My thoughts at the moment....

[CureTheSane]

LRT kills me.
The player who makes me cringe most when he comes near the ball.
Sadly my cringes are usually justified.
Potential I suppose, but he had better come on soon, or it will seem that he should have been dropped quite a while ago.

McVeigh is in the same boat.
He sometimes does some good things, but I worry when he comes near the ball.

Schneider is another worry.
Like most i love what he CAN do, but he isn't doing it often or well enough.

Bolton (Jude) was one who used to be in the same boat.
Seemed to have a million clangers
Now I regard him very highly.
Perhaps still not worth what he is touted as being paid, but perhaps getting close.

Buchanan has come along pretty well for one who was delisted.
Looks to have a great delivery to the forward line at the moment.

Nicks is history.
Showed some form late last year but has not been able to maintain it.
Best role he plays right now is to stand with his arms in the air at the opposition kick out and use up feild space.

Saddington is starting to come good again in my opinion.
While not starring, I think he is playing a role.

Ablett is who I like to watch most now.
Always potential to do something exciting.

The St.Kilda game was really hard to watch, and actually quite depressing, but then we see how the team CAN play, and you still have hope that they can build on that as they move towards September.

Ironically I think one of the key ingredients missing is expectations on Roos.
I understand why, with the three or five year plan or however long it is, butmaybe the difference between Roos and say a Mathews or Williams is that they were expected to bring a flag, and they did.
But then again, expectations haven't done much for Sheedy lately I guess...lol

[motorace_182]

Re: My thoughts at the moment....

Originally posted by CureTheSane
LRT kills me.
The player who makes me cringe most when he comes near the ball.
Sadly my cringes are usually justified.
Potential I suppose, but he had better come on soon, or it will seem that he should have been dropped quite a while ago.

McVeigh is in the same boat.
He sometimes does some good things, but I worry when he comes near the ball.

Schneider is another worry.
Like most i love what he CAN do, but he isn't doing it often or well enough.

Bit harsh on LRT and Macca. Both have come a long way in recent weeks with Mcveigh putting together arguably two of his best for the club over recent weeks. Hyph is learning more and more and has improved over the last month. I was calling for his head a few weeks ago and it seemed justified - he showed nothing. But his 1%ers of late are amazing. His effort can never be questioned, all he needs is to continue on his elarning curve.

Schneider is gone at years end in my opinion. I tihnk clubs would hold him in enough regard to be offered as suitable trade bait. But then again, he still has 10 weeks to prove his worth, providing he gets a crack.

Bolton (Jude) was one who used to be in the same boat.
Seemed to have a million clangers
Now I regard him very highly.
Perhaps still not worth what he is touted as being paid, but perhaps getting close.

Is by far our best midfielder and seems to be worth every sent. Im almost keen to chuck a few $ his way for the Charlie. He stands out a lot within our midfield that is classed as working class and negating.

[QUOTE] Buchanan has come along pretty well for one who was delisted.
Looks to have a great delivery to the forward line at the moment. /QUOTE]
Love hsi in and under work at the moment, he has shown a lot, but his delivery by foot isnt great, especially inside 50s and shots on goal. But his attack on the footy is awesome. I thought he when he showed that flair late last year he would lose it gradually as he got more senior games and the desire to earn his spot faded, but he has kept at it and goes 100% everytime.

Ablett is who I like to watch most now.
Always potential to do something exciting.

Future superstar. He is a gun. Seems as though he has been brought up by Lethal in the way that he just makes sure anytime it goes near him, he smashes it forward if he cant get clean disposal.

[NMWBloods]

J Bolton is not 'by far our best midfielder'.

I think he's our best inside midfielder but only just ahead of Kirk.

Ablett is not a gun. I think he has potential to be a very good player, perhaps even a 'star'. He'll never be a superstar.

Not sure what 1%ers LRT is doing - he certainly works very hard though.

[Schneiderman]

Re: Re: My thoughts at the moment....

Originally posted by motorace_182
Schneider is gone at years end in my opinion.

Seriously doubt it. Still had a fantastic 2003 that demonstrated his talent. Whilst people quickly jump off the bandwagon with this particular 21yr old, they then demand we inject more youth. There are others on the list who would go well before him, and he still shows enough to stick with until he is 23 IMO.

[Mark]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Not sure what 1%ers LRT is doing - he certainly works very hard though.

Come on NMW, i know you are not a fan (& mostly for the right reasons) but he put in a couple of very good 1% on Sunday !

Particularly the one where he made three eforts (two diving) and got the ball to advantage of (Kennely i think ?)

