Originally posted by iceman
Wouldnt put Sampi in the Phil Matera category just yet
Phil's having a ripper year and is a major reason why we're sitting near the top of the ladder.... Sampi's starting to look good now tho, and i have to say he's a great kick on goal, especially from set shots
More or less true- I think people are so excited about the form of Chick, Sampi and co that they underrate how good a year Matera is having. People tend to dismiss it as him being on the up end of the traditionally inconsistent cycle of a small forward, but given that in his poorest game for the year he still managed a couple of goals, you have to wonder if this form is going to let up? If he's still on top of the goal kicking ladder in 5 rounds time, he'd have to be a serious Coleman chance, which is a quite incredible achievement for a small (actually, the smallest!) forward.
On their kicking- Phil Matera tends to score his goals in two ways-he's a deadeye from setshots anywhere inside the 50, and he's also adept at turning his opponent inside out and running into an open goal. His kicking probably looks better than it is because of
his ability to get the ball in the hot spot- the greater part of his goals tend to come from relatively easy shots straight in front, not far out- the reason he kicks so many goals, is he's better than anyone else in the league on reading the flight of the ball, and turning a 50/50 contest into a gimmee.
On the other hand Sampi's skills are quite freakish. He can soccer it, snap over his shoulder, is superb when kicking the straight set shot, and, despite his diminutive size, seems quite comfortable loading up and kicking the big one from outside 50. When you add to that the fact that Samps has athleticism to burn, and is a disproportionally strong mark for his size (an aspect of his game which should improve significantly as he bulks up), and he has the tools to be a very very good player indeed. Best case scenario would be a forward a bit like Modra.