Movers & sliders

[Tigers of Old]

So here we are at the bye. Who do PREnders see as the big movers and sliders on the list?

Movers
1. Riewoldt - Has stepped up from an inconsistent third tall to a bonifide gun. Massive improvement.
2. Edwards - Has shown tremendous growth this year under Harwick.
3. Graham - Another who has really come on. Been a revelation this season in the ruck.

Sliders
1. Morton - Struggling with gameplan/attitude/GC offers/whatever. He's not the same player as he was in 2009.
2. Tambling - Injuries/confidence/gameplan? Have seen his form taper. Bling remains an enigma but I feel we are getting closer to seeing the finished product.
3. Thursfield - Struggling to find a position down back and has younger players pressing in a hurry. Feel he needs a strong end to the year to avoid being traded.

 

[Col.E.Kurtz]

Movers

1. Jack- self explanatory.
2. Dan Connors- starting to live up to his prodigious talent.
3. Gus- Really built on some of the flashes he showed last year

Honourable mention to Francis Jackson- appears to have pulled off a very good 09 draft and 06 draft is starting to look exceptional

Sliders

1. Morton- hasn’t been able to handle the demand Hardwick has made of him to broaden his game
2. Polo- 6th year onballer/flanker who can’t get a game in the 16th team in the AFL, enough said.
3. Adam Thompson- in his brief stint in the 1’s he was awful

 

[TOT70]

I agree with each of those assessments.

Thursfield has a problem in that Astbury,Gourdis, Post, Rance and Grimes will all push for a role as a tall back over the next two seasons. Moore and McGuane have both moved way past him over the last season. Still, it is handy to be able to bring in someone like Thursfield when injuries hit, you know exactly what you will get.

Morton is classic, gilt-edged trade bait. His only chance for survival at Tigerland is if he can get his work-rate up and challenge for an outside midfield role, he won't be playing as a small full forward in Hardwick's team any time soon, not with Riewoldt, Griffiths, Astbury, Taylor and Westhoff around. Dimma's game plan will revolve around tall, mobile forwards palying in stacks of space. If he wants it enough, there is a spot on the wing for him as he has the skills to be very dangerous.

Tambling will be Ok. He goes in for the hard ball, chases and tackles and does a lot of things that he has not done in the past.

There are a couple more movers, in my opinion.

I've been impressed by White over the last few weeks. He has serious pace and endurance, two qualities that are non-negotiable if you want to play in Hardwick's team.

Newman has taken his game to another level this year. I have hardly seen him fumble, get caught out of position, be outmarked or make a poor decision witht he ball in his hands. He is an A-grade footballer now.

Connors, despite his brain fade, has come along in leaps and bounds this year. I think we currently have five A-grade players on our team, Deledio, Martin, Cotchin, Newman and Riewoldt. Connors could be the next one.

 

[Barnzy]

Yes, if people want to credit DH for all the movers then he must cop the blame for all the sliders too. You can't have it both ways even if some want to. Particularly Morton and Tambling who were 10x the footballers last year under Wallace/Rawlings than what they are now . Especially Morton who was our leading goalkicker now our 2nd leading goal kicker behind Riewoldt (48) is Nason with about 13. That's not good. DH has him playing up on the wing, backline, etc at Coburg but he should realise he will never be able to play these roles. I'll see what role he plays at Coburg this week when I head down. Someone also brought up a good point re trading. Why trade away players like Morton who are currently at their lowest trade value? With him not getting a game and not performing we would be lucky to get a good pick for him at all so it would be pointless but in form we would.

 

[Ian4]

i am still confident MM has a big role to play, it's just that he's learning the hardway that there is no easy ride at dimma's richmond.

Newman has taken his game to another level this year. I have hardly seen him fumble, get caught out of position, be outmarked or make a poor decision witht he ball in his hands. He is an A-grade footballer now.

as much as i tried to bite my tongue, i couldn't let this go without a response. even i admit newman is in career best form, but an a-grader? :rofl surely you're taking the p!ss?

 

[sashback]

Jeezus you love Morton don't you Barnzy??

He is and always has been a lazy footballer. Good on his day, but still lazy. Wallet accepted lazy footballers, Hardwick does not!
Do you blame Hardwick for McMahon's slide too?

As for Tambling, he mightn't be as flashy as he was last year, but he's certainly putting his head over the ball and tackling and going in harder than when Wallet was around.
He's obviously playing a different role under Hardwick.

