Can Fletcher Roberts bounce back and take a key role in Defence?

[Axe Man]

Spoke to my cousin last night who said he spoke to Chris Maple before last weeks game in WA and asked about Roberts and Schache. Maple was quite blunt. Said Roberts is a good mark but it is below his knees he has problems. Said Schache was dropped purely on effort alone not form.

Fair assessments.

Effort is probably the easiest thing for a player to control, disappointing for Schache that it dropped off after the Hawthorn game. Our forward line will look much better when he is at least jumping at balls, providing a contest and taking some attention away from Naughton.

[Rocket Science]

It is possible for him to get better. I would hope all players of his age would get better or be working to get better each season, and in an inexperienced side, perhaps his relative experience would help at the moment.

Get better in what regard? Particularly with our track record of developing talls of any kind.

There are no revelations here but unfortunately for Fletch he's slow of foot so struggles to keep up with athletic opponents, he's badly undersized versus the gorillas, and he's extremely vulnerable 1-on-1 without an active chop out from a mate. He's not aggressive, he's not an astute reader of the ball and he's not a particularly smart user of it either. He's warm-body fodder for the modern game basically.

He does have an odd knack for earning contract extensions though.

[bulldogtragic]

Get better in what regard? Particularly with our track record of developing talls of any kind.

There are no revelations here but unfortunately for Fletch he's slow of foot so struggles to keep up with athletic opponents, he's badly undersized versus the gorillas, and he's extremely vulnerable 1-on-1 without an active chop out from a mate. He's not aggressive, he's not an astute reader of the ball and he's not a particularly smart user of it either. He's warm-body fodder for the modern game basically.

He does have an odd knack for earning contract extensions though.

He's an unrestricted free agent this year. 'They' say that's your big pay day contract.

[Bulldog4life]

Fair assessments.

Effort is probably the easiest thing for a player to control, disappointing for Schache that it dropped off after the Hawthorn game. Our forward line will look much better when he is at least jumping at balls, providing a contest and taking some attention away from Naughton.

Agree I think with both Naughty and Schache in the forward line it can each other.

[Mofra]

Agree I think with both Naughty and Schache in the forward line it can each other.

I have real concerns about Schache's temperament.

Lewis Young showed a real desire to get his hands dirty on the weekend (even though he looks raw as hell), Schache wants the ball on a platter. I'd reward Young with the second tall spot ahead of Schache. Hell, I'd play Trengove as a forward ahead of Schache until he shows he really wants the spot.

A single tall forward (or defender) isn't working.

On topic, I understand the knocks of Fletch but he's a classic case of looking at what he can't do rather than what he can do. I'd play Fletch if it meant getting a second tall defender in and freeing up Wood/Crozier to intercept mark, although it seems Trengove is there now who probably isn't any quicker than Fletch but much stronger (and can chop out in the ruck).

[Bulldog4life]

I have real concerns about Schache's temperament.

Lewis Young showed a real desire to get his hands dirty on the weekend (even though he looks raw as hell), Schache wants the ball on a platter. I'd reward Young with the second tall spot ahead of Schache. Hell, I'd play Trengove as a forward ahead of Schache until he shows he really wants the spot.

A single tall forward (or defender) isn't working.

On topic, I understand the knocks of Fletch but he's a classic case of looking at what he can't do rather than what he can do. I'd play Fletch if it meant getting a second tall defender in and freeing up Wood/Crozier to intercept mark, although it seems Trengove is there now who probably isn't any quicker than Fletch but much stronger (and can chop out in the ruck).

What I should have said is it helps both players having two talls in the forward line except only the one.

[Mofra]

What I should have said is it helps both players having two talls in the forward line except only the one.

Totally agree - the flow on effect of having just one is killing us.

[G-Mo77]

To answer the question in the title. We won't know until we try. He's hardly had a chance since 2016. Why hold him on the list this long if we're not going to play him. Makes no dam sense at all?

