Tex

[footy4ever]

Needs to stop doing the 'team thing' and passing off when he has the ball 55-60 out and turning it over when he'd nail it himself 90% of the time.

Tex should live by what he does best -

'Me get ball - kick goal.'

 

[ManInTheArena]

The frustrating thing on this board is we are all discussing the form drop off of our middle tier players - Porps/Vince/Mackay/Reilly when the most urgent and important thing we need to fix is to have our 3 best players - Walker, Danger, Sauce - getting back to a level where they win us games.

I suppose we discuss who needs to be dropped. Walker, Danger and Sauce don't need to be dropped. Sauce would be close if we had better options. Danger is playing his ass off, he's fine and has been gunning it up since round one (Sunday he got a whack in the nose which slowed him down). Walker needs confidence, and a rocket won't give him confidence.

 

[AFC979810]

I suppose we discuss who needs to be dropped. Walker, Danger and Sauce don't need to be dropped. Sauce would be close if we had better options. Danger is playing his arse off, he's fine and has been gunning it up since round one (Sunday he got a whack in the nose which slowed him down). Walker needs confidence, and a rocket won't give him confidence.

No he is not doing fine and hasn't been gunning it up.

Getting the ball 17,23,20 and having a DE of 50% is not good for a midfielder of his quality.

Compare him to the other elite midfielders of the competition (judged on the top 10 of last years Brownlow - excepting Beams who is injured and hasn't played) and how they have stacked up in 2013:

Watson/Ablett/Mitchell/Swan/S Thompson/J Kennedy are all averaging over 27 possessions and all have a DE of over 61%.

The two midfielders from this list that don't fit in that category are below:

Trent Cotchin - 33 possessions at 56%.

Lenny Hayes - 24 possesions a game at 70% DE.

Dangerfield here is the clear outlier. He has not performed up to his talent and ability this year. He is in our best 3 players - and just because he is a gun and everyone loves him - does not excuse his poor start to 2013.

 

[Elite Crow]

Danger is getting smashed at every opportunity, had he not had his head knocked off on the weekend he may have had more possessions.

And you aren't serious that we need to fix the form of our top 3 players first. These guys aren't going to be able to carry the team each week, they need help.

 

[iamcorky]

Yeh hasnt been kicking as well as last yr. Does look like the bloke is focusing on physical contests rather than leading with confidence

 

[AFC979810]

And you aren't serious that we need to fix the form of our top 3 players first. These guys aren't going to be able to carry the team each week, they need help.

Absolutely. Star players should carry your team each week. They should lead from the front and perform week in and week out.

 

[King Elvis]

Danger is getting smashed at every opportunity, had he not had his head knocked off on the weekend he may have had more possessions.

Agreed.

He's trying to carry the side on his back - Thommo and Sloane (even Dougie) as well.

They can't do everything, some support from the rest of the side would help.

 

[Elite Crow]

Absolutely. Star players should carry your team each week. They should lead from the front and perform week in and week out.

Whats that saying? A champion team beats a team of 3 champions?

 

[ManInTheArena]

No he is not doing fine and hasn't been gunning it up.

I disagree.

Getting the ball 17,23,20 and having a DE of 50% is not good for a midfielder of his quality.

Firstly, I didn't say he was gunning it up in Round one, I said since round one.

Secondly, you're just plucking stats to suit yourself. Against Brisbane he has 23 disposals, 8 clearances and 2 goals (crucial goals that won the game). He imposed himself and was one of our best (if not best).

Thirdly, on Sunday he was gunning it up until he got whacked in the mouth. In fact it seemed like we lost the game when he went off. So a flat stat of 20 possessions is hard to go by.

Compare him to the other elite midfielders of the competition (judged on the top 10 of last years Brownlow - excepting Beams who is injured and hasn't played) and how they have stacked up in 2013:

Watson/Ablett/Mitchell/Swan/S Thompson/J Kennedy are all averaging over 27 possessions and all have a DE of over 61%.

The two midfielders from this list that don't fit in that category are below:

Trent Cotchin - 33 possessions at 56%.

Lenny Hayes - 24 possesions a game at 70% DE.

Irrelevant. We're judging on one game (Brisbane).

