Fosdike

[rngclhtr9]

After watching a rookie (Mitchell) give nic an absolute bath on sat night I feel a run in Canberra may be in store. I believe Fosdike would have to be the most dissappointing player in an otherwise stunning year from the swans. A former top 10 pick (can you believe it), who has been given every chance to grab a midfield spot at the club, yet time and again we see weak efforts at the ball and poor disposal. It's time for Roos to bite the bullet, accept the fact that Fosdike has not got what it takes be an AFL footballer and perhaps bring Sundqvist back up and give him some extended ground time. Simply, Fosdike does not make an impact on games, nor can he contribute goals, I wonder if either of the Adelaide teams would bite if the Swans offered him up for trade post-season?
Is anyone with me on this?

[dawson]

I agree with you and what's more he will be the type of player who at another club will average high teen touches per game.

[chammond]

Is anyone with me on this?

Not me.

Fosdike is no champion, but he does have what it takes to be an AFL footballer (including that vital ingredient - a contract).

If it's so obvious that Fosdike is a complete dud, then why on earth would any other club want to trade for him?

[TheHood]

Nick Fosdike's form has been disappointing this year, not because he is not what I expect from an AFL footballer but because it is not the form I have come to expect from Nick Fosdike.

By 1 September 2002 I had Nick Fosdike penciled in as a player who would thrive and succeed under Paul Roos and I had Jude Bolton down as trade bait.

Here I am 12 months later saying the exact opposite.

It is not as if Jude has been treated with kid gloves either. He has been played in a tough position and done very well.

Nick has been played in his favoured role as well. Sometimes a player revolts when he is being played out of his favourite position and Nick does not have this excuse. In fact he has no excuses at all.

[Frosty_13]

Fosdike is an imposter. He doesn't contribute anything to the side and must be dropped this week. Unless his form changes soon then his career at us should really be looked at. I must admit i used to be a big rap for Fosy i can even remember a comment i made a year or two ago when i said that he could be the next James Hird. Now he is useless and his career is at the crossroads.

[rngclhtr9]

I just could not figure out why Roos played him on Mitchell Saturday night and as far as I could see(on TV), left him there til half-time, by which time Mitchell and Everitt had combined to seal the game. Who does our scouting? Blind freddy could see that Mitchell has been the best clearance man in the league this season, hardly a viable match-up for a fringe-type like Fosdike, especially now the Swans must concede they will be beaten in hitouts most weeks.
The next James Hird? hey don't feel to bad frosty, Sheedy declared wide load Rioli "the next Voss" earlier this year. Ha!!!

[Rod_]

I had hoped that his season would have been better - but Jude has stolen the show.

Still servicable but down on what I had hoped for this year.

Being used as an impast player and hasn't made an impact to me.

I do feel that Snapper has over shadowed this type of player with his impact type of game.

Next year if cressa goes we will need him IMO.


This year - needs a lift

Rod_

[BAM_BAM]

Originally posted by Rod_
I do feel that Snapper has over shadowed this type of player with his impact type of game.


Rod_

Snapper? Isn't that Brad Seymour??

[barry]

He has a good footy brain, and plays the receiver position quite well.

BUT... his disposal is shocking, and he plays this forward-pocket type of tapping it in front of him instead of taking posession style of play that just doesnt work in the conjested midfield.

He needs to adjust his game, not rush his disposals, and take clean possession. Jude somehow did it, so its not impossible.

[rngclhtr9]

Just because a guy gets 20 disposals does nor necessarily mean that they have played an effective game. Look at the Bulldogs, they lead the league in disposals yet have won 3 and a half games. You must look how a player generates his posessions, the part of the ground they get them and the quality of them. Look how how effective Schneider and O'Loughlin are when they have just 15 touches in a game, yet sometimes I read the stats sheets and see say Matthews with 20 touches and Fosdike with 18 and barely remember seeing them. Fosdike does not win hardballs, has no goalsense or defensive game and even if he led the club in disposals I would still hold him in contempt. If Fosdike wants to play a receiver role he should watch watch some old tapes of Craig Bradley and see how it is done.

