Our Best Defender

[starchamber]

I reckon Bret Thornton is our most important Defender.He has been through the hard times and still keeps going. Who Do you reckon is our best.

I rate him number 1 at the moment.

1. Bret Thornton
2 Jarrad Waite
3 Paul Bower
4 Michael Jamison

 

[gbatman]

1. Bret Thornton - Very good when played in position.
2 Jarrad Waite - Not a defender IMO.
3 Paul Bower - could be number 1.
4 Michael Jamison - very close to number 1.
to hard to pick.

 

[Kooley]

mark austin has the tools to pass them all.

 

[BlueGibbs2011]

Currently I think it is a tie between Thornton and Waite. Bower obviously the challenger in the next 2 years. Just behind him Jamison.

I have my fingers crossed that Austin can make the jump in time to be a straight swap for Waite when he hits 29/30.

Also need to categorize:

Best stopper is Jamison in my opinion.
Best rebounding defender comes from Waite, Thornton and Bower.

 

[Weiterbot23]

All solid, all on the improve (maybe not thornton), all will play every game barring injury, all will have a crack at the best forward pending match ups.

Doesn't really matter does it?

 

[Ytoojae]

Carlton's best defender?

Shinga-ding-aling Brock McLean

 

[Jeremias]

Best is very different to most important.

Waite is probably our most important defender but I'm not sure he's our best.

Thornton has been a seasoned servant back there mainly playing on guys too big and strong for him yet still playing his role exceptionally well.

Bower is developing into an absolute gun. Knows how to defend a man and provide great run out of the backline. (I'm waiting for someone to foolishly bring up his supposed poor disposal)

Jamo is a very important player for us if he can remain injury free.

Not to mention Aussie as the up-and-coming big defender.

 

[jj1978]

Yep Thornton is the general...

much like in 95' when we had SOS, McKay and Sexton... Peter Dean was the general... as Thornton is the general today.

Thornton is as passionate as they get and his skills the last 2 seasons have improved immensely.

Thornton is easilt ATM in the top 5 most important players we have..

Top 5 players (not in any order)

1. Thornton
2. Judd
3. Waite
4. Jamison
5. Kreuzer/Warnock/Hampson (more a positional importance than player importance)

Amazing how my top 5 consists of our key 3 defenders!

 

[Vin Catoggio]

Definately Thornton. Runs the ship down there, provides a chop out/assistance and guidenace to the young 'uns when required, but can also take a key forward. Versatility is his strength, and as such he makes everyone so much better around him.

 

[Blue and Silver]

Jammo gets mine as most important because as Harker said, without him our defence gets thrown out of whack. It is mostly because of his excellent stopping skills which far outstrip those of the other defenders that he gets placed at FB. Bower, Thornton and Waite can all mind a man but Jamison regularly owns his.

Talent wise though mine has to be Thornton because he plays the zoning role excellently. He had at about mid-way through the season the most marks from opposition kicks in the league and he led he most marks in general for a while to. Of course he got injured, but this shows how good he is a reading the play and dropping off in front of opponents to cover teammates and leading forwards. That sort of ability is invaluable and shows true capability

Bower could most certainly be the best. He has at times shown his ability to take his man out of the game, and povides great run and carry out of the defensive 50. If he could improve his decision making with the ball then he would jumpfrog the other two

Waite is undoubtedly our standout defender. However he gets shunted down the rankings for mine because he plays best as a swingman and not as a pure defender, romping out to the wing and into the forward line to have a impact there to. If he played exclusively as a defender then he would be our best. However because of his ability to go around the ground he spends less time in defence and therefore in my mind is amongst our best defenders but is not the specific best defender in our side

 

[Shambolic]

Best or most important, and are they the same thing.

I think Thornton is easily our best defender overall, because he can play on different types and can set up play.

Jamison however is our most important because if he is playing we can have a lockdown defender and release Thornton to other players, where he is best used.

Late last year we lost Jamison and effectively lost Thornton's drive. with Waite out as well it looked like we werent creating from half back - and we werent.

 

[The Toad]

If Waite had not been injured last year and in the form he was in he would have easily been our best. If he can replicate that form next year he will once again be our best. A very close second would be Thornton. the way he reads the play is sensational and his disposal is top notch. Jamison and Bower will be very good in the not to distant future but at the moment IMO Waite is the best. But in saying that there is very little between all of them, which is a bloody good thing.

 

[All Australian]

I'm going a bit left field here and saying Eddie Betts. You don't have to play in the defensive 50 to be classed as a defender. Our forward line is the first line of defense and his speed and defensive pressure stops numerous rebounds. Hopefully the other forwards have a similar work ethic to him next year which will result in the ball not going from one end to the other as easy.

 

[HBF]

Jamo for mine. Can play on the smaller types (Paul Medhurst for instance), and he can also go to the talls as well (Daniel Bradshaw). I have no doubt that had Jamo played against Brisbane in that 1st final, we would have won that game.

 

[thylacine60]

I'm going a bit left field here and saying Eddie Betts. You don't have to play in the defensive 50 to be classed as a defender. Our forward line is the first line of defense and his speed and defensive pressure stops numerous rebounds. Hopefully the other forwards have a similar work ethic to him next year which will result in the ball not going from one end to the other as easy.

