Moran Watch (Sorting out the, and his, BS)

[TheLeftFist8]

In his 2nd game in a row, and 3rd game in 2 years overall if we count the North Melbourne embarrassment, Moran resumed his 2R/forward role.

Post match reviews have been scathing, and there were plenty of negatives, but the 'balance of opinion' has been anything but. Let's have a look at the facts...

Ruckwork

Overall: 10 hit-outs (3 to adv, 30% effectiveness); lost 7 hit-outs (2 to advantage for opposition), 1 '50:50' result. So from 18 rucks contests, he won 10...nothing to cry about there i wouldn't think

Of those contests, he had 13 v Hille (won 8, lost 4, 1 50:50) and 5 v Ryder (won 2, lost 3).

Differentiating types of contests he contested 5 centre bounces (won 3, lost 2); 3 'around the ground' bounces (won 2, lost 1); and 10 throw-ins (won 5, lost 4, 1 50:50)

Anyone complaining about his ruckwork is quickly running out of any basis in fact. Better option than Maric and McKernan in ruck.

Around the Ground

Ready for a mixed bag?! (Green for really good, red for really bad, no colour for !)

Q1

- started marking contest behind but worked in front of Hille, then didn't quite get to ball. Effort good, result clumsy.
- another good position to mark but no result
- spoiled on lead, regathered ball and unfortunately hit the post from a very good attempt along the ground from an acute angle.
- mark spoiled on lead again. Strong lead but hands could've been stronger, needs to brace arms a little better.
- didn't quite get to a 1-on-1 contest on wing to assist. Probably couldn't have made it but there was a small element of doubt.
- quick handball to Jacobs
- went in hard for ground ball, but probably could've bounced back quicker, intensity good though.
- fumbled half chance at knees

Q2

- Again ran back to get to contest but didn't quite get there in time. Again, was probably unrealistic to make it but with Moran you always wonder unfortunately.
- quick handball to advantage
- got to front position up forward and held out opponent in marking contest, Tip came around and took uncontested mark (and subsequent poster). If Tip wasn't there Moran would've taken mark himself.
- mark in defence but quick handball sold Tambling into trouble, should've had better awareness and not taken the option.
- crashed pack in marking contest
- kick to Vince lead, nothing loopy about kick but was 1/2m too far forward so missed the target
- excellent contested mark v Fletcher with subsequent goal. Questionable 'poke' kick but straight through the middle.

Q3

- tackle
- lead across half-back, shocking slow kick from Tambling allows Ryder to assume best position. Can certainly criticise Moran's poor attempt to spoil mark though. Looked worse at ground than it did on TV, let himself down with this one. His one 'soft' contested effort for the night.
- attempted tackle, ineffective.
- attempted smother with dive
- marking attempt, good position but ball slipped through
- missed interception
- interesting contest where his opponent left Moran and crashed into Tippett causing temporary injury. Haters could claim he should've ran with opponent to screen out and protect Tippett. Others can equally claim he was smart in staying back, it the ball got thru it was an easy goal and the opponent would've looked ridiculous.
- crashed pack again
- ground ball, beat Fletcher, effective handball.
- made good position in forward 50, ignored by mackay who kicked short into an opponent.

Q4

- in pack, mark spilled
- hit post from 50, another 'unlucky' shot or just not enough polish.
- ran hard from a distance to crash pack and 'kill' the contest.
- opportunist kick off ground heading for goal but stopped by Fletcher.
- HTB against in traffic, no great options to get out of it.
- yet another poster from snap in traffic
- poor marking attempt allowing the unforgiveable sin of the ball getting over the back and Essendon to clear (i reckon this effort was alluded to by Craig in the presser, wouldn't be surprised to see him dropped for this)
- tackle assist.

Stats

11 disposals (6 kicks, 5 handballs); 2 marks; 2 tackles; 10 hit-outs; 1 FA; 1 goal, 3 behinds.

Overall

- Was a few centimetres off being an effective forward, could've easily had 4 goals. None of the posters were easy shots.
- Ruckwork was sound, and he won this overall.
- Skills were sound, only one poor option to Tambling ruining the copybook here
- Marking needed to be better, though the effort was there. Clunked one, and fought hard to get front position and lead hard, but once hands are on the ball you have to at least bring the ball down in front. Sure, it was slippery by the end but does need to work on it.
- Intensity at 95% of contests that he went for was actually very good. This is an area of improvement that seems to be getting better every week. I think we need to start distinguishing Moran's softness between when he is in the contest versus the questionable choices he makes as to whether to enter contest. The former has vastly improved.
- However, he does need to make more contests. Partly this is choice, that he chooses to set up on outside for handball receive options instead on adding numbers on the inside where his bulk may be better used on occasion. Partly, it is footy intelligence. Gets caught between contests a little too often. Still after 2 years off he has a little excuse for a while. Partly it is game plan where he runs thru corridor blocking space in case of turnovers or a get out option if we look inboard (rare).