[Plugger46]

Originally posted by rngclhtr9
Just because a guy gets 20 disposals does nor necessarily mean that they have played an effective game. Look at the Bulldogs, they lead the league in disposals yet have won 3 and a half games. You must look how a player generates his posessions, the part of the ground they get them and the quality of them. Look how how effective Schneider and O'Loughlin are when they have just 15 touches in a game, yet sometimes I read the stats sheets and see say Matthews with 20 touches and Fosdike with 18 and barely remember seeing them. Fosdike does not win hardballs, has no goalsense or defensive game and even if he led the club in disposals I would still hold him in contempt. If Fosdike wants to play a receiver role he should watch watch some old tapes of Craig Bradley and see how it is done.

You are spot on mate. Possessions aren't everything in football, it's what you do with them that counts. Mathews averages about 18 possessions a game I think, but does that make him a better player than O'Loughlin, a definite no, is the answer. IMO, Fosdike and Mathews are an absolute waste of time, there are players out of the side at the moment that can do a better job than them.

[TheHood]

The stat that I want to see Fossy winning is "kicks inside 50".

Jude, Willo, Cressa, Kennelly, you name it...they would all be clearly ahead of Fossy in this regard.

If Fossy would just successfully deliver into 50 3 or more times a game, I would not care if his possession total was 5.

[sharp9]

Looks like Fossy or Nicks has been dropped....7 on the bench James, Meilkeljohn and O'Keefe are certainties, leaving only one of Sundqvist, Ablett, Nicks or Fosdike to get a game.

I reckon Sunny or Ablett will be the choice (Ablett for body size - and alast chance?)

[gloveski]

12 months ago everyone was calling for Judes head including myself.

12 months ago 9 ot of 10 people given the choice out of who to keep Fosdike or Bolton would of kept Fosdike.

Given Judes development this year maybe we are still 12 months away from seeing the best of Fosdike.........he is still young enough to be a better than average player for us.And from memory last year was more than servicable

Long term I would choose Fosdike over someone like Nicks who for me had one sensational year and has delivered bugger all since then maybe his dodgy back means we have seen the best of him already.

Having added my useless 5 cent's worth (gone are the day's of 2 cent's worth) it may be time for him to have a run in the two's

Man can I dribble after a few beers

[liz]

When Roos took over last year, he stuck Fossie on a wing and left him there. Fosdike did pretty well, as we all saw. This year he seems to have been playing more on-ball. There are two consequences of this.

1 Watchers tend not to notice what he does as much. You often don't see what happens within the packs on the ground, whereas it's easy to remember seeing a bloke rush down the wing half a dozen times a game.

2 He has often had less time for his disposals, thus causing more errors.

Fosdike has been nowhere near as ordinary as some on this board would like to believe. When the team has been playing well he has been a vital part of the structure. I agree with Cliff's comment that he's not a champion but also agree that he is a decent AFL player.

That said, I believe he is capable of better disposal than he has demonstrated at times this year, and I suspect he knows it better than us. I remember one of the comments about Bolton last year (and which he has commented that he and the club have tried to address this season, with success) is that he was almost trying too hard. This was causing him to be over-anxious, thus rushing his decision-making and disposal. I see some of the same signs this year with Fossie, and often his face has shown his frustration with himself. As anyone who has ever tried to play golf would know, that is likely to just make it worse and worse.

IMO this 'weakness' is very coachable and thus fixable. I've seen him kick enough footballs to know that he has decent to good skills inherently. He is still young enough to emerge as a very good player, as Jude has this year.

My major concern / gripe with his game is probably his defensive side. There have been several instances this year where his supposed opponent seems to have had no opponent at all. If your player is causing enough damage of his own you can probably live with that, but Fosdike isn't in that category yet. But again this is something it is possible to address.

With regard to the Hawks game, however, I thought I'd read somewhere that Fosdike was moved onto Mitchell after half-time, which doesn't quite stack up with a comment earlier in this thread that he was cut up by Mitchell before half-time. I didn't really notice during the game and haven't watched the tape so I have no idea which version is correct.