McPhee

[dockshark]

Not so much criticising his performance, but am convinced that he is not 100% fit.... He reall struggle to get down low, and can't turn uickly on the run either. He is a liability in defence and show go back to the WAFL.

 

[paul8241]

I think McPhee is a caretaker in this side until one of the younger plays is ready to make that position his own, so what is all the fuss about. This is a meant to be a developmental year, McPhee is insurance until someone better comes along. Nobody else waiting in the wings yet. Having said that If he continues to shirks contests, drop him. Can't ask the young skinny guys go in for hard balls if a man mountain like McPhee wont go in.

 

[bruzaar62]

I think McPhee is a caretaker in this side until one of the younger plays is ready to make that position his own, so what is all the fuss about. This is a meant to be a developmental year, McPhee is insurance until someone better comes along. Nobody else waiting in the wings yet. Having said that If he continues to shirks contests, drop him. Can't ask the young skinny guys go in for hard balls if a man mountain like McPhee wont go in.

I cant recall him shirking to many contests this year,I think the main issue
is his skills...he just doesnt look confident out there

 

[Sigwald]

I think on form there is a real case for him to get some confidence in the WAFL. It's too inconsistent not only between games, but also within games.

However, i wouldn't know who could play his role aside from him. Which is probably why we recruited him in the first way.

I do believe that he tries to do too much and it results in spectacular brain fades/fumbles. The quicker he realises that we don't rely on him to be a brilliant, creative superstar, and he starts acting like the human wrecking ball we need, the better.

 

[Rubber Pants]

McPhee was probably only about 4 or 5 marks away from having a good game. So many times he went up and looked like he was going to take a good strong mark only to drop it.

Unfortunately with him crashing the packs in this way (including our players) it allowed Collingwood players to stay down get the crumbs and kick easy goals.

If he can start holding his marks he will be extremely damaging but at the moment he is only damaging us.

 

[Sman-21]

Commentators are saying hes too top heavy thats why he looks to have no agility and cant pick up ball below knees.

I think its something more serious than that, i think he has back issues.
I remember 1st day he showed up for training with club the 1st thing he did was having his back worked on by trainers, then abit later joining the session.

So for him to keep putting body on line an crashing packs like he has im pretty impressed.
Still do not think he is doing enough an should be dropped but wont be.

 

[hoss]

McPhee was probably only about 4 or 5 marks away from having a good game. So many times he went up and looked like he was going to take a good strong mark only to drop it.

Unfortunately with him crashing the packs in this way (including our players) it allowed Collingwood players to stay down get the crumbs and kick easy goals.

If he can start holding his marks he will be extremely damaging but at the moment he is only damaging us.

Some of his team mates didn't help McPhee's marking either. I remember Duff kicking a 20 m pass which went about 3 foot above McPhee's head. He had to jump a foot and a half and reach as high as he could and ended up spilling it. Should've resulted in a goal for the pies but was just a behind from memory. No doubt if they had goaled it would've beeen attributed 100% McPhee's fault on this board, rather than the 60/40 it was.

 

[Scham]

I think on form there is a real case for him to get some confidence in the WAFL. It's too inconsistent not only between games, but also within games.

However, i wouldn't know who could play his role aside from him. Which is probably why we recruited him in the first way.
I do believe that he tries to do too much and it results in spectacular brain fades/fumbles. The quicker he realises that we don't rely on him to be a brilliant, creative superstar, and he starts acting like the human wrecking ball we need, the better.

Grover could play his role if in form.

If both players were in their best form, then McPhee would be the much better option but the way McPhee's playing atm Grover would only need to be fit, healthy and finding a bit of ball in the WAFL to be the better option.

 

[esquilax]

Some of his team mates didn't help McPhee's marking either. I remember Duff kicking a 20 m pass which went about 3 foot above McPhee's head. He had to jump a foot and a half and reach as high as he could and ended up spilling it. Should've resulted in a goal for the pies but was just a behind from memory. No doubt if they had goaled it would've beeen attributed 100% McPhee's fault on this board, rather than the 60/40 it was.

There were howlers around the ground, many NOT to do with "Collingwood pressure" as much as those toothless loons would like.

Watching the replay; we were down (feeling the moment?), off on the skills, struck an inconsistent player on a good day (Cloke) and to top it off, two significant injuries, one that couldn't be covered.

It's a good learning experience for everyone. Look out Swans!

 

[esquilax]

Grover could play his role if in form.

I don't think Grover has the tank myself.

 

[Checkers_Nixon]

McPhee had a shocker - but having said that it seemed like whoever matched up on Cloke was having a tough time of it.

The media seems to be really latching onto McPhee dropped mark that lead to a Cloke goal. When I saw this live I was surprised McPhee did not get a free kick at the time.

Poor form to supporters who were booing McPhee at the game. Save the criticism for the internet forums I say. There is no point bagging people at the ground.

