Ryan Gardner - I WAS WRONG

[Dale4captain]

Needs to learn when to spoil and when to body-on and provide the block. Goes the spoil 100% of the time atm and it often kills us with a loose sneaking out the back or circling the contest. I get he can jump high but it's not always the best option.

 

[footscray1973]

He gets higher than any other defender when it comes time to spoil the high ball which is useful.

Interesting to see he was generally the deepest defender whenever we set up yesterday, that's a fair amount of faith to show in a guy with a handful of games to his name. Ideally Keath gets a chance to intercept more but I'm not sure he gets released from a more lockdown role for some time.

Was so high yesterday that he could have marked unchallenged rather than, in one instance, thumping it 20 metres or so to the boundary. Hopefully that will come with more experience and more confidence, to back himself and mark the ball. Still tracking ok, hope he can keep it up.

 

[doggies ftw]

Not a chance he had 6 kicked on him. Kennedy kicked most, if not all of his on Williams. Darling was on Keath. Allen was mostly on Gardner. Ryan was mostly on Duryea. Jones was mostly on Daniel. Those match ups were pretty consistent over the whole game.
Obviously with a zone the match ups roll a bit, but Gardner wasn't out of position very often. He had Ryan step around him once which is an unenviable position for anyone to be in, and got beaten in the air a couple of times, but for the most part I thought he pushed up the ground well to have an influence on contests and kill the ball. Which is what our entire defence does as an obvious directive. So he's doing what he's being told to do.
9 1%ers as well. Only 1 clanger. He had a good game.

Yep I’ve been one of his biggest critics on here but I was happy with his game, he played well. I hope he has the scope in his development to become even somewhat of a marking threat too because he obviously makes good positions in the contest a lot of the time. Needs to work on his awareness, sometimes killing the highball is not the best option when our teammates are in good positions he’s gets very tunnel vision on the ball and doesn’t see much else. But he’s definitely improving every week, best game foe the club yesterday

 

[Morris Major]

If after Gardner's 5th game, some told me how good he would be against WCE in his 14th game I'd be stoked with the result.

He'll have things to work on like any other developing player but I'd rather have him over Cordy or Young...

 

[dergert]

Has a very good field kick on him.

When he backs himself in he will be an asset

 

[dogwatch]

Was so high yesterday that he could have marked unchallenged rather than, in one instance, thumping it 20 metres or so to the boundary. Hopefully that will come with more experience and more confidence, to back himself and mark the ball. Still tracking ok, hope he can keep it up.

This of course is why he has higher 1%ers than players like Lake who was an elite contested mark. Either by choice or by coaching instructions he goes the punch nearly every time. If he took a mark instead it would mean his intercept marking stats would be higher but his 1%ers would be lower.

Over time I'm hoping he will develop more confidence in his marking.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Can anyone confirm if Morris got his coaching gig back at the club? Dale is perfect guy to teach this kid.

I think he decided coaching wasn’t for him, as old injuries were preventing him from being fit enough. He’s working in the corporate side of the club, iirc.

 

[maddog37]

He tries his guts out 100% of the time which is a great attribute. He also has speed, nice kick and good leap. Can see why Bevo is backing him in.

If he keep improving he will be a decent AFL player. I think the commentators actually begrudgingly said he looks ok at one point.

 

[lachy]

Reality is when he first came into the side we played him forward though he was a VFL defender. Looked shocking. Since coming in as a defender has improved over every block of 3 games. He is only now starting to look like he feels he belongs. Once he backs himself going for marks instead of always spoiling he could develop into a more than competent defender.

I think we forget the much missed Joel Hamling

29

Joel Hamling

Age

31

Ht

194cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.6

3star

K

6.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.0

5star

T

1.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

11.8

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

4.2

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.0

3star

was dropped a couple of times in 2016 and only played in 12 of the 26 games that year and 23 for us overall. An who can forget our other premiership key defender Fletcher Roberts

Fletcher Roberts

Age

30

Ht

196cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.2

2star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.4

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

1.4

3star

MG

102.2

2star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.2

3star

. Missed our first 2 finals in 2016 yet played 18 games in 2016, 6 more than Hamling, and 51 in total over 7 years on the list.

