Welcome to Tigers: Jason Castagna

[Leysy Days]

I wrote this in response to the pro-crowd refusing to acknowledge his shortcomings. From Leysy claiming he's in the top 40 players in the league to others waxing lyrical about his contested marking & claims to being a CHF. A bit of perspective required here. The club chasing Tom Lynch indicates he's filling a void for the moment, if that move comes to fruition he'll need to work on certain areas of his game. The fact he kicked 7 straight behinds two weeks ago says he's the type who could cost us dearly during a finals campaign. It's pretty simple from where I stand, a small forward is paid to kick goals, Castagna no exception. The notion that he can coast along like Steven Morris isn't acceptable IMO, pressure acts are fine to an extent but not the be all, end all.

As for Leon, I reckon he's totally accurate with his comments here. Nothing controversial whatsoever & probably deserves a bit more credit than he's being given.

There you go again Bully. Never said such a thing. He's not there yet at all and have never said as much.

Any chance of actually getting a grasp of the reality that punters are typing.

 

[bullus_hit]

There you go again Bully. Never said such a thing. He's not there yet at all and have never said as much.

Any chance of actually getting a grasp of the reality that punters are typing.

Now your rambling, is he AA squad worthy or not? Why even mention it?

 

[Leysy Days]

Not this year. Never said he was.

Maybe not highly skilled kicking wise as we know, but he is certainly a skilled footballer once you bring his whole package in. A freak.

Has so much untapped potential. Leyys fully expects him to be in the reckoning for All Australian squads ala Lambert once it all comes together.

Simples. Let's start with treating posts as what they are and not reading more into them.

 

[bullus_hit]

Not this year. Never said he was.

Simples. Let's start with treating posts as what they are and not reading more into them.

Ok, so you believe Castagna will be in the AA squad (twice) over the next 5 or 6 years? Fine, let's bookmark it.

 

[leon]

Can he play small?

Who? Baloo? Very small ... minded.

 

[Baloo]

Who? Baloo? Very small ... minded.

Oh Humphrey, you're a funny old fellow.

 

[Smoking Aces]

I can’t believe we are still debating Castagnas worth to the team.

People need to understand our game plan is built around structures and more importantly the strength of the individuals in the team.

Just like Graham in the midfield, without the likes of these guys we are considerably weaker.

 

[Leysy Days]

Correct as usual Smokin.

 

[evo]

George often marks the round the corner hack kick that goes 25m and doesn’t even reach Jack.

I reckon thats actually his biggest strength. The flying chestmark from the griggy munger.

 

[RICHO_12]

Had lunch with Balmey today..... for the darksiders I asked Neil about Georgie’s impact and value to the side.
His role is to harass and chase which the 3 amigos all rate as elite.
Any goals are a bonus, and like any lean patch on the scoreboard he has endured. He will retain a spot with his ability to chas, run and apply pressure.

Those 3 reasons are exactly why Bolton isn’t, won’t and can’t hold down a spot even though he has more talent in his toe than Georgie.

 

[leon]

I wrote this in response to the pro-crowd refusing to acknowledge his shortcomings. From Leysy claiming he's in the top 40 players in the league to others waxing lyrical about his contested marking & claims to being a CHF. A bit of perspective required here. The club chasing Tom Lynch indicates he's filling a void for the moment, if that move comes to fruition he'll need to work on certain areas of his game. The fact he kicked 7 straight behinds two weeks ago says he's the type who could cost us dearly during a finals campaign. It's pretty simple from where I stand, a small forward is paid to kick goals, Castagna no exception. The notion that he can coast along like Steven Morris isn't acceptable IMO, pressure acts are fine to an extent but not the be all, end all.

As for Leon, I reckon he's totally accurate with his comments here. Nothing controversial whatsoever & probably deserves a bit more credit than he's being given.

Spot on, Bullus, and thanks. We are singing exactly from the same hymn book.

But I have to add, all this talk from these other posters about how George brings Structures and Pressure Acts, yet I'm still waiting to see these guys score the goals that they should/must. We really needed them when the Moggies twice cut our ~4 goal lead back to near nothing. Where were they, Structures and Pressure Acts, when GAblett missed those two shots he'd normally kick blind-folded that would have allowed the Cats to pinch the match? Dermie basically claimed it was Referred Pressure I think, that GAblett was fearing contact so rushed the kicks, so well done him (Referred Pressure) ... or maybe we just got lucky. GAblett certainly refuted that from Dermie.

My point is that you can waffle on with this modern lingo all you like, but in the end, players need to convert their opportunities and kick majors (I think that's called Scoreboard Pressure now). Especially forwards because that's their job. We have stuffed around up forward all year IMHO. Jack's failure to covert that hook shot he normally never misses, and Cotch's awful high, soft, lobbed short pass near the death, rather than just kick that goal, both of which would have iced that game, drove me spare.

So it's not only George, but several players, but he's the one that worries me the most when his radar goes right off. Whatever he brings, in the end, you need goals to win matches. For those riding the Castagna bandwagon like HDL, how do you rate Josh Thomas in comparison? (Just chosen on a whim as another good small forward who came to mind as having a decent season):

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=5&playerStatus2=A&tid2=15&type=A&pid1=3376&pid2=4123&fid1=S&fid2=S

 

[leon]

Had lunch with Balmey today..... for the darksiders I asked Neil about Georgie’s impact and value to the side.
His role is to harass and chase which the 3 amigos all rate as elite.
Any goals are a bonus, and like any lean patch on the scoreboard he has endured. He will retain a spot with his ability to chas, run and apply pressure.