 

[estibador]

Poor form to supporters who were booing McPhee at the game. Save the criticism for the internet forums I say. There is no point bagging people at the ground.

Possibly the first time I've ever 100% agreed with you.

Our crowd is meant to be creating a hostile environment for the opposition, not putting pressure on our own players.

 

[Noobrifle]

I see McPhee as an average to poor footballer simply because he struggles to get the ball. If its a mark that needs to be taken, he seems to get butterfingers and have it slip through his fingers. If its on the deck he struggles to bend over to pick it up and thumbles. What use is a footballer that can't easily get the ball when it comes his way.

There was one contest v the pies, where he should have applied a shepherd for Silvagni running past, but went at it half heartedly and Silvagni got tackled. That was what irked me the most about his game, he can't even use his 'big' body effectively. Outmuscled by Cloke and took out/spoilt a freo player in a couple of marking contests, taking both to ground.

 

[purplefrog]

I think what we all need to understand is that our squad comprises about 40 players and we need to make adjustments all the time to field the best in form 22.
If the selectors are going to field the same players every week(barring injuries) why bother even having that many players in your squad and what incentive is there for players to push for selection if the current 22 get a game regardless of their performance. This not only applies to Mcphee but ANY player who is not benefitting the side.

 

[Bad Brain]

I've bagged Mcphee on Big Footy before (turnovers reaaaallllly frustrate me) but I didn't think he was too bad. Certainly wasn't responsible for costing us the game. We just seemed to run out of juice after half time.

 

[rhysman]

I am not bagging Mcphee on last nights effort or a few isolated incidents everbody can make mistakes and have an off night BUT he has made mistakes consistantly in almost every game played for us this year NAB games included.

This is just what you get from McPhee. He will do the odd spectacular thing but you have to take the f*ck ups that come with it. To be fair to harvey, McPhee chopped up Cloke on ANZAC Day 2009 and had a good second game on him last year as well. Cloke was white hot though and would've beaten just about anyone on Friday. Essendon are not missing McPhee at all.

 

[Farmerwantsawife]

Lets try and put some perspective into this as try and guage his role in the side?

Is he a key defender -> Not after friday's performance
Is he a floating midfielder -> Age, speed and agility may be exploited
Is he a forward -> No faith from the coaching staff.

Yes he played poorly on friday, but my question is what is his actual role?

If we are trying to model our game around Coll, Geel and Stk we need to remove players of this ilk and find role specific players who are fully aware of whats required each week.

Look at the Magpie defence - Players like O'Brien, Toovey, Maxwell etc aren't world beaters, however they understand there role and the teams game plan and stick to it week in week out.

There midfield is based around effcient ball use, speed and structure. Wherever the ball is on the ground they seem to have a stoppage set up.

Lets relate this to what we are trying to build.

He is not a key defender, We have quaility key defenders in Mcpharlin and Taz
Grover, Broughton and Silvagni are quality medium sized defenders, with grover taking a good quality 3rd tall were required. Hayden and Duffield provide the run from defence and small forward matchups were required.

What is his midfield role and moving forward how can a player of Mcphee's dynamics cause matchup problems for opposition midfielders?

Will he be used as a forward? He hasnt yet, but it really remains his only opportunity to be in the side.

Maybe he is a victim of being the sides "utility", but I just dont see a specific spot in the side for him.

If we plan on using him as a physical presence in the midfield he will be expolited more times than not.

 

[el jefe]

I didn't see this thread before, but I now see where some of the angst has been eminating from..

IMO he wasn't our worst, but you'd expect better from a senior player especially one who has waltzed into a 3 year contract (poor Hase )

I'd like to reiterate what I said (and checkers has said) on a previous thread about people booing McPhee at the ground. It was pretty shit form.

Directly behind me sit 3 people who don't know shit about football (I had a disagreement with one of them last year who thought that Sandi wasn't a good football player, but Thornton was..), and in front of me another one who once got angry at her 5 year old son and attempted to stab him with her flag pole. All of these muppets were yelling out abuse at McPhee. So I told them to collectively pipe down. I recieved a glares from the flag pole lady and the comment from behind me: "we're not like the eagles mate" I didn't reply to the buffoon, because I didn't want to get into it, but I thought to myself 'that's exactly what eagles supporters are like'

Anyway, McPhee is on notice now so any more like that and, allah willing, he should be dropped.

 

[purplefrog]

I've bagged Mcphee on Big Footy before (turnovers reaaaallllly frustrate me) but I didn't think he was too bad. Certainly wasn't responsible for costing us the game. We just seemed to run out of juice after half time.

Again I make the point I do not think he cost us the game nor do I judge him purely on Friday nights performance. My opinion is that based on ALL his performances this year he should go back to the WAFL get some confidence fitness flexibility skill desire or what ever it is that he is lacking and then based on better performances be rewarded with another shot backin our team. A concern for me is that him constantly getting a game based on what he has delivered so far sends the wrong message to the rest of the guys who are performing in the lower levels and not getting a look in.

