Player Watch Ned Long

[Granit1962]

Going by what fly indicated. It would be an ace up the sleeve, and can put him there if needed. Doesn't feel any more than that atm They still prefer him off half back

Thanks, was that in his post match presser?

It is a balance between keeping things up your sleeve, winning, and knowing how repeatable it is. Was it a one off or is that a standard that Jaics is regularly capable of.

I expect Jaics exceeded Fly's expectation.

 

[Jen2310]

Thanks, was that in his post match presser?

It is a balance between keeping things up your sleeve, winning, and knowing how repeatable it is. Was it a one off or is that a standard that Jaics is regularly capable of.

I expect Jaics exceeded Fly's expectation.

Yeah in the presser. I suspect its something they now know they can have up their sleeve if things aren't working.

 

[Mollythedolly]

Thanks, was that in his post match presser?

It is a balance between keeping things up your sleeve, winning, and knowing how repeatable it is. Was it a one off or is that a standard that Jaics is regularly capable of.

I expect Jaics exceeded Fly's expectation.

Just the value of line breaking HBs. Have become really important players in the modern game, and Jaicos is likely in the AA discussion for the position this year, and for good reason.

 

[BEEG]

Long will suffer with Mitchell in the midfield...
I'm taking Long before Mitchell.

 

[NMBB]

Long will suffer with Mitchell in the midfield...
I'm taking Long before Mitchell.

Agree - esp for the Long term

 

[Vankri]

Long will suffer with Mitchell in the midfield...
I'm taking Long before Mitchell.

Not quite the full picture IMO. Ned is in a slump regardless of Titch. Yes Titch’s role does diminish Ned’s but keep in mind we also didn’t have Pendles there for a bit, and Sidey has played wing the last few games. So enough room to make a mark.

Even before the Carlton game where Titch came back, Ned was below his early season level. His last very good game is vs Haws. Eg:
Vs STK: 14d, 6 CPs, 3 SIs
Vs WC: 21d, 8 CPs, 4 SIs.
21d va Dees too though a bit better.

It’s ok, we all thought he was the second coming of Cripps and Danger earlier in the year but that is not the level he’s settling at. Still a bonus, but don’t want to pretend that if we take Titch out he’ll magically go back to being midfield dominant. He probably benefitted at the time of having no work put into him by the opposition and all the work towards Nick instead.

 

[Rorzza]

Long is so good he hand passes and kicks the ball to the opposition because he knows Nick will eventually win it back and score.

 

[jmac70]

Long is so good he hand passes and kicks the ball to the opposition because he knows Nick will eventually win it back and score.

Your obsession with criticising Long is truly bizarre.

 

[Rorzza]

Your obsession with criticising Long is truly bizarre.

Long is so good he doesn't have to win a stoppage or centre clearance because he knows CFC's backline will win it back, get it to Nick and score.

 

[jmac70]

Long is so good he doesn't have to win a stoppage or centre clearance because he knows CFC's backline will win it back and get it to Nick and score.

Yeah, I’ll put you back on ignore.

 

[jathanas]

Thanks, was that in his post match presser?

It is a balance between keeping things up your sleeve, winning, and knowing how repeatable it is. Was it a one off or is that a standard that Jaics is regularly capable of.

I expect Jaics exceeded Fly's expectation.

Josh played one of the best quarters of football we've seen.

Fly will be strategic in his media handling, but that performance will change things going forward.

He has an extra ace up his sleeve. Wouldn't be surprised at all if we see more of this in '25, especially with the flow-on effect on Houston.

 

[JuniorB]

Josh played one of the best quarters of football we've seen.

Fly will be strategic in his media handling, but that performance will change things going forward.

He has an extra ace up his sleeve. Wouldn't be surprised at all if we see more of this in '25, especially with the flow-on effect on Houston.

It also answers one question about how our midfield will look going into the future.

 

[Bianconeri]

Just the value of line breaking HBs. Have become really important players in the modern game, and Jaicos is likely in the AA discussion for the position this year, and for good reason.

The same was said of Nick Daicos and to a lesser extant John Noble in the first half of 2023 only to be replaced by WHE and Markov with Nick to moving to the middle and Nobke being dropped.

 

[Mollythedolly]

The same was said of Nick Daicos and to a lesser extant John Noble in the first half of 2023 only to be replaced by WHE and Markov with Nick to moving to the middle and Nobke being dropped.

