Lloyd *serious debate*

[CHF]

Lloyd once said in a press conference early in his career after bagging a heap of goals at full-forward that he saw his future as a centre-half-forward. He even made reference to W.Carey.

I believe if he is to be considered a champion, he will need to prove it at CHF.
Sure there have been champion full forwards such as Lockett, Dunstall and Ablett but they were restricted to playing ff because of general fitness and body shapes. You could also put Hudson in that category of specialist ff. Coleman?, well he played in a completley different era. All the recent top forwards, (Whittnal, Grant, Holland, Richardson) seem to play CHF.
Lloyd has the physical attributes to play up the field and playing ff his whole career would almost be a cop out.
What do you bomber fans think?
I bet you would love to see him play at CHF.

P.S.
Lloyd does play for frees.
(I couldn't help myself.)

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Cup_Half_Full

 

[FF]

Why? Kick as many as he does he can stay where he wants or where Sheeds wants him. Like saying Carey to prove any good move him to full back. Frees! what did he get 30 or so ? take that off his total and he is still pretty good. Gee you mob worry about your own. I can give you 125 reasons why we don't give a shit about what you think.

 

[Carey_is_King]

I doubt you can count that far, but by all means give it a go.

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Trample the Weak,
Hurdle the Dead.

 

[Frodo]

I think that perhaps the days of traditional FF and CHF are probably gone. Therefore Hird can never prove himself in a position that will never exist again in its true sense.
The domain of the FF has been from goal to 50 yards, maybe a bit further. But modern FF's will lead to the half way line and beyond, creating more space and dragging defenders further. I see that CHF's dropping back to the Half back line will become common and the tactical side of the game will dominate along with increased fitness and endurance.

 

[Carey_is_King]

Frodo,
You are probably right, and it's a bit of a shame, don't you think ?

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Trample the Weak,
Hurdle the Dead.

 

[dees01]

Anyone who can get a over 100 goals a season is a certain starter in my team.

 

[BomberGal]

Lloyd may be considered a full forward, but he spends plenty of time up the ground! A quote (perhaps not exactly a quote, but roughly along these lines) from a newspaper.
(referring to the Grand Final) "Lloyd spent half the match as the highest paid wingman in the game."
Now, this wouldn't be so if he played solely at full forward! In many games I have seen him play at CHF, or on the wing, and occasionally up back. Pretty good for someone who *only* plays FF!
Besides. Even if he did play solely FF, I doubt it would matter - 100 goals from any position is a great effort!

 

[The invisible mullet]

Lloyd still plays a traditional full forward's game (with some notable exceptions): fast lead, chest mark etc. He only appears to go up the ground when he isn't getting any of the ball. To prove himself as a great footballer he will have to kick 100 goals in the regular season at least 2 or 3 times (but will still be well behind Lockett, Ablett or Dunstall).

 

[amazonstud]

I don't think that Lloyd would make a good permanent centre half forward. I think that if Sheedy plays him there it will shorten his career much the same way that Matthews crippled Gavin Brown's career by playing him in the key forward posts.

 

[carb70]

Sheedy will play Lloyd in the best postition to help Essendon win games, That could be FF,CHF or even CHB. The main concern for the Essendon FC club is winning games not making Lloyd a champion player, that will take care of itself if Lloyd continues to keep playing well. It doesn't matter what postition he plays a champion will always be reconised as champion by how he plays not where he plays.

 

[Dan26]

I agree, carb.

To say that Lloyd cannot be considered a champion unless he plays at Centre half forard is an idiotic statement. I suppose Lockett isn't a champion, then.

Lloyd has just kicked 109 goals as a 22 year old. When he turns 26 or 27, he will have the capability to kick 140+. He gets tons of kicks further up the ground which is amazing considering he is a full-forward. In fact, incredibly, I believe he was in our top three for kicks. He gets a mammoth amount of possessions.

His best position is full-forward. Sure, he could be a great Centre hald forward. But Sheedy even said himself, that full-forward is his best position. In the next ten years you will see Lloyd play at full-forward, with brief stints elsewhere (even in defence), when the team requires it. Versatility is important.

 

[bomber0018]

Matthew Lloyd never played FF until he went to Essendon. He played CHF before Essendon, so because you said that that was from a press conference early in his career, I'm thinking that's because he hadn't played FF very much and was used to CHF.

But I think he would be better for us as a FF.

 

[kymhodgemansmo]

Originally posted by BomberGal:
Lloyd may be considered a full forward, but he spends plenty of time up the ground! A quote (perhaps not exactly a quote, but roughly along these lines) from a newspaper.
(referring to the Grand Final) "Lloyd spent half the match as the highest paid wingman in the game."
Now, this wouldn't be so if he played solely at full forward! In many games I have seen him play at CHF, or on the wing, and occasionally up back. Pretty good for someone who *only* plays FF!
Besides. Even if he did play solely FF, I doubt it would matter - 100 goals from any position is a great effort!

He played on the wing.

I've watched the game a couple of times - like to tell me when he lined up at the centre bounce on the wing and charged through the middle.

But you suggest he has played many games on the wing.

What is he now the new James Hird????

Damn female Don fans and their love affair with Lloydy.

Did he also play in the centre????

Speak with some degree of fact and don't exaggerate.

A wonderful player who had a wonderful year as a key forward who occassionally pushed up the ground as a key forward and spent one or two quarters down back.

Let's keep things in perspective.

 

[BomberGal]

kymhodgemansmo, I didn't say he played half the season on the wing. I mentioned one game specifically, (GF), then said in general, I have seen him push up the ground.