Opinion We need to talk about Ted...

[Mick Oxlong]

I like the idea of giving Alliir a shot. Teddy has been a great servant and should keep his spot if form warrants, however, periods of rest wouldn't go astray!

 

[Banyo Bloods]

Thats the problem. He is terrible but he's the best we've got. It frustrates the hell out of me that the backups clearly aren't upto it.

Terrible is way too harsh. He struggled last night but also was effective in some plays. Probably going to struggle in some match ups but due to his interrupted start it's possible he will get a bit better. Still reads it better than most in the league but he was admittedly slow last night and sometimes cumbersome. Had a better game than Papley and arguably Towers without me looking at stats.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

I completely agree with this, and that's why I'm disappointed whenever I see Zak Jones dropped. If we look at Adelaide last night they get great run out of defence from guys like Laird, Smith, Atkins and Seedsman (although he spent some time forward); and we look a bit slow and predictable with Laidler and Richards in the side. If Richards' role is as a third tall/loose man, then I think only one or the other can play. Right now I'd pick Laidler ahead of him.

Zak Jones needs to stop giving away dumb free kicks and 50 meter penalties, i agree tho i like his dare and he tends to look down the corridor at every opportunity.

 

[ashep]

Not done yet. Can no longer play on the monsters but still reads the ball well enough to be third tall. Then again his disposal is pretty ordinary.

Yep. I feel like a lot on this board aren't satisfied unless we're playing 22 all australians.

I posted that Ted was cooked in the 4th last night but look who he'd been playing on.

He's not as good 1v1 as he was a couple of years ago but is still serviceable.

 

[miggs]

Was shown up last night, Also by Patton a couple weeks back in the ressies. Still has a place but like others have said, Needs to be that floating 3rd man. Get Reid back there and we will be right. Talia cant recover soon enough

 

[Cadsky]

Terrible is way too harsh. He struggled last night but also was effective in some plays. Probably going to struggle in some match ups but due to his interrupted start it's possible he will get a bit better. Still reads it better than most in the league but he was admittedly slow last night and sometimes cumbersome. Had a better game than Papley and arguably Towers without me looking at stats.

True. It probably is harsh. I should rephrase that. He is a terrible key defender. As a third tall intercept mark he probably gets a pass mark due to his reading of the play and knowing when to leave his man. This comes down to experience but his speed holds him back on this aswell.

 

[The Brabazone]

Was shown up last night, Also by Patton a couple weeks back in the ressies. Still has a place but like others have said, Needs to be that floating 3rd man. Get Reid back there and we will be right. Talia cant recover soon enough

True. It probably is harsh. I should rephrase that. He is a terrible key defender. As a third tall intercept mark he probably gets a pass mark due to his reading of the play and knowing when to leave his man. This comes down to experience but his speed holds him back on this aswell.

Would you pick Richards over Laidler as a floating third man? Laidler has never set the world on fire but I'd take him over Teddy rn.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Would you pick Richards over Laidler as a floating third man? Laidler has never set the world on fire but I'd take him over Teddy rn.

Laidler's kicking is better, he's the better 3rd tall.

 

[tizzay7]

Richards has been a stalwart with us and he has served admirably but time and the game has caught up to him and he is clearly past his best. It makes a true reflection on our other key defenders in the twos. If anything he does provide that leadership and organization in the back half which is invaluable.

Now i love grundy but i cant help but think that he is almost not that far behind Richards. He is a lot slower and he is turning 30. I might be jumping the gun a little bit here but think we should find another kpd through a trade as cover. This is where they start to slow down and get injuries so it wouldnt be bad to look at a delaney from the cats or leslie from the suns or a tom lee from the saints. All are quite young and would definately put some pressure on grundy, talia and to a lesser extent push a few of our ressie kpd's out the door.

More importantly, it would set us up for another few years as solid combination down back with talia rampe laids and smith.

 

[The Brabazone]

Richards has been a stalwart with us and he has served admirably but time and the game has caught up to him and he is clearly past his best. It makes a true reflection on our other key defenders in the twos. If anything he does provide that leadership and organization in the back half which is invaluable.