For mine the keys to Moran's improvement are down to both him and the coaches. Moran needs to continue to approach the contest with increasing intensity and improve his marking technique to at least bring the ball forward and never let it out the back. The coaches can surely see the positioning issues around the ground and more particularly the decision making about getting into the on ground contest more (he only does it when it's his turn to go, if we have another player he stays outside). If they think he is staying outside of contests too often he needs to be told in no uncertain terms and pointed out what to do.

Overall rating (better execution at goal and could've been much better): 4/10

 

[Damp Squarie]

So in a nutshell he was s**t is s**t and should be jettisonned

 

[noddy]

Besides his softness why i don't think he should be in our 22 is that he has very little idea in how to play the game ie =

Does not know where to position himself in general field play.
Does not know when or how to compete in ruck duels.
Does not know how or where to position his body in marking duels.

As Lefty stated a glaring example in the last quarter was competing for a mark with Tippet in front of him instead of guarding his back & calling Kurt in he mistimes his jump & allows the ball to fly over the back into the arms of the waiting bombers which led to another easy goal for the dons.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Does not know where to position himself in general field play.
Does not know when or how to compete in ruck duels.
Does not know how or where to position his body in marking duels.

Agree with point 1 to a degree, though having said that if Moran has no idea, then Maric and McKernan are laughable! Had 11 possessions and 4 shots on goal...more than the other 2 achieved this year. But yes, with decent coaching he can still improve this area heaps.

Point 2...i call BS! He won his share of the ruck with a decent % to advantage, your comment is incorrect.

Point 3...incorrect also. He repeatedly fought for and attained front position. His positioning was good. Where he went wrong was (like Tippett) not bracing his body strongly enough for the impact, and not adjusting his hands for slippery conditions.

Overall, his 'softness' at the contest is very unfairly overrated. His 'softness' and not getting involved in enough contests is a valid criticism and he and coaches need to address this. I also agree his footy intelligence needs work...unheard of for an inexperienced big man.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

So in a nutshell he was s**t is s**t and should be jettisonned

What's your opinion on McKernan and Maric?

Moran at least tried, he at least contested well in ruck, he at least contributed around the ground.

Was only a 4/10 game, but that's an improvement on the other 2 guys in 2011.

 

[smoovy]

I don't buy any of this stuff that Moran doesn't know how to play the game. I know he looks a bit awkward and he certainly goes about it a bit differently. But the mere fact he had the sense to attempt that dribble goal in the 1st, let alone nearly pull it off, tells me that he actually possesses more talent than Maric and Griffin put together.

People forget when he actually did start to put some games together in 2008 and 2009 he started to become a real contributor. By this I mean he actually got involved in around the ground work and was actually becoming a good link player. One of my biggest frustrations with AFC ruckman is that they don't get the ball. Moran has had 15 disposals or more in 6 of his 19 games. Maric has needed 74 games to get this many. Griffin never once had 15 disposals in 41 games for Adelaide, yet in his last game for Freo he had 26!

I know some of the perceived soft things he does, problem now is that everyone is looking it for this now. I'm prepared to put up with a few of these perceived poor efforts, after all we seemed to be prepared for Mcleod squibbing most contests in latter part of his career.

 

[King Elvis]

Smoov, if Moran makes it to 250 games and is a superstar for the bulk of them, then he can squib a few contests when he plays his next 50 games.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

I know some of the perceived soft things he does, problem now is that everyone is looking it for this now. I'm prepared to put up with a few of these perceived poor efforts, after all we seemed to be prepared for Mcleod squibbing most contests in latter part of his career.

Great point Smoovy, though Moran has brought it on himself to a degree.

Problem is, in their bias, no-one is willing to acknowledge the gradual improvement in this area or any of the good things he does (eg contested mark and goal, running 40m to crash a pack and spoil opposition, beating Fletcher in a ground ball situation to farm out a handball, screening out an opponent to get Tip a free run at it, winning the ruck).

We've seen before his marking is reasonable, that will improve. His ruckwork is good enough. He gets possessions and his skills are sound.

