MVP Tommy Boyd - The Boy, The Man, The Premiership Hero

ScragCity

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Just wondering where everyone sits on Boyd currently. At the moment we have BTC, Roughead and Redpath all performing at what I'd consider a "very good" level. All 3 are probably playing better footy right now than they ever have. Redpath has only played the one game but showed a lot and made us look better as an attacking unit. I just don't see Boyd getting a game this year unless one of those guys goes down with injury.

Boyd was given an opportunity to start the year as our key forward target and backup ruck and was unconvincing in both areas to say the least. I'm all for being patient with him and I understand that he might take time, but it makes me anxious to have so much cap tied up in a bloke we really don't need right now. I do feel bad for the kid though because he must be under immense pressure.

I guess at the end of the day though I'm not comfortable with Redpath being our only key forward prospect either. We definitely need a Boyd type on the list for the future of our forwardline. Also we haven't had any issues with retaining talent yet. I hope it all works out. Just sucks that we are going to be paying at least a million this year and probably more for a guy who likely will be stuck in the VFL. Hopefully he can at least dominate for Footscray and build towards a big 2017.
 

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Wetdog

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In terms of the 'right now', I think he needs to come back through the VFL and earn his spot. As you rightly point out, TC, Roughead and Red are all in good form. I am not sure we can fit Boyd in the same team as those three. I would love to see them all firing, but in reality what does it mean for our forward and around the ground pressure and defensive zone.

I think you have undersold Boyd's performances to date this season. He has been decent and contributed. I would give him 6/10 (excluding the last game where he was injured). But that is just a matter of opinion.

In terms of the future, he could be anything so long as he works hard and backs himself in. I'm not worried about the salary cap implications at this stage. We haven't lost one player because of him yet. And the salary cap will increase with the new collective bargaining agreement.
 
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Comes back via the VFL until form screams we must play him and/or non performance by one of the talls in the seniors permits. No different to what Tommy Campbell had to endure and he is frankly just one of 44 seniors on our list.

No free rides.
 

doggies ftw

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How much better did we look with an adequate number of talls across the ground. For once we held our own in the air all over the ground. Sick of 'small ball' tbh. Yes its fantastic when the games on our terms against average teams but I dont believe it holds up against most of the best, bigger teams, especially away from Etihad.

It doesnt make us top heavy because our ball movement is still better than most teams, if not all.

Throwing Boyd into the mix maybe starts to get to that limit but I think if we take out Roberts and play Roughy back a little bit more we can handle it. Is Rough any slower than Fletch? Probably not, and Rough is still the best player on our list at covering the high ball in defence, which still kills us most weeks.

Two of Moz/Hamling/Adams/Cordy and Rough floating around. Boyd and Red rotating between deep and CHF. Campbell doing majority of the ruckwork with a chop out from Rough and sometimes Boyd if were trying to get him into the game or want to change things up forward.
 

Dogsman16

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I have the current combination of Campbell, Roughead and Redpath as the starting ruck/forward group and to compliment this I'd be having a small defensive setup of Adams, Morris, Wood as the KPD or if we wanted to go taller, Hamling, Adams, Morris, as the KPD combination. Wouldn't be selecting Roberts or Collins in this group as of yet. Roughead can push into defence as an option if needed, Campbell can push into the forward line if we keep bombing the ball in etc. I think that works quite well.

Boyd for me is an emergency at this stage. If we lost a tall defender then Roughy can go back. If we lost a ruck then Boyd can play as the forward/ruck and if Redpath was a late withdrawal then obviously he plays his normal pure KPF position.

I'd only be selecting 3 of Campbell, Roughead, Redpath, Boyd (with Campbell being the absolute 100% lock for this team), the others to continue to fight it out for the remaining two spots. Roughead I wouldn't be pushing him back as a permanent defender. Sure he will spend time down there but Id having him as the 2nd ruck/floating utility. Campbell and Roughead works well, we really haven't been beaten at any stage in the ruck this year.

Forget the contract size and forget what it took to get him. Boyd at this stage provides less than what Redpath does. No doubt when/if Redpath has a shocker most will be calling for his head (which they wouldn't be doing if Boyd played a similar quality game) but currently Redpath at AFL level provides more than Boyd does currently.

Redpath also compliments Campbell/Roughead more than Boyd does, when one of the rucks is playing forward as it is a mixture of a leadup option/contested marking option rather than just pure contested marking types.
 

DognBones

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Surely the biggest issue for Tom Boyd is his shoulder if it is
true it has slipped out twice this year already then that
has to be the main concern for me.
Which, in the worst case scenario, could require a reco at some stage down the track and further delay his development. Hopefully, the problem is not serious.
 

who_let_the_dogs_out

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Spend some time at Footscray - get some confidence and see what happens.

Till then, Redpath if he performs like he did on the wkend holds his spot. Having that big KPF that can take a mark/lead/crash packs works wonders for not only Stringer but our whole forward 50 setup.
 

Yojimbo

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Which, in the worst case scenario, could require a reco at some stage down the track and further delay his development. Hopefully, the problem is not serious.
Agree fully and it's not like our medical department to put players back
on the field when they are injured they are very diligent.
 

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TiAn_

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Boyd in for Roberts (but not this week). Play Roughead down back and a smaller backline while he's filling in for Campbell. There's no way Rough is worse than Roberts. One of Campbell, Boyd or Red goes to the bench when Rough rucks. If the other team has giants (like Norf & the Sooks) then Rough stays back and Boyd swaps with Campbell.

For the same reasons Red wasn't excelling for Footscray, Boyd will not develop in the VFL. Needs to be exerting himself at the AFL level, against AFL defenders, receiving AFL delivery.

If we could experiment with Ayce Cordy for 6 weeks, we should at least try Boyd, Red and Stringer together for a month.
 

TiAn_

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Just to flesh out my reasoning, I think we need an extra tall defender, whether it is Roughead or Hamling, against the Roos, Crows, Giants (Lobb), Hawks and Cats, who are 5 of the top 8 currently.

By playing Roughead back when he’s not rucking, we mitigate the amount of time our defence spends undersized against those teams, whilst having Boyd up forward instead of Hamling or Roberts down back (and instead of Rough up forward). We also mitigate the impact should Campbell or Roughead go down with an injury, as Boyd can relieve the remaining ruckman and we still have one key position forward at all times.

As a guide, this is an idea of how our team would look this year with the tall forward line and Roughead spending the majority of his time in defence:

FB: Morris Roughead M. Boyd

HB: Wood Adams Biggs

C: Macrae Bont Johannisen

HF: Dickson Redpath Hunter

FF: Stringer Boyd Dahlhaus

R: Campbell Wallis Libba

INT: Picken Suckling Stevens Daniel

Unlucky: McLean, Dunkley, Dale, Hamling, Hrovat, Webb, Jong, Honeychurch, Cordy,

Out: Murphy, Crameri

On a side note, picking this team highlighted to me just how ravaged we are by injuries at the moment and how good our first choice team is.
 

FoochPackage

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Bev did state in the pre season that he did Boyd no favors last year in terms of development by playing him in the 2's. Definitely feel he can come straight back in at the expense of Roberts as previously stated in this thread. With Roughie to chop out down back.
 
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