Now i love grundy but i cant help but think that he is almost not that far behind Richards. He is a lot slower and he is turning 30. I might be jumping the gun a little bit here but think we should find another kpd through a trade as cover. This is where they start to slow down and get injuries so it wouldnt be bad to look at a delaney from the cats or leslie from the suns or a tom lee from the saints. All are quite young and would definately put some pressure on grundy, talia and to a lesser extent push a few of our ressie kpd's out the door.

Grundy has been playing some great footy so far this season, he was exceptional in round 1 and very good last year.

In regards to Tom Lee I really wouldn't want to trade for him...

 

[tizzay7]

Grundy has been playing some great footy so far this season, he was exceptional in round 1 and very good last year.

In regards to Tom Lee I really wouldn't want to trade for him...

Im not saying he is going to fail but its his age in worried about now. He isnt getting any younger and we all saw how quickly richards decline was. Just something to be mindful about. As for tom lee, anything could happen. Junk time pick as cover at the very least wont hurt.

 

[TheTrademark]

I'm not sure Ted wants to be there. I think the club has asked of him another year and he is putting in all he can the champion he is. This is the lingering effect of the trade ban and XR and Allir not developing.

The question is do we want Ted who can hit a 7/10 at best or 4/10 at worst but averages 5/10 or trial 2 players (XR and Allir) who can be 5/10 at best but 1/10 at worst... The long run says the the latter as they could become 8-9/10 but that is unlikely. For the "window" we need to play Ted till Talia comes back. I reckon Richards in the twos all year could have lead to some development in XR and Allir but injuries happen.

Reid should be our number 2 up forward with ruck as 3rd with Heeney as 4th and Papley and Resting Mid to finalize the numbers.

 

[Skeparovic]

The problem is you have listed two players who are injured so one is at least 3 weeks away from any kind of Football, let alone AFL and the other is 10 weeks away. Personally if both Reid and Talia were fit, Richards and Towers wouldn't be playing but we are what we are.

As for the younger Richards vs Aliir Aliir debate XR has shown he isn't ready to play as a KP Defender and grimlock has stated that Aliir is further behind XR as a man on man defender so both don't solve the problem we have in Ted. So what would I personally do, well I would drop Ted this week for Jones and before anyone says "hang on Jones isn't a KP defender" my reasons are two fold.

1. I think our defence plays too tall
2. Grundy as our Full Back means putting Rampe as our "CHB"

Now this would mean a back 7 of Grundy, Rampe, Laidler, Smith, Jones, McVeigh and Mills. A defence that can play tall and small

Now ideally this would hold out until Talia is fit again and we could release a McVeigh or Mills to the midfield group which by then could have Rohan and Reid involved thus more options to help out the defence or the forward line.

THIS!!! Had similar thoughts in the Reserves thread regarding the benefits of playing smaller in defence by swapping Jones with Richards. Would certainly shake things up as Jones is more likely to attack the corridore than kick it long to a wing like Richards did the past few games which increases risk of deliberate out of bounds being paid.

 

[Superstar swan]

Can no longer play on the oppositions best kpd but he is still quite handy. Still good one on one and a good reader. He was poor on the weekend but he deserves a few more chances yet

 

[The Brabazone]

Can no longer play on the oppositions best kpd but he is still quite handy. Still good one on one and a good reader. He was poor on the weekend but he deserves a few more chances yet

Due to other injuries and the height of the Eagles forward line he will no doubt be required this weekend, but I feel against other opposition and when we're at full strength he's no longer best 22.

 

[Superstar swan]

Due to other injuries and the height of the Eagles forward line he will no doubt be required this weekend, but I feel against other opposition and when we're at full strength he's no longer best 22.

I say at the moment he is best 22, due to we have no other option. He is better than allir,and xr. Due to our list he is the best player to fill that position. However player production drops at an alarming rate and can be overtaken quickly

 

[The King!]

Wouldnt shock me if Ted would of walked away but the club asked him to stay because of injury/list management the cupboard is bare

 

[MF]

Take him out the back and shoot him?

 

[Benevolent Ert]

Take him out the back and shoot him?

He's cooked

 

[SilentHunter_]

Shut a lot of people up today including me.

 

[scaryness]

Ted must browse BigFooty.

 

[Sketi]

What a guy.

 

[Dangas]

What a game, What a goal, what a mark. He did it all today!

 

[brad cooper]

This thread sparked the Ted revival.

 

[doona]

If i was listening to the game rather then being there, I would have loved to hear:

“Teddy from downtown”