Dangerfield here is the clear outlier. He has not performed up to his talent and ability this year. He is in our best 3 players - and just because he is a gun and everyone loves him - does not excuse his poor start to 2013.

Yes he had a poor start against Essendon, I disagree he's been poor after that and the stat sheet doesn't tell the true story.

IMO he's one of the only players that can hold his head high and you're lining up to knock it off.

 

[ManInTheArena]

Absolutely. Star players should carry your team each week. They should lead from the front and perform week in and week out.

They're trying. 19 players are pretty heavy (about 1700kg).

 

[cmndstab]

Walker has been playing pretty well. He's been close to our best player over three weeks. If he's getting a rocket, so is 3/4 of the team.

 

[AFC979810]

I disagree.



Firstly, I didn't say he was gunning it up in Round one, I said since round one.

Secondly, you're just plucking stats to suit yourself. Against Brisbane he has 23 disposals, 8 clearances and 2 goals (crucial goals that won the game). He imposed himself and was one of our best (if not best).

Thirdly, on Sunday he was gunning it up until he got whacked in the mouth. In fact it seemed like we lost the game when he went off. So a flat stat of 20 possessions is hard to go by.

Irrelevant. We're judging on one game (Brisbane).



Yes he had a poor start against Essendon, I disagree he's been poor after that and the stat sheet doesn't tell the true story.

IMO he's one of the only players that can hold his head high and you're lining up to knock it off.

Some good points.

You can't discount rd 1 when you are talking about 3 games in 2013. He stunk it up and had no influence in that game.

Good point about the Brisbane game. Didn't realise he had that many clearances. I still felt he really went missing in 3rd quarter, but could just be me being overly critical. Also - i have not understated the quality and influence that his 2 goals had on that Brisbane game.

Am re-watching the Port game again soon since I was a little bit tipsy and didn't watch it with a clear head. From my hazy angry memory, I just didn't feel he was a huge influence in the game.

Was 7th in the Brownlow medal after an amazing season last year. Has so much talent its ridiculous. Has huge expectations and rightly so. My point is - he has not performed up to these expectations over the first 3 weeks.

 

[Allefgib]

I reckon we structure our gameplan around our stars needing to be successful. Need to win stoppages. Need to win contests ahead of the ball. Focus of defenders is to defend. Flankers push hard up the ground or apply forward pressure.

 

[weekend at bernies]

IMO he needs a bit more support up forward. Would much rather see hendo used up forward, can take a grab!! We saw last year against Port when he kicked 7 that he is more than capable

 

[Vader]

The frustrating thing on this board is we are all discussing the form drop off of our middle tier players - Porps/Vince/Mackay/Reilly when the most urgent and important thing we need to fix is to have our 3 best players - Walker, Danger, Sauce - getting back to a level where they win us games.

As I see it, there are just 6 or 7 players in our current team who can honestly say that they are giving 100%. Walker is not one of them.

The players who can hold their heads high are as follows:

• Sloane
• Douglas
• Rutten
• Talia
• Otten
• Dangerfield
• Jenkins

I'd also exempt Crouch from criticism, given that he's an 18yo kid with just 2 AFL games under his belt. The same goes for Brown (6 games).

All of the others are well down on what we saw from them in 2012.

 

[AFC979810]

Whats that saying? A champion team beats a team of 3 champions?

When hasn't discussion been improved by a shitty sports cliche?

You need your A level talent to perform consistently to be successful at any sport in the world. Ours haven't fired this year and are a big reason we are 1-2.

 

[AFC979810]

As I see it, there are just 6 or 7 players in our current team who can honestly say that they are giving 100%. Walker is not one of them.

The players who can hold their heads high are as follows:

• Sloane
• Douglas
• Rutten
• Talia
• Otten
• Dangerfield
• Jenkins

I'd also exempt Crouch from criticism, given that he's an 18yo kid with just 2 AFL games under his belt. The same goes for Brown (6 games).


All of the others are well down on what we saw from them in 2012.

I agree Danger is giving 100%. However, he is not in the side to try his best - he is in it to perform. He has not performed in 2013 up to the level he is capable of performing at - plain and simple.

I agree with the rest of the post 100%.

 

[Elite Crow]

As I see it, there are just 6 or 7 players in our current team who can honestly say that they are giving 100%. Walker is not one of them.

