Roast Leon Davis should be dropped

[Harveybirdman]

Re: Have to Drop Leon Davis

Bullshit he was anything but explosive last night at one stage in the last quarter had the perfect opportunity to take a mark and he ran away from the ball in another piece of play in the second quarter he got the ball 50 metres out from goal with space to run into and just stood still. I'm sick of the excuses his young, his injured, his under utilised. It has been going on his whole career bring in Lockyer, Medhurst or Dick someone who actually plays with a bit of heart as far as I'm concerned he doesn't deserve to play in black and white stripes until he proves he is up to it.

Leon is clearly a confidence player, and at the moment that confidence is rock bottom.

What do you expect when you play a player out of form in the one spot where its almost impossible to impose yourself on a game. He should be the main link player for your side through the half forward line. Davis has such clean disposal, and uses it well....when he's confident. He was brilliant last season, absolutely brilliant....and you can see his confidence is completely gone last night.

Like the poster above has said, Didak should be the one playing in the forward line. He's a better lead up player than Davis, and a better mark of the ball.

What do you guys seriously expect Leon to do when you've got Swan and Shaw pumping mongrels at him all game??

 

[lethalburns]

Re: Have to Drop Leon Davis

He's playing poorly because he's being totally misused. He's one of your most explosive players...and you stick him down in the forward pocket....kicking balls over his head expecting him to conjure magic every time.

Stick him in the guts or on the wing as a link up player like Varcoe/Byrnes. He's a good tackler, and a great kick. His skills are being wasted at the moment IMO.

Spot on. But I think our problem is that Medhurst and Dick are currently missing and he is our only small/explosive forward ATM.

Agree with everything else you have also said re Didak, Leon's confidence and the delivery.

 

[ThePheonix]

Leon Davis has been a great player for Collingwood and he should be proud what he has contributed. We don't want to have the same culture as St Kilda who treat their players like cattle. Eg Luke Ball

He does seem to freeze on the big occassion but that is also the failing of Collingwood not just Davis. He has a weekness and both Collingwood and Davis needed to figure out a way to handle the big occassion.

There is no other team in the AFL that has sooo much pressure and hype surrounding their games expecially in the finals, as Collingwood does. If Leon was playing for another team things might have been different him.

 

[KikidadidaK]

Re: Have to Drop Leon Davis

He either needs to be dropped for a couple of weeks or medhurst and lockyer need to come in at the expense of macaffer and someone else to give him more support...he is not a good enough footballer to play the key small forward role without small forward support!!...i still have faith that with these boys and dick in the forward line to allow him to move up the ground more that he can produce, but this years finals series is the breaking point for me...

 

[rose jam]

Dick will be of no value this year, he was terrible leading into the finals and subsequently got dropped during.
Leon is simply out of form at the moment. It will come back to him sooner or later. Hope it's sooner, just hope it's at the business end. We're actually good enough to carry a few players down, maybe not to beat geelong in form, but anyone else we are.
So for Leon a weeks rest might be the panacea for him, and obviously MacCafe needs a rest, I have no idea what his role is in the team, and I don't think he does either.

 

[Go Pies!!!!!]

Re: Have to Drop Leon Davis

a) Medhurst will be back
b) If injured, the Gabba surface will do him more harm than good.
c) We won't need him.

If the Gabba surface is as hard as they say Meddars won't play this week either.

 

[FIGJAM]

Definitely needs to be dropped. If he's injured, then maybe he can have a week off altogether and work back into some form in the magoos.

Dick was sub-par against Frankston. Will take some time to find touch.

Right now Lockyer would give more than Leon as a small forward. At least Tarx leads to the ball rather than praying for it to fall to the rear of the contest.

 

[esc0bar]

Im a bit worried here. If we drop him he seems like the type to retire at the end of the year... He is getting old, the run seems to be gone and he doesnt seem to put in much effort at the moment. I may be biased too but i am totally against dropping him. He won us the Melbourne game so that should be alone a reason to keep him in for one more game we lose...

DAVIS will be back. He seems to be missing dicky boy

 

[StillWaiting5689]

He won us the Melbourne game so that should be alone a reason to keep him in for one more game we lose...

That was seven rounds ago in round 2, I think he has used up all his brownie points from then. And he didn't play particularly well that game other than that goal.
It really is time for him to have a run in the 2s, if he plays well then he can get a recall. Throughout his career he has been played when he hasn't deserved it and eventually it paid off, I don't think we should do it again though. If you continuously play below par you get dropped, its simple...reward the players playing well in the VFL.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

He's playing poorly because he's being totally misused. He's one of your most explosive players...and you stick him down in the forward pocket....kicking balls over his head expecting him to conjure magic every time.

Stick him in the guts or on the wing as a link up player like Varcoe/Byrnes. He's a good tackler, and a great kick. His skills are being wasted at the moment IMO.

Got it in one. Against St. Kilda we did this frequently and got nowhere. Against North we did this once, I started swearing inwardly and within 30secs Chris Dawes came off the bench and gave us a marking target up forward... I thought we'd learned our lesson. Unfortunately, I was wrong as this "strategy" reared its ugly head against Geelong so often, my Geelong-supporting friend started getting frustrated for me while watching!

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Re: Have to Drop Leon Davis

Piss off.

Leon is a small forward, small forwards hardly ever perform in big matches, IT'S THE ****ING HISTORY OF THE AFL/VFL.

Leon like most small forwards is a home and away player, while last night's game, especially after 1/4 time, was close to a final in terms of intensity and pressure.

And don't quote Johnson or Chapmans records in finals, they are not small forwards, they are medium forwards, HUUUUGGGEEE DIFFERENCE.

Leon will be remembered as the only indigenous player to play 200 games for the Collingwood Football Club, a fair achievement in itself.

He is nearing the end, but to say he should never play again is disgraceful.

If what you say about small forwards in big games is true, then not only should Leon not play another game, but we should cease recruiting small forwards, or should automatically demote them for big games and finals.

Where does small forward reach medium status?

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Shaw and Swan are not always great kicks of the football - Shaws panic handball against Geelong is indicative of some of his kicking. Under pressure some of our guys are suspect at field and goal kicking. Others like Cloke just bomb it long hoping for the best.

Players need to be more strategically placed to minimise the likelihood of passing errors, with accurate kickers penetrating the 50 to pinpoint players. Cloke, Swan and Shaw are probably not as reliable under pressure as they may be in an easier game.

Wellingham, McCarthy, Pendlebury, Didak and Beams are the kind of ball deliverers that would make life easier for a forward. Even Johnson delivers well over a short distance. Davis is a good user of the ball and would be more useful pumping the ball into the 50 than cloke.

Give him a run in the middle in the VFL to see how he measures up.

 

[Teak_Pies]

Leon has to go, he has been pathetic all year which is very sad. He has lost his speed.

 

[AsianWithAFro]

I think he needs to do something to get his form back and perhaps a run in the VFL will do the trick. If Medhurst was fit he would be in. At the moment Cheesy is showing more poise up forward than Leon which in itself is not a bad thing.

 

[TradeDraft]

Got it in one. Against St. Kilda we did this frequently and got nowhere. Against North we did this once, I started swearing inwardly and within 30secs Chris Dawes came off the bench and gave us a marking target up forward... I thought we'd learned our lesson. Unfortunately, I was wrong as this "strategy" reared its ugly head against Geelong so often, my Geelong-supporting friend started getting frustrated for me while watching!

I think when we are Scared and Feel Threatned by a Team we seem to Bomb It Long and Just Hope. Same thing happend when we played the hawks the last few years

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

He should, but hypocrites will be hypocrites.