What is YOUR "Non-Negotiable"?
Which skill or physical attribute do you value above all others...and WHY???
Speed (for position)
Size (for position)
Competitiveness / Determination
Endurance
Lateral Movement / Elusiveness / Agility
Kicking - Accuracy
Contested Marking
Clean Hands
Popular with Team-mates / Good Bloke Test
Loyalty to 'Home' / Sense of 'Duty'
What is YOUR "Non-Negotiable"?
Which skill or physical attribute do you value above all others...and WHY???
What should I tell her? She's going to ask.
Competitiveness is the most important one to me. You can get by with not being great at some of the other traits if you have a determined mindset.
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
If we get our kicking right most of the other stuff will come . Especially if he is a goal kicker we will win a lot more games .
Bring back the biff
Competitiveness/Determination - a bit like early Dahlhaus. Dahl lacked alot of skills like kicking, but his fierce determination and attack on the ball was a part of why we were so successful in 2016
FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.
Stop kicking to opposition
Field kicking and goal kicking.
Then determination with a side order of mongrel
They say Burt Lancaster has one, but I don't believe them.
Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers
6 pack, cool haircut and opportunities for synergy with commercial brands that also enhance their personal brand.
Possibly some cool Tatts along the journey.
Park that car
Drop that phone
Sleep on the floor
Dream about me
I went with Loyalty to 'Home' / Sense of 'Duty' In particular sense of duty. Sense of duty to get the job done and do whatever it takes.
When they don’t get it done they take it personally and want to get better and make their teammates better.
Think of players in the ilk of Bontempelli, MBoyd, Morris.
More of an In Bruges guy?
I instinctively voted for competitiveness but you make a fair case for 'Sense of Duty'. It's not a non-negotiable like competitiveness, and probably more learned than innate, but the players that truly see their success as inseparable from the team's tend to have an outsized impact on the club.
'And the Western suburbs erupt!'
Decision making, but in my mind that is multi faceted so maybe I'm having my cake and eat it.
I would define the correct decision involving vision, an appraisal of the game at that point in an instant, and the skills by hand and particularly by foot to give effect to that decision quickly and often under pressure. It may also involve the player getting themselves into the right place at the right time.
It is a rare commodity, and often possessed by the elite players.
Pendlebury is a good example. Almost always makes the right decision and then executes it.
The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.
Hardness
I voted for speed.
Clearly an outlier opinion, and can see the arguments for competitive/determination, but I think a quick midfielder is big for us. They obviously need plenty of other skills to be regarded as a top 6 pick, but if it came down to a few options I would have speed up the top.
We need another Libba type. Tom only has 2-3 years left, and we'll need that style of player to be ready to replace him when that day comes.