The players who can hold their heads high are as follows:

• Sloane
• Douglas
• Rutten
• Talia
• Otten
• Dangerfield
• Jenkins

I'd also exempt Crouch from criticism, given that he's an 18yo kid with just 2 AFL games under his belt. The same goes for Brown (6 games).


All of the others are well down on what we saw from them in 2012.

That is utter rubbish. To suggest Tex isnt giving 100% is an insult. He is working his arse off, sure we would like him to have kicked more goals and had he kicked straight he would have. Are you channeling birdmanptr?

 

[Cap]

As I see it, there are just 6 or 7 players in our current team who can honestly say that they are giving 100%. Walker is not one of them.

The players who can hold their heads high are as follows:

• Sloane
• Douglas
• Rutten
• Talia
• Otten
• Dangerfield
• Jenkins

I'd also exempt Crouch from criticism, given that he's an 18yo kid with just 2 AFL games under his belt. The same goes for Brown (6 games).

All of the others are well down on what we saw from them in 2012.

I have to agree with EC on this one.

Walker is doing more work that he should have to do to create goals.

He is already a better player than he was in 2012.

 

[Vader]

I agree Danger is giving 100%. However, he is not in the side to try his best - he is in it to perform. He has not performed in 2013 up to the level he is capable of performing at - plain and simple.

I agree with the rest of the post 100%.

He was well tagged in the Essendon game. He's been performing at his usual level in both the Brisbane & Port games.

 

[Vader]

I have to agree with EC on this one.

Walker is doing more work that he should have to do to create goals.

He is already a better player than he was in 2012.

Walker may be doing more work than he has to. Most of that work is largely ineffective.

I cannot agree that he's a better player than he was in 2012. Far from it - I think he's regressed. He's still better than he was in 2011, but he's not performing as well as he did last year.

 

[cmndstab]

Honestly, he looks pretty much the same as last year to me. He's just not getting as much quality supply.

2.67 goals a game is a pretty fair effort, too, particularly in a struggling team. That would put him right in the top echelon of forwards.

 

[Tex Support]

Walker needs confidence, and a rocket won't give him confidence.

Just curious, why dont you think 'a rocket' (as I suggested) would work with him?

Honestly, he looks pretty much the same as last year to me. He's just not getting as much quality supply.

2.67 goals a game is a pretty fair effort, too, particularly in a struggling team. That would put him right in the top echelon of forwards.

The easy misses and uncharacteristic clangers when he gets the ball, indicate (to me) he's not playing with the intensity he had last year. He has 8, and could easily have 12 or more if he was really switched on. Watching Tex hit the post from 1m out or completely butcher a chance from 25m directly in front is deflating for our side. He has to make more of his chances when a) they're limited and b) we're struggling.

This guy is the key to lifting the confidence in our whole side - he has to start making the most of his shitty supply. Star players find a way, and the guy is a star.

 

[AFC979810]

He was well tagged in the Essendon game. He's been performing at his usual level in both the Brisbane & Port games.

So what if he was well tagged in the Essendon game... Quality AFL players need to learn to deal with tags.

Happy to concede that his Brisbane game was around the mark of his 2012 productivity (even though he disappeared in that 3rd quarter).

But you cannot possibly say his Port game was up to his 2012 standard. Dangerfield only got 20 or less possesions 4 times in 2012, with 3 of them coming in the 1st 10 rounds. Dangerfield only had two games in 2012 where his DE was 50% or under - he has 2 in 2013.

He played 80% of game time against Port (down 3% from his game against Brisbane) and yes I realise that he got a fair whack to the nose. That doesn't change the fact that he performed below his best.

He needs to lift.

 

[Mighty Chinook]

Tex is a victim of our game style at the moment. The only time he can actually play a normal FF/CHF roll is immediately after a centre clearance. Now if we win the clearance that's fine, he's in prime position to be dangerous, but our clearance and contested possession stats aren't as good as last year, so a lot of the time the ball is coming from rebound 50s when our whole 18 has pushed up the ground and Tex is forced to run backwards to get the ball - not a natural method for a gun forward. It's as if we've created Pagan's Paddock but there's no Wayne Carey down there. Honestly, I'm starting to think Neil Craig has been texting Sando with game strategies.