Kennelly

[OldE]

What are we to do with him?

Move him to the wing? His kicking skills of late haven't inspired confidence in that suggestion. His disposal really has been shocking most of the time.

Leave him at HBF? At the moment he's playing awfully. Should Roos leave him there and wait out the form slump?

Drop him? A week ago I would have (and did) say yes, definitely, but now I'm not so sure. He has the potential to be the player we really need- confident, aggressive and creative. Would sending him back to the 2nds really help him develop into that player?

He really hasn't played a good game of football this year. This includes the pre-season, during which he was dreadful against both Collingwood and Brisbane.


I really like Tadhg, but at the moment, I really don't see how his game will improve.

I suppose it's a good thing I'm not Paul Roos

Any thoughts?


Erin

I just had to get my weekly Tadhg-rant out of the way

[Nico]

Trouble is in the true sense of the word "creative" he fails.

Sure he runs hard when he has the chance and does occasionally snag a goal, but mostly he fluffs his kicks. I thought with the natural ability he has, he might go into the top echelon this year, but I suspect he has dropped back a bit.

He genuinely looks frustrated a lot right now, and probably sets a high standard on himself. To me he doesn't look happy playing down back, and on a small ground.

[Snowy]

I think the small ground is a problem all round, players get stuck in congestion, there are too many stoppages. Interesting to see how lost Green, a creative midfielder looked last night without the space to move in.

[satchmopugdog]

Very perceptive assessment Snowy. Green was beside himself last night trying to work out where to go, even considering the hit he got from his captain.

Don't you hate this Tasmanian thing!! My brother used to teach Russell Robertson at Penguin High so obviously his Indonesian is very good adn he seems to save his game breaking stuff for us. That mark really broke our hearts.

Brad Green's grandmother plays Mar Jong with my mother and a mate of mine used to teach him at Launceston Grammar so they have great delight in rubbing it in.

[Foreign Legion]

He surely has to be moved forward - WHY doesn't Roos give him a go there - 2 games - worth a try and it WILL work.

[Nico]

Even if it worked for 1 game in a row it would be worth it.

[dimelb]

I think we have seen enough of Tadhg to say he is an attacking player rather than a defender. Send him further forward - wing for preference - and let's see what he can do. And give him a few games to settle into it!

[Dave]

Originally posted by Snowy
I think the small ground is a problem all round, players get stuck in congestion, there are too many stoppages.

Watching the Weagles demolish the Lions today I was thinking exactly the same thing. I was totally envious of their great gound.
The SCG is more of a curse than a blessing these days. Other teams can scale down their grounds to emulate the grounds size for preparation against us but we can't scale up!
We can't even train there while the cricket season is still on.
Aside from that the stands possess no asthetic symetry whatsover. The ground is old and tired.
I would be quite happy for all home games to be played at Telstra.

[Schneiderman]

I think Roos needs to have a trial game with Kennelly. The Weagles game is ideal for this. Play him on the wing pretty much regardless of outcome and see what happens.

[Nico]

Every opposing coach is now getting Kennelly's man to drag him back to the goal square. It is so bleeding obvious.

If Irish was allowed to be the loose man in defence someting might happen. "Tadgh you don't have a man today. Don't bother trying to pick up a player and get sucked back to the goal line, run loose and get on the end of a few."

Words I would love to see from the coach.

[Snowy]

Actually the Weagles played at the Gabba today but that is a bigger ground. It's hard for players to develop skills properly at such a compact venue like the SCG. And it allows the team at times to take the easy way out by squashing the opposition but it won't win games come finals. There are players in the team who would play much better on a bigger ground, the aforementioned Kennelly not the least of them. He should be given licence to run but as a wingman where the accountability factor is not so vital and where he is unlikely to be dragged into the goalsquare to expose him overhead and negate his run.

[robbieando]

Originally posted by Nico
Every opposing coach is now getting Kennelly's man to drag him back to the goal square. It is so bleeding obvious.

If Irish was allowed to be the loose man in defence someting might happen. "Tadgh you don't have a man today. Don't bother trying to pick up a player and get sucked back to the goal line, run loose and get on the end of a few."

Words I would love to see from the coach.

Ditto

Go with a 5 man forward line and move the extra man into defence to allow Kennelly to be freed from manning anyone up.

[liz]

He was loose man in defence for part of yesterday and I didn't see it make much difference.

I'm not also sold on blaming the size of the SCG. The Swans have played plenty of exciting, skilful, attacking football in the past on exactly the same ground.

One of the things that is going wrong with the game plan at the moment is that we're not getting the rebound from the defensive zone. It was a core part of the style that worked so well in 2003. Barry having major defensive responsibilities is one reason - and one that might be addressed by the return of Schauble. The ordinary form of Kennelly is obviously another reason.

Moving Kennelly up the ground is all very well and we might get more of him up there. But it doesn't address the question of how the team recreates that HBF drive. Dempster seems to have the attributes but Roos will face the same issue of his man trying to pull him back to the square if he is deemed to be dangerous enough. (And if he isn't then he probably isn't doing the job for us.)

It may need a bit of risk taking - ie instructing whoever is in the role not to necessarily follow their opponent back, and rely on their fellow defenders to cover their man. But if the opposition is winning the ball out of the middle and using it well it is likely to cost goals.

It becomes a catch-22. When a team is down on skill and confidence they will become reactive, not proactive, won't take risks and are less likely to create something to turn the form curve around, regain confidence and as a result display a higher skill level.

[Snowy]

It may not matter so much with Dempster getting taken back as once he grows into his body properly he should be able to compete one on one. He then has to develop the right instincts for when to attack and when not to. SCG doesn't preclude exciting football, but ultimately to develop the right structure you have to be able to replicate it at a bigger venue where finals are played.

Also playing the loose man is not as easy as it sounds, you have to have decent footy smarts and be able to read the play well.

[stellation]

Originally posted by Snowy
He then has to develop the right instincts for when to attack and when not to.

I do gush over Schauble, but when he is back just watch him pick when to run forward. He is one of the slower guys in the team and it is not strange to see him taking a mark on the wing to help get the ball out of defence despite playing FB. The more our younger backmen play with Schauble the better for their development.