Apart from durability the one thing he now needs to do to become a decent AFL player is to push harder to reach more contests, and get a better balance in his decision making to go in for more contested packs/ground balls instead of waiting on the outside.

 

[noddy]

Agree with point 1 to a degree, though having said that if Moran has no idea, then Maric and McKernan are laughable! Had 11 possessions and 4 shots on goal...more than the other 2 achieved this year. But yes, with decent coaching he can still improve this area heaps.

Point 2...i call BS! He won his share of the ruck with a decent % to advantage, your comment is incorrect.

Point 3...incorrect also. He repeatedly fought for and attained front position. His positioning was good. Where he went wrong was (like Tippett) not bracing his body strongly enough for the impact, and not adjusting his hands for slippery conditions.

Overall, his 'softness' at the contest is very unfairly overrated. His 'softness' and not getting involved in enough contests is a valid criticism and he and coaches need to address this. I also agree his footy intelligence needs work...unheard of for an inexperienced big man.

Well i must of missed those tap outs he won a all i saw was him jumping far to early

To position yourself in a marking contest is also to keep your eye on the ball something Moran does not do for 90% of the time, he drops his head.

Will be interesting to see if he plays the next game.

 

[piledriver waltz]

To be fair Griffin always had the talent. That can't be said of Moran.

I guess you don't watch AFL. Ridiculous comment.

There are many things you could say about Moran, but lack of talent is not one of them. He is highly talented - for a big man, he has excellent skills and agility.

Putting it all together is another matter.

 

[OldCrowBloke]

Thanks for the OP LeftFist - a good effort to record all of Moran's involvements.

He seems to polarise opinion - I think he is worth persevering with, my other half thinks he is useless, and this seems to be reflected across this board.

You gave him 2 "reds", but plenty of our best players had clangers equal or worse to those.

I think we should play him for the rest of this year and observe whether he can continue the recent improvement coming back from injury.

 

[SellarStardom]

ngth Moran is that the Essendon game saw 3 of his shots on goal hit the post, 3!!! Damn unlucky and with a few centimetres difference could have won the game fr Adelaide. Hard to remember a ruckman (not counting Tipp) the potential match winner for Crows.

He does some bloddy dumb stuff but his mobility and skills that peep through for a 200cm ruckman is worth persisting with for 1 more season.

 

[ruscy002]

This is a worthy thread, but we've only got it because McKernan did not seize his numerous opportunities this year...shame on him for making us consider Moran for another season

 

[OldCrowBloke]

This is a worthy thread, but we've only got it because McKernan did not seize his numerous opportunities this year...shame on him for making us consider Moran for another season

That's just it! Smack didn't keep up the standard when he had the chance. If Moran does maintain the standard, or improve, why would we not keep him?

 

[thebirdman 24]

Ah gee not another 'crap player watch'. You can prove Reilly probably had more good than bad, or Symes, but we know there both hopeless untalented players. All i see is Moran having no idea where to position himself, skirting around the edge of a contest trying to get a cheap touch (symes style) and miss goals. That soccer off the ground in the dying stages in the goal square was pathetic with Fletcher standing right in front of him.

Then we look at his ruckwork, im sure it is very easy to jump all over their ruckman at the end of quarters when Hille tires. Doesn't convince me that his ruckwork is anything special. He seemed to jump too early and then once he recovers get to the outside of the contest.

On the positive side, his hair looked great

 

[OldCrowBloke]

Then we look at his ruckwork, im sure it is very easy to jump all over their ruckman at the end of quarters when Hille tires. Doesn't convince me that his ruckwork is anything special. He seemed to jump too early and then once he recovers get to the outside of the contest.

He also had to contend with Ryder.

 

[Pilchard_Adams]

I don't buy any of this stuff that Moran doesn't know how to play the game. I know he looks a bit awkward and he certainly goes about it a bit differently. But the mere fact he had the sense to attempt that dribble goal in the 1st, let alone nearly pull it off, tells me that he actually possesses more talent than Maric and Griffin put together.

Correct

People forget when he actually did start to put some games together in 2008 and 2009 he started to become a real contributor. By this I mean he actually got involved in around the ground work and was actually becoming a good link player. One of my biggest frustrations with AFC ruckman is that they don't get the ball. Moran has had 15 disposals or more in 6 of his 19 games. Maric has needed 74 games to get this many. Griffin never once had 15 disposals in 41 games for Adelaide, yet in his last game for Freo he had 26!

Also correct, and interesting.

