The Setanta Experiment

[Free Willy]

Sadly, I think today we saw every deficiency highlighted again & again, over & over.

I was hopeful of him being able to continue to show development (& he has in glimpses), but sadly his skills are just too poor.

I think it has been a brave experiment, & good on Dennis & Co giving him an extended run over the last few weeks.

The problem is that his "good" games are serviceable & show areas of potential rather than solid, polished performances.
(His effort on Grant in the 2nd 1/2 of the Bullies game was his best performance to date).

You must be able to hit a target at least 8 times out of 10 just to barely keep your head above water at AFL level, Setanta would be lucky to get 3 out of 10.

Positives........ Good size, good spoiler, good pace
Negatives....... POOR SKILLS, brain fades (understandable considering), lack of nous

Im not sure if hes contracted for next season, but at best I think he may develop into a faster Prendagast, and to be honest, having one of him is bad enough.

You cant doubt his endevour, but its damn embaressing watching this guy play at times, every time the ball is near him or in his hands I get nervous.

 

[Effes]

You have to give him EXPERIENCE

Let him play out the rest of the season

 

[Stanton]

At least give him next season, his first entire season on the list. He has the potential to improve as he hasnt been playing long. Must work very hard over the pre season though.

 

[Free Willy]

You have to give him EXPERIENCE

Let him play out the rest of the season

Look at the way he drops the ball onto his foot.......his kicking style in general.

I think his best case scenario would be as a negating spoiler.

I'm happy to see him play out the rest of the year, he has worked as hard if not harder than anyone on our list, but my concern is that the major reason I think he wont make it is because his skills are just not AFL standard & are the worst Ive ever seen from an AFL footballer on a consistent basis.

He rarely hits a target.

 

[Effes]

His kicking is more effective than a lot on our list

Take a look at Jim Furyk's golf swing

It doesn't matter how it looks, as long as the ball connects at the right spot with the foot in the right position then it will be a good kick. He doesn't kick many floaters

Take a look at Fisher and Waite's kicking and then consider whether Setanta is a poor kick

I'd say he hits more targets than Bentick, Fisher and Waite

 

[Stanton]

Look at the way he drops the ball onto his foot.......his kicking style in general.

I think his best case scenario would be as a negating spoiler.

I'm happy to see him play out the rest of the year, he has worked as hard if not harder than anyone on our list, but my concern is that the major reason I think he wont make it is because his skills are just not AFL standard & are the worst Ive ever seen from an AFL footballer on a consistent basis.

He rarely hits a target.

He can improve his kicking, it isnt as natural to him as some players whove played the game for years.

 

[Free Willy]

His kicking is more effective than a lot on our list

Take a look at Jim Furyk's golf swing

It doesn't matter how it looks, as long as the ball connects at the right spot with the foot in the right position then it will be a good kick. He doesn't kick many floaters

Take a look at Fisher and Waite's kicking and then consider whether Setanta is a poor kick

I'd say he hits more targets than Bentick, Fisher and Waite

Sorry, cant agree with you on the frequency of his poor kicks.
I agree that the 3 above mentioned also have their moments as well, but are no where near as bad in terms of frequency.

When the ball is in his hands he's almost odds on to turn it over, or muff it up.
His best options are to spoil or handball sadly.

Perhaps the pace of the game at AFL is beyond him at this stage, amongst other things.

I dont hold out much hope of Setanta becoming a decent player.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I'm happy to keep persisting with him. I reckon he hit more targets with his 6 possessions percentage wise, than Stevens did.

 

[mediumsizered]

I'm happy to keep persisting with him. I reckon he hit more targets with his 6 possessions percentage wise, than Stevens did.

Totally agree, ODN. In fact in the last couple of weeks he has pinpointed teammates better than many of his more experienced and skilled teammates. He certainly should not be judged by his kicking style. Earl Spalding had a similar style and he went alright.
FWIW, all the good judges of the time said Bradman would be no good because his grip, backlift and follow through were unorthodox and would be found out at Test level. There was a massive amount of egg on faces by the time he finished his career.

 

[Mr.Kennedy]

I'm happy to keep persisting with him. I reckon he hit more targets with his 6 possessions percentage wise, than Stevens did.

You beat me to it.He does seem to hit targets.He hit someone on the lead which at first looked liked he shanked it but result was great.I think try him another season then if he hasnt got it together look at releasing him

 

[Smell The Glove]

Im not sure if hes contracted for next season, but at best I think he may develop into a faster Prendagast, and to be honest, having one of him is bad enough.

Shudder, shudder ...... (to the thought of Prender surviving another year)

But to be honest, the experiment is working. He is quick, and has at times shown some real spirit and endevour out there, looks like he wants to be out there, which is more than I can say for some players. Will have to lift a notch before season's end, but it's his first year on the senior list, and I think he has earnt at least a final crack next year (unlike Prender)

 

[as0l0]

he also has a natural ability to manhandle an opposition player without giving away a free kick.

 

[blues76]

I'm happy to keep persisting with him. I reckon he hit more targets with his 6 possessions percentage wise, than Stevens did.

agreed...that stevens is the biggest frontrunner ive seen. anything goes wrong though and out comes the finger pointing,
geeez who saw his attempted overhead marks? absolutetly craps himself and straight thru the fingers.

