- Aug 1, 2008
- 15,149
- 25,675
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Banned
- #26
Well done Dannn...fantastic thread
I have shamefacedly withdrawn my protest with stewards
As to our clearance movement, I found myself studying our movement from clearances a lot last year, trying to understand why it was not resulting in higher scores. For most of the year, our clearance players would just get it on their boot without looking, and they were all guilty.
This seemed to change in the last 6 or so games. Once one of midfielders gained possession they began to look for a short handball to a player in better position or attempted to gain some separation from the contest to buy some time and enable the, to look at better options ahead. The forwards ahead of the contest also became better at covering loose opposition defenders covering the most likely route forward. So a Gia or Dickson, or jones would take their man to the free opponent to cover both and not allow an easy turnover.
I am in agreement with most of your observations but feel the stats pertaining to Tom Campbell do not reflect his value or impact. I am wary of supporting big ruckman as forward options, I think their movement needs to be very finely tuned to get it right consistently. Minsons odyssey down forward under Eade for example was an unmitigated disaster. Nevertheless, I have to call it the way I see it.
Unlike Minson, Tom did not permit the ball to be rebounded by defenders faster than it came in. I am still to understand why, as he seems no more athletic then Minno. Perhaps its the position and support from other players. I don't know but this to me is the biggest disadvantage of having a beast like Tom deep in the forward line, namely the opposition running off a slow forward effectively with an extra man coming out of defence can just destroy you.
But for whatever reason it did not happen. Tom does have a better turning circle then Minno and is perhaps as a result a little better with his second efforts.
What also may not be evident in the CD stats is Toms ability to not be out marked, and to at least get his hand on any high ball and bring it to ground. He consistently got into the right position and is impossible for defenders to move. His contested marking certainly needs improvement but the amount of times he actually gets both hands on the ball and it just does not quite stick suggests he is well worth persisting. I know this is a statistical thread but Tom shows great qualities of strength, courage and whilst his star is rising we need to wait and see we're it plateaus before making changes.
He is still a very young man and needs time. He reminds me of B Ottens, who also started as a forward and continued to be an effective forward after becoming an elite ruckman. Even if Williams is fit, I would be playing Campbell deep forward and giving him ruck time when Wilbur needs his breaks.
A fit Williams will fit into our top 22 every day in any number of positions. It would be folly though to have him play a central role. Williams from now on is a bonus player. You can't build a forward line around a guy who may at any moment break down.
I have shamefacedly withdrawn my protest with stewards
As to our clearance movement, I found myself studying our movement from clearances a lot last year, trying to understand why it was not resulting in higher scores. For most of the year, our clearance players would just get it on their boot without looking, and they were all guilty.
This seemed to change in the last 6 or so games. Once one of midfielders gained possession they began to look for a short handball to a player in better position or attempted to gain some separation from the contest to buy some time and enable the, to look at better options ahead. The forwards ahead of the contest also became better at covering loose opposition defenders covering the most likely route forward. So a Gia or Dickson, or jones would take their man to the free opponent to cover both and not allow an easy turnover.
I am in agreement with most of your observations but feel the stats pertaining to Tom Campbell do not reflect his value or impact. I am wary of supporting big ruckman as forward options, I think their movement needs to be very finely tuned to get it right consistently. Minsons odyssey down forward under Eade for example was an unmitigated disaster. Nevertheless, I have to call it the way I see it.
Unlike Minson, Tom did not permit the ball to be rebounded by defenders faster than it came in. I am still to understand why, as he seems no more athletic then Minno. Perhaps its the position and support from other players. I don't know but this to me is the biggest disadvantage of having a beast like Tom deep in the forward line, namely the opposition running off a slow forward effectively with an extra man coming out of defence can just destroy you.
But for whatever reason it did not happen. Tom does have a better turning circle then Minno and is perhaps as a result a little better with his second efforts.
What also may not be evident in the CD stats is Toms ability to not be out marked, and to at least get his hand on any high ball and bring it to ground. He consistently got into the right position and is impossible for defenders to move. His contested marking certainly needs improvement but the amount of times he actually gets both hands on the ball and it just does not quite stick suggests he is well worth persisting. I know this is a statistical thread but Tom shows great qualities of strength, courage and whilst his star is rising we need to wait and see we're it plateaus before making changes.
He is still a very young man and needs time. He reminds me of B Ottens, who also started as a forward and continued to be an effective forward after becoming an elite ruckman. Even if Williams is fit, I would be playing Campbell deep forward and giving him ruck time when Wilbur needs his breaks.
A fit Williams will fit into our top 22 every day in any number of positions. It would be folly though to have him play a central role. Williams from now on is a bonus player. You can't build a forward line around a guy who may at any moment break down.