Give him credit for the few good things he has done

[tez]

I feel that Roos will will persevere with LRT for awhile yet,
and although I also cringe when he has or contests the ball
I feel he is improving.

When considering who may become an "ex Swan" I feel
Benny Fixters name will be mentionted before Schneiders.

[Wil]

I don't understand how someone can dismiss some young players so quickly while saying how good Ablett is at the same time.

We are talking about Luke Ablett right? The guy who did nothing for a season and a half at the Swans, if not more? And only is now starting to look decent?

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Mark
Come on NMW, i know you are not a fan (& mostly for the right reasons) but he put in a couple of very good 1% on Sunday !

Particularly the one where he made three eforts (two diving) and got the ball to advantage of (Kennely i think ?)

Give him credit for the few good things he has done

I was more wondering what we were defining as 1%ers. In terms of what is normally counted as a 1%er in stats, such as shepherds, spoils, knocks to advantage, he does a few but not a lot.

He's certainly good at working hard, second efforts, and the like, as I think everyone has noted.

Just to clarify - I'm not a fan as I can see many faults in his game, but I don't mind persisting with him for a while. I still doubt he will make it, but, despite persistence to the contrary, I am not one of the people who have been ripping him to shreds.

As a related aside, he is one of those players in the athlete but not a footballer mould. This has been a major focus of recruiters in say the past decade and has contributed to the move of football into a running, possession game rather than what we tradtionally saw. Listening to the radio on the weekend I hear that the recruiters are gradually looking more closely at moving back to getting players who are footballers first and athletes second (and some a bit more mature, like we see with Vogels and with Bryan at Carlton). I think this will be a good move for football if it continues.

[barry]

Re: My thoughts at the moment....

Originally posted by CureTheSane
LRT kills me.

McVeigh is in the same boat.

Schneider is another worry.

Bolton (Jude) was one who used to be in the same boat.

All young players need to be given more latitude than older ones.

[Mark]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Just to clarify - I'm not a fan as I can see many faults in his game, but I don't mind persisting with him for a while. I still doubt he will make it, but, despite persistence to the contrary, I am not one of the people who have been ripping him to shreds.

Agree, although starting to think he 'may' actually make it if improvement continues

Originally posted by NMWBloods
As a related aside, he is one of those players in the athlete but not a footballer mould. This has been a major focus of recruiters in say the past decade and has contributed to the move of football into a running, possession game rather than what we tradtionally saw. Listening to the radio on the weekend I hear that the recruiters are gradually looking more closely at moving back to getting players who are footballers first and athletes second (and some a bit more mature, like we see with Vogels and with Bryan at Carlton). I think this will be a good move for football if it continues.

Yes, a balance would be nice, personally prefer 'footballers' over athletes as it is easier to become an athlete than vice versa (within reason). The reason the having both makes Harvey/Buckley such freaks i guess.

[Diego]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I was more wondering what we were defining as 1%ers. In terms of what is normally counted as a 1%er in stats, such as shepherds, spoils, knocks to advantage, he does a few but not a lot.

He's certainly good at working hard, second efforts, and the like, as I think everyone has noted.

Just to clarify - I'm not a fan as I can see many faults in his game, but I don't mind persisting with him for a while. I still doubt he will make it, but, despite persistence to the contrary, I am not one of the people who have been ripping him to shreds.

As a related aside, he is one of those players in the athlete but not a footballer mould. This has been a major focus of recruiters in say the past decade and has contributed to the move of football into a running, possession game rather than what we tradtionally saw. Listening to the radio on the weekend I hear that the recruiters are gradually looking more closely at moving back to getting players who are footballers first and athletes second (and some a bit more mature, like we see with Vogels and with Bryan at Carlton). I think this will be a good move for football if it continues.

They guy runs like a chook and is just a dumb footballer. Do we really need so many 1 dimensional players in the squad?

Really LRT is an embarrasment for the club and i don't care how good he is at those bloody 1%.

Go away LRT you hack.

[sharp9]

Ablett made some shocking kicking errors on the weekend. McVeigh was a little better than he has been...but the comparison needs to be made with the opposition. There was bloke named Schammer for the other mob who hit targets lace out with almost EVERY kick....if it was 25 metre pass it went, guess what...25 metres to the chest of a team mate. If it was fifty metre pass it went.....fifty metres to the chest or at least advantage side of a team mate. Ablett and McVeigh (and Buchanan) are nowhere near this level. They do it maybe 5 out of ten times...at the very best.

We won on the weekend despite our vastly inferior "skills" that is kicking and handballing and contested marking. We won because at ground level we killed them in real contested situations. If a ball was 50/50 or even 40/60 we were a monty ( ) to gain possession. Our kicks into the fifty were terrible compared to theirs, but if we could just manage to kick to a 50/50 in the 50 we were likely to win. And that's what happened enough of the time.

