What's wrong with Ryan O Keefe

[Stevie Ray Swan]

I'm a big fan of ROK, but totally off his game for a few weeks now. Doesn't seem to be himself, having very little impact at present.

any thoughts

 

[Ed_Gein]

I guess opposition coaches have worked out ways to limit his impact on games. He's a quality player, he'll work his way through it.

 

[vonn]

Yeah I get what you mean but I started a thread like this last year round this time and he completely owned me by winning B+F.

Slow start to the season a trend?

Probs just can't shake the tags.

 

[bedford]

Probably still got a headache from the Brisbane game, Jordan Lewis from Hawthorn said it took him 6 weeks to get over his.

 

[Swans120]

"I don't know what it is, perhaps he has a niggling injury, but ROK looks to be running half pace out there at times and it is concerning for me as he is our fittest man and when he is going well, he runs harder than just about anyone in the competition. An elite runner and an elite player...at his best.

I've been pretty disappointed with his last month and we really needed him along with McVeigh to step up yesterday. McVeigh was ok in the 2nd half but ROK is really not playing well atm. His disposal has not been very good all year IMO also, misses targets too much for a player of his ability. I just haven't been as crazy about his form as others have this year."

That's what i put in the Hawks thread. His first 2 games of the year were really good but since then he has not been very impressive IMO. Perhaps i'm being too harsh but the last 3 games we've really needed him to be the brilliant player he is and he has not. Though he hasn't been alone in that sense.

He'll come good i'm sure.

 

[BarneyBent]

His drop in form coincided directly with me picking him up in Supercoach. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened to Colin Sylvia and Gablett. I think I'm SC death...

 

[Dangas]

yer I reckon the knock to his head has affected him

 

[liz]

I suspect it is a combination of soreness and the opposition paying him more attention. Not only was he on the wrong end of the tackle against Brisbane, he received two vigorous bumps against Geelong too. It almost seems as if the opposition have looked for opportunities to hurt him (legally - though questionable in the case of the Brisbane tackle given the subsequent Mummy case).

 

[BruceFromBalnarring]

I think he has also had to adjust his game a bit. If you add the shift to the midfield to the increased attention after last year's success, you'll find it's a lot harder to do the gut running for which he is famous. I think he'll adapt pretty well in the end. Watch for him after the week off.

 

[Stevie Ray Swan]

Well that must have been one hell of a knock if he is still not right. Perhaps Jude Bolton is still reeling a bit also, as he has had a couple of heavy knocks to the head in the past few weeks. Our whole midfield seems sluggish at the moment.

 

[Skystyler]

there is no doubt in my mind that the Risk a Telly tackle and subsequent head knocks in Geelong have effected his game. His decision making has been off more than anything else. He was one of the best players in the comp before that tackle.

Mind you, we have been put under a lot of pressure by 3 very good teams the last 3 weeks. Thats bound to have an impact too.

 

[Nich]

I support all the tagging theories but I've go to say it's also more than that. ROK is taking marks around the 50 lately and previously you would expect him to kick them, if not just shave a post. In the past 3/4 games he either hasn't been getting the distance and/or has been COMPLETELY missing the target. He was such a reliable kick. There's definitely something up. Not good at all.

 

[Hyphenator]

My guess is its probably a combination of 3 factors; the head knock, some soreness or niggling injury and opposition tactics. Though to be honest McVeigh has been copping the no.1 tag and ROK was dominating early in the season, which makes me think its more the head knock and/or soreness

 

[Nich]

Gee, Rhino is so far off the pace it's getting quite concerning. I have never seen his kicking any worse than this. His comments the other week about the teams confidence being down would be enough for an elite senior player like himself to come out hard and bust his arse. Something is up. I never really thought a concussion could have that much of an effect. He is not the ROK we know and love.

At times, it seems as though he is just running around like a chook. Gone are the strong contested possessions (well, down to a minimum). His kicking is shite. He's attitude and general presence looks indifferent. ROK, what's wrong mate? Is it more than the concussion? Come and tell Big Footy what's up. We are here to help mate! We just want you back to superhuman (he is better than normal).

 

[Swans120]

Get him deep forward, his marking still seems pretty solid but his running capacity and his disposal around the packs seems off. I just reckon he's carrying an injury that he isn't prepared to come public with. He has been such a consistent star performer, i can't imagine he can be so down on form only due to confidence etc.

Get him forward to see if he can kick some goals and move Goodesy further up the ground to get into the game more.

Seems like a win win for me.

 

[RichyRich]

His drop in form coincided directly with me picking him up in Supercoach. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened to Colin Sylvia and Gablett. I think I'm SC death...

Ahhh Haaa so it's your fault!

But seriously I was thinking the same thing....great player but very average year so far IMHO.

He copped a serious corkie this week too, I think he might get a weeks rest this week as a result of that!

 

[Swans120]

He's had 4 genuinely good games against the Aints, Adelaide, WCE and Brisbane. The rest he has had 20ish touches but didn't have much of an impact on the game.

I have already said it a few times, but i think he should be played deep forward more often as he is going through this form drop/niggling injury (i think it is more the latter).

Definitely not running at 100%.

 

[liz]

He's taken a lot of physical punishment in the past month. First there was the tackle against Brisbane that we've all talked so much about. He copped two big hits - legal within the rules of the game - from the Cats. The first seriously took the wind out of him, the second caused him to go to ground. And then the sliding knee from Brown this weekend.

I don't know if clubs ever set out to physically hurt an opposition player who is thought to be a threat (I hope not) but one could be forgiven for wondering whether he is being targetted.

I didn't mind his game too much this weekend. He didn't have the impact we know he can have but his intensity looked reasonable enough. If he is sore, would like to see him spend time around CHF, out of the clinches for a while. We know he can be very effective there.

 

[qqaaxx]

Came in to post what Liz just said. It seems he has been a target over the last month and it was a pain knowing Mumford was in the stands for the same if not less than those incidents

I thought in the game against the Bulldogs he was still not right from those hits as he made a lot of bad disposals throughout the match and just didn't seem right. He did look better on Sunday but didn't really get into it

 

[smasher]

Somethings seems amiss with ROK.You only have to look at his recent stats to see his efficiency is well down.Looks like a player with an injury to me.