Soft players

[TradeDraft]

Bryce Gibbs

 

[Manic Magpie]

Bryce Gibbs

Yet many here would be more than happy to have Gibbs play for us rather than Carlton. He obviously has attributes other than hardness of worth to a team.

 

[StillWaiting5689]

Unless we have done it, perhaps we should keep quiet on this matter.

So I'm guessing only ex AFL players are now permitted on big footy?

Didak was a soft player and at times it probably hurt the team, I don't understand how this is any less of a valid criticism then saying Cloke is a bad shot for goal. Every player that doesn't play like Ball isn't soft but all clubs would expect every player to put there head over when its their turn - this is something Didak didn't always do and if AFL players are anything like footy players everywhere else in the country he would of copped some shit for it - both internally and externally.

 

[jonbe54]

So I'm guessing only ex AFL players are now permitted on big footy?

Didak was a soft player and at times it probably hurt the team, I don't understand how this is any less of a valid criticism then saying Cloke is a bad shot for goal. Every player that doesn't play like Ball isn't soft but all clubs would expect every player to put there head over when its their turn - this is something Didak didn't always do and if AFL players are anything like footy players everywhere else in the country he would of copped some shit for it - both internally and externally.

So you are saying you hated the way Didak got free so often and provided the perfect link going into the forward line when fit and in form??

I think not. . .

So how do you imagine he managed to be in those positions to facilitate so brilliantly? Oh of course he got free so often by tackling everying that moved.

YES Didak's preoccupation with staying free of the contest did cost us regularly

BUT

That same preoccupation created many goals and there were some few games that he won for us off his own boot by being what he was. A 'soft' outside player with freakish skills that ANY football team on the planet would welcome with open arms if fit and sharp.

Perhaps you'd like to have a shot at Daicos? I watched his entire career and you could never in your wildest dreams call him anything other than outside, that includes his best early years playing in the middle.

Players like Daicos and Didak create their own categories because of their unique skill sets and irreplaceable value to the team.

 

[jmac70]

Bryce Gibbs

What about him?

 

[TheFreshBanana]

I disagree.

There must be an element of toughness in this game. Players that aren't strong minded enough to get in when the going gets tough, is rightly looked down upon on the field.

When you go and play footy, are you expected to go in hard? Yes. If you shirk a contest, will a player let you know about it? Probably.

If we were to go by your logic that "If I can't do it, I can't comment", then wtf none of us should be commenting on games except for "I applaud him, he might have shanked it out of bounds, but I never would have taken that mark in the first place".

When you play at AFL level, you are expected to play at AFL level, no matter whether the criticism is coming from an ex-AFL legend or a guy who barely runs anymore.

 

[jonbe54]

Wow, moving on.

 

[jmac70]

A wise man once said that life is like a box of chocolates. We need both hard and soft centres.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Should not we be referring to 'soft' players as 'hardness challenged' players?

I think 'flaccid players' might be the correct term (BTW flaccid is an inherently funny word)

 

[jmac70]

I think 'flaccid players' might be the correct term (BTW flaccid is an inherently funny word)

Bellezeboobian is also a funny word.

 

[jmac70]

Marley Williams comes to mind when i think of soft footballers.













Loljokes, he's only the toughest and most handsome bastard to live

It's like rain on your wedding day.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Bellezeboobian is also a funny word.

So is 'Sausage' and my all time favorite funny word; 'Fart'

 

[loki04]

There are outside players and then there are contact allergic players who cost you at critical times.

The op is confusing the 2, people don't criticise or not appreciate outside types.
The criticism comes when they consistently shirk contests, like when when there is a loose ball with another player coming and then the player slows up to allow them to take possession and lays a limp innefective tackle.

Also I don't see how their running patterns and training ethic has to do with being critical of them for pulling out of contests. And I'm not talking about JBrown either seen the 2 mentioned in the op both pull up for much smaller players too.

Also anyone who has played the game has a right to comment on it as most would of been put in a similar situation where they have had their mettle tested.

 

[jmac70]

So is 'Sausage' and my all time favorite funny word; 'Fart'

Scrotum also makes me giggle, especially when Billy Connolly says it.

 

[jmac70]

The op is confusing the 2 people don't criticise or not appreciate outside types.
The criticism comes when they consistently shirk contests, like when when there is a loose ball with another player coming and then the player slows up to allow them to take possession and lays a limp flaccid innefective tackle.

