News Lucky Leon

[the_champ_2004]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/lucky-leon-20100915-15cmd.html

Leon Davis continues to win the coach's favour, but he's running out of chances to prove himself in the heat of finals football.

MICK Malthouse's willingness to make ruthless calls on club stalwarts has been instrumental in Collingwood's rise from a faraway fourth to minor premier this year.

Shane O'Bree, Josh Fraser and Tarkyn Lockyer have all been jettisoned and replaced in the 22 by recent recruits. O'Bree's role has been taken by a younger inside midfielder, Luke Ball, Fraser's position filled by a combination of Darren Jolly and the indomitable Leigh Brown. Lockyer has been usurped by younger players such as Brent Macaffer and Jarryd Blair.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/lucky-leon-20100915-15cmd.html

There may be some truth to this but maybe the reason is that no-one really can play that "Davis" role in our forward line like Leon himself. He also comes with the added bonus of having the ability to turn a game on its head even though we are seeing it less and less.

I sense a big one is just around the corner.

 

[Markfs]

I did a search on the name Jake Niall. It came up with a link to Wiki. Jake probably put it in himself. It said that he was a sports journalist for the Age. It says that he has an interest in tennis ...thats about it.

So I suppose when Jake retires, he will leave nothing for people to remember him by....nada....nuttin.. except for old stories that journalists have been writing for years. Obviously he must have hit it hard after work on Tuesday night and the editor told him to write something ...so he thought he might regurgitate an old story so he didnt have to think.

Thanks for the insight Jake. Crawl back in ya hole ..

 

[mattys123]

Stephen Milne has shown how a burst of brilliance in a final can make a massive difference. Like Davis, Milne carried a reputation - a touch unfairly - for finals failure, and didn't bring his best to a sodden grand final in which his team was beaten narrowly. In the space of 15 minutes during the second quarter of the qualifying final, Milne booted three goals, turned the game and ensured that he would no longer carry any big-game baggage.

Not sure if he's playing a joke on us there, but Milne cost his side a premiership, almost single handedly, while Leon's performances haven't really been the difference in any finals games, whether we won or lost them.

Jake Niall, WHO?

 

[Wooljay]

I actually thought that was a pretty well written article. He pays credence to the fact that Leon has been playing out of his AA position this season, and has paid for it in form.

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

if im not mistaking him for someone else, jake niall is one of the better writers out there


but im probably mistaken, never been good with names

 

[Kirby]

Yeah, i think Jake is one of the better ones in a pretty shallow pool.

What he says is all true I guess but has been said many times before.

I really hope Leon can pull something out of the bag tomorow night. Kick a couple and get involved in a couple more.

Btw, he refers to a knee injury but I suspect that the actual injury is higher, maybe in the hip region myself.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I am happy with Neon as long as he is playing his role.

I don't believe MM has him in the side now to collect 20 disposals and kick 3 goals a game running through the middle.

If he maintains forward pressure and contributes to turnovers inside 50 then IMO he's worth his weight in gold. If and when he can't contribute to this, he'll need to go.

Unfortunately the media and a lot of op supporters will class Neon as a finals failure if he desnt kick a bag and collect big numbers.

The ball stays in our fwd 50 and we win matches.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Well, technically Leon IS lucky.

Lucky Brad Dick is injured. That's the problem, only Brad Dick can do what Leon does, and he does it better than Leon.

He's just injured that's all.

 

[HFF]

As long as he plays his role for the team, Leon will be fine.

The difference between Lockyer, O'bree and Fraser is that they do not offer us with anything that we lack or need.

Davis is a proven AA and matchwinner. He can turn a game on its head in a quick 5min burst. The otherwise, whilst terrific servants, do not possess any of Davis' ability and cannot play the forward 50 role he is currently having to play, rather than releasing him like last season to play his midfield-cum forward role.

It was interesting to also notice on AFL 360 last night the record of Stevie J in big games. Granted he has a Norm Smith to his name, his record is very flattering, yet Davis is the one who cops all the heat.

 

[boxy2010]

Stevie J only plays well when his team is up and about

I dont think he has the ability to swing a game into the cats favour.

Leon has this ability.

 

[wicksy]

Why blame Niall for writing truths?
Leon has been useless all year and absolutely terrible in finals his whole career.
If it wasn't for Dicky going down, Davis would have gone the way of the Obie.

 

[hgiel]

If, as Jake Niall suggests, Leon has been carrying an injury, the week off can only be a bonus for the team. I thought he got injured when his opponent was knocked out in the first St Kilda game this year.

Leon is one of my favourite players of 40 years of barracking for the Pies

 

[Thommo 42]

If the performance of Milne in the qualifying final wipes his finals failures clean, then I think Davis has a clean slate already given some of the good finals games he played in 07/08.

What really matters is what happens in the big dance.

 

[Dundalis]

Well, technically Leon IS lucky.

Lucky Brad Dick is injured. That's the problem, only Brad Dick can do what Leon does, and he does it better than Leon.

He's just injured that's all.

No he doesn't, he might be younger and more active, but dick hasn't shown anywhere near the matchwinning ability Leon has shown at his best. Which granted hasn't been on show a great deal this season. But dick while a very talented player shows far less propensity for the freakish that Davis has routinely shown throughout his career.

 

[DaVe86]

He leads the entire comp for inside 50 tackles. That was his role this year.

Granted he needs to do more...but as long as he is doing this, his spot is safe.

