Lockett / Hall

[Sanecow]

When you can't get to sleep, your mind wanders.

If a player can regularly mark and kick goals from around the 50m arc (and I am thinking specifically of Lockett / Hall here but only from memory, not from any actual data), are their talents wasted (ie underutilized) at full forward where a lot of their kicks are from closer range?

Lockett kicked a bucketful of goals playing at full forward and I think Hall would kick more goals in a regular full forward role (is this where I'm wrong?!?). But! Hall is playing mainly around half forward, which is better for the team given his kicking ability - a player with a less fantastic kick can occupy full forward.

Would Lockett have been a more valuable team player at HF? He would have kicked fewer goals but would that have been a bad thing? Should his record breaking goal kicking ability have been sacrificed for a better team structure (and maybe a Premiership)?

OR

Would Hall be a more valuable player at FF? He would kick more goals (but his ability to score from further out would go untapped). Is playing Hall at HF sacrificing his ultimate total number of goals for the greater good of the team?

(Of course this neglects the difference in fitness of the two players, who didn't love it on the rare times when Lockett gave chase!).

[Sanecow]

The real question is: how did I manage to stay awake?

[Chubby Muffler]

I think Lockett and Hall were/are being used properly. Plugger was good on a short lead, getting that bulk into a position where no-one could shift him and then scoring. A classic FF I guess. Hall is alot fitter and more mobile - a different player really. The position he plays now ensures he can score a bag if neccessary or play more of a team role as required. If Hall is getting no ball, he will go up the wings to find it, as he was doing at certain times last year.

[Jimmy C]

Originally posted by Chubby Muffler
Hall is alot fitter and more mobile - a different player really. The position he plays now ensures he can score a bag if neccessary or play more of a team role as required. If Hall is getting no ball, he will go up the wings to find it, as he was doing at certain times last year.

Agreed. Hall seems more suited to the CHF than FF atm. The good thing about him being at CHF is that he can pop into the midfield/wings and bust packs open. I'd wait until he slows up a little before making him a permanent FF, where I think he could be just as damaging (for the opposition).

[Plugger46]

Hall's best position is CHF, he's become a much better player since moving there. He gets bogged down at FF. Baldock used to say that Lockett's best position was CHF, but he couldn't play there regularly because of his asthma.

Sanecow, I think it's too difficult to tell if Lockett would have been a better player across HF. He was virtually unbeatable at FF, and even if he didn't mark, it would create crumbs for the others. It's just a pity that for the bulk of his career, he had ordinary players around him. If he'd been fit and firing in '97, I think we might just have won a flag.