Pressure, vision, disposal....

[Dry Rot]

From another thread, a criticism of Power:

and secondly, his disposal is atrocious for some one that can really kick a ball when he has to. He often does some silly chips and silly handpasses that put others under pressure. Its like he wants to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible and not allowing himself time to think about what he is doing.

Fair enough, but which are our best players who can can get the ball under pressure, spot a player to advantage and deliver it reliably?

[bornadog]

From another thread, a criticism of Power:



Fair enough, but which are our best players who can can get the ball under pressure, spot a player to advantage and deliver it reliably?

How about Gilbee, West, Grant

[Dry Rot]

The "spot a player to advantage" is something that really irks me - how many times do you see us kick to a badly contested situation?

Hopefully this will improve in 2007.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Gilbee is the master.

Griffen is reliable and will only get better.

Murphy is another. Doesn't crumble under pressure. Finds space and finds time to deliver the ball.

[alwaysadog]

This is a hard one to engage in. There are so many scenarios that make it near impossible to compare.

One is almost forced back to a motherhood statement like some find space and time naturally while others struggle.

I thought Power improved greatly and in the game late in the season where he filled in at CHF, or whatever that top of the 50 metre arc distrubution point is now called, he showed a lot of the qualities we had hoped from him. IMHO he showed poise and very good decision making skills and an ability to hit targets.

I just hope he can build on that effort.

[Dry Rot]

One is almost forced back to a motherhood statement like some find space and time naturally while others struggle.

Agreed, but which players natuarlly seem to find space?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Agreed, but which players natuarlly seem to find space?

Ray, Eagleton & Murphy are very good at finding space and definitely in our Top 5 for getting out on their own,e ven in congested areas.

[alwaysadog]

Ray, Eagleton & Murphy are very good at finding space and definitely in our Top 5 for getting out on their own,e ven in congested areas.

In the game against Geelong last year Gilbee had his opponents creating space for him. Ran from the kick in to almost the forward 50 with no interference. This is really to point out that rebounding backmen need to be able to create space as well, or to get the ball to a player in space which is not the same thing, but it the other part of DR's initial question. I think Shaggie when properly fit does both and should be added to the list. Higgins in the game he kicked a couple didn't find a lot of space but he fouind en ough in a 1/4 to suggest he needs watching with regards to this issue.

[Go_Dogs]

McMahon sometimes kicks to a contest that we lose to disadvantage, however, to create space and run, and break lines sometimes these risks need to be taken, and you must have faith that your teammate is able to beat his opponent in a 1 v 1 contest. Other times you see McMahon spot up a b/s pass with seemingly no vision, and it's amazing.

Higgins looked very composed in his time last year, and Giansiracusa is another who is excellent at this.

[Dry Rot]

I suppose the flip side to this is players up the field losing their opponents to be free.

I know we're in trouble when either our kick-ins go haywire or a good lock down has us so well covered that we always seem to be kicking to a one Dogs/two opponents contest.

[Hard Ball Get]

I think Griffen is pretty handy and will improve as he developes. Gilbee is a bit of a freak in terms of ability to hit a target under pressure or in space. Grant also especially in his prime.

[Twodogs]

In the game against Geelong last year Gilbee had his opponents creating space for him. Ran from the kick in to almost the forward 50 with no interference.

That was one of the weirder things I have seen in all my years of watching footy. The Geelong players formed a sort of Roman Phalanx around Gilbs and they all ventured off.


At one stage I thought he was going to run to 50 and kick the goal until the Geelong players all of a sudden thought "Why are we doing this" and broke away.

[bornadog]

Have you noticed Murphy rarely handballs at all, he holds on to the ball until he can find some one up field to kick to, But just check his stats, very few handballs - one of my favourite players, can't wait to see him in action again.