MOL - a true CHAMPION

[Schneiderman]

Watching the replay of the weekends game, and how MOL once gain totally dominated his opponent/s (despite the creaky knees!) it reminds me of one thing:

Do we really celebrate our stars the way they deserve?

I think not. So often we get bogged down in dissecting just how poor our teams performance/application/skill is, that we forget that we are also blessed with some exceptional individuals.

IMO he is the equal or better than the likes of N Brown or J Farmer or A Davey or any other "freakish" player you care to name. Even with two bung knees.

But does he get the due credit here in Sydney? He virtually won the game single-handed for us against the Dogs, yet he is given minimal credit. Its like its all expected and par for the course. Shame on us Sydney. He deserves more than that. I bet if he played in Melbourne or SA he'd get a bigger rap.

So:
Well done Micky! Great game on the weekend! We haven't forgotten you go through PAIN every week to make us smile. We just hope your body holds up for long enough that one day... that special day... you hold the cup aloft. But even if you dont, we still love you. And we gladly acknowledge that you personify the Sydney Swans.

[Snowy]

why would you even compare Davey with MOL, at the moment he's done nothing more than prove he's flashy with pace.

[Mike_B]

I think Rodney Eade summed it up pretty well after the match that MOL is one of the best one-on-one players in the comp. 'Nuff said.

[NMWBloods]

MOL was celebrated for a number of years as one of the recognised superstars in the comp. A loss of form from 2001-2002 plus injuries made people question that tag. However, people now seem to recognise it again to some degree given his knees.

[Sanecow]

This year he seems bigger and more able to mark when he's wrestling with his designated gorilla, a feature of his game I don't remember from other years (I think of him more as a leading forward).

[NMWBloods]

I don't think he's played on any big guys this year. When he does he leads and when he plays on mid-sized backs he outmarks them. As our no 1 or 2 forward he has generally had a big defender which is why he leads so often. With Vogels and a ruckman potentially in the forward line, it frees up MOL to face off against a smaller defender, which is great.

[punter257]

hudghton seems the likely matchup this week on magic?

[bloodboy]

I have always thought that MOL was one of the most skillful players at our club...the only problem is that he seems to have an injury every second week. He is an awesome player, and I think that most people realise that, but his elevation to greatness level has definitely been hampered by him either not playing due to injury or only playing at 50% with injury. I hope he can shake the injuries for the next couple of years and turn it on for us, like we all know he is capable. And could somebody please tell him to just have a shot for goal when he is inside the 50m arc. It frustrates me so much watching him pass the bloody ball all of the time.

[liz]

Originally posted by bloodboy
And could somebody please tell him to just have a shot for goal when he is inside the 50m arc. It frustrates me so much watching him pass the bloody ball all of the time.

The reason he doesn't is that he is struggling to kick the ball further than 35-40m with any accuracy, no doubt a legacy of his knee and hamstring problems. He referred to this problem in an article over the weekend. There's no point him having a shot at goal if he knows he can't kick it.

[bloodboy]

I totally agree Liz, but I think a lot of the ones he looks like he doesn't want to kick, he can. I think it is a big time confidence thing and hopefully kicking 3 and 5 in successive weeks has shown MOL that he can do it.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by bloodboy
I totally agree Liz, but I think a lot of the ones he looks like he doesn't want to kick, he can. I think it is a big time confidence thing and hopefully kicking 3 and 5 in successive weeks has shown MOL that he can do it.

The last two shots for goal on the weekend would be playing on his mind I think. The first one of them went through... but damn it was ugly.

And the last shot missed, preventing us from being an extra goal up going into the last quarter. Considering how close they ran us from that point on I reckon he may be kicking himself. He is such a perfectionist.