Under 1.5 goals a game average from a key forward isn't good enough, especially someone as far into their career as Tabs. Unless he's got a shitload of goal assists as well, those sort of numbers would probably mean delisting at the end of the year.
Analysis The Matt Taberner effect
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Under 1.5 goals a game average from a key forward isn't good enough, especially someone as far into their career as Tabs. Unless he's got a shitload of goal assists as well, those sort of numbers would probably mean delisting at the end of the year.
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Nah, that's terrible unless he's playing as a roaming CHF and getting a lot of touches up the ground.
Tabs isn't the type of forward to kick 100 goals a season, especially with our game style and delivery. If we can get him chipping in with 2 goals a game and have the other forwards working off him (Matera and McCarthy I'm looking at you mainly) we'll be going alright. If Tabs starts threatening and drawing 2 defenders consistently we've got the smarts up forward now to make them pay.
Me too.
Surely with Taberner, Cox, Kersten, Apeness and MacCarthy, plus a small swarm of big ruckin'-boys who will play forward at some stage, we have enough options to cobble together something resembling a tall forward line? They may not be world beaters, but they can be functional. I'll settle for functional.
Dixon can just get big for now.
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Tabs has played over 50 games at under a goal a game. His best season so far is 18 goals from 17 games.
No matter what people think of McCarthy and Kersten they have both been more productive than Tabs.
Even a 2 goal/game season from Tabs (44 for a full year) would be such an astounding improvement it would be the equivalent of McCarthy kicking 70 goals for the year.
No matter what people think of McCarthy and Kersten they have both been more productive than Tabs.
Even a 2 goal/game season from Tabs (44 for a full year) would be such an astounding improvement it would be the equivalent of McCarthy kicking 70 goals for the year.
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And Rampe had 25 disposals in that game.
Maybe, but neither is any other forward in the entire competition since about 2008
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Nor was the mighty Pavlich with 72 as his best haul.
Buddy cracked 100 once (in 2008), his next best is 82
ydraw
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1.5 goals a game on average would be our runner up leading goal kicker most years.
Ross Lyon is our coach, we are the lowest scoring team in the league who were dead last in the competition for marks inside 50 last year. We can't really be demanding Coleman medals with our coach and game plan.
ydraw
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Not for us.
Tabs has played his whole career under Ross Lyon. McCarthy and Kersten kicked more goals elsewhere then very few while here. But more to the point, with McCarthy and Kersten as our key forwards we gave up more intercept marks in our forward 50 than any other team. Because we had nobody who could even break even in an aerial contest with opposition key defenders.
Kersten's most productive season was last year.
Even though everyone recognises that McCarthy's season last disappointing (even his fans like me) he still kicked more goals than Tabs ever has.
Look I hope Tabs makes it. And maybe his best value to our team isn't as a goal kicker but simply as a competitive deep forward target who will bring others into the game.
And maybe the biggest problem with forward line isn't the players (be it Tabs, McCarthy, Cox, Kersten or whoever) but the way the ball is delivered.
All I'm saying is there isn't much evidence that Tabs will become a genuine week-in-week-out goal kicker. He is coming into his 6th season. Most guys who are going to make it would have made it by now.
Rampe didn't play the entire game on Taberner.
That day:
Tabs had 18 disposals. Eleven contested.
Tabs took 5 (a game high) contested marks. Other 21 Freo players combined: 5.
McCarthy had (a game high) six clangers.
Kersten had 7 disposals, no contested marks and failed to score.
But I'm sure it was entirely Taberner's fault we lost by 104 points.
I think they were implying that Tabs didn’t have to play on the best defender(s) and therefore was able to hyperinflate his stats.
I’m not sure what’s worse though. Players who get a lot of ball (Tabs) and the team still gets flogged. Or players who have a quiet game (Cam/Kersten) and the team gets flogged. Did we get flogged because our good forwards were quiet?
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But, but, but...
We had Mr 185cm Crozier... We did the traditional thing in leaving our tall in McCarthy outside of a lot of contests to crumb while our small in Crozier went at the contest against the tall defenders, what could possibly go wrong? I did wonder at the time if they were reading the coaching manual upside down.
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I love kicking off an nice debate about Tabs, solid work fellas.
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Duh, Nobody ever plays the entire game on somebody unless they're both on the ground 100%. In this game Sydney were happy with the match up of Rampe on Taberner for most of the game because of the rebound he gave them. The umps even game Rampe a brownlow vote.
Likely if you go back in the thread you'll see the discussion post game about the context of the performance.
Jesus, you don't think i've already seen the stat sheet for Taberner. 9 marks 5 contested marks, 3 inside 50, 1 goal. 6 inside 50s kicks no goal assists. There are other aspects that make up contests besides marking and Rampe had 10 of his own. Its about what happens next after Taberner gets the ball , when he's more than a kick out of goal (something that the coach has articulated in a nutshell in the most recent interview) .
It goes to a lot of other things. Not just why Sydney were happy with to continue the match up for the majority of the game. Its about how we deliver the ball into our forward line - and how effective it was having Taberner outmark Rampe. Do we move it too slow sometimes, or is it as much that we move it too fast and get sucked into giving it to a player wide on the half forward line more than one kick out from a score and with nowhere else to go next.
Agree with you here.
It grates my gears the way many posters on here dump on Tabs. We all know he'll never be Carey and yet some berate him for not producing Carey like output. He's not the Messiah but he's also not the only naughty boy in the team.
BigKep
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Taberner will never be a premiership FF. He's slow to react and his has very little footy nouse. However he needs to play in the box until Apeness, Dixon or Cox are able to command a spot as the teams FF. Tabs is the best we've got at the moment and playing him relieves Kersten and McCarthy of the pressure of taking the number one defender.
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ydraw
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If Cam Mooney can win a premiership, so can Taberner.
I know you’re trolling, but damming a player and proclaiming that they are incapable of improvement is pretty feeble.
One thing Taberner has shown is that he has improved his performance every single year that he has been on the list. If he continues to improve he will be a very capable forward. I think if Tabs develops a bit more confidence in his team mates so that he delivers the ball with less delay, it will appear to onlookers that he has more footy nouse.
BigKep
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Sorry but I'm not trolling. If there was a key forward at any other club that had played 50+ games and not even averaged a goal a game they would have been delisted by now. I agree, he's the best we've got but that doesn't make him the guy that will take us to the promised land.
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DeepPurple2018
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Its more the coaching staff that need to instill the confidence in Tabs I think, along with his team mates of course.
Its pretty clear he lacks confidence and IMO that stems directly from getting the red vest every single week early days, followed by losing your spot to the newbies in McCarthy/Kersten despite doing your apprenticeship under Pav, and all this whilst dominating at WAFL level and being the highest accumulator of contested marks in the comp when you did get the AFL opportunity, meanwhile the newbies did absolutely nothing yet kept being selected week after week, despite Lyon saying he selects in form players and does not...I repeat he did actually say publicly...he thinks he does not have golden boys. (not sure how to but insert lmfao emoji here)
Its pretty clear he lacks confidence and IMO that stems directly from getting the red vest every single week early days, followed by losing your spot to the newbies in McCarthy/Kersten despite doing your apprenticeship under Pav, and all this whilst dominating at WAFL level and being the highest accumulator of contested marks in the comp when you did get the AFL opportunity, meanwhile the newbies did absolutely nothing yet kept being selected week after week, despite Lyon saying he selects in form players and does not...I repeat he did actually say publicly...he thinks he does not have golden boys. (not sure how to but insert lmfao emoji here)
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