Traded Matthew Leuenberger (2006-2015)

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Dom PC said:
Jeez, I don't like how he says he can't ruck 80% anymore. I hope is not referring to his physical abilities, but rather the fact we will have two starting ruckman in the team.

Glad he is playing this weekend, I couldn't agree more about him not being in a position to be picking and choosing games. If he is fit enough, he is good enough and should be playing.
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I think he means more like 'shouldn't' hold the ruck down at 80% now. Probably a reference to Vossy's quote a couple of years ago about how it's not sustainable to have a single ruck carry 80% of the duties these days. Especially with the gabba surface the way it is.
 
Haso said:
I think he means more like 'shouldn't' hold the ruck down at 80% now. Probably a reference to Vossy's quote a couple of years ago about how it's not sustainable to have a single ruck carry 80% of the duties these days. Especially with the gabba surface the way it is.
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Yeah. Bit of a meaningless statement IMO. Not many rucks do that amount of time. Even with Steff rucking solo we had Rog and young Close doing maybe 20/25%.
 

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Really looking forward to seeing Leuey get out there tomorrow to see how he works with Martin. I reckon he can do alright up forward in a David Hale style role, let Freeman/Paine/Merrett crash the packs while Leuenburger just floats around into dangerous spots.
 
Brisbane Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger enjoying an injury-free preseason

THERE was much hype surrounding the Brisbane Lions’ selection of the towering Matthew Leuenberger at No. 6 in the 2006 draft.

Hype which a mountain of injuries have prevented him from delivering on.

The 203cm ruckman is yet to reach 100 games in eight seasons but a rejuvenated Leuenberger is having one of his best preseasons at the Lions with a modified program helping him through training without any hiccups.
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With all the talk of the inclusion of quality players like Beams and Christensen and the return of Rich and Redden I think Leuy has become the forgotten man. He is entering his prime age wise as a ruckman now and he has had a full pre season. He is another player who is a genuine A grade ruckman when fully fit and playing at his best:thumbsu:
 
lionshine said:
With all the talk of the inclusion of quality players like Beams and Christensen and the return of Rich and Redden I think Leuy has become the forgotten man. He is entering his prime age wise as a ruckman now and he has had a full pre season. He is another player who is a genuine A grade ruckman when fully fit and playing at his best:thumbsu:
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Absolutely Leuey is such a big in for us. Looking forward to this season.
 
Probably a fair stance from both parties. We'll be waiting to see how he and Martin gel together and if his body holds up, Leuey will be backing himself to have a good season and perhaps get a better offer than what he'd probably get at the moment. He'll also be gauging how his partnership with martin is going and whether he's getting enough ruck time I would imagine. One more decent injury to him though and we could see both parties happy to explore new avenues, us for hopefully a more reliable body and him to get off the hard wicket and a fresh start. Going to be an interesting year in that regard.
 
Fatcat08 said:
Probably a fair stance from both parties. We'll be waiting to see how he and Martin gel together and if his body holds up, Leuey will be backing himself to have a good season and perhaps get a better offer than what he'd probably get at the moment. He'll also be gauging how his partnership with martin is going and whether he's getting enough ruck time I would imagine. One more decent injury to him though and we could see both parties happy to explore new avenues, us for hopefully a more reliable body and him to get off the hard wicket and a fresh start. Going to be an interesting year in that regard.
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Reading the article, I got sort of a different impression. It seems hard for me to imagine us not offering him a contract, but we may wait and see on the size of that contract until we see how he holds up this year. It's maybe an over-romantic view, but he was pretty loyal to the club in a tough time and has performed well when he's been healthy, so I'd expect to see him at least given the option to stay.
 
