Player Watch Sam Murray - (Delisted 2019)

[mike123]

I remember getting roasted for telling people not to jump the gun to quickly on this bloke after the first 4 or so rounds.

Still has quite a long way to go, however he is a decent accumulator, Josh Smith however is also a good accumulator but someone i dont want to see as best 22.

Other than both being a good accumulators Smith and Murray have nothing in common so I'm not even sure why you'd bring him up.

 

[Shaneprice97]

Other than both being a good accumulators Smith and Murray have nothing in common so I'm not even sure why you'd bring him up.

Exactly mate, how could i, its like comparing Grundy to Stephenson!!

But really, you can’t think of anything else they have in common?? I’d call them both half backs, so theres a start?

 

[Kirby]

I thought he was much better last night.

 

[jackcass]

He was fantastic defensively against a team whose game plan didnt allow his natural offensive run and carry.

Some shanked kicks but most of them were under pressure and at least he tried to put some distance on them.

Calling him "not our worst" or similar is disingenuous. He was better than that. A very good game.

Yep, easily his best game since he's returned. Hopefully we see continued improvements week to week.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Exactly mate, how could i, its like comparing Grundy to Stephenson!!

But really, you can’t think of anything else they have in common?? I’d call them both half backs, so theres a start?

Anglo-Saxon surnames?

 

[Fruit]

This sums up Murray at the moment for me ...

Have a look at the pic below. You can see the gamestate in the bottom left. Collingwood are kicking to right of screen.

This is in open play. The ball has just been hoofed out to the wing from our F50 by a Swans player. Hewitt (Swans player behind Alir) has just over-run the footy after being under pressure from Murray. Murray is now collecting.

The only players anywhere near this contest are in the picture plus a fourth Swans player (Cunningham) who will join the contest from the right of screen. Philips is gut running to the defensive side of the contest. Philips with his outstretched right arm is signalling to Mayne to go attacking side, but Mayne ignores that - both Philips and Mayne go defensive side of the contest.

So Murray has two Collingwood players to support him, and four Swans players coming at the contest. He pauses, which gives two Swans players time to cover Mayne and Philips, and he then tries to run around the other two players, but gets tackled by Hewitt, struggles to get rid of the footy and gets pinged for incorrect disposal.

I get that Murray is fast and that he breaks lines and that he takes players on - but choosing to take on four opponents when you’ve got two outlet players available is just dumb footy. He needs to get smarter than that.

The moment he saw Philips was free he should have given the footy straight to him.

View attachment 538281

I clearly remember that moment. I was fuming he didn’t release the first option.

 

[Shaneprice97]

Anglo-Saxon surnames?

Both Collingwood players

 

[ppoiter]

This sums up Murray at the moment for me ...

Have a look at the pic below. You can see the gamestate in the bottom left. Collingwood are kicking to right of screen.

This is in open play. The ball has just been hoofed out to the wing from our F50 by a Swans player. Hewitt (Swans player behind Alir) has just over-run the footy after being under pressure from Murray. Murray is now collecting.

The only players anywhere near this contest are in the picture plus a fourth Swans player (Cunningham) who will join the contest from the right of screen. Philips is gut running to the defensive side of the contest. Philips with his outstretched right arm is signalling to Mayne to go attacking side, but Mayne ignores that - both Philips and Mayne go defensive side of the contest.

So Murray has two Collingwood players to support him, and four Swans players coming at the contest. He pauses, which gives two Swans players time to cover Mayne and Philips, and he then tries to run around the other two players, but gets tackled by Hewitt, struggles to get rid of the footy and gets pinged for incorrect disposal.

I get that Murray is fast and that he breaks lines and that he takes players on - but choosing to take on four opponents when you’ve got two outlet players available is just dumb footy. He needs to get smarter than that.

The moment he saw Philips was free he should have given the footy straight to him.

View attachment 538281

Here's the video for anyone who wants to relieve the moment. If he learns to make good decisions in situations like this he'll be a really handy player

EDIT: Sorry for the dodgy aspect ratio

 

[Greening Magic]

Was up in Sydney for the game. Murray was much better.
Long trip home.

 

[MarkT2]

Decision making and skills aren't negotiable in premiership sides. He gets this sorted quickly or its counter productive carrying him on a list. He has a contract term to make significant introads. We give too many players too long to before we cut them.

 

[mike123]

Anglo-Saxon surnames?

I think Murray is more of Scottish/Gaelic name.

 

[mike123]

Decision making and skills aren't negotiable in premiership sides. He gets this sorted quickly or its counter productive carrying him on a list. He has a contract term to make significant introads.

We had Toovey and Heritier in our premiership defence.

We give too many players too long to before we cut them.

I tend to agree with this. We gave Blair way too long, we gave Jack Frost too long, we gave Smith, Oxley and Crocker too long, we're giving Mayne too long now. We've persisted with blokes who are average at best and dibolical at worst.

With Murray I can actually see the upside with his speed and long kicking so I don't mind persisting with him.

 

[MarkT2]

We had Toovey and Heritier in our premiership defence.

