Matt Dea | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Matt Dea

SCOOP said:
Although the Coburg from is something to go on, I am much more interested to see Dea's kicking at the elite leve. And at the moment I cannot rate him as above average. The fact that he doesn't want to kick tells me much more then what he has done at Coburg.
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I think it has more to do with confidence in himself than in his kicking.

I think you are reading more in to the situation than needs to be read. How can you possibly say because he didn't kick the ball it tells you more about his kicking than his good kicking at Coburg?

Does not make one iota of sense.
 
I'm not going to pot a kid who has played all of 3 games. Ben Cunnington (pick #5) has struggled just as much as Dea from what I've seen so not all kids come on straight away. Would give him a rest in the 2's this week when Cotchin/Martin/Webberly come in. He's shown some good attributes but now can go work on his game at Coburg.
 
The InterContinental Debacle opened the door for Dea. Losing Polo, McGuane & Connors (Cousins) left us up the creek without a paddle desperately needing a replacement defender. In my eyes if these boys didn't stuff up Dea would still be at Coburg learning the craft. I would guess Hardwick has some sort of method to his madness retaining Dea in the squad and making him learn from his mistakes.
 
Tigerbob said:
I think it has more to do with confidence in himself than in his kicking.

I think you are reading more in to the situation than needs to be read. How can you possibly say because he didn't kick the ball it tells you more about his kicking than his good kicking at Coburg?

Does not make one iota of sense.
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The boy has barely kicked the ball at this level! I find that astounding and not the behavior of someone has above average kicking skills. If he has the ability to kick above average at Coburg, why would he handball every time at this level? It just doesn't add up. A players behaviors and natural instincts don't change regardless of the level. Nahas takes them on at every level he has played, Martin goes and gets the ball at every level he has played, Cotchin has time with the ball at every level he has played, if Dea’s kicking is above average at VFL level and he has faith in his ability by foot , why would he not display that at AFL? I think thus far that is a legitmate question mark that needs to be answered before he is penciled in a as part of the long term future.

He is a pup and a long term project and has oodles of improvement in him not doubt. And from what I have seen there are some tools to work with but I just cannot justify his rep of having abouve average kicking skills when the limited sampling at the elite level does not support the wraps.
 
SCOOP said:
That is why, I have always spoke of Dea as a very long term project. The improvement may come quick but we are basing his long term worth on a very small sample of data. Most kids that debut have played more then 200 games of football by the time they are 18 and more then a 1000 training sessions. Dea has less then 20 games and maybe six months of training. I feel for the kid, has played on some very good players but TOT is right, needs a slower pace to put in place the lessons he has learned. Maybe another month of football later in the year but right now the VFL is the best place for this young man.
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I'm not sure where I read it but I'm sure Dea played a lot of junior footy but didn't play a lot of rep footy, instead playing B'Ball. If his kicking skills are what others say then they don't just naturally appear. The lad has played under enormous pressure in the games he's played. Adelaide aren't excerting the pressure they used to so give him one more game and then see how he goes.
 
Because of how many grades of football he has moved through in the space of 8 months Dea gets a massive pass from leysy.
Wasnt even playing TAC last year.

On him not kicking. He is rushed whether by hand or foot. Just hasnt had anywhere near the time he is used to.

Thats perfectly understandable considering where he's come from.

Will find VFL level a lot easier now.
 
tannerztigers said:
He had 0 kicks first week.
Understandable mistake.
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Don't care, if you are going to bag a player for something then make sure you are right

We have a kid who's barely play football, work his way up the ranks in his first preseason and gone on to dominate an AFL player in Corey Jones in the VFL to get a call up to Richmond. He's then averaged 2.3 kicks, 1.6 marks, 8 handballs, 10.3 disposals, 3.3 tackles against sides that are 4th, 5th & 10th on the ladder.

Give the kid a break, he will probably go back to Coburg now to apply what he's learnt at the top level and work on his deficiencies and confidence. It's how our young players should be developed properly, to just write him off already is ridiculous, he's got great scope for improvement.
 
I'm a bit astounded by the tone of this thread. it took me a while to steel myself to watch the game, but when I did, I watched Dea carefully and what I saw often, was the right decision under pressure when firing out the handpass, good tackling pressure, shepherding and blocking.

You can't ignore the kid's lack of experience, neither can you ignore that he has good instincts and enormous courage. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to see that at senior level. And I look forward to his next game, be it next week or later.
 
Leysy Days said:
Because of how many grades of football he has moved through in the space of 8 months Dea gets a massive pass from leysy.
Wasnt even playing TAC last year.

On him not kicking. He is rushed whether by hand or foot. Just hasnt had anywhere near the time he is used to.

Thats perfectly understandable considering where he's come from.

Will find VFL level a lot easier now.
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Ahhh, Leysy. The voice of reason.

Totally agree. I'm of the understanding that he is the youngest player on the list. His start against Melbourne when he gave away 2 goals would have been shattering for the kid. Glad that Dimma kept him in after that as now Dea knows that if he makes a mistake he won't be a scapegoat & dumped to the twos. Keeping him in after that performance would have been more confidence boosting than being demoted after one game.

Yes, let him run around in the twos now that he has gained invaluable experience. Now knows what the required standard is & will apply himself.

Well done Matty.
 
Don't drop the kid and give him experience in the next 2 games against out-of-form teams coming up.
 
Who cares if he does not kick it, he goes in hard, gets the ball. What more cas you ask from a kid from Mildura whos play mostly of junior footy until now. There has been alot good Richmond plays from Mildura, lets give him the chance to tun into one.
 
Don't see much point in dropping him back now. He's had the taste of AFL footy, we aren't going to win more that 3 games for the season, just keep getting more games into him. Dropping him back ( and I don't think he was ready in the first place) would be a backward step.
 
Good size and athleticism, goes hard, tackles well and seems to have the right instinct when he has the ball.

After the move in levels over the past few months I don't know what else anyone was expecting of the kid. He is massively ahead of schedule at this stage.
 
tigertim said:
Dropping him back ( and I don't think he was ready in the first place) would be a backward step.
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Not necessarily TT. Like I said, dropping him after his first game would have been a backward step. Giving him a handful of games to get a sense of the required level & then giving him a run at Coburg would be good for him. Leysy said that he will now find the VFL a much easier level. I agree.

Not against giving him another handful of games later in the season.
 
CK said:
Not necessarily TT. Like I said, dropping him after his first game would have been a backward step. Giving him a handful of games to get a sense of the required level & then giving him a run at Coburg would be good for him. Leysy said that he will now find the VFL a much easier level. I agree.

Not against giving him another handful of games later in the season.
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Not now, later. Adelaide, Hawthorn and Essendon would be good experience for him.
 
CK said:
Not necessarily TT. Like I said, dropping him after his first game would have been a backward step. Giving him a handful of games to get a sense of the required level & then giving him a run at Coburg would be good for him. Leysy said that he will now find the VFL a much easier level. I agree.
Not against giving him another handful of games later in the season.
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This may be true but I'm pretty sure he was recruited to play AFL, not VFL, footy. He's playing AFL now so may as well keep the learning process going. Having said that I have no doubt he'll get dropped as we always look for the soft option when making changes.
 
Finally this thread has taken a turn for the sensible - Dea has done well given his lack of footy background, and there is clearly a lot of work with as an athlete. I don't mind dropping him back to build up his experience in the VFL but he has shown some good signs for the future.
 
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