Kelly was a great stepper. Dunno about Harvey as I didn't see enough of him. In the twilight of his career he was in a walking frame.The great Skilton was the best i have ever seen (as a tiny tot of course). He was Gene Kellyese. Strong, hunched and could slip with a sway of the hips and a step out of seething packs. The appalling Eric Guy waited for him on the fringe of a pack one day and knocked him unconscious just as Skilts had slipped another scrum. Skilton such a great player. On the dancing theme - Kennelly riverdanced while Shaw boot scoots.
Rhyce Shaw....dud pickup?
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"In some ways we?re less predictable to ourselves and sometimes that can be detrimental because we don?t really know where we?re going" - P.RoosComment
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The holy grail of effective defense is to control the central corridor from the midfield back to the defensive 30 metre line. Central corridor control will push teams wide which:
1. forces attacking thrusts to the flanks and slows the attack; or
2. smothers the attack in a heavy defensive zone (the imbecilic melbourne media calls this a flood!) and
3. makes teams forced to attack from the flanks vulnerable to quick up the guts counter attacks as the rebound exposes the opposition strung out on the flanks.
The pussies are virtually unbeatable at the present time because of the central corridor control. Significantly Rhyced Lightning was constantly forced wide by them and his effectiveness was reduced. The loss of Kennelly has been critical because he could steer our attack out of defense. He was good enough to beat an opponent with his step and had the reflex, vision and quickness to weave a passage into the central corridor. This a rare skill. Leo Barry in his prime was good at it as well. Shaw is a runner not a stepper.
This would all be simply precised by one of the classic wedding telegrams from days gone by.
It goes: To the groom, treat your wedding night like a no frills game of footy. No playing around the flanks, go straight up the middle.Comment
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Buchanan is a great stepper but he always gets caught.Comment
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I reckon that this is due to a number of factors. I reckon there are three:
1. apart from shaw we lack running defenders. Part of what was letting Kennelly down in the last couple of years was he would handball to a player in the midfield looking for the 1-2 but the opposition were sweating on his first handball a lot more. When both leo and Tadhg were running out of defence there was a lot of heart in mouth moments but it was fast in the corridor risk-taking and the opposition was often unsure who to follow. When it was Tadhg alone there was a lot more pressure on the receiver of the looping handpass.
2. The development in the last 5 years of the small but extremely quick forward pocket whose job it is to stop half bank flankers from running has tended to mean that most clubs aren't getting the same run and carry as in the past. I reckon the leo/Tadhg problems started to emerge when (in particular) they started having collingwood forwards chase from behind a lot more
3. the absence of genuinely quick swans midfielders means its harder to get the ball into space. Fosdike, williams, crouch all could be quick across the lines meaning that the opposition had to follow these players opening up space. Our current midfield lacks pace and that brings more players into confined areas.Bevo bandwagon driverComment
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Occupational hazards:
I don't eat animals since discovering this ability. I used to. But one day the lamb I was eating came through to me and ever since then I haven't been able to eat meat.Comment
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