'm sick of seeing him pick up the ball and try to beat three tacklers and either coughing it up or passing it blindly.

It's incredibly frustrating as he can do the hard stuff of getting the ball, he just doesn't seem to know which option he should be selecting. I don't hold with this poor disposal argument as he's a pretty decent set shot and has a decent field kicking technique, I honestly think his problem is above the shoulders in terms of assessing options quickly.

Someone mentioned Shiels in this thread - the difference is that Shiels has more of an all round game. He can play as a straight mid, a tagger, a gut runner plus his leadership on the field is first rate. Langers doesn't really bring much else to the table other than manic attack at this stage.

 

[Sirlemsip]

A long kick out of your D50, directly to an opponent, is an 'effective disposal'.

I thought it was that any kick >40m to a '50/50 contest' was an effective disposal

 

[LuckyHawk]

Langers has the intent, heart, aggressiveness and overall ability to stay in the side.
There's a lot to like and we should remember he's still only played 43 games.
He signed for 4 years so he is held in high regard by the club.

 

[PenAndPaper]

A long kick out of your D50, directly to an opponent, is an 'effective disposal'.

Incorrect, only if it is to a 50/50 contest and over 40m

 

[savagelunchbox]

Incorrect, only if it is to a 50/50 contest and over 40m

If the ball is in a dangerous area for the opposition, which the D50 is, and you clear the ball 1.5-2 long disposals from your defensive goal, it is deemed an effective stat as you're releasing the team from a dangerous position on the ground.

An effective disposal is basically described as "a disposal to your team's advantage".

 

[PenAndPaper]

If the ball is in a dangerous area for the opposition, which the D50 is, and you clear the ball 1.5-2 long disposals from your defensive goal, it is deemed an effective stat as you're releasing the team from a dangerous position on the ground.

An effective disposal is basically described as "a disposal to your team's advantage".

It still can't go directly to an opposition player though. Still has to be a 50/50 contest...mind you what they class as a 50/50 contest isn't particularly great either.

 

[Hawk_francais]

Langford's contract and continued opportunities show that he is in the club's long-term plans, which means they believe he has the ability to play the way we want.

His endeavour can't really be doubted, it must be a game-plan problem. Clarkson often says after a poor quarter that "We didn't move the ball the way we wanted to". I think he is talking about Langford, and I don't think he is talking about ability quality of disposal - I think it's about decision-making.

 

[PenAndPaper]

He just lacks smarts at times. Last week he delivered a few bullet hand balls when soft give and goes were required leading to fumbles from team mates. Langford also allows perceived pressure to get the better of him thus lacking composure and greater awareness.
And the one thing that irritates me no end from him is when there is a high ball he never taps it on, always grabs it at its apex and then gets tackled as he lands leading to a ball up or turn over (holding the ball).

That's one thing I actually like about him because he wants to get the ball and not just knock it on and hope for the best

 

[Hawk_francais]

Was he missed in the game against North?

 

[Snoref]

Was he missed in the game against North?

I believe so, especially during the first quarter.

 

[Ordovician]

A few have mentioned in here, his biggest problem is awareness. He has the engine and the attack to be a fantastic mid, but he lacks the awareness of knowing when to get rid and when to keep hold of the ball. I love the bloke, but I'm sick of seeing him pick up the ball and try to beat three tacklers and either coughing it up or passing it blindly.

It's incredibly frustrating as he can do the hard stuff of getting the ball, he just doesn't seem to know which option he should be selecting. I don't hold with this poor disposal argument as he's a pretty decent set shot and has a decent field kicking technique, I honestly think his problem is above the shoulders in terms of assessing options quickly.

Someone mentioned Shiels in this thread - the difference is that Shiels has more of an all round game. He can play as a straight mid, a tagger, a gut runner plus his leadership on the field is first rate. Langers doesn't really bring much else to the table other than manic attack at this stage.

Hammer, nail, head.

The real problem with Langford is that he is not a natural midfielder.

He never played as a inside mid as a junior between lying in bed for six months and looking like he'd just come down from one of the upstream camps on the Burma Railroad,instead he was an outside flanker/winger type mainly a HBF. At BH he started as a BP then grooved out to the HBF. Given the numbers of third tall defenders we had at that time that was a real dead end in you ever wanted to play in the seniors. Then some one decided he could be used as tagger because of his burst pace and relentless attack on the ball and the rest as they say, is history.

