Re: Tambling - FIRE UP!
Skills said:
At the minute, Tambling is struggling with the heavy traffic he often finds around him - The pressure of AFL football does that to alot of players.
I think people also forget to take into account the level Tambling was coming from compared to other kids. The NT league would be no better than 5th or 6th best in the country. Aside from a handful of games against second tier state teams this is all he would have known about AFL before being drafted. The speed, skill level and physicality of the NT league would be a long way below that of the SANFL, WAFL, VFL and TAC Cup, let alone AFL. Combine this with the fact injuries robbed him of a pre season in 05 and I don't think it's hard to understand at all why he's not coming on as fast as some other high picks.
It's quite obvious when you look at the players that have come from the NT that they are not at all likely to show their best form early in their careers. Guys like the Burgoynes, Davey's, Clarke's and McLeod all have more than one thing in common.
I also think Tambling would have benefited from being given time in the VFL or even VFL reserves to make the adjustment more of a gradual one rather than the massive leap it would have obviously been for him.
With all that said, I also don't think he's been anywhere near as disappointing as some are making out. Despite it not being his natural position he's played the majority of this year as a crumbing forward with quite a bit of bench time also. With that in mind I don't think his performance has been that far behind other players playing a similar role and these are the ones he should be compared with right now. Just out of interest;
| Disposals | Marks | Tackles | Goals |
| Tambling | 13.5 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.1 |
| Akermanis | 14.7 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Medhurst | 10.7 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| McGrath | 7.6 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Betts | 9.8 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 |
| Davis | 11.9 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 1.6 |
| Monfries | 13.8 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 0.7 |
| Alwyn Davey | 12.0 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 1.2 |
| Chapman | 21.8 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 0.9 |
| Yablett | 25.1 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 1.3 |
| Campbell | 7.6 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| Aaron Davey | 16.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 1.1 |
| Ebert | 10.7 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Milne | 13.6 | 5.5 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
| Armstrong | 15.1 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 0.7 |
| Lecras | 8.4 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
I'd say he ranks around 5th or 6th, despite being the 2nd youngest on the list and playing in a team with below average inside 50's and points for and very often terrible delivery.
Add in the fact that he's dominated a couple of quarters against good opposition and I honestly don't see how people can be writing him off.
Turbo Tiger said:
He consistently chooses the wrong option.
No, he doesn't. He occasionally chooses a bad option and he occasionally kicks the ball poorly, like every other player. If anything I think it's quite obvious that his delivery is one of his main positives and that includes picking the right option most of the time.
Harry said:
Good vision is the ability to see things that are not so obvious. The ability to spot a free teamate that's not necessarily leading straight in front of you. Great Vision is seeing things around you that not many others can see.
I remember a long pass he did against Collingwood (I think) where he put it over the heads of a few players and into the path of Krakouer who was running straight into goal which at the time seemed like a pretty incredible play. I can also remember a few nice handballs in close to players running past and some good delivery into crowded forward lines. He's also kicked a number of goals crumbing packs which is something which requires good vision and reading of the play. He may not be showing it regularly yet but I think saying he has no vision at all is way OTT.