Toover was a good decision akmker and a better kick than Murray. Toovey kicked 4 goals on debut. He was more versatile also a good defensive player. I was never a great Heritier fan. Your point is right though than premuiers ahve less than perfect players. Poor decision makers though are not common. That's something Murray has to resilve quickly.

I tend to agree with this. We gave Blair way too long, we gave Jack Frost too long, we gave Smith, Oxley and Crocker too long, we're giving Mayne too long now. We've persisted with blokes who are average at best and dibolical at worst.

With Murray I can actually see the upside with his speed and long kicking so I don't mind persisting with him.

Sure. It's just a question of how long.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I think Murray is more of Scottish/Gaelic name.

So there IS a difference between them!!!!

 

[didaksrightfoot]

This sums up Murray at the moment for me ...

Have a look at the pic below. You can see the gamestate in the bottom left. Collingwood are kicking to right of screen.

This is in open play. The ball has just been hoofed out to the wing from our F50 by a Swans player. Hewitt (Swans player behind Alir) has just over-run the footy after being under pressure from Murray. Murray is now collecting.

The only players anywhere near this contest are in the picture plus a fourth Swans player (Cunningham) who will join the contest from the right of screen. Philips is gut running to the defensive side of the contest. Philips with his outstretched right arm is signalling to Mayne to go attacking side, but Mayne ignores that - both Philips and Mayne go defensive side of the contest.

So Murray has two Collingwood players to support him, and four Swans players coming at the contest. He pauses, which gives two Swans players time to cover Mayne and Philips, and he then tries to run around the other two players, but gets tackled by Hewitt, struggles to get rid of the footy and gets pinged for incorrect disposal.

I get that Murray is fast and that he breaks lines and that he takes players on - but choosing to take on four opponents when you’ve got two outlet players available is just dumb footy. He needs to get smarter than that.

The moment he saw Philips was free he should have given the footy straight to him.

View attachment 538281

I think the issue with Murray is that he has clearly been coached to take the attacking option. You see it everytime he gets the ball - he's not looking to go sideways or backwards as a 1st, 2nd (or 3rd) option - he's looking to get it forward.

That worked at the start of the years when games are more open and defenses weren't switched on. Its not gonna work in a lot of situations, and its not gonna work against a team like Sydney, in a ground as congested as the SCG.

I hope that a big focus of his time back at the VFL was to learn when to time those runs, and when to play smart possession football. Hopefully he can develop over the next 12+ months. Remember hes still effectively a 1st year player.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Its not gonna work in a lot of situations, and its not gonna work against a team like Sydney, in a ground as congested as the SCG...

... nor probably against a team he used to be a part of and would know him well.

I hope that a big focus of his time back at the VFL was to learn when to time those runs, and when to play smart possession football. Hopefully he can develop over the next 12+ months. Remember hes still effectively a 1st year player.

Ah, yes, as a wise man once said ...

 

[Anzacday]

Just finished the replay.
Makes blues and so do more experienced players.
Used his right foot twice, didn't try and rush off every time.
He's getting better though.

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Just finished the replay.
Makes blues and so do more experienced players.
Used his right foot twice, didn't try and rush off every time.
He's getting better though.

Didn't make any calamitous errors, so I guess thats an improvement.

 

[partypie]

One thing that I noticed after seeing him kick long from the left back pocket out to half back is that his ball drop when kicking long wasn't great - seems to let the ball get to the vertical and then drop it from waist height onto his boot which I hadn't noticed before.

This might explain why has has virtually zero control with the depth and placement of most of his kicks (especially the longer ones) - I noticed it in a kick out from full back early last week too where he shanked it right but managed to find Howe anyway as he was aiming too far left in the first place.

I'd written it off as a bungled kick that turned out ok at the time, but after seeing it again I reckon it's more a case of him having an iffy kicking technique rather than making mental mistakes all the time with his kicking as I had previously thought.

Hopefully this is something that we / he can fix - he has a powerful leg but if he can't find a lot more control then he's going to struggle.

p.s. His inability to think his way through a contested ball situation or when a tackler is approaching is another matter entirely - just looking purely at his kicking technique here.

 

[Mudeo]

We have a few of those (Crisp, Maynard, Murray, Phillips)

I have seen Phillips use his right multiple times to good effect. But the other 3 definitely don't. But it didn't stop Birchall and Isaac Smith

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Mudeo]

We had Toovey and Heritier in our premiership side.

Yeah but the game plan revolved around taking it wide and move up the wing with slow ball movement makes it simple and predictable so you can afford to carry players like that

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Spuddd]

Failed experiment... move on

 

[Shade]

Now of the belief that the first few games from him were a fluke

 

[mike123]

Yeah but the game plan revolved around taking it wide and move up the wing with slow ball movement makes it simple and predictable so you can afford to carry players like that

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

We took the ball wide but our ball movement wasn't slow.

 

[ipswichpies]

He is still only young and very inexperienced and I think as others have said a move up to the wing might help him because he does at this stage lack composure and the further away from our goal the better.

He does have that speed but I think we are better served having Appleby down back because he is a steadier player and also a much tighter player and very good 1 on 1.