 

[sashback]

I reckon we've got more movers than sliders, so I'm sitting pretty happy.

 

[TOT70]

Yes, if people want to credit DH for all the movers then he must cop the blame for all the sliders too. You can't have it both ways even if some want to. Particularly Morton and Tambling who were 10x the footballers last year under Wallace/Rawlings than what they are now . Especially Morton who was our leading goalkicker now our 2nd leading goal kicker behind Riewoldt (48) is Nason with about 13. That's not good. DH has him playing up on the wing, backline, etc at Coburg but he should realise he will never be able to play these roles. I'll see what role he plays at Coburg this week when I head down. Someone also brought up a good point re trading. Why trade away players like Morton who are currently at their lowest trade value? With him not getting a game and not performing we would be lucky to get a good pick for him at all so it would be pointless but in form we would.

That's a fair point.

Morton was our leading goal-kicker last year because we played with a short forward line. Riewoldt was the lead up half forward, Morton the deep forward. There were always multtiple leading targets and several stay-at-home forwards, such as Morton.

Hardwick expects his half-forwards to move into the back half when the opposition have it. When we win it back, he expects them to run forward and is giving games to guys who will do this like Collins, Nason, White and Nahas.

This is Morton's problem. He doesn't run to the half back flank and then turn around and sprint forward alongside the play, presenting and giving options on the fat side like Nason and White do. Nor is he a strong contested mark who can take advantage of the long kick to a solitary forward like Riewoldt is, and Griffiths adn Astbury, probably will be. He is more the Brent Le Cras, Ben McKinley, Lindsay Thomas, Steve Johnson lead up forward type, who stay up forward and run towards the ball. Nobody plays this role at Hawthorn and, surprise, surprise, nobody plays it at Richmond now either.

 

[TOT70]

i am still confident MM has a big role to play, it's just that he's learning the hardway that there is no easy ride at dimma's richmond.

as much as i tried to bite my tongue, i couldn't let this go without a response. even i admit newman is in career best form, but an a-grader? :rofl surely you're taking the p!ss?

Watch him play.

 

[Barnzy]

Jeezus you love Morton don't you Barnzy??

He is and always has been a lazy footballer. Good on his day, but still lazy. Wallet accepted lazy footballers, Hardwick does not!
Do you blame Hardwick for McMahon's slide too?

As for Tambling, he mightn't be as flashy as he was last year, but he's certainly putting his head over the ball and tackling and going in harder than when Wallet was around.
He's obviously playing a different role under Hardwick.

Don't love Morton at all, I'm just stating the facts. Morton was our leading goal kicker and was one of our best players last year, now he's stuck at Coburg playing wing/half-back, etc. Tambling for all of his limitations was 4th in the B&F. Both are no where near as good as last year and DH has failed to get the best out of both so far. Those are the facts, like them or not.

 

[Phar Ace]

All good comments guys :clap

Nahas - I'd say he's a slider as we sit right now. Was he being tried as an onballer and struggled. I was a lot happier with him learning the front and square role in the forward line - was a good reader of the ball off hands IMO - not the cleanest kick but quick enough to buy an extra second of time.

Connors is a big improver - his courage is great, and while he has Deledio beside him, that should be his preferred outlet option - these two could be devestating off half back - just need a reliable tall to replace McGuane (who has been OK but I would like an upgrade at some point).

Morton might be gone - has his kicking around the corner weapon become his heel? The opposition worked that out and when he had set shots he was fairly ordinary. In fact a Morton set shot from 45 was almost a certain turnover. Hope he finds another trick!

 

[Barnzy]

That's a fair point.

Morton was our leading goal-kicker last year because we played with a short forward line. Riewoldt was the lead up half forward, Morton the deep forward. There were always multtiple leading targets and several stay-at-home forwards, such as Morton.

Hardwick expects his half-forwards to move into the back half when the opposition have it. When we win it back, he expects them to run forward and is giving games to guys who will do this like Collins, Nason, White and Nahas.

This is Morton's problem. He doesn't run to the half back flank and then turn around and sprint forward alongside the play, presenting and giving options on the fat side like Nason and White do. Nor is he a strong contested mark who can take advantage of the long kick to a solitary forward like Riewoldt is, and Griffiths adn Astbury, probably will be. He is more the Brent Le Cras, Ben McKinley, Lindsay Thomas, Steve Johnson lead up forward type, who stay up forward and run towards the ball. Nobody plays this role at Hawthorn and, surprise, surprise, nobody plays it at Richmond now either.

