Marty Clarke

[Adversity10]

Some people on this forum wow... so quick to judge and slay.

Marty Clarkes role this season was completely different to the role he had when he was playing great football with us when he left. He preformed a strong tag role from half back which allowed Shaw to roam and to be honest our defensive ball usage pummelled when we stopped playing him. He's never been fast, but his ball usage is great and his ability to shut players out of the game is also a strong point.

Buckley prefers to not tag, and in the later half of the season that was evident and more recently against Sydney allowing Kennedy to tear us to shreds rather than play a shut-down tagger.

Clarke has a spot and will earn it next season, can't blame him for the game plan and style of play Buckley wants him to fulfil, Clarke is best roaming from half back or shutting down a key midfielder around stoppages not a 3rd or 4th defender like Toovey.

 

[mattys123]

Marty Clarke needs to be our tagger in 2013, that much is clear now.

He tapered off towards the end of 2012, which was to be expected after playing as an amateur in Ireland for the past few years, but with another pre season under his belt Marty's natural endurance should see him play as our number one tagging option, whether that be on an opposition mid or an opposition forward.

He really does have a role to play in 2013, and I just hope the coaching staff see it that way too, we need a defensive minded midfielder badly.

 

[PieLebo87]

Probably being a bit harsh on the guy, his first season back, and effectively a new recruit, considering he has been out of the game for a few seasons. Will be better off for it.

Definitely have time for him, and will be a quality top 22 player next season. At his best, is a very resourceful defender, defensive type player, and wouldn't mind even trialling him out as a HF early next season to add a string to his bow.

 

[MarkT2]

We need a tagger and he may be the best option.
In any case, he's decent depth at this point.

 

[dubber]

Wow, so much hate for the Marty.. I thought his season was on par from what i expected. He has better kicking skills than most on the team, can tag & has great endurance. First year back playing professional football, give the guy another year before writing him off.

 

[DaVe86]

The problem with Marty as a tagger is that he has no inside game. He admitted as much after the Stanton tagging job...basically saying he could run with outside players but not inside.

That is still quite useful, but I think our biggest concern is shutting down the Mitchell's, Kerr's and Kennedy's of this world. Stop them and the outsiders like Stanton won't have the feed.

When we played Essendon, we completely shut down Stanton and our midfield dominated...yet we still only won by less than a kick.

 

[FloreatPica17]

IMO just doesn't look like he wants the jumper bad enough. Come back ripped and primed Marty or not at all.

Failing a shredded Marty - try him forward. Could do worse.

 

[Thommo 42]

We didn't need a tagger when we had Ball & Pendles in the middle, because they would often lay strong tackles on the first receiver at stoppages anyway.

This year we only had Pendles as a strong inside tackler, and while Beamsy and Swanny had great offensive seasons, their tackle numbers remained ordinary. Ball will be a huge inclusion for us next year around stoppages.

 

[RuFiO]

IMO just doesn't look like he wants the jumper bad enough. Come back ripped and primed Marty or not at all.

Failing a shredded Marty - try him forward. Could do worse.

Pretty sure he didn't come back for the jumper but the pay.

 

[Captivating]

Another sentimental pick by the club. Hopefully he can improve in 2013 and become the tagger we so desperately need.