I know some of the perceived soft things he does, problem now is that everyone is looking it for this now. I'm prepared to put up with a few of these perceived poor efforts, after all we seemed to be prepared for Mcleod squibbing most contests in latter part of his career.

Another good point. Its the simple case of Moran is a whipping boy for several of the "sky is falling" type supporters on here. I know 3 people who have had knee reconstructions, not a single one of them is game to play sports how they used to. I thought several of Morans efforts were quite decent considering what he has had to go through. He provided more this week than Griffin or Maric virtually ever did.

ngth Moran is that the Essendon game saw 3 of his shots on goal hit the post, 3!!! Damn unlucky and with a few centimetres difference could have won the game fr Adelaide. Hard to remember a ruckman (not counting Tipp) the potential match winner for Crows.

He does some bloddy dumb stuff but his mobility and skills that peep through for a 200cm ruckman is worth persisting with for 1 more season.

More good points. Had Moran kicked 3.1, it would be a totally different tune being sung right now. The fact that people would sway their view on how they rate Morans performance on a few centimeters difference in some tough shots on goal is pretty shallow.

Ah gee not another 'crap player watch'. You can prove Reilly probably had more good than bad, or Symes, but we know there both hopeless untalented players. All i see is Moran having no idea where to position himself, skirting around the edge of a contest trying to get a cheap touch (symes style) and miss goals. That soccer off the ground in the dying stages in the goal square was pathetic with Fletcher standing right in front of him.

Yeah, he should be on the bottom of the packs ala Thompson and Sloane. Oh wait thats right, hes over 200cm tall. Actually he has had 8 of 19 possessions this year as contested according to the AFC. Higher ratio than Vince, Otten, Johncock, Knights (i could go on). Higher disposal efficiency than fellow big men Tippett and Maric.

Then we look at his ruckwork, im sure it is very easy to jump all over their ruckman at the end of quarters when Hille tires. Doesn't convince me that his ruckwork is anything special. He seemed to jump too early and then once he recovers get to the outside of the contest.

Hill and Ryder have played close to 300 AFL games. Definitely not mugs in the ruck.

On the positive side, his hair looked great [/quote]

So did Ben Harts.

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

I thought Moran was very solid on Friday night. We must continue giving him chances but at the same time, we can't hold up the development of McKernan. It's going to be hard, but I think that we must persist with Moran for a few more weeks and make McKernan really earn his spot back through the SANFL.

 

[Lawrst]

Who do we bring in? Moran is better than Maric around the ground and as a forward.

Moran is better than Smack atm.

The club has clearly stated before that it is Maric V Jacobs for that 1 ruck spot.

 

[DavidSaywell]

Persist with him for the rest of the season. The options are worse and we have nothing to lose

 

[crowman_23]

He may be our best option as second ruck for the moment, but anyone trying to spin things in to him being a good player for us is clutching at straws. It's time to get some real footballers in rather than these 'athletically gifted', 'talented' players. I don't care what talent people see in Moran, thinking he will be good for us is accepting the crap we are dishing up.

 

[King Elvis]

His athleticism and talent isn't the issue.

He's softer than Hendo, at least Hendo busts his arse to make the contest before squibbing it.

 

[crowman_23]

His athleticism and talent isn't the issue.

He's softer than Hendo, at least Hendo busts his arse to make the contest before squibbing it.

Haven't seen a whole lot in Hendo that I've really liked yet either, but for now I can see more upside in him.

 

[NTRabbit]

Well i must of missed those tap outs he won a all i saw was him jumping far to early

Without having the stats at hand, and having great difficulty finding them, at times it looked as though Moran had far greater success than Jacobs at turning a raw hit out into a hit out to advantage.

I'm really not sure what that says.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Without having the stats at hand, and having great difficulty finding them, at times it looked as though Moran had far greater success than Jacobs at turning a raw hit out into a hit out to advantage.

I'm really not sure what that says.

Official stats give Moran 9 ho at 33% advantage, Jacobs 30 ho at 17%.

Obviously a much higher % (and Moran is consistently as good as most rucks in this area despite the propaganda) but 9 hit outs is only a small sample, and I'm willing to bet that a better midfield would enhance Jacobs stats significantly.

Currently our mids impersonate witches hats at the clearances while the opposition mids run rings around them. Jacobs prob gets the 'hit spots' more than we think, it's just our mids cannot own the space. Having said that, there are times he shoves it straight down the throat of the opposition but so does every ruck at times. I wonder what Jacobs HTA stats were at Carlton?