 

[Midas]

No he doesn't, he might be younger and more active, but dick hasn't shown anywhere near the matchwinning ability Leon has shown at his best. Which granted hasn't been on show a great deal this season. But dick while a very talented player shows far less propensity for the freakish that Davis has routinely shown throughout his career.

Sorry to bombard your board but that is a ridiculous and foolish statement. Were you not at last year's final v Adelaide when Dick won the game for you.

And the 15 finals in which Leon has disgraced himself.

Dick > Davis by a country mile.

 

[Zahki]

Lordy, the media department has spread that tackles inside 50 statistic with an efficiency that would make Goebbels proud.

 

[Midas]

Lordy, the media department has spread that tackles inside 50 statistic with an efficiency that would make Goebbels proud.

Leon obviously has photos of not only the Collingwood Coaching staff, but the Jake Niall as well!

 

[wicksy]

Sorry to bombard your board but that is a ridiculous and foolish statement. Were you not at last year's final v Adelaide when Dick won the game for you.

And the 15 finals in which Leon has disgraced himself.

Dick > Davis by a country mile.

Totally agree!!!
If Dick was in the team this finals series, we would be MUCH more dangerous than we already are....

 

[Thommo 42]

Sorry to bombard your board but that is a ridiculous and foolish statement. Were you not at last year's final v Adelaide when Dick won the game for you.

And the 15 finals in which Leon has disgraced himself.

Dick > Davis by a country mile.

he's played poorly in about 5 of 15 finals.

people just tend to ignore the ones he's played well in and regurgitate the rubbish about the poor ones.

The GF's in 02 and 03 when he was a kid are not really even relevant anymore. He was good in 07 and 08 and he was injured in 09, just like Swan was.

If he kicks 1 goal tomorrow night, has 10 touches and lays 3 tackles + heaps of harrassment. Everyone will say he failed again, despite the fact that it would pretty much match his season average output.

 

[Zahki]

If he kicks 1 goal tomorrow night, has 10 touches and lays 3 tackles + heaps of harrassment. Everyone will say he failed again, despite the fact that it would pretty much match his season average output.

Matching his season output is not a good thing.

 

[Midas]

Matching his season output is not a good thing.

Here Here, for a side on the rise and seemingly unbeatable in the Flag Race, your tolerance of medicority suprises me Thommo.

Perhaps the winners mentality has not yet infiltrated all of the Collingwood Board, although Zahki appears all over it!

 

[Thommo 42]

Depends on your viewpoint.

He is clearly playing a role and the club and match committee are clearly happy with his performance in that role.

The same match committee has shown asbolutely no sign of playing favourites this year, particularly with older stalwarts of the club or senior players from last season. eg. Anthony, Fraser, O'Bree, Lockyer, Medhurst. As such, none of these players have been given games on reputation etc, so you can only assume the match committee is picking Leon on form.

This is especially so when you consider Medhurst has been dominant at VFL level and Davis has kept him out of the side.

You also take into account what is said by football people in general. I watch pretty much every TV show there is about football (except 'one week at a time') and almost without exception, the people bagging Davis are media types with very little clue like Sheehan, Robbo, Whately etc. Yet on all these shows, the likes of Brad Scott, David King, Alistair Lynch, Mark MacLure, David Parkin etc all to a man have repeatedly said how important Davis is to the Collingwood forward press in keeping the ball inside our 50m arc and forcing turnovers. King showed footage on AFL 360 about a month ago where Davis didn't lay one tackle or get one stat, yet in the footage he harassed defenders into several turnovers and hurried kicks that put teammates under pressure and caused a turnover on the next kick.

I would take the analysis of these current and/or ex coaches, and recent premiership players who actually have an ability to watch and analyse footy and understand how structures work etc. over the views of the media nuffies who write stories based on the champion data feed.

As Nathan Buckley said, "we have 6 very defined roles in our forward structure and Leon is playing one of those roles and we haven't found anyone on the list who can do it better"

This reminds me of people bagging Dale Thomas when he played as a defensive half-forward, and saying how much he has improved this year purely because he is getting more football playing as a midfielder. Well go f#cking figure, he is getting more footy as a midfielder than he was as a negating half forward!?!

 

[Zahki]

King showed footage on AFL 360 about a month ago where Davis didn't lay one tackle or get one stat, yet in the footage he harassed defenders into several turnovers and hurried kicks that put teammates under pressure and caused a turnover on the next kick.

Good point, but the counter argument is self evident. The 'pressure' he puts on is merely running after and chasing players to force them into rushed disposal, any player on the list can do that. If we need a player who will chase, get 5 touches and not kick a goal why not put Barham in the pocket? He's faster then Leon so his pressure would be even greater, and his disposal is no issue because obviously we're setting the bar so low that 5 touches is a 'pass' mark.

I appreciate the pressure that Leon puts on, but it's not a special skill only he possesses. Medhurst could arguably do it better, as well as having more scoreboard impact. Most of this sentiment comes from fear of change and the fact that we've been winning with Leon in the side so he must be doing something, right?

It's just my opinion though. And I'm not expecting Leon to get dropped. But if we lose tommorrow and he puts in another typical finals performace I won't say I won't enjoy indulging in some schadenfreude from people who have been defending him turning around and tearing strips off him.

 

[Invigoration]

Lordy, the media department has spread that tackles inside 50 statistic with an efficiency that would make Goebbels proud.

He leads the entire comp for inside 50 tackles.
...but as long as he is doing this, his spot is safe

He led this stat as the point he was dropped earlier in the year, so I don't necessarily think that's true.
(couldn't be bothered multi-quoting)