Those 3 reasons are exactly why Bolton isn’t, won’t and can’t hold down a spot even though he has more talent in his toe than Georgie.

So I'll bite and take it on face value, straight from Balmy!

Great - that's all good ... so 'any goals are a bonus' from JC. That means the onus is on all the other players. Jack, sure. Dusty, yer definitely. Butler's out. Caddy's gone off. Higgo, yer, good for one or two including a freak goal. Baker ... er , not fair on such a young player, probably won't keep his place. Shank and Cotch .. occasionally, not all that reliable. Nank? Hardly.

Mmmmm. I'd like a bit more surety here. Who am I missing?

PS - Did Balmy scoff a big Parma with chips, vegies, washed down with 3 pots? Just wondering.

 

[bullus_hit]

Had lunch with Balmey today..... for the darksiders I asked Neil about Georgie’s impact and value to the side.
His role is to harass and chase which the 3 amigos all rate as elite.
Any goals are a bonus, and like any lean patch on the scoreboard he has endured. He will retain a spot with his ability to chas, run and apply pressure.

Those 3 reasons are exactly why Bolton isn’t, won’t and can’t hold down a spot even though he has more talent in his toe than Georgie.

All good but the club should be pursuing a player who ticks those boxes + accuracy in front of goal. I've already put on record that George won't be dropped this year due to a lack of alternatives, but that's not to say we can't find one in the draft.

 

[tigerman]

From memory he has kicked two goals from set shots the last two games, i'm sure that will give him some confidence.

He has obviously been working hard on his set shot goal kicking, and has improved it somewhat. Can't expect him to kick all of them, but if he maintains his latest technique i reckon he'll kick more than he misses. This with his other skill sets will make him a vital player in the finals.

 

[Baron Samedi]

I can’t believe we are still debating Castagnas worth to the team.

People need to understand our game plan is built around structures and more importantly the strength of the individuals in the team.

Just like Graham in the midfield, without the likes of these guys we are considerably weaker.

Spot on Aces

 

[Baron Samedi]

Some narrow minded views on George here.

Small forward so he must kick goals or be considered a failure?

Turn it up.

The function of our three amigos is to chase, harass, haunt, disturb, degrade, create, assist, secure as well as score.

We’re sittin’ on top with nary a care in the world. The structures are working and George is in the thick of it.

 

[easy_tiger]

I can’t believe we are still debating Castagnas worth to the team.

People need to understand our game plan is built around structures and more importantly the strength of the individuals in the team.

Just like Graham in the midfield, without the likes of these guys we are considerably weaker.

yep.

supporting a successful, modern, roles-based team takes some adjustment.

The blokes in our side who most conspicuously sacrifice numbers for the team IMHO are; George, Cotchy, Kmac, Grimes, Caddy, Astbury Towner, and Graham

 

[Smoking Aces]

How much can you see Georgie’s role changing Leysy if we land Lynch ?

I reckon George is a rare unit in that his elite in some areas and poor in others and I reckon that’s why he has big fans and big critics , very crucial to our style of footy at this point

For the first time in a while, we saw last week Riewoldt playing the traditional full forward role, hence the low disposal numbers but on the flip side 4 goals. This is what I see Lynch doing next year. Our only weakness is our inability to go deep into our forward 50 knowing we have that marking target. Lynch will fill that void. Riewoldt will then play your traditional CHF role. As for Castgana his role wont change. He will still be there to pressure, chase and tackle the life out of the opposition.

 

[bullus_hit]

Some narrow minded views on George here.

Small forward so he must kick goals or be considered a failure?

Turn it up.

The function of our three amigos is to chase, harass, haunt, disturb, degrade, create, assist, secure as well as score.

We’re sittin’ on top with nary a care in the world. The structures are working and George is in the thick of it.

Wow, I can see this is the George can do no wrong thread, best leave it to the experts. :-X

 

[Leysy Days]

Spot on, Bullus, and thanks. We are singing exactly from the same hymn book.

But I have to add, all this talk from these other posters about how George brings Structures and Pressure Acts, yet I'm still waiting to see these guys score the goals that they should/must. We really needed them when the Moggies twice cut our ~4 goal lead back to near nothing. Where were they, Structures and Pressure Acts, when GAblett missed those two shots he'd normally kick blind-folded that would have allowed the Cats to pinch the match? Dermie basically claimed it was Referred Pressure I think, that GAblett was fearing contact so rushed the kicks, so well done him (Referred Pressure) ... or maybe we just got lucky. GAblett certainly refuted that from Dermie.

My point is that you can waffle on with this modern lingo all you like, but in the end, players need to convert their opportunities and kick majors (I think that's called Scoreboard Pressure now). Especially forwards because that's their job. We have stuffed around up forward all year IMHO. Jack's failure to covert that hook shot he normally never misses, and Cotch's awful high, soft, lobbed short pass near the death, rather than just kick that goal, both of which would have iced that game, drove me spare.

So it's not only George, but several players, but he's the one that worries me the most when his radar goes right off. Whatever he brings, in the end, you need goals to win matches. For those riding the Castagna bandwagon like HDL, how do you rate Josh Thomas in comparison? (Just chosen on a whim as another good small forward who came to mind as having a decent season):

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=5&playerStatus2=A&tid2=15&type=A&pid1=3376&pid2=4123&fid1=S&fid2=S

You probably also thought Selwood and/or Dangerfield had a bigger impact on the result than our Chimp.

One other question - Would you play Menzel ahead of George if on our list?