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Jake Batchelor
- Thread starter felix
- Start date
Stylo said:
Geez, I was there, and Batch was pretty ordinary. Got in the right spots, but composure, decision making and ball use were very poor. Certainly wasn't near BOG and want even in our bests IMHO.
Missed Jakey against the Blues I reckon. He is loose with his disposal but he provides structural solidity down back.
Does he come back in? Tough one.
Depends if we can tighten up without him. I like the idea of better users down back. I'd leave him out one more week.
Does he come back in? Tough one.
Depends if we can tighten up without him. I like the idea of better users down back. I'd leave him out one more week.
I saw the second half of the twos so don't know how Batch went early but he didn't but clearly did not look above the level in the second half which is a concern.
Taylor Hunt knocked up getting the ball mostly at half back but at this level his weaknesses are exposed even more. As a senior player at VFL he has more of an onus to take the game on and create and he really struggled . Just sideway kicks and chips mostly.
Cholly took a lovely mark and kicked sweetly.
Chaplin must have been good early because he too looked right at the level and was really slow.
Lennon found space beautifully in between bludging.
Beanie pretty quiet forward but surprisingly effective rucking and around the ground. Looks stronger upper body too.
I've heard reports about Marcon and Markov but I didn't really notice them much and no one else really stood out except perhaps Short who was relatively quiet but used the ball beautifully once spotting up Lennon 30 metres out in a congested forward line.
54 looked Ok but has a quite laboured gait.
Oh Castagna was very competitive in his defensive duties, managed to halve a few contests against bigger bodies and looked lively. Didn't do much in a creative sense or run off half back a lot.
I've missed a few.
Taylor Hunt knocked up getting the ball mostly at half back but at this level his weaknesses are exposed even more. As a senior player at VFL he has more of an onus to take the game on and create and he really struggled . Just sideway kicks and chips mostly.
Cholly took a lovely mark and kicked sweetly.
Chaplin must have been good early because he too looked right at the level and was really slow.
Lennon found space beautifully in between bludging.
Beanie pretty quiet forward but surprisingly effective rucking and around the ground. Looks stronger upper body too.
I've heard reports about Marcon and Markov but I didn't really notice them much and no one else really stood out except perhaps Short who was relatively quiet but used the ball beautifully once spotting up Lennon 30 metres out in a congested forward line.
54 looked Ok but has a quite laboured gait.
Oh Castagna was very competitive in his defensive duties, managed to halve a few contests against bigger bodies and looked lively. Didn't do much in a creative sense or run off half back a lot.
I've missed a few.
I will spell it out for you - when Batchelor is in the side he is the absolute last person you want to have the ball because his decision making and disposal skills are sub-standard.UntamedTiger said:
Now Astbury holds that position as the worst - both of them are simply not good enough to fumble and bumble around before making a poor disposal to earn a spot in any AFL side with finals aspirations.
I've always felt that about Batch (poor disposal skills) - even though he did pretty well last year.David C said:
But I don't see how you can compare the two players. Astbury is not competing with Batchelor (as has been said).
Astbury is there to nullify the big forwards and took a few good defensive marks the other night that stopped their run of play.
I do remember him having one hack out of the backline that went straight to one of their blokes but it was a pressure situation. Haven't really thought of him as having particularly poor disposal.
BTW - by definition someone has to be the worst in the side. The question is how good/bad that worst really is.
antman said:
True. If the bloke was occasionally critical of something we did, it would add far more credibility to his posting.
Tenacious said:
Finally some semblance of sanity :clap.
I haven't read anything that has been critical of the ball use of our so called A graders. Should they be dropped also, because
they make more errors by foot and handball than what Batch does. These guys have made it onto an AFL list, someone must
have seen something in Batch that prompted the Tiges to use a draft pick on him. I can be critical, but I do try and see what
they also have to do and offer on the field before I do. His disposal can be iffy at times, but nowhere near as bad as as DC
suggests. IMO, he does make up for it with other qualities. He and others should be judged on their contribution to the team
(defense) performance, not just the odd bad kick or handball.
David C said:
That's just wrong. Astbury has safe hands and is generally pretty composed. He ran out of gas on thurs night and pace is an issue but to criticise his disposal like that doesn't stack up.
I will not accept that Jake is not in our best defensive group until proven by stats. My gut feel and after seeing him play live tells me he is very influential on the way other players behave and play. He is better for the team than Morris and whoever the other player was in the backline last week. The rest of our players there are very similar.
dusty delivers said:
I agree, his disposal is not bad. I do however think some of his decision making is a bit closed to hitting down the line and he doesn't tend to move the ball on quickly. There were a couple of times when we had free many in the middle if he moved the ball quicker, but he hung on to it and then just had to punt it down the line to a contest. If he's spotted the free man we could have opened up the ground a few times. Maybe thats his decision making, maybe its instruction, not really sure. If its the former then that could come with a bit more experience.
Not a fan of Batch personally. I think he's too inflexible and his disposal out of defense isn't could enough for what we need it to be.
Don't think Batch plays against the Pies. Their forward line will just be too tall for him.