That's not a bad post but I still think we need a LeCras, McKinley, Thomas, Johnson type. You can't play just 2-3 talls and a couple smalls. You need a range of options which include mid-sized types like Morton. I still think he can give us a lot of value playing as the 3rd forward option behind Riewoldt, Griffiths. He hasn't been given much chance to do that this year or in the past. Rather he's been forced to play as the 2nd option and thus gets a much taller defender who can keep up with him because he isn't exceptionally quick and makes him ineffectual in the air. Put him back in the pecking order as an option, he gets a mid-sized/smaller opponent and will become much more effective within our structure.

 

[Mr Brightside]

Biggest mover for me is Team spirit....

Agree with ToT Newy has definatly taken it up a notch

 

[IanG]

Don't love Morton at all, I'm just stating the facts. Morton was our leading goal kicker and was one of our best players last year, now he's stuck at Coburg playing wing/half-back, etc. Tambling for all of his limitations was 4th in the B&F. Both are no where near as good as last year and DH has failed to get the best out of both so far. Those are the facts, like them or not.

No they aren't the facts, are the team is playing a different style now and Morton has been unable to adapt. He's still the player he was, he hasn't gone backwards, he just hasn't progressed. Tambling well he's still in the senior side.

 

[Leysy Days]

That's a fair point.

Morton was our leading goal-kicker last year because we played with a short forward line. Riewoldt was the lead up half forward, Morton the deep forward. There were always multtiple leading targets and several stay-at-home forwards, such as Morton.

Hardwick expects his half-forwards to move into the back half when the opposition have it. When we win it back, he expects them to run forward and is giving games to guys who will do this like Collins, Nason, White and Nahas.

This is Morton's problem. He doesn't run to the half back flank and then turn around and sprint forward alongside the play, presenting and giving options on the fat side like Nason and White do. Nor is he a strong contested mark who can take advantage of the long kick to a solitary forward like Riewoldt is, and Griffiths adn Astbury, probably will be. He is more the Brent Le Cras, Ben McKinley, Lindsay Thomas, Steve Johnson lead up forward type, who stay up forward and run towards the ball. Nobody plays this role at Hawthorn and, surprise, surprise, nobody plays it at Richmond now either.

Good stuff TOT & all very true.

 

[Baloo]

Top 3 of each:

Movers
1. Jack - Has come of age.
2. Angus - Seemed dead in the water while at Coburg but has been amazing in the firsts.
3. Newman - If he was playing for a Top 6 side he'd be selected for AA

Sliders
1. Morton - Too individual a player to follow the Team plan.
2. Nahas - A good 2 games after being dropped but fell away again.
3. Tambling - Not close to the same form as last year

 

[Barnzy]

He's still the player he was, he hasn't gone backwards

So he has gone from our leading goalkicker to playing wing/half-back at Coburg yet he hasn't gone backwards? That's laughable. Sometimes your posts are really odd, Ian.

 

[keepa lids onit]

agree with barnzy.

why does morton need to run all the way back to halfl back and up to the wing? if hes a fwd pocket, why cant he hang around inside the fwd 50, lead up, and crumb around goals. there is a place in all sides for a steve j type fwd. you wouldnt want ur third tall kicking you 3 goals a game?? morton can kick goals, and as a fwd pocket id say his major role was kicking goals, not helping get the ball at half back/wing.

tambling is going nowhere. he goes in hard, and does the hard things cause that is all thats keeping him in the side. doesnt kick goals, doesnt set up fwd thrusts, cant play well as a defender, isnt a midfielder.....dont know what role he is apparently playing ???

 

[sashback]

The whole side has moved forward under Hardwick except Morton and McMahon. They've stayed stagnant from last year.

If you can't adapt to the new Hardwick style, you get left behind.

Pretty simple really isn't it?

 

[Ian4]

Hardwick expects his half-forwards to move into the back half when the opposition have it. When we win it back, he expects them to run forward and is giving games to guys who will do this like Collins, Nason, White and Nahas.

This is Morton's problem. He doesn't run to the half back flank and then turn around and sprint forward alongside the play, presenting and giving options on the fat side like Nason and White do.

very well explained and i agree.

Watch him play.

i do and i disagree.