Jude Bolton poll

[ROK Lobster]

How good/bad is he?

[TheHood]

poorly worded last option

[Zlatorog]

I was never his biggest fan at all. I would keep him as long as we can, unless he should make way for a better prospect from a younger generation of Swans players.

[goswannie14]

I think my comment to him when he missed an easy pass to Tadhg just before half time was, "You should be playing in Canberra permanently, you blond primma donna." or words to that effect.

[TheHood]

I think my comment to him when he missed an easy pass to Tadhg just before half time was, "You should be playing in Canberra permanently, you blond primma donna." or words to that effect.

Slotted to 2 nice ones from a distance on the weekend (don't mention the Grand Final).

I actually think Jude has a mild form of paralysis in his left arm. He carries it oddly when he jogs. He's not a great shot on the run.

Actually, can someone tell me where Jude's strengths consistently lay? He's not that effective in the packs (ala Kirk), nor is he a speedy outside player and nor does he do an effective tagging job.

What does Jude do?

[NMWBloods]

One of them was from 20m out directly in front.

[swantastic]

They(the media) love him in the home of footy,so i say trade him for a young and up and coming midfielder.Maybe richmond would give us Nathan Foley he's quick and has a lot better skills.

[Plugger46]

They(the media) love him in the home of footy,so i say trade him for a young and up and coming midfielder.Maybe richmond would give us Nathan Foley he's quick and has a lot better skills.

I'd love that - but there's no way Richmond will be letting him go.

[graemed]

Slotted to 2 nice ones from a distance on the weekend (don't mention the Grand Final).


Actually, can someone tell me where Jude's strengths consistently lay? ...

What does Jude do?

I find this question strange given that he consistently attacks packs in a way that was the hallmark of Paul Kelly's play. His courage and lack of regard for his own safety have leadership stamped all over them, this quality has a overarching effect on team morale and cannot be counted in a stats sheet or measured in a balance.

Sure he has weaknesses in his game not least of which is his disposal skills but surely getting the ball in traffic and running straight still counts for something. He is solid o'head and has grit when under pressure, as does Kirk, Matthews, Ablett, Bolton, Crouch, Barry et al.

This is the culture of the club we're talking about and its what attracted and kept me coming to games even when we had lost 26 games straight. We cannot abandon these traits for the sake of a skill base that may be based around receiving and downhill skiing. We do so at the risk of becoming another Richmond, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide...all fluff no substance.

[NMWBloods]

He never runs straight with the ball.

Much of the time he forces a ball up and his clearances only occasionally go to advantage.

Throwing yourself into packs is brave (and possibly stupid), but it's not always (often?) beneficial.

There seems to be this bizarre notion amongst some Sydney supporters that if you are not burrowing into the bottom of packs then you are a downhill skiiers. I can only think it must be the rugby mentality...

[graemed]

He never runs straight with the ball.

...

There seems to be this bizarre notion amongst some Sydney supporters that if you are not burrowing into the bottom of packs then you are a downhill skiiers. I can only think it must be the rugby mentality...

May I just point a couple of details for the sake of accuracy and interpretation..

"running straight" ... usually applies to a player intending to get the ball and having the courage to meet the ball on the line he is running without concessions for traffic.

I grew up and played junior footbal in Jacana a suburb of Broadmeadows in the northern precinct of Melbourne.

[NMWBloods]

I understand the concept of running straight, I was simply noting that running straight when with the ball is also important and I have never seen someone kick across their body as much as J Bolton does!

[Nico]

I understand the concept of running straight, I was simply noting that running straight when with the ball is also important and I have never seen someone kick across their body as much as J Bolton does!

Kicking across the body comes from poor tuition when a person is young. Kids love to do it in the backyard,at training and during matches but it must be knocked out of them very early on. It prevents a person from developing those staright ahead skills that you mention NMW.

When I was an Auskick coach for 5 years our club specifically taught boys the straight ahead, lift the head and look for a target technique before grade 5. After that we developed it further by running in numbers and breaking forward of the play. No one was allowed to stop and prop and kick it sideways.

Once a young person has bad habits it is a devil of a job to change them.

[TheHood]

Much of the time he forces a ball up and his clearances only occasionally go to advantage.

Now youv? jogged my memory, Jude's the bloke who hands the ball to umps after stoppages.

[Big Al]

I think my comment to him when he missed an easy pass to Tadhg just before half time was, "You should be playing in Canberra permanently, you blond primma donna." or words to that effect.

And I said "what did the Canberra comp do wrong to deserve that" GS14 and I made a good team on Sunday. (The Demon twit we tortured all afternoon can vouch for that).