Nick Stevens

[P0RT P0WER]

Nick Stevens in the past 10 weeks has shown glimpses of his best in certain parts of the game. He is one of our most passionate players and the last 2 weeks he is getting more and more confidence, Is heready to put it all together?
I said at the Essendon game the other night at Half Time he was ready to fire, he did at the end of the third quarter.
Port seemed to hold up the game in the last preventing players to stand out but I think he has recaptured that form he seems to always display against Hawthorn and think if we get through this game he will be preparing for his Norm-Smith medal performance on Sept 28th.
He is a skillful midfielder and when he is on song we seem to have so much drive into our forward line.
Francou gets it into our forward line but not with the same direction as Nicky.
We have so many players in our side that can play that extra level, if seventy % of these players played at their best I think we would walk into the GF. E.g Che, Ladey, P Burgoyne,

 

[Eago77]

Originally posted by P0RT P0WER
Nick Stevens in the past 10 weeks has shown glimpses of his best in certain parts of the game. He is one of our most passionate players and the last 2 weeks he is getting more and more confidence, Is heready to put it all together?
I said at the Essendon game the other night at Half Time he was ready to fire, he did at the end of the third quarter.
Port seemed to hold up the game in the last preventing players to stand out but I think he has recaptured that form he seems to always display against Hawthorn and think if we get through this game he will be preparing for his Norm-Smith medal performance on Sept 28th.
He is a skillful midfielder and when he is on song we seem to have so much drive into our forward line.
Francou gets it into our forward line but not with the same direction as Nicky.
We have so many players in our side that can play that extra level, if seventy % of these players played at their best I think we would walk into the GF. E.g Che, Ladey, P Burgoyne,

Had some of those players (any of the players) played anywhere near what they were capable of against Collingwood we would have a much easier run into the GF. But you're right we do have a lot of players with something still up their sleeve.

As for Nick, he is a valueable player when on song, however he has only shown glimpses of his best in the last couple of months, needs to get back to his early season form. When added to the likes of Francou, James, Schofield, Carr, Burgoynes, etc etc it makes for a pretty good midfield, no wonder we finished minor premiers!

 

[Andre]

Originally posted by P0RT P0WER
Nick Stevens in the past 10 weeks has shown glimpses of his best in certain parts of the game. He is one of our most passionate players and the last 2 weeks he is getting more and more confidence, Is heready to put it all together?
I said at the Essendon game the other night at Half Time he was ready to fire, he did at the end of the third quarter.
Port seemed to hold up the game in the last preventing players to stand out but I think he has recaptured that form he seems to always display against Hawthorn and think if we get through this game he will be preparing for his Norm-Smith medal performance on Sept 28th.
He is a skillful midfielder and when he is on song we seem to have so much drive into our forward line.
Francou gets it into our forward line but not with the same direction as Nicky.
We have so many players in our side that can play that extra level, if seventy % of these players played at their best I think we would walk into the GF. E.g Che, Ladey, P Burgoyne,

To beat Brisbane at the Gabba we need at least two of Francou, Stevens and James playing at their best. Choco should also ask if one of the players is willing to be the fall guy to take out Akermanis with a hip and shoulder early and miss the GF for the sake of the team. Without that little scar faced narcissistic prick we would have won by at least 4 goals in round 22, he matches up best against us of all of brisbane's midfield.

 

[Eago77]

Re: Re: Nick Stevens

Originally posted by Andre


To beat Brisbane at the Gabba we need at least two of Francou, Stevens and James playing at their best. Choco should also ask if one of the players is willing to be the fall guy to take out Akermanis with a hip and shoulder early and miss the GF for the sake of the team. Without that little scar faced narcissistic prick we would have won by at least 4 goals in round 22, he matches up best against us of all of brisbane's midfield.

Barnaby??

 

[Portia]

I would've thought the Goo would be first choice

 

[P0RT P0WER]

Goo will be back in this week for Poults I reckon.
Bring in Michael Stevens for the scapegoat to take out Akka, make sure we make him real guilty then he can miss the next ten weeks next year as well.
Maybe Meady can be our hitman, would of loved to see him come on and belt the ****er out of Bolton on Fri night.

 

[mfitz3121]

Re: Re: Nick Stevens

Originally posted by Andre


Choco should also ask if one of the players is willing to be the fall guy to take out Akermanis with a hip and shoulder early and miss the GF for the sake of the team. Without that little scar faced narcissistic prick we would have won by at least 4 goals in round 22, he matches up best against us of all of brisbane's midfield.

