Maxfield

[Plugger46]

Maxfield was very ordinary yesterday. He looked slow and seemingly struggled with the tempo. Eight possessions is simply not enough for a captain playing in the midfield, and it's not as if those possessions were quality ones. Honestly can't believe that he thinks he can play on in 2006. As much as I've loved him over the years, he needs to worry about getting a kick in 2005 before thinking about next year.

[NMWBloods]

'Very ordinary' was exactly what I thought of his game too.

[Bear]

Yes I agree. I think if he was not captain he would be in grave danger of being dropped given our depth.

Would not be surprised if he did not see out the season, and I'm not just saying this after one game, more after his last 12 months and stage of his career.

At this point he is a 'passenger' and needs to improve dramatically.

[footyhead]

Do you think he would be the type to step down, even if his form was down for a couple of months?

[TheHood]

Originally posted by footyhead
Do you think he would be the type to step down, even if his form was down for a couple of months?

Depends on whether we're winning or not. If we go on a long sour streak, he'd put his hand up. He's been Best Clubman 2 or 3 times so I don't expect selfishness from Stu.

If we keep winning then it will be argued (correctly IMO) that his presence is essential for leadership, team harmony etc.

[sharp9]

I was gonna start this thread too. 93 minutes, 8 touches....6 clangers (plus a couple of really ordinary fumbles which don't go in the stats book 'cos he didn't take possession when he should have).

What can you say? Don't know who his opponent was, what were his stats? At least with Kirk's quiet 10 you can say he was on the opposition captain....who had 6 touches for the match.

Actually this could possibly go down as the worst match EVER played by two AFL captains.....both played nearly the whole game in the centre for a grand total of 14 touches!

[TheHood]

Originally posted by sharp9
I was gonna start this thread too. 93 minutes, 8 touches....6 clangers (plus a couple of really ordinary fumbles which don't go in the stats book 'cos he didn't take possession when he should have).

What can you say? Don't know who his opponent was, what were his stats? At least with Kirk's quiet 10 you can say he was on the opposition captain....who had 6 touches for the match.

Actually this could possibly go down as the worst match EVER played by two AFL captains.....both played nearly the whole game in the centre for a grand total of 14 touches!

Yeah, I was gonna say that Vanders' first hit out as skipper was inglorious.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by TheHood
Yeah, I was gonna say that Vanders' first hit out as skipper was inglorious.

So was Riewoldts for that matter, he never got into the game, even b4 his injury.

As for Vandenburg, was he on the ground? At least on Noticed Maxfield drop a sitter of a mark(maybe the sun was in his eyes(?)), and lay some over ferocious tackles.

[Charlie]

It was pretty terrible.

Having said that, I just can't see the club doing another Rod Carter. Maxfield will play at least 15 more matches this year. The leadership role is an abstract one, and of subjective importance, but one way or the other it will be enough to get him to 300 games.

Whether he retires at that point, as I suggested in my pre-season article on such matters, will depend entirely on how he plays through the year... particularly the first half of the season. I'm confident that he'll pull the pin if he's no longer up to it - he's never been a 'me' player.

[sharp9]

Originally posted by ScottH
So was Riewoldts for that matter, he never got into the game, even b4 his injury.

Sorry, mate but Riewoldt was having a blinder. The diving mark he was trying to take would have seen him put the Saints in front (or nearly) and he was without question the BOG to that point. What happened after he went off was indicative of the level of influence he had up to his injury.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by sharp9
Sorry, mate but Riewoldt was having a blinder. The diving mark he was trying to take would have seen him put the Saints in front (or nearly) and he was without question the BOG to that point. What happened after he went off was indicative of the level of influence he had up to his injury.

I musta been watching a different game, I thought Leppa had the better of him in most contests.

I woulda had Power as BOG, at that point

[cressakel]

Re: Maxfield

Originally posted by Plugger46
Maxfield was very ordinary yesterday. He looked slow and seemingly struggled with the tempo. Eight possessions is simply not enough for a captain playing in the midfield, and it's not as if those possessions were quality ones. Honestly can't believe that he thinks he can play on in 2006. As much as I've loved him over the years, he needs to worry about getting a kick in 2005 before thinking about next year.

Stuey may have had a bad game, as he did many times when Floodney Eade played him off the bench for 2 1/2 quarters every game from 1996-2001 (disgrace and one of the reasons I disliked Eade with a passion), but he will improve on Sunday's first up game in the coming weeks. Maxfield has too much pride in his performance and is very professional in his preperation not to come back strongly and play out the year well to the benefit of the team, although I think that making calls about playing in 2006 is a bit premature by Stuey.

Isn't it funny that when a player coming to the end of his career has a bad game people get on the bandwagon of stating he should have retired etc etc etc ra ra ra, but then when that player backs it up with 5/6/7/8/9 good games in a row the noise is very very very quiet from that same person in acknowledging that they were wrong....

As the season is only one game old, wait about 6-7 games before making predictions on Maxfield's future although, I also believe another player alongside Maxfield by the name of Mathew Nicks should be singled out as "gone" and should have been delisted last year or even the season before last.....

Mathew Nicks was about as usefull as an ashtray on a motorbike on Sunday, regardless of game time or possessions. He was playing like a cardboard cut-out at the best of times.....

[ugg]

Nicks is a handy player who can play up forward or down back. I thought he had a solid season last year culminating in an excellent job on Phil Matera in the finals. In any case, I think the fact he has veteran status helped in his retention on the senior list.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by ugg
Nicks is a handy player who can play up forward or down back. I thought he had a solid season last year culminating in an excellent job on Phil Matera in the finals. In any case, I think the fact he has veteran status helped in his retention on the senior list.

Yep, and come to think of it, the vet's list could do the same for Maxi next year.

[Go Swannies]

I thought Nicks put in a good performance on Sunday.