Nick was always destined for the midfield, but let’s not kid ourselves that either Noble or Markov are in the same discussion as rebounding HBs. Josh moving to HB late last season was to the only player that came close to Nick’s output from there. Even AA rebounding HB Dan Houston hasn’t come close to Nick or Josh’s output thus far with us.

Noble was dropped because his form was ordinary.

 

[jathanas]

Not quite the full picture IMO. Ned is in a slump regardless of Titch. Yes Titch’s role does diminish Ned’s but keep in mind we also didn’t have Pendles there for a bit, and Sidey has played wing the last few games. So enough room to make a mark.

Even before the Carlton game where Titch came back, Ned was below his early season level. His last very good game is vs Haws. Eg:
Vs STK: 14d, 6 CPs, 3 SIs
Vs WC: 21d, 8 CPs, 4 SIs.
21d va Dees too though a bit better.

It’s ok, we all thought he was the second coming of Cripps and Danger earlier in the year but that is not the level he’s settling at. Still a bonus, but don’t want to pretend that if we take Titch out he’ll magically go back to being midfield dominant. He probably benefitted at the time of having no work put into him by the opposition and all the work towards Nick instead.

Very good post.

My only comment would be that we're still not sure what Ned's ceiling is.

His output in '26 & '27 might be close to this year's best form.

Back to the present, it would seem that Titch is the square peg trying to fit into a round hole as far as Collingwood's '25 campaign goes.

 

[Vankri]

Very good post.

My only comment would be that we're still not sure what Ned's ceiling is.

His output in '26 & '27 might be close to this year's best form.

Back to the present, it would seem that Titch is the square peg trying to fit into a round hole as far as Collingwood's '25 campaign goes.

For sure, I’m not going to put a hard ceiling on it, but the probability now sits more somewhere in between early season and current form. I used the examples on purpose, he did look like a mighty mix of Cripps and Danger in a few games but that wasn’t sustainable. Now we are seeing that his handballs and running patterns (eg avoid tackle run in board) are easier read by the oppo and he’s forced to kick his lack of foot skills show up.

Thankfully he’s in one of the best systems in the league with one of the best development so he should be able to maximise his potential wherever that sits.

 

[Jen2310]

Lloyd doesn't think we can play them both and he would go with Long

 

[Pistol Night]

Lloyd doesn't think we can play them both and he would go with Long

Easy to say after a loss and against a team like GC up there

 

[stormskye]

Lloyd doesn't think we can play them both and he would go with Long

I don’t mind Lloyd but of course full strength we win. It wasn’t our grand final like Gold Coast

 

[Pistol Night]

I don’t mind Lloyd but of course full strength we win. It wasn’t our grand final like Gold Coast

We didn’t even bother running out until half time

 

[Sea fog]

Easy to say after a loss and against a team like GC up there

Yeah but his point was we could have banked another win because the Sunny boys are a tricky assignment up there.

 

[Pistol Night]

Yeah but his point was we could have banked another win because the Sunny boys are a tricky assignment up there.

We could have and should have after we got in front. Just a debacle all round Friday night. 30 minutes of footy was all we played and still nearly won. That’s my attempt at positivity after a couple days to reflect on it all

 

[jathanas]

We could have and should have after we got in front. Just a debacle all round Friday night. 30 minutes of footy was all we played and still nearly won. That’s my attempt at positivity after a couple days to reflect on it all

If we were really playing to win, Lippa, & Checkers would have lined up. Pendles would have played a full game. If it was a final, Bobby would have played too.

The coach has his sights on finals. This is going to piss off some fans, and give the media something to write about.

I agree with the premise that Titch is one too many.

 

[manicpie]

If we were really playing to win, Lippa, & Checkers would have lined up. Pendles would have played a full game. If it was a final, Bobby would have played too.

The coach has his sights on finals. This is going to piss off some fans, and give the media something to write about.

I agree with the premise that Titch is one too many.

This is how I saw it. We aren't going to change what we've probably had planned for most of the year.

 

[Pistol Night]

If we were really playing to win, Lippa, & Checkers would have lined up. Pendles would have played a full game. If it was a final, Bobby would have played too.

The coach has his sights on finals. This is going to piss off some fans, and give the media something to write about.

I agree with the premise that Titch is one too many.

49 to 9 in the 3rd quarter and we chased them down with time to spare then thought “That’s enough, we don’t want to show them our full arsenal”. . Fly giving GC their moment in the sun like the legend he is