[Axe Man]

To answer the question in the title. We won't know until we try. He's hardly had a chance since 2016. Why hold him on the list this long if we're not going to play him. Makes no dam sense at all?

He re-signed during the 2017 season at a point where he had played most games that year and had just come off a premiership. He provides tall depth and assuming he has done nothing wrong in regards to attitude or behaviour I see no reason why we would have paid out his contract and delisted him.

The decision to give him 2 years may have been wrong in hindsight but once that was done he had to stay on the list whether he gets a game or not.

[Danjul]

Not enough pace to get seperation and not physically strong enough to wrestle in the contest. As a full back he uses his long arms really well which give him a lot of perceived height in the contest but he just isn't going to beat guys like Talia & Rance.

If his weakness is not being as good as the two best fullbacks in the game he is good enough for me to have in the team.

in 2018 Naughton had 10,7,9,18,3 possessions in one sequence and was viewed as a certain selection.
CordyÂ’s last four games... 9,8,6,10 disposals and is a certain selection this week.

unfortunately Roberts has to be twice as good as others who are BevoÂ’s favourites. He will never get another game.

[lemmon]

How big is the disconnect between list management and coaching? Campbell and now Roberts were both rewarded with contracts and play in positions that we're desperately lacking, but match committee seems to have stamped their papers anyway.

I get that Roberts is probably nothing more than a stopgap, but the amount of footy he's played over the last 3 seasons is ridiculous when you consider our defensive woes. And the sad part is, if we'd played him and put some time into him over these 'development years', we might actually have a half decent full back with close to 70 games under his belt by now in the Astbury/Pearce mould.

[Danjul]

Here is a question relevant to some of the threads here. It is based on real data for a player in another team. I will supply another relevant fact for this player soon. The exercise will test your ability as a selector.


The following list shows 10 consecutive games by a backman.


The entries are.... disposals (kicks)


13 (7), 15 (7), 17(6), 10(4), 15(8), 13 (6), 16(11), 17(9), 12(5), 13 (11),


Averages for the 10 games ... 14 (7.5),


Would you have dropped this player? And,if so, at which stage?

[Doc26]

I feel that I maybe being drawn into some form of spiders web here but when have disposals been seen as a key measure as an effective KPI for a key position defender. Moz’s value over the years has been his ability to at least break even at a contest with a ferocious appetite to hold the opposition accountable at all costs. With that said, I would like to see Fletcher be given greater opportunity than he has been given under Luke, if not as a stand-alone defender then as a swingman. He must be lacking terribly in confidence given the opportunities afforded to so many over him.

[MrMahatma]

[FONT="][FONT="]Here is a question relevant to some of the threads here. It is based on real data for a player in another team. I will supply another relevant fact for this player soon. The exercise will test your ability as a selector.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]The following list shows 10 consecutive games by a backman.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]The entries are.... disposals (kicks)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]13 (7), 15 (7), 17(6), 10(4), 15(8), 13 (6), 16(11), 17(9), 12(5), 13 (11), [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Averages for the 10 games ... 14 (7.5), [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Would you have dropped this player? And,if so, at which stage?[/FONT]

Since when were key defenders judged on their volume of possessions?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

[FONT="][FONT="]Here is a question relevant to some of the threads here. It is based on real data for a player in another team. I will supply another relevant fact for this player soon. The exercise will test your ability as a selector.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]The following list shows 10 consecutive games by a backman.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]The entries are.... disposals (kicks)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]13 (7), 15 (7), 17(6), 10(4), 15(8), 13 (6), 16(11), 17(9), 12(5), 13 (11), [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="]Averages for the 10 games ... 14 (7.5), [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="][FONT="][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Would you have dropped this player? And,if so, at which stage?[/FONT]

I don't think I'd want to make any decisions based on just that single piece of data. It tells me very little about performance.
Dale Morris would probably have similar or lower stats most weeks, but his spoils, 1%ers, blocks, tackles, sheppards and other intangibles need to be considered.
Kicks or disposals on their own don't even convey whether or not they hit the intended target or if they resulted in costly turnovers.