Why don't we post this in the Lions locker room, just to rev them a bit?. These grubby personal insults are totally inappropriate. We'd love to have a dozen like Akermanis.

(Oh, and it's real easy to take him out - the hitmen do it every week, don't they!!!)

 

[gbear]

Re: Re: Nick Stevens

Originally posted by Andre


To beat Brisbane at the Gabba we need at least two of Francou, Stevens and James playing at their best. Choco should also ask if one of the players is willing to be the fall guy to take out Akermanis with a hip and shoulder early and miss the GF for the sake of the team. Without that little scar faced narcissistic prick we would have won by at least 4 goals in round 22, he matches up best against us of all of brisbane's midfield.

Taking out players is out of the question. There is no reason for Port to stoop to such a level, like other teams have in te past. If they want to have any chance of winning, they need to play four hard quarters of footy and improve their recent conversion rate in front of goal.

 

[Mudholian]

Had 27 possessions spread evenly across the last 3 quarters, 2 good goals, I'm not sure what would convince people he's on the road back.

 

[PAfolwr]

When he first came on the scene, anything was possible with his future outlook.
How does everyone here think about how his game has progressed and how his future looks.

Good player no doubt, will he go up that extra notch?
Will he be the gamebreaker that we all thought he would be?

 

[Portia]

Dunno. He looks to be satisfied with the level of football he's playing, which is unfortunate.

 

[Jars458]

And what about that haircut.

 

[Eago77]

Originally posted by PAfolwr
When he first came on the scene, anything was possible with his future outlook.
How does everyone here think about how his game has progressed and how his future looks.

Good player no doubt, will he go up that extra notch?
Will he be the gamebreaker that we all thought he would be?

Not as exciting a prospect as say a Junior Burger, but still if he plays for us for another ten years at his current level he still will be one of the better players the club has had.

He's just turned 23 and still has some improvement in him, but i doubt he will ever be the best midfielder in the league, but still a very valueable player.

As opposed to his first few games where he didn't get tagged, he now gets tagged most weeks, he has earnt respect from the other clubs, if he could get better at breaking a tag it will go a long way to help us as a club. Needs to keep getting fitter so he can run all day (ala Craig Bradley, or Robert Harvey) or get physically strong to try and bust up the tagger with strength or explosive speed.

 

[Eago77]

Originally posted by Jars458
And what about that haircut.

V bad!

On a side issue:
Collins Omondi Obuya - World's Best Leg Spinner.
Found myslef watching a fair bit of the Kenya v Sri Lanka game last night rather than the Australia v Zimbabwe match. He bowled bloody well for a young bloke from a non-cricketing type country, very impressed.

 

[PAfolwr]

Re: Re: Nick Stevens

Originally posted by Eago77
Not as exciting a prospect as say a Junior Burger, but still if he plays for us for another ten years at his current level he still will be one of the better players the club has had.

He's just turned 23 and still has some improvement in him, but i doubt he will ever be the best midfielder in the league, but still a very valueable player.

As opposed to his first few games where he didn't get tagged, he now gets tagged most weeks, he has earnt respect from the other clubs, if he could get better at breaking a tag it will go a long way to help us as a club. Needs to keep getting fitter so he can run all day (ala Craig Bradley, or Robert Harvey) or get physically strong to try and bust up the tagger with strength or explosive speed.

I am not too sure about the tagging bit any more.
At stoppages, we often get Primus tap to Francou, out to Stevens, one or two steps, and accurate pass to Tredrea for goal.
As good as any other player around.
In general play, we have Schofield and (dare I say) Kingsley, of our midfielders that can be damaging, but no others.
Stevens could be and isn't.
Porthos words certainly ring some bells IMO.

 

[dreamkillers]

Originally posted by Porthos
Dunno. He looks to be satisfied with the level of football he's playing, which is unfortunate.

I think I'm more concerned with Peter Burgoyne's efforts in the AllStars game and the game against the cows..........ordinary at best..........