 

[BlueBelle]

agreed...that stevens is the biggest frontrunner ive seen. anything goes wrong though and out comes the finger pointing,
geeez who saw his attempted overhead marks? absolutetly craps himself and straight thru the fingers.

The reaction of the Carlton crowd today said it all. When Stevens took a contested mark in the last quarter, the crowds response was "Hooray!" Anybody else witness that today? Goes to show that the supporters are even losing faith in him.

 

[thylacine60]

It shows that Carlos is capable of learning the game in that he has stopped giving away those stupid frees. Next he needs to concentrate on his disposal. One things for sure, he likes to be able to run at the ball and he's fitting in down back okay.

 

[pumped]

Setanta should definitly be kept and should be given game time. He had 2 bad errors low down which he needs to work on. However how many 6.5 guys are great low down?

He has good pace and spoils well..also has real dash and instictive flair when confident. He has what we need down back and with confidence could be very good. Well worth any risk that some may offer up.

 

[blues4flag]

He was very bad today, but it's still his 6th game. Give him time and at least another season - he showed last week he can play and is very athletic for his size. Kicking might look funny but it he doesn't turn it over often.

 

[Carlton supporter #63]

last week against the bombers, sure, he missed the goal in the last quarter that went out on the full...but more importantly, he could have won the game for us off his own boot. How many of our players actually try to change the flow of the game, to actually step up and take responsibility?? its handball to the next guy, handball to the next guy... when Setanta finally clicks, he'll have the ability and the want to change the flow of a game, and to take responsibility to turn things around. He just needs to keep trying. We need him to. he could have won the game against the bombers...how many five game players could even come close to saying that! GO SETANTA!!!

 

[dekkar]

Sadly, I think today we saw every deficiency highlighted again & again, over & over.

I was hopeful of him being able to continue to show development (& he has in glimpses), but sadly his skills are just too poor.

I think it has been a brave experiment, & good on Dennis & Co giving him an extended run over the last few weeks.

The problem is that his "good" games are serviceable & show areas of potential rather than solid, polished performances.
(His effort on Grant in the 2nd 1/2 of the Bullies game was his best performance to date).

You must be able to hit a target at least 8 times out of 10 just to barely keep your head above water at AFL level, Setanta would be lucky to get 3 out of 10.

Positives........ Good size, good spoiler, good pace
Negatives....... POOR SKILLS, brain fades (understandable considering), lack of nous

Im not sure if hes contracted for next season, but at best I think he may develop into a faster Prendagast, and to be honest, having one of him is bad enough.

You cant doubt his endevour, but its damn embaressing watching this guy play at times, every time the ball is near him or in his hands I get nervous.

Should be a bullants player next year atleast 4 afew years.then re-draft him if he has inproved.dont think he will ever be up2 afl level.

 

[MeeSo]

Players with his size, athletic ability and work ethic are extremely rare. Definately worth persevering with.

 

[Kooley]

very disappointed with his work below his knees yesterday. it's like he had a crok back or something.

 

[Lance]

I disagree with those who say his disposal by foot is poor. I think he hits his targets quite well. His problem is his lack of reading the play, and poor decision making. Up until 1/2 time he had done quite a sericeable job on Murphy. In the 3rd 1/4 I heard he received a "bad corkie" was limited in his running, and began to struggle and that's when Murphy started to dominate.
I must admit, because of his lack of experience, I shudder everytime he gets hold of the ball. Because of his poor decision making skills I believe he tends to holds onto it too long at times, and often gets caught, causing a turnover. And of course when you turn the ball over in the backline, there is a good chance it will end up an opposition goal. I would feel more comfortable if he played forward rather than back?

 

[btdg]

Not sure where I stand on him. How long did other Irish projects take to develop (Kennelly, Stynes, Wight)? How does he compare to them at this stage in their development?

From what I remember, none of those players had the same troubles adjusting, in terms of looking so completely lost at times and poor disposal. Maybe Setanta has just been thrown into the fire too early because we have such a crap team, but he isn't overly impressive at this stage.

 

[AlecDuncan]

very disappointed with his work below his knees yesterday. it's like he had a crok back or something.

He's been listed as having a suspect hip, so maybe he was playing under duress.

 

[pumped]

Definitly believe the backline is his best position at least for the next couple of years. When his confidence is up he looks very good and confident. At these times his decision making is very instictive. When something goes wrong eg; A dropped mark he gets down on himself and loses his instictive flow.

I have seen enough of Setanta to have no doubts at all about his ability and potential as a senior player. It is his confidence and handling that will dictate if he is to be a success or not. His kicking at times has been good aswell and his reach, spoiling and pace is excellent when confident.

I believe that he would be potentially good enough to make any side in the future. Carlton have him and they have a chance to develop a quality defender. Have they got the awareness to bring the best out in him. This is the big question. For the past 5 or so years Carlton has been very poor at bringing the best out of it's list.

sometimes I feel the club and many of it's supporters just expect gifts. That they want players to just drop out of the sky and be so self disciplined that they do all of the work and that Cartlon reap the benefits without going deep into themselves to fully develop players. The draft and the strong dependancy on high draft picks being an example.