Player Watch Rory Laird

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Really good article from the mongrel punt on Laird for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

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This is spot on what is written but I feel that Laird will make the squad of 40 this year but not the final team. Not bad numbers for a guy that's only been a midfielder for a year and a bit.

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ContrarianCrow said:
Our anaemic midfield has some issues, but Laird isn't one of them. He's the extractor and a very good one at that - top 5 in the comp for avg. clearances. Out of the top 5, he gains less metres than Oliver & Parish but more than Liberatore & Cunnington. I wouldn't rate any of those 5 as elite users of the ball, but they shouldn't have to be. The absolute priority needs to be a dynamic midfielder who can use the ball for Lairdy to feed the ball out to - at the moment he's generally feeding it out to Keays who is arguably a worse kick, with the added crutch of an out of form and hobbled Sloane who is almost a non-entity at the moment. Schoenberg is showing some signs of hopefully becoming that type of player, but another one certainly wouldn't hurt.
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I agree with this, except he needs to know to give it off after extracting it.

His greatest strength is his agility and speed in short distances, meaning he can get to the loose ball quicker than alot of other midfielders. If he becomes automatic and hands it off to the right midfielder we have the beginnings of a good system. 50 percent of the time he still doesn't give it off and slams it on his boot. Perhaps this means he doesn't have faith in the other midfielders, but he needs to become a hand-off first midfielder surrounded by elite users or explosive runners.
 
BunjiMac said:
I agree with this, except he needs to know to give it off after extracting it.

His greatest strength is his agility and speed in short distances, meaning he can get to the loose ball quicker than alot of other midfielders. If he becomes automatic and hands it off to the right midfielder we have the beginnings of a good system. 50 percent of the time he still doesn't give it off and slams it on his boot. Perhaps this means he doesn't have faith in the other midfielders, but he needs to become a hand-off first midfielder surrounded by elite users or explosive runners.
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our players burn players in a better position in favour of hack kicking themselves fairly often. I'm near convinced that kick to handball ratios are key post match discussions without actual review of decision making.
 

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phill5158 said:
Really good article from the mongrel punt on Laird for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

Restricted Content - The Mongrel Punt

Content from our archives commencing with the 2018 season is restricted to members only. Gotta look after the people that look after us. Want a peek?
themongrelpunt.com themongrelpunt.com

This is spot on what is written but I feel that Laird will make the squad of 40 this year but not the final team. Not bad numbers for a guy that's only been a midfielder for a year and a bit.

On SM-G988B using BigFooty.com mobile app
Click to expand...
Starting to get some recognition for his outstanding season so far:

footytalkingpoints.com.au

FTP # 19

Welcome to the 19th edition of Footy Talking Points, featuring AFL’s most underrated player, Ollie Henry and Jeremy Sharp!
footytalkingpoints.com.au footytalkingpoints.com.au

Second golden jacket coming up you'd think, Its a shame he's languished at half back all those years. Imagine throwing a wildcard into the mix in the 2017 gf, Laird into middle to shake things up in the third.
 
morris086 said:
Starting to get some recognition for his outstanding season so far:

footytalkingpoints.com.au

FTP # 19

Welcome to the 19th edition of Footy Talking Points, featuring AFL’s most underrated player, Ollie Henry and Jeremy Sharp!
footytalkingpoints.com.au footytalkingpoints.com.au

Second golden jacket coming up you'd think, Its a shame he's languished at half back all those years. Imagine throwing a wildcard into the mix in the 2017 gf, Laird into middle to shake things up in the third.
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Yeah is really good to see, I hope he has a lot more seasons left in his tank. I agree he is close to another yellow jacket but think he'll be close with Seedsman.

Ive always wondered this as well about what could've been if he was switched to midfield earlier. Definitely agree with the 2017 gf move but too bad our coaches froze and just backed the system in.

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thebirdman 24 said:
Poor game today. Low possession and low impact. Complete opposite to last week.

He is a solid B grade mid and the best we have at the moment by far. Schoenberg will overtake him in a year or so.

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He's an A grader. Dogs touch up every midfield on a weekly basis, bar 1-2 games.

Laird is great around the contest, unreal with ground ball, great hands and great defensively, opponent rarely gets away from him. Like many extractors he tends to moon the ball a bit on clearance and lacks penetration with kicking. But his strengths are up there with the best in the league, he'll be AA squad.

Shoenberg is years off Laird.
 
