The Leon Davis Experiment

[10571z]

What does everyone think about him down back this year?

Personally im impressed at how well his doing. Shown a lot of character and is playing some good football. I think if the pies were to make the grand final he would be a shoe in for a spot at this rate.

Its a total different game down back and his adjusted well. his pace has been handy as well.

There is also and article about it on the pies site

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/newsfeatures/news/newsarticle/tabid/5586/newsid/113840/default.aspx

 

[rickyp]

Re: Leon Davis

Done very well, and it means he can feed off others and not find his own ball. He has very clean disposal and awareness which is a great asset as a small back.

I couldn't comment on his 1v1 defending however, as I haven't seen enough to notice

 

[PieNSauce]

Re: Leon Davis

Done very well, and it means he can feed off others and not find his own ball. He has very clean disposal and awareness which is a great asset as a small back.

I couldn't comment on his 1v1 defending however, as I haven't seen enough to notice

I've seen some of his one on one work and I'd have to say that so far he's been pretty impressive. I reckon his move to defence is a masterstroke by MM. If he can hold down a spot in defence the upside of having a guy like him who can be deadly around goals as an extra option is awesome IMO.

 

[rickyp]

Re: Leon Davis

I've seen some of his one on one work and I'd have to say that so far he's been pretty impressive. I reckon his move to defence is a masterstroke by MM. If he can hold down a spot in defence the upside of having a guy like him who can be deadly around goals as an extra option is awesome IMO.

He's very well built, and clearly has good lower body strength, so it wouldn't surprise me

 

[loki04]

Re: Leon Davis

Leon has always been good 1v1 and more often then not plays well mid forward or back, on the whole he is a great player regardless of some of his big game blues.

He struggles most when people close his space, I still think he can swing through the midfield/foward more then be purely a defender.

 

[mattys123]

Re: Leon Davis

I had my reservations about Leon's move down back, but it has worked.

On Friday Night, he faced his biggest test down there, and he did a brilliant job, and was quite easily in our best 4-5 players on the field.

That is when you prove it too, against the best sides, so almost all reservations I had about Leon in that position are gone.

Now we have to hope his body holds up into September, because last year he was clearly playing injured during the finals series.

 

[PiesFan87]

Re: Leon Davis

I didn't like that he was given the kick in duties on Friday night, as lots of his kicking in came back with interest, and fortunately Geelong kicked so many points.

Otherwise he's had a very decent start to 2011.

 

[Quicky]

Re: Leon Davis

I didn't like that he was given the kick in duties on Friday night, as lots of his kicking in came back with interest, and fortunately Geelong kicked so many points.

Otherwise he's had a very decent start to 2011.

Agree with this.

I've enjoyed his games besides his kick ins. He turned it over 3 times in the first 5 minutes. It just wasn't good enough.

Besides that he has been very very promising. His defensive skills have been really good owing to his ability to read the player better than his opponents. He also manages to get to alot of defensive loose balls simply because he is so bloody quick. I havn't seen the stats but I wouldn't be surprised if his loose ball gets were pretty high.

 

[Number 10]

Re: Leon Davis

He has been fantastic back there, but I question whether it has been detrimental to our forward structure.
I've been noticing our pressure dropping off considerably without Caff and Davis there. Is it time to just test him forward again in a few quarters in the coming weeks to see how it goes?

But, in reply tot he OP, I'm loving his skills in defense. He is also a very good match up for the indigenous small forwards (seen him play on Stokes, Jetta, a few others that I can't think of at the moment) and has been pretty good.

 

[BEEG]

Ummm has anybody here actually seen how bad leon's kicking has been he has been terrible when its come to kicking but he has been very good one on one

He really needs to stop kicking out and he really needs to stop trying to stab pass everything needs to really improve this area because if im picking Buckley or leon i will go with Buckley has the pace strength and has been very good kicking the ball when he has played even though his the whipping boy of this board

 

[Pie eyed]

Re: Leon Davis

Agree with this.

I've enjoyed his games besides his kick ins. He turned it over 3 times in the first 5 minutes. It just wasn't good enough.

Besides that he has been very very promising. His defensive skills have been really good owing to his ability to read the player better than his opponents. He also manages to get to alot of defensive loose balls simply because he is so bloody quick. I havn't seen the stats but I wouldn't be surprised if his loose ball gets were pretty high.

