Ling vs Rooke

[finrod]

Our 2 top taggers. Both tough players who can have an impact on a game. Ling has been better in the past, but last year Rooke really stepped up and Ling had a worse year than usual. Who do you think is more important to the GFC?

 

[Metallica_Man]

Good poll, I'm not really sure so I'll wait until some people raise arguements

 

[mckinale]

i think that based on last year rooke had a much much better year in terms of, well, almost everything.
If you look at what they are worth to gfc outside game day i think that ling and rooke are both 2 of our most important players

ling shows the developing players, aka selwood, what training intensity and pushing yourself really is (selwood said this in an article) and sets the bar for other players to train at.is also apparantly a good leader

rooke shows everybody what wearing the jumper should mean to players on gameday and i think he is a great role model for players to have.
but i actually think that rookes gameday intesity and ability to inspire make him one of our most important. (more than ling)

 

[Mooney_d'King]

After Rooke's inspiring 2006, there seems no other choice to me.

 

[carn_the_cattas]

The thing that separates them is disposal. Ling s not only a poor kick but he rarely kicks forward. Rooke on the other hand is one of our better kicks and most of the time uses it to our advantage.

Not to mention Rooke is a fair bit faster than Ling. I think his pace is under estimated. I can remember, against Richmond he run down Delidio twice which both resulted in hold the ball. He's also been able to keep up with and shutdown Judd, Cooney and many others.

 

[thegerman]

I agree that Rooke has had two great years in a row, showing his ability and passion for the jumper. He is at the moment our best tagger and possibly our best 'team' man.

However, Ling hasn't had the chance to show the best part of his game recently. Over the past 3 years his role has changed dramatically, where he has gone from a tagger to a ball getting midfielder.

This role may not be suited for him, as shown by his very average disposal at times. He certainly has the heart for the job, but I just don't think his skills are all there. He can win the ball alot, as shown by his disposal rates, but he isn't very effective.

Ling's most memorable games are the ones where he tagged the opposition out of the game, i.e. Buckley and the blood on jumper incident.

I think GFC should re-evaluate Ling, put him back into the role which best suits him, being a tagger. I think Rooke is good enough to go straight onto the ball without having to be a tagger, his disposal is good enough.

So although Rooke is the best tagger we have had in recent history, I still think Ling is the better tagger, but his role has changed so much that we haven't seen him at his best.

 

[catsrule]

It's Rooke for me, he is definately underrated. I love to watch him play, he is tough and an extremely valuable member of the team.

 

[CF]

Rooke by far.....in fact given the young talent we have in the side Ling may find himself playing VFL if he doesn't improve on his horrible year last year. Ling can run all day, but he is too slow to tag the best players these days and he can't kick to save his life. He wastes too many possessions and plays short too much because he can't kick the ball more than 30 meters.

 

[Taffy the Cat]

I agree with thegerman. To me Rooke is now more suited to the role of an attacking midfielder who can quickly go defensive when required. His game on Goodes showed just what an effective, hard-running, tough player he is.

Ling has been asked to be a linking midfielder for a couple of years. He's tough in tight packs and can hold the ball in at stoppages but hasn't been able to get it up forward quickly. Hence his sideways chip kicks and handballs, often to space, have looked terrible at times. Despite this he's been more than useful around the ground most days and is the one bloke who'll continually run to space and create an option, particularly late in the game when everyone else has had it.

I say let Ling resume his role as our No. 1 tagger and allow Rooke to rotate with Corey as an attacking midfielder/onballer.

 

[finrod]

Hmmmm this poll is turning out to be much more one-sided than I really expected... Don't forget guys, Ling came 4th in the B&F with 503 disposals, whereas Rooke came 10 in the B&F with 235! Well I still voted for Rooke anyhow

 

[fugsy]

Hmmmm this poll is turning out to be much more one-sided than I really expected... Don't forget guys, Ling came 4th in the B&F with 503 disposals, whereas Rooke came 10 in the B&F with 235! Well I still voted for Rooke anyhow

Yes, but how many of Ling's were effective?

 

[Catnip]

Rooke for 2006, Ling for every other year of his career. Hopefully Ling will improve and Rooke will continue on his 06 form for 2007. Ling overall.

 

[Partridge]

However, Ling hasn't had the chance to show the best part of his game recently. Over the past 3 years his role has changed dramatically, where he has gone from a tagger to a ball getting midfielder.

This role may not be suited for him, as shown by his very average disposal at times. He certainly has the heart for the job, but I just don't think his skills are all there. He can win the ball alot, as shown by his disposal rates, but he isn't very effective.

Don't agree I'm afraid. If there is one player on our list who has had chances Ling is it. How he wasn't dropped last year will be one of the great mysteries because his form was nothing short of rubbish. He simply has too many weaknesses in his game. He's far too slow, uncertain in his decision making, and terrible with his disposal by either hand or foot. Yes I know he works hard, but if effort and guts were all that was required Tim Hargreaves would have been a superstar.

Rooke on the other hand has got better and better, proving many people (me included) wrong in the process. Unlike Ling, he has good pace and his kicking is generally pretty good. What's more he kicks the ball forward. He probably doesn't have Ling's "leadership skills" because he doesn't point into space telling teammates to pick up opponents that he can't catch. He actually chases them down instead.

Rooke our number 1 tagger, Ling to the VFL.

 

[Asty]

I think rooke is now the number one tagger for the cats for all the reasons above. better pace, tackling and disposal. Ling's game has been thrown by being asked to be a play maker when he is more suited to tagging.

A few people have suggested Ling to play up forward (even FF) but I didn't like this idea either as they wanted him as a leading forward and goal kicker. If he is to go forward I think it should be only to tag an opposition half back (they are almost midfielders some of them now) and then if given the opportunity kick a goal but the goal kicking should be secondary to his tagging.

Lings problem is that g.ablett, chapman, bartel, corey, enright, etc have all caught and overtaken him as guys who can create for our side.

 

[Rockford]

Rooke hands down. The job he did on Goodes last season was sensational. Rooke's commitment to the team and at the ball on game day is awesome and that sort of stuff can lift a team.