Adelaide, Melbourne, West Coast, Fremantle and St. Kilda have players with sublime skill who can pinpoint a chess like pass into the fifty when their forwards are out-numbered. That is their strength. Ours is winning contested footy so, IMO that is our best chance to go far. Kick it quick to a 50/50 or better is our best option. And make sure every kick of theirs is to a 50/50.

We cannot drop back as oppositions carry the ball forward from the HBF or wing as we seem to have a habit of doing, - that gives talented teams the time to thread the needle which they will do when they are on song and you can't be a great backman if you aren't IN the contest (see match against St. Kilda).

Make those 50/50 contests in our forward line as close the corridor as possible. It is nearly as hard to get an uncontested mark out wide in the fifty as down the middle and when you butcher it out there it is generally a two on one so if the pass isn't perfect it gets rebounded quickly. Play to the centre where we have numbers to crumb and we are better than 50/50 to win it or keep it in there for a ball up.

We lead the comp for goals from throw ins and ball-ups, you know.

Back to my point, #5 pick McVeigh needs to have a good hard look at the play of #13 pick Schammer. I reckon that McVeigh is capable of delivering like that, he needs to work out why he is not.

Also I thought O'Keefe was appalling for most of the day. He was CONSTANTLY beaten in 50/50 contests. He was memorably outbodied by Baker against the Saints when we were a chance to score, result.....goal to the Saints. Disgusting effort for a big man. He plays like a wimp and this year (for some reason) almost never takes a contested grab the way he used to. Falls over and has weak tackling arm. If Saddington hadn't been so terrible I would drop O'Keefe for Vogels against the wobbles.

Also the formerly "dead-eye-dick" is kicking around 30% from set shots. When he leads long he doesn't get away from his marker so the (always iffy) kicks which he recieves have to be taken contested, then even if he takes it he gets held up. Contrast with Riewoldt, Pavlich, Hall etc who take zillions of uncontested marks when they lead long to the wing.

Maybe he is just leading too early for his team-mates, expecting a very quick, perfect kick. What he gets is a slow kick which eventually comes in over his head. Very irritating.

On the other hand the enormous length of time taken by LRT, Benny and Leo to deliver after they take possession would seem to indicate that when our backmen get the ball nobody up the field does anything to present. You can't see from the tele, unfortunately, but surely you would think players would be craeting and dashing into space the moment LRT gets the ball so that he doesn't have to think about it.

Someone said Benny actually ignores perfectly good leads if the player is a junior, before eventually sending a long, slow crappy kick in the direction of Bazza who has finally decided to lead from 100 metres away seeing as nothing else is happening, followed by a 3 on 1 contest resulting in a rebound or throw in. Hope that that is not too true.

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by sharp9
We lead the comp for goals from throw ins and ball-ups, you know.

In terms of straight numbers, I'd believe that - we probably have twice as many throw-ins/ball-ups as any other team in the comp (OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the point)

Originally posted by sharp9
On the other hand the enormous length of time taken by LRT, Benny and Leo to deliver after they take possession would seem to indicate that when our backmen get the ball nobody up the field does anything to present. You can't see from the tele, unfortunately, but surely you would think players would be craeting and dashing into space the moment LRT gets the ball so that he doesn't have to think about it.

I sit on the wing just by the fence and can see that there are definitely not enough hard leads (I mean sprint for 20-30m) to provide an option for the man inside D50. Its usually a jog into space so that if the ball does come, the defender, have sprinted to close that gap, is actually in a better position in the contest. This of course wouldn't be as big an issue if the ball was moved quickly, but it isn't, meaning the option is only available very briefly and generally ignored.

[giant]

I agree that our skills continue to be short of a genuaine Top 4 Contender.

Also, agree that ROK is way short of the 2004 model. It's now been that way for 12 rounds so you wonder when he's going to pay for it.

Keep wondering when it's all going to turnaround (coz it can we know) but if it doesn't shortly we won't be able to rely on the opposition playing crap against us for too much longer.

I have a nasty feeling we're in for an unpleasant second half of the season.

[barry]

Originally posted by sharp9

Someone said Benny actually ignores perfectly good leads if the player is a junior, before eventually sending a long, slow crappy kick in the direction of Bazza who has finally decided to lead from 100 metres away seeing as nothing else is happening, followed by a 3 on 1 contest resulting in a rebound or throw in. Hope that that is not too true.

Unfortunetly its true. How this behavior is promoted by elevating him to Captain is one of a few things I just dont get with Roos.