Kevvo said:
Reading the article, I got sort of a different impression. It seems hard for me to imagine us not offering him a contract, but we may wait and see on the size of that contract until we see how he holds up this year. It's maybe an over-romantic view, but he was pretty loyal to the club in a tough time and has performed well when he's been healthy, so I'd expect to see him at least given the option to stay.
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I wasn't saying we won't offer him a contract, but if he breaks down again or Martin outplays him significantly in the midfield (which I consider unlikely but possible) and neither makes a decent impact up forward then I could see the club not choosing to match a deal if he draws a decent money offer from another club. Thats more what I was getting at rather then us not offering him a contract at all. That would be unlikely in the extreme
 
Fatcat08 said:
I wasn't saying we won't offer him a contract, but if he breaks down again or Martin outplays him significantly in the midfield (which I consider unlikely but possible) and neither makes a decent impact up forward then I could see the club not choosing to match a deal if he draws a decent money offer from another club. Thats more what I was getting at rather then us not offering him a contract at all. That would be unlikely in the extreme
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That makes sense. Sorry for the mis-read.
 

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Cant find it now, but i notice a stat on twitter that Bergs was second in the comp over NAB games for hitouts to advantage. I honestly think his tap work is under appreciated by many.
 
Looked like a bloke that's barely played a game tonight. What has he played recently? 30 games over the last 4 years? I'm backing him in from here. Give him a good 12 games and he will start showing his stuff again!
 
I'm squarely in the camp of not thinking much of his talents, possibly because all his injuries have taken their toll. Most concerned that with him in the team Martin's output drops off. Yet to see the benefit of both playing when neither is capable of contributing much up forward. May as well revert to a fill-in ruck or even give Andrews a go. If Leuey needs more game time he should play in the reserves and get the feel of it there. Is really adding very little in the firsts. I know others will disagree but that's how I see it.
 
WhiteLionFeva said:
I'm squarely in the camp of not thinking much of his talents, possibly because all his injuries have taken their toll. Most concerned that with him in the team Martin's output drops off. Yet to see the benefit of both playing when neither is capable of contributing much up forward. May as well revert to a fill-in ruck or even give Andrews a go. If Leuey needs more game time he should play in the reserves and get the feel of it there. Is really adding very little in the firsts. I know others will disagree but that's how I see it.
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I'm fast losing patience with him. He was "cotton-balled" last season, was supposed to have had a great pre-season this year, was supposed to be a big "in" for us but has barely fired a shot. Still has the infuriating (to me) habit of putting his arms up but hardly ever (if ever) taking an overhead mark. Also seems to fall over a lot if the slightest body pressure is put on him.

Honestly, I thought we looked a lot better last season when Martin was practically our sole ruckman.

Luey strikes me as a genuinely nice bloke but if we are ever going to get any real value out of him, I think he needs to develop more grunt and mongrel in his game. ....and start taking some contested marks for a change.
 
Lethal said the same thing about 6 or 7 years ago. I recall Lethal making a public statement about it and dropped him to develop his inner mongrel. Seems to have fallen of deaf ears. Is a reasonable athlete and a decent tap ruckman but means nothing if you don't put your body on the line and accept that you might get some body contact.
 
Leuenberger has been injured in the first month of three seasons in his career. After that period, he's barely got injured. I wonder if he's holding back, a bit anxious, maybe not really welcoming body contact because he knows what's happened before? I think I'll judge him at the bye round. Until then I hope he stays in the team.
Also, in two games Leuenberger/Martin have kicked two goals up forward and helpedset up two others. I think that's a pretty reasonable output considering the quality of ball use coming in, the fact they've played two games together and that it isn't their preferred position. If they kick 25 goals between them this year and have a hand in 30 or so other goals, I think that's a reasonable return. When we get two proper key forwards, Martin can play midfield more and McStay can swing to defence a bit more. We really need Staker/McGuane/Paine/Freeman to do something very soon.
 
I can accept that he will never be one of the monsters like Goldstein or Jacobs. He has agility for someone at 203cm, but he takes virtually no contested marks, his taps usually don't go to advantage and his value up forward is overrated. Given Martin's effectiveness seems to drop off when he isn't sole ruck, you have to ask yourself what value Leuey is adding to the side.
 
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