Davis has been a revelation in defence....not as the designated kicker-innerer though.
Back to Heater please.

 

[soreplums]

Pleased to see him play well. Despite how well he goes, it still could be his last year at the club due to younger blood coming through. The best thing for him is that I think other clubs might pick him up for a year or two if that's the case.

 

[Knightmare]

Davis is really great down back because he is so good 1 v 1. Really adjusted well and provides great drive often to compliment Shaw, Reid and O'Brien just making it even harder to stop our defensive rebound as a collective because of the plethora of options we have. Really added allot to our defense unit and having his speed back which he didn't have last year is a real asset because he can go with those smaller types.

While his kicking can at times be pin point and incredible, a bit like Buckley he can make really poor decisions often from defense. So as others have correctly identified he isn't the ideal kickout guy when we have Reid, Shaw and Goldsack down back.

On form top 10 this year for the club which is a real credit to him as an individual for making a fantastic change over the offseason to his game considering he was at risk of being delisted coming into the season due to age + poor 2010 season.

 

[sr36]

I've liked his work. I think that some are being a bit harsh on his early kick ins. They were crap, but they were very early in the game and it took everybody on the ground a fair while to adjust their kicking for the swirly wind. I do still worry about some of his efforts in defensive 50 - too many one handed efforts and too much putting himself out of the contest whilst he plays for frees. But the good is more than outweighing the bad at the moment.

 

[HeavyPop]

He has been great. He never panics when the ball comes in and generally wins his contest. I like Leon, so I'm glad he will hopefully get another shot at winning a GF medal.

 

[Kirby]

He has been very good and I think the experiment is definitely working so far.

His kick ins were crap but we have to give others practice at kick ins in case Heater is injured. It is a skill in itself and requires practice.

It just goes to show you though how much we toyed around with things the other night.

 

[MagpieJoel]

Re: Leon Davis

I didn't like that he was given the kick in duties on Friday night, as lots of his kicking in came back with interest, and fortunately Geelong kicked so many points.

Otherwise he's had a very decent start to 2011.

I agree.

Leon has been fantastic down back so far, but he can't take the kick in duties. IIRC, I counted 4 turnovers in succession from the kick outs at one point.

 

[Markfs]

Most people have a few problems when they start doing new things that are very hard to do.....and kicking-in is a skill that some players will never be able to do.

Fortunately, we have Heath Shaw who kicks in very well and it would be nice to have another guy who sets such high standards....but he needs a little practice....so maybe we can give Leon a break for a couple more games...

Generally, I think he's been great. I think he likes being involved playing footy rather than just chasing opposition backsides all afternoon.

 

[Pleasedontfail11]

For me Leon has been fantastic down back. Cant remember him losing a 1V1 this year and he has been in 4 to 5 that I can remember where he has been with in the 50 just him and his opponent and he has won them all. His kicking is very good, however last week the wind was a major factor on kicking and I think Leon was trying to kick with little margin for error and the wind wrecked this. Our small backs have been quite good this year and our KPB have been getting better each week comming back from injury.

 

[Go_Brad_Dick]

He has been great and personally I think he should be moved back to the midfield/forward position he took All Australian honours for in 2009.
This experiment has shown he has the same skills he had that year and for whatever reason he under performed last year, he is back to his best and with management of his fitness he should be ready for a great finals season.

 

[genaz]

It will be interesting to see how he goes in the finals.

I respect him for coming back for more this year after last years disappointment.

 

[Knightmare]

He has been great and personally I think he should be moved back to the midfield/forward position he took All Australian honours for in 2009.
This experiment has shown he has the same skills he had that year and for whatever reason he under performed last year, he is back to his best and with management of his fitness he should be ready for a great finals season.

I'd be really interested to see if we make this move at any stage.

With our forwards again not necessarily performing to the level we want it is a possibility.

The fact that he has added that defensive string to his bow is fantastic and gives us the ability to use him how we feel necessarily because he can play fwd/mid/def. Big asset we had no idea about this time last year!

For now I would keep him down back, but in late game situations as we have been willing to do, I have no issue with him shifting onto a forward flank when the game is in the balance/ depending on circumstances.