Stop Ripping Ottens

[patdman]

The guy cant play forward when King is getting SMASHED in the ruck. When he played better than our Captain i wish everyone would shut up.

Second, when we got him we still had Benny, the idea was to have to option to have a tall forward line. Ottens and Benny would have tested any defence. Ottens on his own isnt as scary. We are still a quality key forward short.

I am sick and tired of people ripping on him. The whole side was disgracefull and couldnt have hit the side of a barn with the footskills displayed on Friday night. I feel sorry for Ottens having to put up with the crap his teammates dealt out.

 

[Turbocat]

I too think this critic is premature. Ive said all along he there to add to the mix, not to be a star. Yes he was quiet but the side was well beaten. KIng was not any better.

 

[GazDude]

It's not just him, it's the team.

 

[David_0]

I have to agree.

I think his performance was better then King's.

Too me, I think he is doing well. It wouldnt be easy for him, and I do believe he will only get better as time goes on.

 

[catempire]

Agree, Ottens is being used as a scapegoat.

If I had to rank the team from 1 to 22 in the past two weeks Ottens wouldn't be in the bottom half dozen.

Assistance from a fit King and better ball delivery will make him a much more valuable player.

 

[LongBomb]

Look, people on this forum are simply enjoying sinking the boot into him for who he is and what happened in the pre season.

It is an official bigfooty pastime. I would probably be doing it if he was at another club.

I have faith in the GFC and the reasons behind him being recruited.

He will come good. He jus needs a little time to settle in. Covering for King is probably the worst possible was he could be eased into the team.

 

[scottydeewah]

I agree with Patdman he is a legend

(actually i was logged in as him this morning when i created this post. Probably because it is his computer...but anyway what a legend)

Now.

I want Mooney back, strangely enough i actually think the new circle might help him Ruck, yes that is right, i want him to ruck sometimes - and Ruck-rove. And beat people up

 

[Seb]

To say his performance was better than King's is almost an indictment, rather than a positive.

 

[donkster]

I think some people just need to get their hands off it, because of the situation Ottens is being scrutinised, and as has been said we were poor across the board.

 

[patcho182]

Ottens never really gets a chance. They dont look for him when he is in the forward line anyway. They are too busy kicking to kingsley who does not like physical contact and when he does mark, but ive just said this in the kingsley post.

I think if they are going to put Ottens in the forward line, get Kingsley out and have two small forwards feeding off him.
Get Johnno back in the side, he kicked 6 on the weekend didnt he?

 

[Dean3]

Speaking as a Tiger supporter, I always thought Ottens was a far better ruckman than forward. He never really performed for us in the forward line, even with Richo there as well.

I think his problem as a forward is that he is basically one-dimensional — he's a "within 25m of goal full forward" and can't really be rotated thru CHF or further up the ground, he's just not mobile enough. And he lacks aggression.

 

[scottydeewah]

he's a "within 25m of goal full forward

That is EXACTLY what we wanted. Someone we could throw deep in the forward line, Benny around half forward and make it difficult to match up on Mooney, Benny, Otto up forward. Benny takes it in the Centre square, wheels around and kicks it 20 metres out directly in front to bog Otto.

 

[Dean3]

Maybe so, but if he's getting beaten, he doesn't leave you with many options, except to throw him in the ruck and King to FF.

I take your point that you are missing Graham.

 

[Jack-Packenham]

I hope he is successful, but you can't bring a guy to the club, make him in the top 3 paid players if not the highest and then say to the supporters to not expect much and just hope he can be a good team contributor. If you pay somebody the big bucks they must perform to that level from the start.
I would leave him at full forward and play King and Blake in the ruck if required. Play another tall like Mccarthy next to him so he can't be double teamed. I hope he doesn't turn out like Rawlings at the bulldogs where the supporters have turned on him and the players don't respect him but know he is paid more than all of them.

 

[scottydeewah]

For a start who else would you give the big bucks too?

Secondly, he would be on a performance based contract.

Thirdly even if we do pay him $400,000 a year for a couple of years. If after that he is not worth it we will give him $200-250 (average wage now for a seasoned player) and we had a punt. We HAD to give it a go. Although we might lose some respect for Ottens we would have lost all respect for the coaching staff if they hadn’t of given it a go.

Fourthly (??) OTTENS HAS NOT PLAYED BADLY. He missed a couple of shots against WC, otherwise we probably would have won and be calling him a hero, and on Friday night King got benched for nearly a whole quarter because he got SMASHED in the ruck.

LEAVE HIM ALONE

Ottens you’re a gun. Just keep having a dip mate.

 

[Jack-Packenham]

Secondly, he would be on a performance based contract.

Doubt it

Fourthly (??) OTTENS HAS NOT PLAYED BADLY. He missed a couple of shots against WC, otherwise we probably would have won and be calling him a hero, and on Friday night King got benched for nearly a whole quarter because he got SMASHED in the ruck.

I agree

Ottens you’re a gun. Just keep having a dip mate.

