Player Watch Nathan Freeman

[Bay Pie]

Picture from today's training session (off the club's twitter);

He's definitely not going to have to build himself up too much to have a "senior body".

He is so quick, even his shadow is trailing him.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

He is so quick, even his shadow is trailing him.

Apparently he slows down for the last few meters of each lap to allow his shadow to catch up.

 

[sr36]

He is so quick, even his shadow is trailing him.

So am I. Admittedly I always run towards the setting sun.

 

[jackcass]

I think it's different if you're running into goal with little pressure and miss from 30m out. It's excusable if it's something that doesn't happen on a regular occurrence, but that wasn't the case. He did improve slightly, but it certainly was noticeable that his kicking wasn't up to standard.

As I said, lots of players do it. I'd also argue that playing footy in front of 60-75,000 baying Pies supporters brings it's own pressures, some players take it in their stride, others take time. I still think he's gaining confidence and could surprise a lot of people in 2014 and beyond.

 

[jackcass]

Being second best, when first is now gone is nothing to crow about. Especially when talking about OUR crumbing department.

On exposed form I'd still have Blair as number one since Krak is gone.

We'll have to agree to disagree. If Blair had the "crumber" string to his bow he wouldn't cop half the level of ridicule he does on these boards. Spends more time in the packs rather than crumbing the spillages whereas Sinclair showed he could hit the front of a pack at pace and gather the spillage. It's missing the opportunities he made that is the issue.

 

[jackcass]

Be really interested to watch Freeman develop. Seems he is already a player that may divide Pies fans.

We seem to have loaded up on players that can play mid and also on the flanks. Freeman looks a mid/ forward flanker and I think that is where he will start off. Versatility seems to be a priority.

In response to the posts above I think our best natural and talented crumber is Sidebottom. I'd be looking at playing him off a fwd flank with time in the midfield, possibly swapping with Swanny - another I'd like to see spend some time resting forward.

Sidebottom certainly has crumbing capacity but you're not going to waste his talents, he's going to be playing midfield more often than not.

 

[DWil6]

I think Sinclair kicked 1 goal in his last 4-5 games as a crumbing forward hence the need to change it up for him. Just hasn't managed to hit the scoreboard enough for a full time small forward.


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[Robroy22]

Sidebottom certainly has crumbing capacity but you're not going to waste his talents, he's going to be playing midfield more often than not.

Why? We have a plethora of midfielders already. No need to give Sidey any more than a couple of minutes a quarter on ball. Keep the goal kickers up near the sticks.

 

[jonbe54]

Why? We have a plethora of midfielders already. No need to give Sidey any more than a couple of minutes a quarter on ball. Keep the goal kickers up near the sticks.

Agree with Sidey not needing to be on the ball too much, Adams into the midfield changes the whole dynamic of our engine room. With Ball and Adams now beavering away at the coal face it frees our other premium on ballers to be more creative both with and without the ball.

The way I see it with the new rules coming in we are loading up on multi positional players - especially those able to rotate through the pivot, then rest (relatively so) forward or back. This should ease the interchange demands.

 

[TradeDraft]

Why? We have a plethora of midfielders already. No need to give Sidey any more than a couple of minutes a quarter on ball. Keep the goal kickers up near the sticks.

I think Steele is a better player out of the Midfield and on a Flank or Wing. As he can read the game So Well and Uses the Ball well. Just suits him better. More Outside then Inside Player

 

[frizzle]

We'll have to agree to disagree. If Blair had the "crumber" string to his bow he wouldn't cop half the level of ridicule he does on these boards. Spends more time in the packs rather than crumbing the spillages whereas Sinclair showed he could hit the front of a pack at pace and gather the spillage. It's missing the opportunities he made that is the issue.

Blair can crumb just fine. It was our game plan that led to not having crumbers at the fall of the ball. We were so desperate for Cloke to have a 1 on 1 contest that everybody was continually up the ground giving him space. Assign him the crumbing role inside 50 & he will do the job for us.

 

[TradeDraft]

Blair can crumb just fine. It was our game plan that led to not having crumbers at the fall of the ball. We were so desperate for Cloke to have a 1 on 1 contest that everybody was continually up the ground giving him space. Assign him the crumbing role inside 50 & he will do the job for us.

and that Annoys me. That we have no Crumbers because how good it to have Crumbers when Cloke can smash Packs and Create Chances for Crumbers

 

[well left]

Sidebottom certainly has crumbing capacity but you're not going to waste his talents, he's going to be playing midfield more often than not.

I wouldn't be sitting in a pocket, more playing that high half forward role but I would certainly like him to be getting the majority of his possessions in the forward half of the ground compared to the back half. Not only does he crumb well but he is very creative. If we play a combination of say Harry, Young, Seedsman on wings and have Pendles, Swan, Ball, Beams and Adams that would be more starting centre mids then Sidebottom (and to keep this relevant to the thread.... Freeman also) could be really effective for us off a forward flank.

