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Opinion Sidebottom

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bucksisbest said:
I've been an advocate for him to just play on the forward flank and try and be a goal scoring threat, as his dinky modes of posession, watching on, onthe outskirts of packs and fumbling drives me spare. Does not do enough damage, does not bodyline the ball enough, does not pentetrate and does not try and and penetrate.

The forward flank idea was due to games against Richmond and North early last year when he actually hurt sides by kicking goals, he had some reasonable midfield games last year, but nowhere near enough and even in some games where he was decent, he made a crucial error where he was trying to be too much of a smart arse with the ball and it cost us. Freo game is a prime example of this.

I didn't agree with the best and fairest result and I will continue to be harsh on the guy, mainly because I think he often gets too easy a ride/ does not get enough scrutiny.
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I was at the Freo game at Subi last year and if your talking about the same game then you're a hard marker. From memory he had about 32 touches and had Mzungu running with him for the entire game. The one faulty disposal your talking about hardly crucifies the other 31 good ones i would have thought. He also kicked a goal from outside 5o late in the first quarter. I don't even know what bodyline line the ball even means but he is quite often the first one back to help the defenders out and intercepts the ball in the path of oncoming forward. Check out the Anzac day game 2013 for a few highlights. We have so many inside mids and you sully the best outside mid we have. Your fumbling comments are a myth and he does one thing better than anyone else at the club, his gives the ball to a player with the same coloured jumper on as him. Whilst in terms of importance to the team he would sit outside the top 5 for mine, he is the one other teams like to man up on like Gaff and Hannerbery with players like Shiels, Mzungu and Geary running/checking with them closely for the damage they can do on the outside. Sign him up and throw away the key
 
Really guys???
He is one of our most consistent performers.
Yes, he is not the flashy player that catches the eye,
But he is one of our most important and resilient players.
He does his job week after week.
I would like to see him back on the HFF though.
His footy brain and foot skills are something we are lacking in our forward line.
 
He's an amazing gut runner he's never far away from
every contest out there.

With that in mind, I think his occasional half volley type deliveries into the leading forwards can be forgiven.

Enormous heart and appears a great young man to have around the club.

That said, he hasn't reached the heights that may have been dreamt of after the 2010 GFs, but perhaps if his role on ge day was less demanding, he may have shown more sublime and skilled plays.
 
I love his work across half forward pushing into midfield. That's where he is at his most damaging. He is so instinctive, creative and dangerous that he commands a damn good opponent otherwise he can carve you up.

At the moment he is spending a lot of time in midfield because his tank is so huge but I see his best value across half forward.
 

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HFF said:
I love his work across half forward pushing into midfield. That's where he is at his most damaging. He is so instinctive, creative and dangerous that he commands a damn good opponent otherwise he can carve you up.

At the moment he is spending a lot of time in midfield because his tank is so huge but I see his best value across half forward.
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Also he reads the ball so well and can get into the Right Postion to Kick Goals and he Coverts so well
 
One on one, ill back him in against anyone. Has real hunger for the contest and its not something that can be taught.

Not sure why this thread was made after one bad NAB Cup game where 20 others were just as bad.

He was one of our best against Geelong when we played with real intensity.

Will have a big year.
 
jmac70 said:
He played every game for the year with an average of 24 disposals. If that's not consistent what is?
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And if he gets 48 possessions in some games and 0 in others for that average? :p

I'd like to see him put more on some of his kicks into the forward half, but he's a good player to have in the 22 and he should be advantaged more than anyone by the new interchange cap.
 
Men of Steele said:
I was at the Freo game at Subi last year and if your talking about the same game then you're a hard marker. From memory he had about 32 touches and had Mzungu running with him for the entire game. The one faulty disposal your talking about hardly crucifies the other 31 good ones i would have thought. He also kicked a goal from outside 5o late in the first quarter. I don't even know what bodyline line the ball even means but he is quite often the first one back to help the defenders out and intercepts the ball in the path of oncoming forward. Check out the Anzac day game 2013 for a few highlights. We have so many inside mids and you sully the best outside mid we have. Your fumbling comments are a myth and he does one thing better than anyone else at the club, his gives the ball to a player with the same coloured jumper on as him. Whilst in terms of importance to the team he would sit outside the top 5 for mine, he is the one other teams like to man up on like Gaff and Hannerbery with players like Shiels, Mzungu and Geary running/checking with them closely for the damage they can do on the outside. Sign him up and throw away the key
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The freo game was in relation to my example of him playing a good one, but being too cute at a crucial time and costing us massively.
 
HFF said:
I love his work across half forward pushing into midfield. That's where he is at his most damaging. He is so instinctive, creative and dangerous that he commands a damn good opponent otherwise he can carve you up.

