Analysis The Disciples of Daniel the Diminutive, elite footballer

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Dec 18, 2015
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Anyone who doesn't love Caleb needs to give themselves an uppercut.

Your just a weird creepy dude who runs around picking fights for no reason really aren’t you :). Why you need to dislike a post that was applauding a player you also seem to like is beyond me. That’s ok though as I think most of your posts are pretty rubbish we well :). Horses for courses I guess!
 
He must be close to leading our B & F and while the umps love Bont he may lead our Brownlow count.

As I said in the main thread, I reckon he's not really a defender. He plays in a non-traditional role that we don't have a name for in Aussie Rules. He drops back but he plays between the upper 50 and midfield. He had the freedom to push forward today too. He's the link man, the sweeper, the quarterback, the little general. He's an elite runner, goes all day. He looks like a defender because he takes the kick ins.
 

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Charlie Bucket

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 16, 2015
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I always find it interesting that if anyone questions Calebs weaknesses deep back they are in someway questioning either his ability or worth to the team.

I still.don't like him deep back

Caleb is an exceptional footballer. High back through mid he is becoming one of the the best in the league. I still would love him more mid forward now, its not a negative, he is becoming that good

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Just admit you backed the wrong Horse Lach.
 
Not saying he can’t play - just prefer watching Bont, the emergence of English, Naughton and a few others. He’s a good player but he played out if his skin today. Hope he does the same next week as Freo are gunna be a bloody tough match up for our undersized backline....
I agree. He played out of his skin last week too.
Pretty sure he'll play out of his skin next week as well.
 

Dale4captain

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Sep 14, 2010
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Not saying he can’t play - just prefer watching Bont, the emergence of English, Naughton and a few others. He’s a good player but he played out if his skin today. Hope he does the same next week as Freo are gunna be a bloody tough match up for our undersized backline....
Undersized? You mean with three blokes over 193cm + Williams and Croz who are both very large bodied mediums?? We currently have a huge backline. Becomes taller with Woody too. Very strange comment.
 

Mantis Toboggan

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Mar 24, 2018
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Not my favourite on our list but he was bloody good today! Kudos to him - his reading of the play was just elite 👍
What an odd way to deliver a compliment.

He’s a quality player and does things that few others can.

Daniel creates time that just doesn’t exist for most players. His decision making under pressure is as good as anyone around and you can tell the whole team has confidence in his ability.
 
Just admit you backed the wrong Horse Lach.
Why???

Have never questioned his worth, value or if he is in our best 22 just that he adds more value to the term winning higher up the ground and he has now developed more and should be tried more through mid and high forward.

Could not give a stuff about individual performance, only care about team. The only time Caleb is ever exposed both with the ball or in the air is deep in defence and still is.

All great players have a weakness. Caleb does, but have always believed more in what he is still developing into than many and he could be the elite finish into and in our forward line that takes us from finalists to genuine challengers again. He is clearly in our best 5 players

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wian

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May 21, 2008
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That passage of play to seal the game in the last quarter was absolutely elite.

He is a joy to watch..
 

King Harold

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I wonder now if he did go back into the midfield he would be just as good ?
But boy he is in a rich vein of form , hasn’t missed a target in weeks.
 

Charlie Bucket

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I wonder now if he did go back into the midfield he would be just as good ?
But boy he is in a rich vein of form , hasn’t missed a target in weeks.

Daniels good enough to play any role across the field pretty well but you won’t get the same output as we’re seeing now. His skills and reading of the play and a role playing behind the ball is a match made in heaven.
 
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bobs head soup

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Sep 14, 2015
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Caleb makes that little 45 degree kick that opens everything up look so easy anyone can do it, but it's a rare gift to identify the right target and execute in an instant and almost without fail.

The stats say we are the best team in the comp for scoring from the back half. That's down to Caleb (and to a lesser degree JJ).

The value of that cannot be overstated.
 
Dec 21, 2005
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He must be close to leading our B & F and while the umps love Bont he may lead our Brownlow count.

As I said in the main thread, I reckon he's not really a defender. He plays in a non-traditional role that we don't have a name for in Aussie Rules. He drops back but he plays between the upper 50 and midfield. He had the freedom to push forward today too. He's the link man, the sweeper, the quarterback, the little general. He's an elite runner, goes all day. He looks like a defender because he takes the kick ins.
He is an attacking half back. Defense is the best form of attack so to speak.

It wasnt that he had the freedom to push forward today, it was that we changed his role as the game progressed, after Hawthorn played a defensive forward on him.
His heat map shows he obtained all but one touch in the first quarter in the back half, an even spread in the second, all but one in the back half in the third quarter and had more in the forward half in the last.
12 of his 28 were backward of half back, which is about right for an attacking defender.
He also had a game high 8 intercept possession and a game high 11 marks.

Definitely a defender, just not in the sense of a pre 90s defender. My old coach used to say if you play attacking half back, you should have a shot on goal a game. With 7 inside 50s to go with all the above, Daniel is playing that role perfectly.
 
Oct 19, 2012
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Minas Morgul
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Very quiet thread when we lose

Beat a bottom 4 team gets noisy

C'mon MD,

Caleb is in AA discussions this year. He's been fantastic.

Not to mention a lot of our mediums like Crozier, Wood and Williams are excellent in the air. Even Duryea is solid there.

Caleb has the protection to play that high half back role at an extremely high level.
 

Testekill

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Dec 3, 2009
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He must be close to leading our B & F and while the umps love Bont he may lead our Brownlow count.

As I said in the main thread, I reckon he's not really a defender. He plays in a non-traditional role that we don't have a name for in Aussie Rules. He drops back but he plays between the upper 50 and midfield. He had the freedom to push forward today too. He's the link man, the sweeper, the quarterback, the little general. He's an elite runner, goes all day. He looks like a defender because he takes the kick ins.

Honestly, the sweeper in Soccer requires a lot of attacking nuance to move the ball from defence to attack quickly. That's probably the best way of putting it for Caleb, he'll almost always have the best football mind on the field and can cut teams apart quickly thanks to his ability to consistently hit kicks that others would struggle to.
 
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