Gardner was picked up as a mid season rookie and is holding down a key position in a team challenging for top 4 this season. His development is allowing Naughton to play forward, which was a key reason we were able to beat a fellow top 4 aspirant. For mine he is in this team until COrdy or Young actually show anything to suggest they would be better in the role

 

[Dale4captain]

I think he decided coaching wasn’t for him, as old injuries were preventing him from being fit enough. He’s working in the corporate side of the club, iirc.

Nah our coaching budget couldn’t fit him in with the covid stuff. He def wanted that gig. But yeah, he’s the ‘top dogs coterie ambassador’ now.

 

[hazza21]

Was I watching a different game? Yeah he tried hard and is probably the best second option we have at the moment but he got so many kicked on him... heaven forbid Keath goes down.

 

[huddo#9]

Was I watching a different game? Yeah he tried hard and is probably the best second option we have at the moment but he got so many kicked on him... heaven forbid Keath goes down.

You are spot on. Great spoiler jumping into a pack, but forgets about his player and is no good if the spoil doesn't clear. He has improved quite a bit since last year, and tries his heart out, but we ain't winning finals/flags with Gardner as a 2nd or 3rd tall defender. I counted 3 times yesterday where he let the tall (mainly Darling) outrun him on the counter attack, he let them get goal side and was never going to catch them. One of them he was no more than 10 metres behind and gave up and just pointed for someone else to catch them. Attribute a minimum 5 goals on him yesterday.

Great week to throw Khamis into the mix.

 

[House_of_Dahl]

If he had the confidence to take marks instead of spoils he could be very good

 

[maddog37]

If he had the confidence to take marks instead of spoils he could be very good

He went for a huge pack mark in the second quarter. First time I had seen him try it.

 

[Virgin Dog]

He went for a huge pack mark in the second quarter. First time I had seen him try it.

Would've been an incredible grab if he held it, although I wouldn't have backed many on our list too have pulled that off outside of genuinely elite contested marks like Naughton or Jong

 

[Maverick Dog]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

 

[doggies ftw]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

Yeah he’s no good one on one. We really need to be playing our 2-3 elite aerial mediums in Croz/Wood/Williams alongside Keath/Gardner. All of them are really good at helping out each other but we can’t be letting them get caught one out too often.

 

[Boof09]

FWIW over 14 games he's got the highest average for 1%ers per game in the history of the club.

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If punching is what puts the 1% figure high, no doubt he punches well, what does he do for the rest of his game.

 

[Boof09]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

Glad I'm not the only one, I thought I must have seen a different game.....I think there was at least 6 kicked on him, look at the highlights package online and you can see 3 without seeing all of the Eagles goals. We have very limited options agreed but if we are relying on Gardner long term to keep on improving and be a solid key defender he better go on a quicker upward curve than he is now.

 

[House_of_Dahl]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

Gardner is never going to be that sort of player. More a Hamling type

 

[stefoid]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

Doubt its a strength issue, more like being caught off balance which is an experience issue.

 

[Some Idiot]

Most of the goals were scored in transition - even the 'one on ones', the forwards generally had 5-10 metres clear with blokes chasing tail.

 

[Some Idiot]

I am surprised some think he played well. He was average at best. The most concerning thing for me was how he was ragged doll by a younger player in the square. He has no core strength and could be easily isolated 1 and 1 deep forward line and become a huge liability against good forwards. keath is not suited to the monster forwards but is forced to play against them. He would be far more suited to being the 2nd KPD.

feel sorry for Williams, he gets the harder assignment and stronger opponent because Ryan lack physical strength. Hope Martin can help him in the gym

Our setup was generally Keath/Gardiner starting on the deepest talls, and Williams starting on the highest tall. Obviously matchups get a bit muddled in transition in modern football, but I didn't observe what you're suggesting happen at all.

 

[Morris Major]

Our setup was generally Keath/Gardiner starting on the deepest talls, and Williams starting on the highest tall. Obviously matchups get a bit muddled in transition in modern football, but I didn't observe what you're suggesting happen at all.

Exactly. Gardner only had 3 one on one goals kicked on him (1 mark on the lead, and 2 contests).

Kennedy was marking against Bailey Williams on at least 2 occasions, which is more a result of our setup than any player's failings.

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

FWIW over 14 games he's got the highest average for 1%ers per game in the history of the club.

View attachment 1088959

gee wiz there are some really s**t players on that list interspersed with some legends.