Thats the problem he doesn't have a go. He does not command the ball like a 6"6' player should. He stands there and does not present himself. Thats why they kick it to KK because he commands the ball

 

[della]

its only ealry in the year but anyone who saids he hasn't been dissapointing is kidding themselves, i don't care if he doesn't get 20 touvhes but at least show some aggression at the ball, open up a few packs for our small players do something, for crying out loud, just have a go please, there r plenty of people who would love to be his size and build, cmon Ottens shows us something starting this week

della!

 

[scottydeewah]

If he was standing in the goalsquare and kingsley lead out, I would kick it to Ottens.

 

[jmain14]

sorry guys, I am one of the serial offenders on here who gets into ottens. going forward, I will try to refrain myself. I hope that brad makes my job easier. listening to bomber thompson on sen this morning has convinced me that he hasn't been given a real chance to fire up forward for us thus far. we definately should reserve our judgement on him for at least another few rounds and after the ball is delivered to him in a lot better way than what it was friday night so as to give him a chance of marking.

my plan at the start of the week was to drop ottens for this week's game - that certainly will not happen and I understand why it can't. also you get the impression that bomber rates gardiner fairly highly and I am sure he will retain his spot this week, and mackie won't unfortunately. so the most likely scenaro would have to be mack and jimmy out based on mooney and sj both coming in.

 

[jmain14]

If he was standing in the goalsquare and kingsley lead out, I would kick it to Ottens.

of course you would. ottens can kick. would like to think that ottens would be as good as chance of marking as kent would be, if not better.

 

[Tigerblood]

As a Richmond supporter I was curious to know what real Cat supporters were saying about Ottens, so I dropped in here to have a look. What strikes me is how similar (in fact, identical) all the comments are to what we used to say about him. I know exactly how you feel! And that's the problem with the "He'll come good, just give him time" theory. The fact is, he's been playing like this for several years now - not just several games.

The other 'Groundhog Day' element to all this is the comment 'We'll pay him big dollars for a couple of years and if he doesn't perform, then we just offer him $200-250 per year after that". Yep, that's exactly what we did - gave him good dough for relatively poor return, then offered him $250 per year.

He left.

 

[catempire]

As a Richmond supporter I was curious to know what real Cat supporters were saying about Ottens, so I dropped in here to have a look. What strikes me is how similar (in fact, identical) all the comments are to what we used to say about him. I know exactly how you feel! And that's the problem with the "He'll come good, just give him time" theory. The fact is, he's been playing like this for several years now - not just several games.

The other 'Groundhog Day' element to all this is the comment 'We'll pay him big dollars for a couple of years and if he doesn't perform, then we just offer him $200-250 per year after that". Yep, that's exactly what we did - gave him good dough for relatively poor return, then offered him $250 per year.

He left.

By the looks of it, he may be a front-runner type player. That is, when things are going well for his team, when his team mates are playing well, delivering the ball well, moving it quickly, he will be alright. But when his team is under the pump (like Richmond have been for ages and like Geelong was in the past two weeks) he is comes up short.

So the secret will be for Geelong just to start playing well!

King being fit and taking most of the centre bounces will make a huge difference too.

 

[itsintheblood]

By the looks of it, he may be a front-runner type player. That is, when things are going well for his team, when his team mates are playing well, delivering the ball well, moving it quickly, he will be alright. But when his team is under the pump (like Richmond have been for ages and like Geelong was in the past two weeks) he is comes up short.

So the secret will be for Geelong just to start playing well!

King being fit and taking most of the centre bounces will make a huge difference too.

Guys, I stick my hand up too and be honest in saying i've bagged ottens quite a bit this year even though I did rate him at richmond. I'd be lying if I said I wasnt disappointed he left. However, his performance on Friday night was exactly the reason why I'm sort of glad he's gone and we've picked up a couple of quality kids and saved half a mil in the meantime. No question he has ability. His problem is mental. He has no heart and doesnt attack the ball like a Keating or a primus or a Jeff White. He goes missing when the team is down. He had the opportunity to stamp his authority at richmond in a pathetic side and failed. One kick and one mark in 110 minutes of football is very disappointing for someone earning half a million bucks. I guess what's worse is that you lost a quality midfielder to the demons in the process. No doubt Ottens is under the pump with the big bucks and the expectation he will "deliver" given his "reason" for leaving was because he wanted a change.

I'd hate to be in his shoes.

 

[rooloc]

watched the Cats Eagles game. In the last quarter Ottens marked 45m out and 20m in side the boundary. As a 400K a year player and playing as a key forward he had to take a shot at goal. Instead he tried a short pass that was picked off and rebounded. He just seems to be afraid of taking a game on. Look at Grant against the saints. A tougher shot later in the quarter but someone had to stand up and he did.

Geelong is a key forward away from a premiership. But the key forward has to be a leader and want the ball when the games in the balance. Players will not want to pass to him if they dont believe in his abilities. Hence the team will go wide and wont bring the ball in as quickly because they'll wait for another option.

Hope he comes good time will tell.

 

[Rodgerramjet]

Losing Graham was always going to hurt you. The idea of getting Ottens from us was to help bolster the forward options. It was pretty much countered upon by Thompson that Graham would be there and he must have been disappointed when Graham decided to leave. In effect the departure of Graham has turned the Ottens get into a swap for Graham thus giving you no real improvement in your forward structuring. Graham's loss is a big one.