Next year's team

[chammond]

Originally posted by liz

Sometimes with those long thrusts forward it is up to the forwards to read them and move to the right place, particularly when the ball is given a lot of air. Some of Maxfield's kicks were made to look worse than they were because the forward they were meant for (often Davis) was either incapable of, or unwilling to, moving to the right place.

Oi! What's your bloody game??

Just because you can type faster than me!

[ROK Lobster]

Originally posted by chammond
My impression was that for the past couple of seasons his role has changed a little, and he's now less likely to get possession in space. That extra pressure is what causes him to be less accurate with his kicking.

Exactly. Not all the time but plenty of times last year he just blazed away with his left into the forward 50. Not that I am writing him off, just saying that his delivery is not what it once was due, like chammond said, to a loss of foot speed.

[liz]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
, just saying that his delivery is not what it once was due, like chammond said, to a loss of foot speed.

Except that that's not what Cliff said!

[ROK Lobster]

Yeah, fair enough. Read it a bit quick. I think he has slowed a bit though and think that that contributes.

[chammond]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
Yeah, fair enough. Read it a bit quick. I think he has slowed a bit though and think that that contributes.

Not related to NMW, are you?

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by chammond
Not related to NMW, are you?

I never mis-read -- I just ignore the bits I think are boring, irrelevant, badly written or just plain stupid...

[sharp9]

Originally posted by chammond
Not sure if you were stoned for the whole season, or just now . . . . your last three posts on this thread prove that it must be one or the other.

What do you mean? Do you disagree?

[sharp9]

Originally posted by liz
There were a few games earlier in the season where he was a tad directionally challenged with his kicking but he got a lot better in the second half. And the penetration was still there.

Sometimes with those long thrusts forward it is up to the forwards to read them and move to the right place, particularly when the ball is given a lot of air. Some of Maxfield's kicks were made to look worse than they were because the forward they were meant for (often Davis) was either incapable of, or unwilling to, moving to the right place.

mmm, I think I need to sit next to you at a game, Lizz 'cos we could definitely educate each other....we're clearly seeing what the other is not.

Maxi turned the game against Carlton. Can't understand why he didn't do it more often. I'm tempted to say that he was lucky that day...the ball bounced his way a few times in a row and he ripped it and kicked it to set up at least three goals.

[liz]

Off the top of my head (and without referring back to the tapes to check which games are which):

- he was by far the Swans' best player in the worst loss of the season, against Port. Without him we'd probably have been beaten by well over 100 pts

- I think it was the Dome Melbourne game where he was absolutely dominant in the first quarter. He didn't do much for the rest of the game but certainly set the tone for what was probably the most emotionally difficult game for the season

There was another handful of games when he made an absolutely critical contribution that really affected the outcome. I'm interstate this week and thus not able to refer back to my tapes but will do so at the weekend and post more details.

[liz]

I've had a look back at the POW columns I wrote and saw that I wrote about Maxfield in round 8 (the Weagles game), commenting that it wasn't a four quarter performance from him but that when he was "on" he was really influential, keeping us in the game in the 2nd quarter and, to some extent, alive in the 4th.

[Nico]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I actually thought Maxfield's kicking last year (Williams as well) was below his normal standard. Too many times he kicked to the opposition. That's not to say he was shocking or did not deliver useful F50 kicks, however he turned it over more than he had previously and more than I would expect/like.

On your side NMW and Sharp9. As much as I love Maxfield's input, for a player who gets the footy on his own and has plenty of time to sum up his options, he sure does kick "straight into the hands" (Lou Richard's favourite saying) of the opposition too often, and too often missing a target by a country mile.