EFA.

 

[jonbe54]

There are outside players and then there are contact allergic players who cost you at critical times.

The op is confusing the 2 people don't criticise or not appreciate outside types.
The criticism comes when they consistently shirk contests, like when when there is a loose ball with another player coming and then the player slows up to allow them to take possession and lays a limp innefective tackle.

Also I don't see how their running patterns and training ethic has to do with being critical of them for pulling out of contests. And I'm not talking about JBrown either seen the 2 mentioned in the op both pull up for much smaller players too.

Also anyone who has played the game has a right to comment on it as most would of been put in a similar situation where they have had their mettle tested.

I beg to differ on one point most strenuously Loki some here DO criticize outside types, regularly and with no justification.

There is a prevailing belief in a percentage of posters that unless you are an in and under machine or a tacking fanatic you are of no use to the team except as a whipping boy. These are the posters I believe the OP and certainly myself feel are just trash talkers and not worth responding to.

As for right to comment - that's what we are all here for, some though just insist of making horses arses of themselves with ill considered cr@p posts.

 

[Manic Magpie]

What about him?

TD labeled him as 'soft' in another thread.

 

[jmac70]

TD labeled him as 'soft' in another thread.

Ok right, should have realised. Dangerous business labelling players.

 

[THATSGOLD]

The recruitment of Adams, absolute hard nut will be fantastic for us.
The recruitment of Freeman, bull in a china shop, another nut, perfect, more so when he gets older.
I still think we need to recruit one more 188cm + sized mid to compliment and protect pendles swan beams and ball.

Interesting to see how Karnezis and Armstrong can put their body on the line when it counts though. We will see.

 

[cleomenes]

Some interesting interpretations have come to light here. Realize that I do not believe that Didak or Loney, as the examples I used, were soft players in any way. They certainly get that label, but I never saw either shirk. What they rarely did was dive at the ball, since as I said, they recognized that their value to the team lay in keeping their feet. Players of this kind make choices as to where they expect the ball to go and move to there. Sometimes they get it wrong and look silly or weak, but they are neither. Swan looks great when he runs though the ruck contest and gets the ball at full pace. It doesn't look so smart if it goes the other way, but it's what he does. When Cloke over runs the ball and can't turn back before a defender clears it I have heard commentators say he is not trying. Nonsense. What players do has to be viewed in terms of their abilities. Almost no one is a complete all rounder. I still maintain; there are no cowards playing at AFL level, and we look pretty silly if we say there are.
Brett Lee was brutal in humiliating the dopey journalist, but perhaps he needed to be.

 

[Hinequarters]

It takes a warrior just to step on the field.. they are freight trains moving at high speed, don't kid yourself

 

[Checkside35]

A very simple instruction from coaches is to put your head over the ball. When it's your turn, you go. When you take short steps, go feeling for the ball etc, duck your head in a marking contest etc, it's a soft act. To think that there are no soft players in the AFL is laughable.
I don't think many of us are politicians, so I guess none of us have passed judgement on the performance of politicians or governments.

 

[Hinequarters]

A very simple instruction from coaches is to put your head over the ball. When it's your turn, you go. When you take short steps, go feeling for the ball etc, duck your head in a marking contest etc, it's a soft act. To think that there are no soft players in the AFL is laughable.

A soft act doesn't make a soft player unless it's part of their game and a player that did that regularly wouldn't be played.. I've even seen Luke Ball take a short step because it simply wasn't worth what would happen.. an occasional lapse or shrewd retreat is fine

 

[Checkside35]

A soft act doesn't make a soft player unless it's part of their game and a player that did that regularly wouldn't be played.. I've even seen Luke Ball take a short step because it simply wasn't worth what would happen.. an occasional lapse or shrewd retreat is fine

Agreed but continual soft acts when it counts makes a soft player. There's no escaping that. Each side needs its outside players but I see certain players remaining on the outside when it's obvious that their opponents have them outnumbered in the clinches. Have watched this type of player and have played with them. They are soft.

 

[Ketchup]

Ive played footy since I was 7. Being short as **** every time I put my head over the ball or back into a pack it really hurts yet I still do it. Do I get to express people as soft? Or not because I don't play at the same level .