If Laird is out future midfield then we are in big trouble.
He's good at winning the ball but his disposals are average, also needs to handball more instead of blazing away.
Doesn't do enough blocking/ shepherding for other players, doesn't do enough gut running entries into our back lines.
Schoenberg has already shown more of these traits.
 
Jcpdragonx said:
He's an A grader. Dogs touch up every midfield on a weekly basis, bar 1-2 games.

Laird is great around the contest, unreal with ground ball, great hands and great defensively, opponent rarely gets away from him. Like many extractors he tends to moon the ball a bit on clearance and lacks penetration with kicking. But his strengths are up there with the best in the league, he'll be AA squad.

Shoenberg is years off Laird.
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Should we expect our mids to not perform against good teams?

I just don't see it. I see high disposals (usually) but not damaging. Little one two handballs that go no where or sky balls that go 20 to 30 metres. He is our prime mover for sure as he is attending pretty much every stoppage. He is Scott Thompson lite.

The biggest problem is we have Keays and Sloane paired with him at all times who are similar players with no points of difference until we run Schoenberg in there more often. Laird paired with a few other dynamic midfielders would be great.

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thebirdman 24 said:
Should we expect our mids to not perform against good teams?

I just don't see it. I see high disposals (usually) but not damaging. Little one two handballs that go no where or sky balls that go 20 to 30 metres. He is our prime mover for sure as he is attending pretty much every stoppage. He is Scott Thompson lite.

The biggest problem is we have Keays and Sloane paired with him at all times who are similar players with no points of difference until we run Schoenberg in there more often. Laird paired with a few other dynamic midfielders would be great.

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It's really only the 2nd game where he's been at 25 disposals, and in both, we've been pretty comprehensively bitch slapped. So is it just a good player who is separate to the side in terms of performance (think Cripps and Carlton as an example of this), or is Laird a genuine barometer to the side as a whole and a down week from him leads to a down week for the club?

That said, I do agree with the earlier point, Schoenberg is really only 1-2 years off overtaking Laird. That kid has the dynamism that Laird lacks.
 
There’s nothing to apologise for.. we have the shittest midfield in the comp and Laird is a huge part of it.

and as for that article above claiming Laird is somehow worthy of AA selection.. if getting heaps of possessions and 90% of the time hack kicking them into the sky to no one or handballing to the feet of a team mate rewards you with AA selection then the AA selection process needs working on.

there would be dozens of AFL mids that would get my vote for AA selection over Rory.

Rory is an accumulator.. nothing more. As mentioned above.. he needs to be winning the ball and handballing it off to a couple of elite, classy mids.. at the moment he looks to the right and left when he wins it and 80% of the game sees Sloane and Keays.. excuse me while I pause to vomit.

we are in for a world of pain if this s**t combo continues next year or, even worse, mcrouch is retained and added to it.

the opposition coach must just laugh.. they know that sloane, laird and keays might get 90-100 possessions between them but only 10% of those possessions inflict any real damage.. meanwhile berry, shoenberg etc are rotting away in the forward line.
 
Golumless said:
It's really only the 2nd game where he's been at 25 disposals, and in both, we've been pretty comprehensively b*tch slapped. So is it just a good player who is separate to the side in terms of performance (think Cripps and Carlton as an example of this), or is Laird a genuine barometer to the side as a whole and a down week from him leads to a down week for the club?

That said, I do agree with the earlier point, Schoenberg is really only 1-2 years off overtaking Laird. That kid has the dynamism that Laird lacks.
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How could he be a genuine barometer if he's only had 2 poor games to our many more poor games? Sloane picked up the slack anyway. I'd hazard a guess that between our main 3, we got about the same output as last week. We just got destroyed again for damage caused by midfielders.
 

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Rory Laird wins the 2021 Malcolm Blight medal:

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Official AFL Website of the Adelaide Crows Football Club

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2021 Malcolm Blight Medal Final Leaderboard:

1. Rory Laird 123 votes

2. Ben Keays 120 votes

3. Paul Seedsman 105 votes

4. Brodie Smith 93 votes

4. Tom Doedee 93 votes

4. Taylor Walker 93 votes

7. Jake Kelly 90 votes

7. Reilly O’Brien 90 votes

9. Jordon Butts 88 votes

10. Rory Sloane 86 votes

10. Ned McHenry 86 votes
 
Last edited:
WetCrow1991 said:
Amazing, I wouldn't have Rowe in the top 20 let alone the top 10 and I don't think I would be alone in that assessment.
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Eh, Rowe was pretty ok in the first half of the season. He kind of fell apart in the 2nd.
 
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