He had a shocker, but he tightened up well defensively after half time and that helped us wrestle back the midfield, 7 goals to 0 in the third or close enough to. You work hard defensively means you are making a contest, eventually the ball will fall your way.
Player Watch #27 Thomson Dow Re-Signed until 2025
- Thread starter NaturalDisaster
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- Apr 27, 2014
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Match ups were massively out of sync and wrong in the first half. Coaches were too slow to react and it set a wrong precedence for the half. His confidence would've been shot , especially seeing Prestia, TT and Hopper getting chewed up as well. It was awful viewing and the coaches should take the blame. i wrote a post whether it was an accident by the coaches bc of inexperience and slow to react, or a suicide by the players just giving up early or murdered by a better opposition. To me it was an accident by the coaches as team selection and matchups were wrong. They need to get better and have the ticker to start calling the real culprits out as it's now the fourth year of this nonsense giving players too much slack. Before you know it our seasons done and if we happen to fall in the 8 we are just not good enough anyway with these culprits. So my suggestion is to look at the next generation of players.
Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
Dow was not good. But then the rest of the mids were also appalling first half, good third Qtr, OK last.
I felt that Dow looked off the pace. Which is weird cause movement is his thing.
Something went very wrong in Round 0 (what a stupid name), across the whole team. I hope Dow can get his mojo on. He'd help our midfield a lot if he can
I felt that Dow looked off the pace. Which is weird cause movement is his thing.
Something went very wrong in Round 0 (what a stupid name), across the whole team. I hope Dow can get his mojo on. He'd help our midfield a lot if he can
- Apr 10, 2013
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Our structure at the stoppage was really poor, which put him (and other mids) on the back foot at every single stoppahe in the first half.
Just simple things like, when under the pump, still not starting defensive side of your oppo at each stoppage.
Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
Agree. We set up in a way that allowed them plenty of space to move.
It was noticeable in the 3rd that we went the GC mids directly. Their attack played into our hands. They adapted in the 4th by taking the pace out of it. which is a worry because we couldn't adapt to them changing their mid set up.
Of course things like Taranto getting to the ball over and over again and spilling it over and over again doesn't help.
Dow seemed a bit passive. I'm not sold on the story of him being too slim to play mid. If he gets moving and keeps moving he can play a role. But we really have to get into the contests hard and be active. Hope round 0 was not what will continue happening.
Groupie_
time to return the traditional Richmond yellow
horrid disposal, slow, and cant find the pill
has all the tools
has all the tools
rfctigerarmy
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Struggled a lot more than I thought. Looked really slow.
Going to be tough against Carlton also, but hopefully improves. Looked a lot better in the praccy matches. Gotta keep playing him.
Going to be tough against Carlton also, but hopefully improves. Looked a lot better in the praccy matches. Gotta keep playing him.
Cdog71
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Looked reactionary and unsure where to run, to be honest they all looked like they needed a leader in there with them.
He does need a good block of games, I did suggest him as sub for this game but whatever happens he needs to be backed in.
Hope he plays.
He does need a good block of games, I did suggest him as sub for this game but whatever happens he needs to be backed in.
Hope he plays.
SouthernStripes
Club Legend
Give the lad more games, but he wouldnt want to have too many more like the one just gone.
prodigy
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To be fair it was never actually named that lol. Media ran with it before it was officially named "Opening Round" and then struggled to adapt and simply kept calling it round zero.
el_simo
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It is just one game but what I would've liked to see was a bit of mongrel. Yeah you got beaten but atleast show you care, lay some heavy tackles, get some nice smothers, get down and dirty. Doesnt seem like he has mongrel and just accepted he was being beaten
- Aug 13, 2017
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He's been on the list for 5 years and done nothing yet some reckon he's not getting a fair go
- Jul 8, 2017
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That's why we need a least one of Dusty or Shai in there.
Been like that for years in here... Jayden (just needs a few more games) Post brings back memories. There is a long list of other names to add here.He's been on the list for 5 years and done nothing yet some reckon he's not getting a fair go
We are not playing finals anyway, and he's contracted, so play him. It matters not. If he plays this week though after that performance, Groupie has a match committee member in the dungeon.
If he doesn't get another contract by year end, then it will be all about how he will go to another club and dominate there.
- Apr 27, 2014
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Rowell beat all our midfield combined . Most of our mf leaders should be ashamed of themselves after that game.