Don't quite agree in the context of the thread but love the interesting take. Eddie embarrassed the likes of Nevola into locking the ball into the 50 often by pressuring the defender into mis-kicks or turnovers from holding the ball. His pressure means many of our efforts forward result in multiple scoring possibilities. He can't do it on his own any more.

 

[gbatman]

yeah i think Jamison is probably the best, he will be taking the best forward each week, preferably playing out of the goal square and should do a fairly good job.

As for best defender, what about Aaron Joseph?

 

[The Toad]

Don't quite agree in the context of the thread but love the interesting take. Eddie embarrassed the likes of Nevola into locking the ball into the 50 often by pressuring the defender into mis-kicks or turnovers from holding the ball. His pressure means many of our efforts forward result in multiple scoring possibilities. He can't do it on his own any more.

Carefull Thy, Dont want to give yourself RSI with all that typing mate

 

[thylacine60]

racist...

 

[Jimies]

i know he is probably almost on his last legs, but what about Scottland? always does he chop out and he has awesome skills, i wish there were a couple more like hime.

having said that, when jamo and waite got injured we really struggled to get good rotations

 

[Bluebear]

Jammo for mine.

When Waite went down, Austin came in and, while obviously not as good, our defence didn't look feeble.

As soon as you take Jammo out we look structureless down back.



After last year Joseph runs a close second, and may well become our most imprtant player this year.

We have always had trouble "stopping" the oppositions best player, and just had to hope that we won the "shootout". Now we have a young, tough genuinely annoying stopper who is handy going the other way, and has already taken the scalps of the competitions finest. When he went down with his ankle in the final vs Lions it was the beining of the end. Hooper started to look like an AFL player and kicked an important goal.

Jammo, closely followed by Joseph.......all others are replaceable to some degree.

 

[Alice]

Jammo for mine.

When Waite went down, Austin came in and, while obviously not as good, our defence didn't look feeble.

As soon as you take Jammo out we look structureless down back.



After last year Joseph runs a close second, and may well become our most imprtant player this year.

We have always had trouble "stopping" the oppositions best player, and just had to hope that we won the "shootout". Now we have a young, tough genuinely annoying stopper who is handy going the other way, and has already taken the scalps of the competitions finest. When he went down with his ankle in the final vs Lions it was the beining of the end. Hooper started to look like an AFL player and kicked an important goal.

Jammo, closely followed by Joseph.......all others are replaceable to some degree.

Couldn't agree more, BB. Given the thread title is best defender, Jamo followed by Joseph win easily. My irritations directed at Thornton and others similar are based on this premise - to be a defender you must first and foremost beat your opponent and THEN get the ball. If your prime objective is to win the ball regardless of your opponent you need to be VERY good or you simply are failing in your job. To me - Thornton fails regularly in this as he is not as effective as some think in setting up play, his movements are not decisive and line-breaking and while attributed with effective disposal - it's often not to advantage and this is often costly in the D50. Yes he might collect cheap disposals along the way, but at what cost - he is one of the most expensive defenders in the game!
The modern game demands the 3rd man up type who has EXCELLENT kicking and line-breaking runs - we don't have that in Thornton (despite the howls of protest I've just ignited) and we don't have it fullstop. The sooner we develop decisive thinkers with the balls to opponents take on and the skills to back them up, the sooner our real premiership window will open.

 

[thylacine60]

Couldn't agree more, BB. Given the thread title is best defender, Jamo followed by Joseph win easily. My irritations directed at Thornton and others similar are based on this premise - to be a defender you must first and foremost beat your opponent and THEN get the ball. If your prime objective is to win the ball regardless of your opponent you need to be VERY good or you simply are failing in your job. To me - Thornton fails regularly in this as he is not as effective as some think in setting up play, his movements are not decisive and line-breaking and while attributed with effective disposal - it's often not to advantage and this is often costly in the D50. Yes he might collect cheap disposals along the way, but at what cost - he is one of the most expensive defenders in the game!
The modern game demands the 3rd man up type who has EXCELLENT kicking and line-breaking runs - we don't have that in Thornton (despite the howls of protest I've just ignited) and we don't have it fullstop. The sooner we develop decisive thinkers with the balls to opponents take on and the skills to back them up, the sooner our real premiership window will open.

Lady and gentlemens I give you:

 

[Kramer1]

Couldn't agree more, BB. Given the thread title is best defender, Jamo followed by Joseph win easily. My irritations directed at Thornton and others similar are based on this premise - to be a defender you must first and foremost beat your opponent and THEN get the ball. If your prime objective is to win the ball regardless of your opponent you need to be VERY good or you simply are failing in your job. To me - Thornton fails regularly in this as he is not as effective as some think in setting up play, his movements are not decisive and line-breaking and while attributed with effective disposal - it's often not to advantage and this is often costly in the D50. Yes he might collect cheap disposals along the way, but at what cost - he is one of the most expensive defenders in the game!
The modern game demands the 3rd man up type who has EXCELLENT kicking and line-breaking runs - we don't have that in Thornton (despite the howls of protest I've just ignited) and we don't have it fullstop. The sooner we develop decisive thinkers with the balls to opponents take on and the skills to back them up, the sooner our real premiership window will open.

Sheesh...glad I don't live next door to her...

 

[Kramer1]

[/b]Lady and gentlemens I give you:

He's definitely got the balls to take them on bit covered...

 

[ratten7]

Alice , Alice who the f is Alice?