MVP Tommy Boyd - The Grand Final Enigma

[Mutt]

Another props to Tom: in the interview with Mitch Wallis last night on On the Couch, he gave credit to Tom for sticking with him the night he broke his leg, and that he's great mates with Tom. Quality bloke. I've always liked Toyd, and now it's clear to me beyond a shadow of a doubt: Bulldog through and through.

And watching Tom's interaction on Saturday with the other players and the coaching and support staff reinforced to me that Tom is just another player in this team. He is just as invested as any of the players. He truly is a part of the team and not a hired gun.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

I reckon Tom took a little longer to buy in than some of his teammates, but his body language over the past few games has absolutely convinced me that he has now.

 

[Super Hans]

Another props to Tom: in the interview with Mitch Wallis last night on On the Couch, he gave credit to Tom for sticking with him the night he broke his leg, and that he's great mates with Tom. Quality bloke. I've always liked Toyd, and now it's clear to me beyond a shadow of a doubt: Bulldog through and through.

Yeah, but didn't you hear? He king hit Zaine Cordy and everyone who he has ever known says he's a s**t bloke.

 

[BRWB]

I reckon Tom took a little longer to buy in than some of his teammates, but his body language over the past few games has absolutely convinced me that he has now.

Finals can do that. Hope the feeling sticks. Speaking of sticks. On the weekend.

Hope the ball can stick in his fingers.

Hope he can put it through the sticks.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Yeah, but didn't you hear? He king hit Zaine Cordy and everyone who he has ever known says he's a s**t bloke.

Who hasn't had a fight with their mates when they are on the piss! I am in my 50's and still managed to have a blue (verbal only no fisticuffs) with my Sydney cousin last Friday night and we were all good an hour later (perhaps I shouldn't have called GWS a bunch of w***ers!).

 

[Daksian]

Yeah, but didn't you hear? He king hit Zaine Cordy and everyone who he has ever known says he's a s**t bloke.

No no no. Get it right. He glassed Cordy, shredding Zaine so bad it was all he could do to kick two goals on Saturday, poor bastard.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

No no no. Get it right. He glassed Cordy, shredding Zaine so bad it was all he could do to kick two goals on Saturday, poor bastard.

And it wasn't just the glassing, it was the representation of how he lashed out after Cordy represented the entire playing group for telling him how much they hated him because he was getting paid heaps more than them!

 

[Mutt]

I reckon Tom took a little longer to buy in than some of his teammates, but his body language over the past few games has absolutely convinced me that he has now.

The interview of Mitch Wallis on On The Couch last night was telling too. Mitch counts Tom as one of his closest mates and spoke of the support in the hospital and afterwards that Tom provided to him. That coming from the bloke who is the epitome of High Character Guy and who is Bulldog through and through. If Mitch gives Tom a massive tick, we can all rest easy.

 

[Pannalstaroz]

Who hasn't had a fight with their mates when they are on the piss! I am in my 50's and still managed to have a blue (verbal only no fisticuffs) with my Sydney cousin last Friday night and we were all good an hour later (perhaps I shouldn't have called GWS a bunch of ******s!).

You were right to call them that

 

[ScragCity]

How good was it when Big Tommy Boyd channeled his inner Nic Nac and tapped it to himself and burst out of the center bounce and launched her inside 50.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Tom's transformation from a stay-at-home forward to a roaming, mobile ruck-forward has been nothing short of tremendous.
It also shows his adaptability as a player to mould himself into the tactics of his coach at the time.

Last year, due to his inability to be mobile and impose himself on the contest, as soon as our quality of ball movement dropped a notch, he got completely shut out of the games - no better evidence than the loss to Melbourne where he had just the one touch. Our quality of ball movement toward him was terrible that game, but he didn't help himself with his lack of mobility and so forth.

The improvement to his rucking and his running power, allowing him to consistently have 15+ touches and 5+ score involvements over the last 3 months has been absolutely wonderful. Not only has it shown dedication to improving his own game, it shows a sacrifice to the team. If Beveridge could pick a perfect team to suit his style of tactics and footy, he's pick 22 really, really mobile blokes because he loves to swarm the contest, constantly rotate players and use this mobile, endurance type of player to outnumber the opponents at the drop of the ball then flick it around with that extra number. It's completely at odds at what Boyd was in his under u/18 year and at GWS - a "power" forward in the Hawkins mold who only rucked as a pinch ruck, not as a genuine 1/3 of the game ruck.

And that's the thing. People here are still critical about his marking and goal nous. But they're forgetting to things - first, that if he shows the same dedication to improving his game as he has with remoulding the type of player he is to his ability to take marks, it will undoubtedly improve, and secondly, that the reason he's no longer a marking "power" forward is because of the way that we've invested resources in him. Our training and physical development of him over the last two years was to develop his rucking and endurance base, to better suit our gameplan, but to the detriment of those skills of Boyd himself - every week he's developing his running power as his physical makeup, he's losing the ability to add strength through his hips and core, and minute he's spending on his ruck work and work in stoppage congestion, is less minutes he's spending working on his marking technique and use of body in marking contests. No doubt given the rapid improvement in his ability as a mobile player who can also ruck, we'll be less oriented toward that next year, spending less time in that regard and more back to his forward craft work.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Yeah, but didn't you hear? He glassed Zaine Cordy and everyone who he has ever known and even those that don't know him say that he's a s**t bloke.

efa.

 

[stefoid]

How good was it when Big Tommy Boyd channeled his inner Nic Nac and tapped it to himself and burst out of the center bounce and launched her inside 50.

So next year the Cloke tractor to the goal square and the Boyd ferarri to CHF.

 

[ScragCity]

So next year the Cloke tractor to the goal square and the Boyd ferarri to CHF.

What?

 

[compact72]

Don't need Cloke IMO. Roughead is being better forward, so the rotation between Campbell, Boyd and Roughead would be enough IMO> We still ahve Crammers coming back too

 

[stefoid]

Don't need Cloke IMO. Roughead is being better forward, so the rotation between Campbell, Boyd and Roughead would be enough IMO> We still ahve Crammers coming back too

Assuming we get no injuries.

 

[compact72]

Assuming we get no injuries.

Campbell would come in.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Tom is going to explode after having a full preseason. Can't wait.

 

[JJHunter]

Tom is going to explode after having a full preseason. Can't wait.

he wont get a full preseason - shoulder reco

 

[Hard Ball Get]

he wont get a full preseason - shoulder reco

Shouldn't interrupt much if it's done straight away.

 

[Pannalstaroz]

This year Lynch, next year Moz

 

[Floridog]

Finals can do that. Hope the feeling sticks. Speaking of sticks. On the weekend.

Hope the ball can stick in his fingers.

Hope he can put it through the sticks.

Hope he sticks it right up 'em!

 

[VitalDread]

Bringing Cloke in allows Tom to have a key forward to teach him all the moves to beat his defender.
Cloke is still one of the best contested markers in the last 10 years, be great to see them go toe-toe at training.

 

[Wizard17]

Norm Smith Medalist?

 

[Dav1d]

Norm Smith Medalist?

Him or Hamling
Has to be..