The only irreplaceable player in the AFC - BOCK

[Ferris_rules]

I know in the last few weeks we killed the opposition, however I always felt that losing Bock is the one player we cannot cover when we play against the Top 4 teams.

Simply put he is irreplaceable. Davis must be groomed to be adequate cover for Bock in the future. Our structure and gameplan dictates we need a strong mobile CHB.

It was this loss of Bock that hurt us.

We could have lost others but IMO this player really is the one irreplaceable player on the ground and the sooner we get Davis playing this role the better our club will be.

 

[Stiffy_18]

IMHO, the most irreplaceable player for us is Tippett.

You can always structure up and bring in someone who can defend. Hell Stevens played well last night and in the 1st half I don't think anyone would have been saying that we miss Bock!

However, take Tippett out of the forward line and we are shot. Hell take him out of there for a year and we are struggling to make the 8.

We have built our entire forward line with Tippett as the achor.

Take our forward line in the last few weeks as an example

Poplyzia Tippett Dangerfield
Knights Hentschel Burton

You take away any of those player other than Tippett and we can plug someone in of similar ability or more to the point, we can plug him into that structure and he will do the job. Maybe not as good as this 6 but it wouldn't be a huge drop off.

Take Porplyzia and replace him with Douglas. Loss no doubt but not irreplacable.

Take away Dangerfield and replace him with Vince and you don't lose much fire power.

Take away Burton or Hentschel and replace with Walker. A drop off but not massive.

Take away Knights and replace with Thompson - no loss.

Take away Tippett and you are up a shit creek without a canoe. Plug anyone in and no one brings what Tippet does. No one takes away as much focus of the opposition's defence. He is tall, jumps up to mark the footy which makes it impossible to spoil. He either marks it or gets a free kick for having his arms chopped.

The ball hits the ground and he is at it like a midfielder.

One player that is absolutly irreplacable for us is Tippett. IMHO, its not even a contest.

 

[SwanBet]

Bock for you guys was a huge loss he is a fantastic player, arguably the best CHB in the league but you cannot say he was the difference when we had our best midfielder and ruckman and rookie out on the sidelines in Pendlebury, fraser and Beams. You blokes had Vanberlo and Bock out who are stars for you guys, i think our two teams are evenly ranked, and i think the ladder is in perfect order from best to worst in the top 8, you guys are a great side and i respect adelaide, so it obviously made a difference that bock was out but as did it with us with no pendles.

 

[ringo200]

Bock and Tippet are the most important players in our side.

Having Bock in the side means Stevens can go back to his normal role which is where he plays his best football, Scott Stevens isn't a player that we want getting 25 touches in a final and one on one contests as a defender have never been his strong points, Bock is brilliant in one on one contests and his disposal is just as good.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Most important players next year:

1: Tippett
2: Dangerfield
3: Vince
4: Bock (must have one big experienced defender, and he's the best)
5: Thompson

Plenty of other great players in the 22 but these guys are my top 5 for determining where we end up next September (hopefully not the poor ending like this year)

 

[Bockchoy67]

Tippett gets my pick.

Stiffy, I agree with your thoughts but I wouldn't say losing Knights and replacing him by Thompson is an even break.

Losing Knighta last night hurt us BADLY and I think some underestimate his importance in our forward line.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Tippett gets my pick.

Stiffy, I agree with your thoughts but I wouldn't say losing Knights and replacing him by Thompson is an even break.

Losing Knighta last night hurt us BADLY and I think some underestimate his importance in our forward line.

Don't get me wrong, I rate Knights as a HF. He is deadly. However, I think people forget how much of a gun Thompson is as a HF. I have said many times before is allowed to play there permanently he would be one of the elite HFF in the game.

In his first year with us, Thompson played mainly as a HFF who occasionally got a bit of run in the midfield. He kicked 32 goals in that season as a 21 year old. He is just as tough match up as Knights. Strong overhead, great at ground level, read the ball of hands as good as anyone, gets his own footy and is arguably our best tackler.

Look at the last few weeks. When ever Thompson gets a bit of spell at HFF, he bobs up for a couple of goals. Play him there permanently and he is a 50 goals forward.

Its not so much that I under-rate Knights as a forward, its just that I rate Thompson as being equally good as a HF flanker.

Losing Knights last night was a massive blow for us no doubt.

 

[Bockchoy67]

That's true. In fact, as good as Thommo has been in the midfield this year, I think he could've been used up forward a bit more. He can be very damaging up there, it's just that his last few years wouldn't suggest so since he's barely been used there.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

IMO Tippett is our most important player to our team howeve Bock is very important to our structure

the development of Davis and Walker will be critical as it will give the team added depth and class to cover those situations when Bock or Tippy my be unavailable or down on form

 

[King Elvis]

Most important players next year:

1: Tippett
2: Dangerfield
3: Vince
4: Bock (must have one big experienced defender, and he's the best)
5: Thompson

Plenty of other great players in the 22 but these guys are my top 5 for determining where we end up next September (hopefully not the poor ending like this year)

Knights.

We were flying with him - even Blighty said it repeatedly; he'd hadn't seen a team kick it long with so much success for years.

Without Knights, our only option was to bomb it forward to Tippett; and the Pies woke up to it and shut him down, and we were ****ed.

I'll start a thread on it, but how is this;

WE KICKED ONE GOAL FROM OUTSIDE FIFTY FOR THE ENTIRE GAME!!