 

[duff_man41]

he should go back to the WAFL get some confidence fitness flexibility skill desire or what ever it is that he is lacking and then based on better performances be rewarded with another shot backin our team.

When Tarrant was dropped to the WAFL in his second year at freo he came back much improved, just needed to regain confidence. Hopefully McPhee can do the same, he might get named this week though because of the physical game in the tight confines of the SCG. I think the time of hoping he will come good himself is over though.

 

[malpaso]

I think he's well below his form of last year and obviously he's had some shocking moments in the purple.

IMHO he should be played forward of centre and not down back, can pinch-hit in the middle then drift forward. The idea of him being a utility I think is shot.

On Friday night he was out-matched trying to do a patch job on Cloke, Cloke pantsed Tarrant on two occasions as well. McPhee attempted a one-handed mark whilst keeping Cloke out of it and it just didn't stick and then had a poor kick-in that should have been a mark so blame that on the umpire.

His endeavour can never be questioned and it would appear that he is a similar player to Schammer in this regard, both give their all but make the blooper reel and a lot on here only see that in him.

He's 3rd on the team in tackles, and ranked 11th in DE% (that's ahead of Haselby,Barlow,Mundy and Hill!). Anyone see MJ on Friday night?

 

[Checkers_Nixon]

I think he's well below his form of last year and obviously he's had some shocking moments in the purple.

IMHO he should be played forward of centre and not down back, can pinch-hit in the middle then drift forward. The idea of him being a utility I think is shot.

On Friday night he was out-matched trying to do a patch job on Cloke, Cloke pantsed Tarrant on two occasions as well. McPhee attempted a one-handed mark whilst keeping Cloke out of it and it just didn't stick and then had a poor kick-in that should have been a mark so blame that on the umpire.

His endeavour can never be questioned and it would appear that he is a similar player to Schammer in this regard, both give their all but make the blooper reel and a lot on here only see that in him.

He's 3rd on the team in tackles, and ranked 11th in DE% (that's ahead of Haselby,Barlow,Mundy and Hill!). Anyone see MJ on Friday night?

Good post mate.

Alot of people were getting irate at McPhee in the crowd on Friday night after Cloke kicked a couple on him. What most people ignored was that Cloke was in very dangerous form on Friday night and all of our defenders really struggled on him - it wasnt just McPhee.

The crowd really truned on him after the "one arm marking attempt" and then things culminated with the non-existant sherperd that let to Silvani getting caught HOB.

McPhee is a confidence player. The club has signed him up for 3 years so there is no point hitting the panic button.

If McPharlin was fit I would say drop him, but given he is out the club should back him in for a few more games. I seriously doubt whether Grover would have done any better than McPhee against Cloke.

 

[purplefrog]

When Tarrant was dropped to the WAFL in his second year at freo he came back much improved, just needed to regain confidence. Hopefully McPhee can do the same, he might get named this week though because of the physical game in the tight confines of the SCG. I think the time of hoping he will come good himself is over though.

Works for other players so why is he a protected species.
If it works then he will be admired for going back and fighting his way back into the side (which I hope he does). BUT if his current form continues and he remains in the side it is a no win situation for both himself and the team.

 

[esquilax]

He's 3rd on the team in tackles, and ranked 11th in DE% (that's ahead of Haselby,Barlow,Mundy and Hill!).

I hope he can forgive us and get his confidence back.

The reprehensible abuse from Freo "supporters" has to stop.

By implication those people are carping at the coaching/selection group that have got us to 6-2. They're also suggesting there is an available replacement for his role. Grover ain't it IMHO - he hasn't the endurance or mobility.

McPhee runs hard - a lot, follows the play well, can take a very strong mark, can provide link up play wide and press forward. He tackles hard/effectively while not giving away dumb-ass high/in-the-back frees. More importantly he provides some senior experience/calmness for the young blokes.

Anyone see MJ on Friday night?

...and the week before! Someone will be having a word to him about his very casual approach at key moments. Something that Mundy seems to have worked out of his game lately (can't you hear the dog whistles for HIS head from 2008).

Leave him for now. He can't hear a Subiaco crowd in Sydney.

 

[duff_man41]

Works for other players so why is he a protected species.
If it works then he will be admired for going back and fighting his way back into the side (which I hope he does). BUT if his current form continues and he remains in the side it is a no win situation for both himself and the team.

Cause he is mates with Harvs haha, nah I think he has shown a bit in a few of the games. They are just hoping he can find some consistency. Tarrant was dropped in round 5, and at the time was Freo's whipping boy (being booed of the field etc). Now Taz is liked by nearly every Freo fan. Who knows McPhee could re-invent himself as a star also.
This is an article when Taz went back to WAFL http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/17/2220289.htm