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Nick Stevens needs to make a commitment to where he wants to play next year and beyond. The rumours persist that he might be returning to Victoria next year and there have been no public pronouncements to the contrary by Nick or his management. Port talk about signing him to a long term contract but it hasn't happened yet. If he is giving serious consideration to jumping ship then this will affect his game. Carry last year seemed to be drifting while all the Pavlich talk was happening, but after he signed on again and then Pavlich decided to stay at Freo he lifted again. His preseason has been outstanding according to reports and his form and fitness to date (albeit in small doses in largely meaningless trials) have indicated a stellar year could be in store. A similar commitment from Nick, which would pretty much ensure his future at Port Adelaide could have a similar effect.

 

[Eddie Woloschek]

Well, I hate to remind myself that I had P Burgoyne and N Stevens as the two prime trades because their trade value exceeded their value to our team. Let's hope they both have stellar years and win us a flag. Then if one or other or both get traded, we will get something decent in return.

 

[Nicski]

Originally posted by Jars458
And what about that haircut.

Hehe, I don't actually mind it!!

Back onto the topic, Nick Stevens is an extremely talented player, which everyone saw back in 1998. His disposals into the forward 50 are usually very good.

However, I am worried that Porthos may be right about him being satisfied with where he is at the moment, when he has the ability to lift another notch and equal the value of the Lion's Big 4. In doing that, he needs to be able to deal with taggers, and win more of the hard balls. As long as he doesn't rest on his laurels, he should be able to take that next step.

 

[ClintEastwood]

Peter Burgoyne and Nick Stevens are two players who need an almighty kick up the clacker valve. Both sublimely talented, both are underachievers, happy to coast along at a (admittedly fairly high) level, which is well below their potential. Should model themselves more on the likes of Cornes and Tredrea, who have taken the next step and always put in (my opinion of Chad started off as a poor one but gets better and better).

Throw Stewie Dew in that group of @rse-kicked players too. Probably my favourite power player when he is on-song, but too content to coast.

 

[PAfolwr]

Originally posted by Pred
Peter Burgoyne and Nick Stevens are two players who need an almighty kick up the clacker valve. Both sublimely talented, both are underachievers, happy to coast along at a (admittedly fairly high) level, which is well below their potential. Should model themselves more on the likes of Cornes and Tredrea, who have taken the next step and always put in (my opinion of Chad started off as a poor one but gets better and better).

Throw Stewie Dew in that group of @rse-kicked players too. Probably my favourite power player when he is on-song, but too content to coast.

For Dew to achieve that potential that we all see, he needs to play in the midfield and run all day. I am not sure that he is athletically capable of that.
The other two, the only thing stopping them is themselves.

 

[Nicski]

You're spot on there Pred, all 3 of those players definitely have improvement in them but seem satisfied with where they are, whereas Chad and Tredders continue to improve every year.

 

[Portia]

Port can't afford to play Dew in midfield because his kick is so valuable in the forward line.

 

[ClintEastwood]

Originally posted by Porthos
Port can't afford to play Dew in midfield because his kick is so valuable in the forward line.

Correct. But it would be more valuable if there were more of them. Having said that, Dew is one of the few Port players who can turn a game in minutes, with perhaps only 5 kicks in the game, all of them goals. It's just that he's so damn patchy. And for a guy with legs the size of River Red Gum trunks and a torso and shoulders to match, he should be harder to shut down than he is. Goddamnit we need one of him on a half back flank (i.e. he would be the new Glen Archer), and one on a half forward flank.

 

[Andre]

Originally posted by Pred
Correct. But it would be more valuable if there were more of them. Having said that, Dew is one of the few Port players who can turn a game in minutes, with perhaps only 5 kicks in the game, all of them goals. It's just that he's so damn patchy. And for a guy with legs the size of River Red Gum trunks and a torso and shoulders to match, he should be harder to shut down than he is. Goddamnit we need one of him on a half back flank (i.e. he would be the new Glen Archer), and one on a half forward flank.

I'd be happy with Dew to remain in the forward lines. Just bloody well chase any opposition player who comes near him (who has the ball). And be prepared to run further to get a ball (contested or otherwise). I think he'd be wasted in the midfield. Just f#@king well wish he didn't expect the play to come to him so much and went and chased it.

P. Burgoyne's problem is he thinks he has the ability of his potential already when he doesn't. Hence why it seems every match lately he gets caught in the forward lines trying to weave around opponents.

N. Stevens at least on saturday night looked pretty good. But then I don't think he was really tagged ? I'm reserving judgement to see if he copes better when manned up till two or three rounds in, at least.