The reports on Freeman are that he doesn't mind the odd tackle, Paige refers to it as ferocious tackling, so for me the forwards smalls look a lot better and a lot more dangerous when they are Sidey, Elliott, Fasolo and Freeman than if you had Goldsack and Blair in there.

 

[frizzle]

I wouldn't be sitting in a pocket, more playing that high half forward role but I would certainly like him to be getting the majority of his possessions in the forward half of the ground compared to the back half. Not only does he crumb well but he is very creative. If we play a combination of say Harry, Young, Seedsman on wings and have Pendles, Swan, Ball, Beams and Adams that would be more starting centre mids then Sidebottom (and to keep this relevant to the thread.... Freeman also) could be really effective for us off a forward flank.

The reports on Freeman are that he doesn't mind the odd tackle, Paige refers to it as ferocious tackling, so for me the forwards smalls look a lot better and a lot more dangerous when they are Sidey, Elliott, Fasolo and Freeman than if you had Goldsack and Blair in there.

But Goldsack is our most ferocious tackler. The guy is manic. Freeman will have to earn a gig, it wont be gifted to him.
Fasolo has the skills but not the work ethic in my opinion, particularly in a defensive sense. He has never chased & tackled hard enough.
I think a lot of us sell Goldy short because he has never held down a permanent role in the team. But I think that is partly due to his versatility.
We use him all over the place to plug holes. Forward, then back etc. We never give him the chance to settle into a permanent role.
By the way, go to the AFL site & watch the last game we played against Sydney in Sydney last year. Goldy was assigned the role on one Jessie White & took him to the cleaners. I think Bucks realises Goldy's worth. I only wish Goldy himself would realise it. He still has untapped upside in my opinion.

Blair - Here is another one we place all over the place because of injuries etc. Granted he doesn't get enough of the footy & his one on one skills aren't great.
But he is terrific defensively & if we could just set him to crumb the packs he would be invaluable. I agree with you on Sidey & Elliott. Both dangerous forwards. Whatever combination we use, we will at least know that we have many alternatives to consider depending on opponents.

 

[Hinequarters]

All the injuries over the last few years have afforded time in the middle to players like Blair so that they can go back to the 2nd tier mids or forwardline with experience and be confident of stepping up when required

 

[speedytiger]

Blair is one of those guys that plays better when you watch the replay. I hardly ever notice him during the live games but watch it back and you see his real value. Not to say Freeman or Adams could do it better but i think Blair has been underrated by us so far

 

[DaVe86]

Watch the first quarter of the second game against Essendon this year. He sets up 3 of our 5 goals through sheppards, clever handballs or crumbing.

Blair can definitely play a crumbing forward.

 

[Old Spice]

He will be under the pump but I rate Blair as a role-player.

 

[jonbe54]

He will be under the pump but I rate Blair as a role-player.

The great part about our recruiting since you know who left 3 years ago is that we now have genuine competition for all spots with perhaps the exceptions of Cloke and Grundy.

 

[loki04]

The great part about our recruiting since you know who left 3 years ago is that we now have genuine competition for all spots with perhaps the exceptions of Cloke and Grundy.

We also lack the "magic" classy, x-factor forward crumbing players.

Blair is not one, Elliot has marking flair but lacks the ground game of a Davis etc.

 

[RuFiO]

The great part about our recruiting since you know who left 3 years ago is that we now have genuine competition for all spots with perhaps the exceptions of Cloke and Grundy.

And Maxwell.

 

[Old Spice]

We also lack the "magic" classy, x-factor forward crumbing players.

Blair is not one, Elliot has marking flair but lacks the ground game of a Davis etc.

Not every x-factor player produces the goods consistently and not every role player fails to impact. I trust Blair to stick to his role, even if the fans can't always appreciate that the role isn't always attacking and showy.

 

[MyManLynch]

And Maxwell.

Nobody.......plays like Maxy.

 

[OniAu]

is this the Nathan Freeman thread? haha

Im growing more excited by this kid each day. Speedy mid who loves the clearances.

People have doubts over his disposal though ?

 

[blaze036]

is this the Nathan Freeman thread? haha

Im growing more excited by this kid each day. Speedy mid who loves the clearances.

People have doubts over his disposal though ?

I think his disposal is mid-range in terms of draftees, made to look slightly worse due to the fact he is often running at 100kms an hour which reduces decision making time and ability to kick accurately.

I don't think it will be an issue long term, not every player has to have elite disposal.

With broomhead ramsay fasolo kennedy and scharenberg we have plenty of young elite ball users