One of the most polarising figures in our footy club.
I've read comments on this board about Sidey that range from "our second best player only behind Pendles" to "he is an absolute dud. Can't believe anyone rates him. Trade him!"
It seems to me that this is largely due to his knack of performing elite/first class actions on the field one minute, then screwing up a kick (that even Jonathan Marsh, under pressure, would nail) the next!
Today's performance really typified this. Sidey at one point ruined a good handball chain out of the backline by kicking directly to a West Coast player 10m away from him. This cost us a goal.
But then, 5 mins later, he took possession and kicked a well-placed ball in to the 50 which was marked and goaled by our forward (Moore I believe?).
He then continued on doing some awesome things and some silly things throughout the game. Ultimately, though, he ended up with at least one goal assist + 2 goals (one which sealed the game, and another which lifted our side when the game was there for the taking) and 26 disposals.
Despite his major screw ups, I do not believe that we would have won without his contributions today.
This still leaves me scratching my head as to what I think of him as a player, however.
Is he, like Wayne Carey says, 'elite'? Is he maybe just a decent player? Is he a spud? Or none of the above?
Should we keep him? Trade him? Make him change his ridiculous name?
Whilst Sidey can frustrate us on a regular basis, I ultimately feel that the positives of him as a player, overall, outweigh the negatives. As an extension of this, I believe that the 'derp' moments he has are far overshadowed by his positive contributions. I would also suggest that these positive contributions are not always highlight-reel worthy (i.e. He just does the little things well), and thus often go unnoticed by fans.
If I contrast Sidey with Greenwood, for example, I would suggest that Greenwood is sometimes a player whose derps outweigh or overshadow his (very solid) positive contributions. I do not think this about Sidey for some reason.
How many times do we see Sidey get possessions as an attacking midfielder or winger (or even as a forward), only to see him somehow back helping in the backline if the opposition counter attack?
Unlike some other midfielders and wingers, Sidey usually attempts to make up for his mistakes, Nd helps the defenders. If he turns a ball over, he will be back trying to help right the wrong if possible. I would say this about Taylor Adams, too.
Sidey's kicking IS frustrating, though. Today's terrible kick was an aberration, as he clearly thought the west coast player was a pies player. The kick itself was good! (LOL)
But it is the dinky kicks that just fall short or the just slightly misplaced or misdirected kicks that frustrate me... Mostly because I know that he actually is a very good kick on both right and left feet! Why oh why, Sidey, do you stuff up some easy kicks when you're such a good kick?!
This is perhaps the part of his game which drives us most bananas. Along with the occasional and bizarre brain fades. There's no particular answer for why this occurs so often. The only thing I can think of is that I've usually observed him making these errors when he's on the run and after he's been running a fair amount of distance. His tank may be huge, but that doesn't mean he will never make physical and mental fatigue-based skill errors.
That being said, I do agree this should be better.
Overall I feel, though, that Sidey has been a consistently positive contributor - who has been capable of both stunning feats and ridiculous mistakes - for about 5 years now. He was one of our better players in the premiership year, has been averaging over 25 possessions for 4 years, and is still only 25 years of age.
I think we would struggle to find an adequate comparison player to him. He is truly unique; capable of playing half back, half forward, forward pocket, wing, inside and outside mid... Yet is perhaps not 'elite' at any of them?
I would personally conclude that he is perhaps a well above average all-round player, who is capable of playing at an Elite level in many different positions, whilst not actually being consistently elite at any one of them.
Ultimately I think his footy smarts are close to elite... Which may sound odd considering I also concede that he makes terribly stupid mistakes!
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TL/DR - Sidebottom is a bizarre player, whose positive contributions (in my opinion) far outweigh his negative ones.
What conclusions have you drawn about Sidebottom? Where to next for this 150+ game, 25 year old 'veteran' of our club?
Do we expect too much, or not enough?
I've read comments on this board about Sidey that range from "our second best player only behind Pendles" to "he is an absolute dud. Can't believe anyone rates him. Trade him!"
It seems to me that this is largely due to his knack of performing elite/first class actions on the field one minute, then screwing up a kick (that even Jonathan Marsh, under pressure, would nail) the next!
Today's performance really typified this. Sidey at one point ruined a good handball chain out of the backline by kicking directly to a West Coast player 10m away from him. This cost us a goal.
But then, 5 mins later, he took possession and kicked a well-placed ball in to the 50 which was marked and goaled by our forward (Moore I believe?).
He then continued on doing some awesome things and some silly things throughout the game. Ultimately, though, he ended up with at least one goal assist + 2 goals (one which sealed the game, and another which lifted our side when the game was there for the taking) and 26 disposals.
Despite his major screw ups, I do not believe that we would have won without his contributions today.
This still leaves me scratching my head as to what I think of him as a player, however.
Is he, like Wayne Carey says, 'elite'? Is he maybe just a decent player? Is he a spud? Or none of the above?
Should we keep him? Trade him? Make him change his ridiculous name?
Whilst Sidey can frustrate us on a regular basis, I ultimately feel that the positives of him as a player, overall, outweigh the negatives. As an extension of this, I believe that the 'derp' moments he has are far overshadowed by his positive contributions. I would also suggest that these positive contributions are not always highlight-reel worthy (i.e. He just does the little things well), and thus often go unnoticed by fans.
If I contrast Sidey with Greenwood, for example, I would suggest that Greenwood is sometimes a player whose derps outweigh or overshadow his (very solid) positive contributions. I do not think this about Sidey for some reason.
How many times do we see Sidey get possessions as an attacking midfielder or winger (or even as a forward), only to see him somehow back helping in the backline if the opposition counter attack?
Unlike some other midfielders and wingers, Sidey usually attempts to make up for his mistakes, Nd helps the defenders. If he turns a ball over, he will be back trying to help right the wrong if possible. I would say this about Taylor Adams, too.
Sidey's kicking IS frustrating, though. Today's terrible kick was an aberration, as he clearly thought the west coast player was a pies player. The kick itself was good! (LOL)
But it is the dinky kicks that just fall short or the just slightly misplaced or misdirected kicks that frustrate me... Mostly because I know that he actually is a very good kick on both right and left feet! Why oh why, Sidey, do you stuff up some easy kicks when you're such a good kick?!
This is perhaps the part of his game which drives us most bananas. Along with the occasional and bizarre brain fades. There's no particular answer for why this occurs so often. The only thing I can think of is that I've usually observed him making these errors when he's on the run and after he's been running a fair amount of distance. His tank may be huge, but that doesn't mean he will never make physical and mental fatigue-based skill errors.
That being said, I do agree this should be better.
Overall I feel, though, that Sidey has been a consistently positive contributor - who has been capable of both stunning feats and ridiculous mistakes - for about 5 years now. He was one of our better players in the premiership year, has been averaging over 25 possessions for 4 years, and is still only 25 years of age.
I think we would struggle to find an adequate comparison player to him. He is truly unique; capable of playing half back, half forward, forward pocket, wing, inside and outside mid... Yet is perhaps not 'elite' at any of them?
I would personally conclude that he is perhaps a well above average all-round player, who is capable of playing at an Elite level in many different positions, whilst not actually being consistently elite at any one of them.
Ultimately I think his footy smarts are close to elite... Which may sound odd considering I also concede that he makes terribly stupid mistakes!
-----------
TL/DR - Sidebottom is a bizarre player, whose positive contributions (in my opinion) far outweigh his negative ones.
What conclusions have you drawn about Sidebottom? Where to next for this 150+ game, 25 year old 'veteran' of our club?
Do we expect too much, or not enough?