As a result of playing his junior career, when not ill, as flanker he lacks the following fundamental skills of an inside mid:

i. 360 degree awareness cf. Mitchell, Lewis, Hodge etc.. I simply lost count of the number of times he'd be tackled in a pack from behind in his first years at BH.

ii. the ability to hit a target at short distance under pressure, a common complaint over the last two seasons

iii. the ability to get the ball quickly to foot. This contributes to ii. but good mids have a quick jab kick with little back lift to dispose of the ball quickly whaen they are under pressure

iv. the ability to instantly chose the best available option and execute this. The absolute best mids IMO actually actively think through the game at all instants and know exactly what the best available option is at any instant. hence they seem to have decided what to do with the ball before they even take possession. Dew was a master of this art.

I love Langers' attack on the ball, his tenacity and burst pace.

At the moment he has "lost it", and whatever "it" is, it is clearly not there.

Players may lose confidence, they may be hampered by injury, they get old and lose their athleticism, but they do not lose fundamental footballing ability.

Langford was a very good player at the end of 2014 and looked like he could go on and possibly become an A grader.

I have faith that if he can get his body right, work hard on what the coaches want from him, and goes back down to BH to work had on his game that he will eventually return to the something like player that wowed us in the finals in 2014.

The kid has clearly the intelligence, the work ethic and an intense love of our club, so all he needs is constructive remediation and time.

 

[Philhawk]

I posted elsewhere at how fantastic a job Clarko has done at developing Sicily - I just wonder why Langford hasn't come along as well as we would like. Is it possibly to do with his own work rate/desire not being up to the standard Clarko expects?

 

[Hawker55]

I posted elsewhere at how fantastic a job Clarko has done at developing Sicily - I just wonder why Langford hasn't come along as well as we would like. Is it possibly to do with his own work rate/desire not being up to the standard Clarko expects?

Not a fair comparison IMO - Sicily is where Langers was in 2014. Langers is getting to the point (50 games) where improvement in skill level tapers off and experience starts counting.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

I was a huge fan of Langford after his stellar 2014 finals series. His decline since that period is staggering. So far today he has little to no impact in the Box Hill game v Geelong. On today's performance he cannot come back into the side. I think that Clarkson needs to persist with Stewart and even JOR in front of Langford. Something is seriously amiss with him...

 

[MoustachioNuts]

He just lacks smarts at times.

Tom Harley here.
Did you know Langford went to Sydney's elite Cranbrook college?
He did.

 

[crazywildhorse]

Can we elevate this to an official 'where's he at' thread? I think it's time.

 

[Smooth Banana]

We all love his effort, his heart, the kid is a bull. Just his poor decision making and disposals is what frustrates us. Give him time. We have seen Will play at a high level, the boy can play. He tore that shit up on grand final day who can forget. As a collective we hope he can get to that level again. That performance alone has been a double edged sword for him. He has raised our expectations of him and now he is paying the price. As supporters lets try be more positive I reckon and not shoot him down. Still a kid.

Still love ya Will.

 

[savagebradley]

We all love his effort, his heart, the kid is a bull. Just his poor decision making and disposals is what frustrates us. Give him time. We have seen Will play at a high level, the boy can play. He tore that shit up on grand final day who can forget. As a collective we hope he can get to that level again. That performance alone has been a double edged sword for him. He has raised our expectations of him and now he is paying the price. As supporters lets try be more positive I reckon and not shoot him down. Still a kid.

Still love ya Will.

I loved his Dad, one of the all time greats and a Hawthorn legend.

Won't give up on Will, he's got something and just needs a turning point.

 

[Gralin]

I found this quite interesting, especially the last part
“Will came back to us this week, and it was great to have someone of his calibre, with his leadership and ability to win the footy in tight. He started off the game really well with nine disposals. He was important around the clearances, winning six, and similarly to Kieran (Lovell), he influenced the game on the defensive end with seven tackles. It was pleasing that he was able to get through the game and contribute – especially in the first half.” – Marco Bello

Pleasing that he was able to get through the game makes me wonder if he is carrying something or if he copped a knock in the game

 

[becalm]

Maybe he should be given the role of a tagger until he regains his confidence. As others have said there have been big expectations from him therefore he has felt more pressure and not reaching those expectations he has lost confidence. I think his poor form is due to lack of confidence. As others have said disposal is one of his downfalls however during the 2014 final series his disposal was good. Was that just a fluke?

 

[crazywildhorse]

Maybe he should be given the role of a tagger until he regains his confidence. As others have said there have been big expectations from him therefore he has felt more pressure and not reaching those expectations he has lost confidence. I think his poor form is due to lack of confidence. As others have said disposal is one of his downfalls however during the 2014 final series his disposal was good. Was that just a fluke?

No fluke, it is a confidence thing. He's not making good decisions when he gets into space, he knows exactly what's going on the inside. When he finds time and space, he seems to overthink his options. He only really shanks his kicks when he suddenly realises he's made space for himself.