Doyle good?

[wyatt]

I thought Doyle had one of his better games against the Blues, especially later in the game when Ball was incapacitated.

My only gripe is - why does he have to jump so early for the ruck contest? The guy's 17 ft tall, surely he doesn't need to do this?

[NMWBloods]

I don't think he did an awful lot - gets a number of tap outs, but rarely seems to put them to our advantage, no clearances, plus he can't take a mark to save himself this year!

[Nico]

Re: Doyle good?

Originally posted by wyatt
I thought Doyle had one of his better games against the Blues, especially later in the game when Ball was incapacitated.

My only gripe is - why does he have to jump so early for the ruck contest? The guy's 17 ft tall, surely he doesn't need to do this?

Agree. When he stopped the early jump in the last Q he went OK.

[Nico]

Agree NMW on his marking. Just as well they are not playing with buckets of Werribee sewerage as footies.

[dendol]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I don't think he did an awful lot - gets a number of tap outs, but rarely seems to put them to our advantage, no clearances, plus he can't take a mark to save himself this year!

he took one in the first quarter up forward, but duely fluffed the kick for a behind. I dont know if he'll be a strong-marking ruckman if we rest him at full-forward.

[wyatt]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
he can't take a mark to save himself this year!

Perhaps he needs to attend the Barry Hall School for Competitive Marking?

[anne]

A couple of years ago he was quite a good mark.

[NMWBloods]

He did seem a reasonable mark a few years ago when we played in the forward line for a bit. Perhaps he can chat to whoever helped Hall with his marking (although Barry's hands still seem rather strange when he does take the ball!).

[Benevolent Ert]

his last two games have been his best for about 2 years (before injury struck him down)
It's slow going - but he is improving every week

[Newbie]

Doyle was a one-grab marker, something extremely valueable for a big man as much as clean-hand is for a smallish player. I dont think it is going to desert him over the years. My theory is that he is too eager at the moment. This explains why he is missing marks as well as why he tends to jump too early in ruck duals. It is inpart due to his lack of feels for the game something which came very naturally to Davis, McVeigh and Schneider. In short, he is a slow learner . The more he plays the more he will improve. He is relatively young in term of games played. Once he is able to hit about 70 odd games, we will see a very different player. Could be the dominant tall man with a physical presence that we need.

In him, we trust .

[footyhead]

Yes Doyle realy started to show somthing a while back, and I am wondering if the presuure of having to prove himself is starting to show , after all in the back of his head he might be thinking that they could delist him at the end of this year (which is highly doubtful) , this could well be creating havoc with his confidence.

[dendol]

Originally posted by footyhead
Yes Doyle realy started to show somthing a while back, and I am wondering if the presuure of having to prove himself is starting to show , after all in the back of his head he might be thinking that they could delist him at the end of this year (which is highly doubtful) , this could well be creating havoc with his confidence.

i dont know why he would even be thinking that he could be delisted. If he had half a brain, he'd know that Ball could retire at the end of this year, and that we NEED him. He could do nothing for the rest of the year and still be on the team next year, simply because we have no one else. If he doesnt know this, Roos, should have already mentioned that he has nothing to worry about. Its should be about staying fit and helping Ball out this year.

Next year or the year after is when we can decide if hes tradable or not.

[Wil]

Like it or not, he will get at least one year as our starting ruckman. With all the time invested in him he basically is our ruck. Doyle will replace Ball and then we will need someone to replace Doyle.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
He did seem a reasonable mark a few years ago when we played in the forward line for a bit.

I think he kicked 3 goals and took several marks in the first round against carlton last year.
When he took that grab in the first half last weekend I thought maybe we were in for deja vu.
I think however he is improving, his grunt works lifting which suggests he's less conscious of his knee (perhaps Goodsy could take note?)

[Bear]

just to have him getting through games atm is a bonus imo

if he can get his confidence up with a couple of strong marks and/or goals it should take him to the next level

i agree that we will see the best of him (like most players) once he has 50 games under his belt