I'd add Stephens, as well. Elite athlete, highly skilled and apparently has an excellent attitude. An extra preseason should increase his ability to stick a tackle and his contested ball skills.Originally Posted by Aprilbr
I'd add Stephens, as well. Elite athlete, highly skilled and apparently has an excellent attitude. An extra preseason should increase his ability to stick a tackle and his contested ball skills.
He's one of the longer kicks in the side, which is always a good thing. Unfortunately he also has a high and possibly the most ungainly ball drop I've ever seen. It's amazing he's as accurate as he is.
Loose translation from the Latin is - I am tall, so I hit out.
he is always reliable by foot which is a good thing for someone generally coming out of the backline with the ball. we have many others you wouldn't have that confidence with
I'd say that Mills, Ramps, Lloyd and even Ling when he played had pretty good disposal by foot.
Ramps definitely - i'm not so sure on the rest. Lloyd will rarely kick long - 25 mtr kicks to guys in marginally better positions / Mills can be a bit hit or miss / Ling too early to say
The fact Lloyd was one of the 3 leading possession winners for 2020 and never really got tagged highlights how impactful opposition coaches viewed him on a games outcome.
He provides some good run and can break a line. But without a really penetrating kick and not being amazing 1 on 1, he's maybe not as secure longer term in the 22 as we can sometimes presume.
Lloyd's greatest strength (IMHO) has been his ability to get into space to receive a kick/handball. He does this with elite running and awareness.
By making himself available, he relieves someone else of a 'kick in hope' and possible turnover.
Lloyd's further disposal may be questioned, but his role is clear and is recognised by the coaches as important to the team performance.
To answer the idea that Lloyd is not tagged due to lack of impact?
I dont agree with this idea.
Most players in Lloyds role are zoned against rather than hard tag. Lloyds role and positioning can move the ball on so fast to so many moving options that a hard tag would have minimal impact. The tag would be metres behind Lloyd all day long and hurting the opposition defence when Lloyd makes a spare in attack.
Good teams will set their defence in areas they feel they can trap the ball and force a turnover more than not.
You rarely see a hard tag in soccer on the play makers either because they can move the ball on say fast with so many options.
Most teams would prefer to have a spare roll off to the sides and or centre back to play high pressure defence where required.
"be tough, only when it gets tough"
Clearly highly rated in his role down back because he was a very useful mid fielder in his early days and could have had a decent career as such.
Jake Lloyd is our #1 leaving-the-defensive-50-player - He does this with elite running. The problem is that while pretty accurate, he's not a particularly long kick and they tend to float a little bit (too much elevation) which gives the opposition a bit more time to either get to, or coral his target.
Would it not be possible to free up and channel more play through Jordan Dawson?
Certainly I'd prefer to see him doing that rather than defending against an opposition tall forward (or acting as relief ruckman FFS) but would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Loose translation from the Latin is - I am tall, so I hit out.
Agreed - he can clear traffic and has great vision with his disposal
Jake Lloyd is actually a beautiful long raking kick. But his role has been that of short passing and providing second and third options out of defence. He is instructed to kick short. It has been a part of our game plan for a long, long time. We did the same thing with Macca and Mal even though both were very good long kicks. In AFL it is hard to get players free on the long lead from a kickout too. That is because of defensive zones being set up.
I think Dawson has to play HB or onball. He can't be that third tall in defence that takes a Gunston. That defeats the purpose of him being there. But a few times last season the coaches got it wrong by leaving him as a lock down back. This can't be allowed to happen. He is far too valuable as an attacking option.
I think we need to rethink the midfield and have big bodies going through there. Players like Dawson, Amartey, Mills etc as well as the Florent, Parker, Rowbottom, Campbell, Gulden, Ronke smalls. More options means we will be less predictable. Joey is getting to the end and we have to work on a post Joey set up. We have such good options now.
The forward line will have a new look I think. Gulden can score. So can Campbell if he is resting. Wicks is another who provides opportunities via good pressure. We have many options now. We have a top 30 players, possibly more. That is real depth. I am excited. Strong backs, especially with McCartin going back full time, who look amazing and so fit this time around.
I am very excited about this group
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