At the moment he is spending a lot of time in midfield because his tank is so huge but I see his best value across half forward.
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And he'll probably spend a load of time at half back purely out of needs. He is our most versatile small. I'm starting to think his best position is wherever the **** he wants to be. He is that smart a footballer, versatile and the fitness to be everywhere. I think you could do worse than trying to orchestrate him as your loose man wherever that is.
 
Its funny what many are saying about him.

I honestly believe he is easily in our top 15 and bordering on top 10.

I also believe he will be AA this year. Happy for people to remind me if wrong.
 
Best endurance runner at the club, good goal sense, DURABLE as hell so lock him in for every game, just a very good player.

And you know what else? He is always smiling and seems so upbeat both on and off the field. Seems to genuinely love playing footy, love his teammates, and love the club. You can't underestimate how much those types of characters can bring to a club.
 
forwardflanker said:
He's a good player but if he were more consistent he would be hitting A-grade status.
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I don't get this argument. He is easily one of our most consistent players week in week out. He never quite recaptured those huge numbers in early 2012, but he still rarely has a shocker.
 

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Agree with everyone about his Consistency. Steels age vs games played is unbelievable. On track for 300+ The only knock is that he does not put his body on or anywhere near the line as other star players do. Its frustrating watching opposition players blast straight past/through him to win the contested ball. Plays well when we are up and running but struggles when the game is on the line. Sometimes you need to put your body on the line for the team. Can be difference between wining and losing.

Still young though and can improve in this area
 
He is a very consistent durable player but not a superstar.

His weaknesses are that he has no penetration in his kicks and is average paced however his strengths make up for this in that he is a fantastic endurance runner, has footy smarts and is so dual sided that he can use both feet which means he doesn't need the speed as much to get clear to use his right foot. He also is brilliant at the gut running both defensively and offensively for the spread.

He will never be in the top tier A+ players at the club IMO but he will be a long term high performing player who can play in multiple positions
 

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jmac70 said:
Best get rid of him then. Third in the Copeland is not good enough.
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Just because he's a very good player doesn't mean he isn't underachieving. Some weeks he plays games at an elite level and other weeks he makes simple mistakes and fails to have any impact on the game. Given his excellent record of consistency in finals there's no real excuse for his up and down h&a form imo.
 
Hope you don't mind the intrusion guys, I wanted to offer a Geelong supporter's opinion.

From day one, Sidebottom has reminded me of Steve Johnson - they're two of the most skilful and creative players in the league. Johnson debuted in 2002 but didn't start playing consistently good football until 2007 - since then he's been one of the most elite players in the game.

I see Sidebottom's career trajectory as somewhat similar. You may wish he'd already made AA teams and been labelled a superstar at age 23, but he's a very valuable player who is yet to reach his peak. I have tipped him for the ANZAC medal a couple of times as I always expect him to play well in big games.

You have a gem of a player and if he wanted to leave Collingwood there would be 17 other clubs lining up for his services.
 
Terrific player but somehow I'm still not convinced he's a true midfielder. I like him as a half forward who rotates through the midfield a bit rather than the other way round. He is creative and has good goal sense. So far he seems to lack a bit of grunt for a midfielder imo... still young though.
 
3rd in our b&f last year, had 25 touches and 8 tackles in first practice match but had an ordinary second one (albeit with another 7 tackles).

DROP HIM NOW, HE'S GAWN!!!
 
Pera said:
Not sure why this thread was made after one bad NAB Cup game where 20 others were just as bad.
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Did you read my op or just ensure you put your opinion out there ignoring facts. I started this thread with the last few years in mind.

In my opinion he doesn't seem to to influence the game enough at crucial points. I think I might be in the minority but you should have a look at our games more closely and in particular when things start going against us. It's normally beams swan and pendles influencing the contest not so much sidebottom.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
fpm84 said:
Hope you don't mind the intrusion guys, I wanted to offer a Geelong supporter's opinion.

From day one, Sidebottom has reminded me of Steve Johnson - they're two of the most skilful and creative players in the league. Johnson debuted in 2002 but didn't start playing consistently good football until 2007 - since then he's been one of the most elite players in the game.

I see Sidebottom's career trajectory as somewhat similar. You may wish he'd already made AA teams and been labelled a superstar at age 23, but he's a very valuable player who is yet to reach his peak. I have tipped him for the ANZAC medal a couple of times as I always expect him to play well in big games.

You have a gem of a player and if he wanted to leave Collingwood there would be 17 other clubs lining up for his services.
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Thanks for saying that. I, like a lot of other Pies supporters agree with you. And I must say that watching Stevie J is a little like watching the old Mr. Magic (Daicos) he sees things/chances that others can't see and his skills are so highly developed that he makes the impossible possible.

Good luck to the Cats this year. Hope we play you in the finals!
 

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