Well, isn't that the exact definition of not being given a fair go? If he had one season for half a dozen games, no one could criticize but he's hardly been picked in 5 seasons to play seniors despite good performances in the seconds. Also, before this game he's actually had some good games when picked (eg against Ports star midfield last year). So if he gets dropped immediately after one game and his more experienced fellow mids get picked (who were also pantsed), how is that fair?He's been on the list for 5 years and done nothing yet some reckon he's not getting a fair go
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I guess if fairness is the category for team selection they better tell Dusty to play magoos for next 3 weeks so as not to hurt Dows feelings and give him a solid block of games to redeem himself. Or other potential alternatives:
1) drop bnf winner Taranto
2) drop BOG Hopper who's finally injury free and kicked 2 badly needed goals
3) drop Ross who absolutely smashed in and killed it with hunger & desperation and contributed more in 10 mins than Dow did all gametime. Ross's feelings count for nought and his whipping boy status quo stands
4) drop Campbell and plonk Dow in fwd pocket even though Dow has kicked 1 goal in 18 games.
FFS's Dusty MUST be brought back in someone goes out to make way.
You had Hopper as BOG? Really? Did you even watch the game or did you just look at the stats? He wasn't even our best let alone BOG. Rowell destroyed all our mids including Hopper.
Of course, they will have to drop someone to make way for Dusty. Only a simpleton wouldn't realise that! If it's Dow, so be it BUT that doesn't make it fair! To get dropped after one poor game when the club hasn't given him a sustained run at it while at the same time, his more senior mids were putrid is unfair.
I also see you didn't mention Prestia who has been ordinary for a long time now and is getting away with it. I would actually drop him and make a statement that no matter how senior you are, you are on notice. Too many players are playing on reputation rather than form and that's now been happening for a couple of years.
To me, if you play poorly as a leader of the club, how can you expect the juniors to play well? That's what leaders are supposed to do - lead their more junior teammates by example.
Is that simple enough for you?
I put a bit more store in player ratings than most on this site. This is because they are the only serious attempt available to us to rate each player's whole performance, possession, contest, efficiency, defence and scoreboard impact.
Dow's late season performances were not strong overall. This is one of the reasons I have been bearish about him.
His ratings were:
8.9 v Saints
5.5 v North
7.1 v Port(28th best rating in the match.)
He was actually Richmond's 15th highest rated player in that Port match where he won 13 contested possessions and 27 disposals. Why did he rate so low? Only 2 tackles, probably very low pressure acts, no goals or assists and only 5 score involvements in a game with 52 scores. Low metres gained and for someone with 19 handballs and just 8 kicks his efficiency around 70% was not strong. His average rating in those 3 matches around 7.2 would place him outside the top 100 midfielders in the AFL last year overall, so not even in the best 5-6 per team, and remember these were not all his matches, just the better ones.
Players can improve, but Dow clearly needs to if he gets a run of games. I am prepared to overlook rd 1 because there are some unusual circumstances that may have affected his performance, but if Dow is returning player ratings under 10 in his good games, he is not the answer for us.
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I put a lot more faith in what I see with my own eyes than any player ratings. The fact that his 19 handbells didn't result in scores had much more to do with our dysfunctional connection with our forwards by foot than with him. For example, if he won possession and handballed it beautifully to a player who then missed a target inside fifty, player ratings would punish Dow for the fact that didn't end up a score. That is totally and utterly ridiculous and that's why I take them with a grain of salt.
How do you explain why the player ratings demote a player like Dow so much versus say Prestia then? Same role, same team.
Prestia in 2023 average player rating = 11.43
Dow in 2023 average player rating = 5.63
The trouble with putting such faith in your own eyes and eschewing player ratings is you might miss a lot of what a player does or doesn't do that player ratings do in fact detect. Prestia would have been subjected to all the same difficulties accumulating ratings as Dow was.
Looking at stats now Dow actually had 25 pressure acts v the Suns, which is high. So it is possible the coaches are getting him to focus particularly on the defensive side of his game and telling him not to worry if his disposals plummet while he is getting his head around that element of football.
Right now we know 2 things of Dow:
1 his overall AFL record, although in its infancy at 18 games, is very weak, and
2 his most recent performance was extremely weak.
He has no solid performance to recommend him at all. Hopefully his performances to date are not indicative of what he will produce in the future, but right now the only solid evidence we have says he is a long way short of being a competitive inside mid at AFL level.
- Apr 27, 2014
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2023 statistics are rubbish as Dow only played a small sample size of games. A bad comparison atm as one is a seasoned footballer and the other is into his infancy of his career. My study of statistics and education by lecturers in Melbourne University always told me that small sample sizes should never be taken into account unless you’re a fool.
The only way you could make comparisons with these two players is to look at their vfl history and I doubt even then you would have a large sample pool for Prestia. You have no idea of not so much on statistics, but your collation , use , interpretation and relevance of them. You’re basically a BSA conman in the insurance sales or car sales industry.
