Thornton's performance

[thylacine60]

Fevola ?

Fev just caught speeding this afternoon. Silly goose. Not even worth a thread but someone will make something of it. Who hasn't been booked for speeding before?

 

[AlecDuncan]

Fev just caught speeding this afternoon. Silly goose. Not even worth a thread but someone will make something of it. Who hasn't been booked for speeding before?

One of those idiotic 40kmh zones apparently. They have one on Springvale Road to, you know, make it safer for the kiddies to run across 6 lanes of traffic in the morning.

I'd love to personally strangle every single safety-nazi in the country.

 

[thylacine60]

When I was a kid and out with my mates on our bikes I'd have been laughed at if I'd done something pissweak like wait for the lights to cross the road or wear a helmut etc.

We never seemed to get hurt, no-one ever got run over, we used to dink and carry on like idiots. Now? The kids are locked away from all and every influence outside the home and classroom. The Boogie Man is alive and well but unfortunately it's the safety nazis, as you say.

 

[Blue Dimension]

Every one of the OP's posts usually bags Thornton, so i've come to disregard the stuff that is posted by him. FFS get off Thorntons back already.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

I cant beleive he paid $460 for those gold Prada sunnies he was wearing at the family day.

.... they were ugly ...

But I suppose when he's on $360,000 per year - he can afford it.

 

[Silvagnis]

Thornton's first season was 2002 (The first of many shi* years for Carlton). Thornton has played over 100 games at the Blues mainly because of our pathetic list. He wouldn't have played 50 at any other club.

Ask yourself this question, how many games would Thornton have played for Carlton if he played between 1995 and 2001? He probably would have been lucky to survive on the list past 1999.

Mark Bolton and Kepler Bradley.

How many members of Collingwood's, St Kilda's, Port's or Hawthorn's backline would get a game in that Carlton side?

Not many when you're talking about one of the all time great backlines that went 20 and 2 in 1995.

That's the dumbest argument I've read yet.

He should be playing the role Peter Dean played in that 1995 team and not taking the big boys. Bret is such a poor player that the Hawks chased him hard in 2006 and enquired about him again last year.

Also, Bret shut down an on fire Lucas twice when he was taking Whitnall to the cleaners and didn't look like a hack in those two games. He has his bad moments because he is undersized and looks bad when our midfield is thrashed.

Bret is still our best defender at the moment and would get a game at half of the clubs.

But this is the week to take shots at all of our players after he won the game of his own boot the previous week.

 

[wdgann]

Thornton is not even half the player of someone like peter Dean. Anyone that suggests he can play a 'peter dean' type role doesn't know anything about footy

If someone is half interested in him, he should be traded. But if it really came down to it, I don't think anyone would be interested in a defender that is slow, weak, can't kick and has a bad attitude

 

[BlueYoss]

When I was a kid and out with my mates on our bikes I'd have been laughed at if I'd done something pissweak like wait for the lights to cross the road or wear a helmut etc.

They had traffic lights already when you were a kid?

 

[thylacine60]

Of course. Although to be honest they were really just blokes with torches and a few sheets of coloured cellophane.

 

[The Real Deal]

The Herald Sun has put up stats of each player from 2007. Thornton had 17 tackles for the year- that sounds pretty low for a bloke that played for the full year. Usually is quite skillful but I think he needs to toughen up a bit and also show more leadership in the backline.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

The Herald Sun has put up stats of each player from 2007. Thornton had 17 tackles for the year- that sounds pretty low for a bloke that played for the full year. Usually is quite skillful but I think he needs to toughen up a bit and also show more leadership in the backline.

Thats extremley low when you consider Fev's attacking pressure, Eddie Betts normally racks up 17 tackles each match

 

[Thrawn]

Thornton's performance against Hawthorn was poor. In the forward line he rarely made space and if he did, he had trouble holding marks. In the forward line, he is at best a 1.5 goal kicker per game

He doesn't really fit into a defensive role. Not big enough for CBH or FB and too slow for a flanker

I think it is time to relegate him

Thornton is our most experienced and our best defender, to relegate him would be incredibly foolish. You are basically punishing him for:

1) A poor practice match.
2) Poor conversion at goal, despite the fact that he's not a forward and most likely never will be.

He has shown that he is quite capable as a defender, albeit in a tertiary role. Even when he plays as the first or second defender, he does the job more often than not... if you see his record then he's done quite admirably considering the pressure he must've been under. You have to remember for the majority of the time, we relied on him as our main defender during the worst era of our entire history. He had little support around him, and played on some monster forwards - but the thing is, he has had reasonable success on some of the better forwards. Lloyd, Lucas and Williams to name a few - last year I remember him beating Tredrea and Pavlich, restricting them to only a couple of goals despite being out muscled. But I have the admit, the hands on the back rule has affected him moreso than any other defender.

His niche is as a third tall, usually he is calm under pressure but you can only be so calm until this pressure gets to you. I am not surprised he points the fingers at others, or gets frustrated - if you look closely his "support" do not listen to instructions and often fumble/screw up, sometimes not helping him out where he is usually the lone hand down back. So before you harp on about his body language - look at the situation around him. He works his guts out and as a result has no support, instead some of his team mates **** around and get caught out.

Honestly, do we have a better defender than him? O'hAlpin? Please. O'hAlpin has the potential to be a lot better FB, but right now he's not our best defender. I think people should pay a lot more attention to Thornton's work, and the incompetence that surrounded him.

 

[Thrawn]

Some of you guys have got to be joking. Along with Houlihan and Scotland he's been a rock in our backline because he can be trusted to reliably deliver the ball to a teammate nearly EVERY time he has the thing.

Bwahaha. I fell of my chair laughing at that... Houlihan? He's about as rocky as hair gel... the backline was never his best position, and he would be exposed time after time. He is an offensive player and his skills and flair are better suited on a wing or on a HFF where he can deliver the ball with precision. Every pass I've seen him to do Fevola have been spot on, I'd say his kicking skills are one of the best in the side.

But a defender, he is not.