Player Watch #10: Colby McKercher

[hotchilli]

His willingness to take the game on for someone in his first season at AFL has been awesome to watch.

 

[Dan]

Fisher is guilty of this too but the obsessive need to move outside the goal square from kick ins (so that a player can beef up their stat sheet) needs to stop. Because it's having a negative influence when kicking the ball out.

I've also noticed that some of Colby's kicks over the weeks can be a little too lofted. Needs to fix that up.

But overall I'm liking what I'm seeing. Gonna add another dynamic to our midfield in the future.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

Fisher is guilty of this too but the obsessive need to move outside the goal square from kick ins (so that a player can beef up their stat sheet) needs to stop. Because it's having a negative influence when kicking the ball out.

I've also noticed that some of Colby's kicks over the weeks can be a little too lofted. Needs to fix that up.

But overall I'm liking what I'm seeing. Gonna add another dynamic to our midfield in the future.

Nobody kicks from the goal square since they changed the rules several years ago.
And you get a stat regardless now.

 

[Roosurgence]

Nobody kicks from the goal square since they changed the rules several years ago.
And you get a stat regardless now.

Kick outs shouldn’t be recorded as a stat.

The only reason they do is to keep people dropping money to the betting agencies on blokes getting a certain number of disposals.

They are the cheapest of stats.

 

[Lavy_Panther]

Not directed towards anyone in particular (I promise), but the issue is not that kick ins are recorded as a disposal, it’s that people still use disposal numbers as an indicator of who played well. Avoid that and I reckon the “problem” goes away

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Shooting yourself in the foot if you don't run out of the goal square, it's free distance gained.

 

[kaboom kid]

Kick outs shouldn’t be recorded as a stat.

The only reason they do is to keep people dropping money to the betting agencies on blokes getting a certain number of disposals.

They are the cheapest of stats.

Completely disagree. One of the most important kicks taken as turnover often means instant death. It's a massive responsibility to take the kick ins.

 

[Dan]

Nobody kicks from the goal square since they changed the rules several years ago.
And you get a stat regardless now.

Champion data confirms this - I stand corrected.

However it’s an easy mistake given the vast majority of kick ins are now done outside the goal square. That's not just for kicks that go past the 50 arc but the shorts ones up the ground and to the left’n’right pockets too.

This makes me think that not even the players themselves are quite sure with the rules.

The point remains though…once the umpire has made his signal and you as the player taking the kick in see a teammate with space…..take the kick straight away whether you’re near the goal square line or not.

 

[DuckYeah]

His game vs GC was elite. Very few mistakes and that run down the wing is still one of the best things ive seen a first year player do..

However, his last two weeks have been very ordinary. Compared to that GC game.

He tripped over because he did not want to or cant use his right foot. His kicking still has question marks all over it.. not as bad as Georges at the moment, **** me that campaigner butchers the footy

 

[Possession]

His willingness to take the game on for someone in his first season at AFL has been awesome to watch.

There was a play some time after his Curnow slip-up where he absolutely took on a few Carlton players on the boundary and managed to get the ball to someone (I50?), I was thinking about how it looked like the opposite of retreating into his shell after a very brutal mistake.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Was that his first don’t argue in the afl today?

The first of many. When he builds muscle, with his speed he will be a wrecking ball.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

His game vs GC was elite. Very few mistakes and that run down the wing is still one of the best things ive seen a first year player do..

However, his last two weeks have been very ordinary. Compared to that GC game.

He tripped over because he did not want to or cant use his right foot. His kicking still has question marks all over it.. not as bad as Georges at the moment, **** me that campaigner butchers the footy

Hahaha! What the actual f*ck?!

His kicking is gold. He is the best kick at the club. How many kicks did he actually miss yesterday.

Everyone has an opinion, but this one is so patently wrong that I think just for embarrassment-sakes, you might want to withdraw it.

 

[giantroo]

View attachment colbyfend.mov

 

[DuckYeah]

Hahaha! What the actual f*ck?!

His kicking is gold. He is the best kick at the club. How many kicks did he actually miss yesterday.

Everyone has an opinion, but this one is so patently wrong that I think just for embarrassment-sakes, you might want to withdraw it.

****ing heaps. Take your rose coloured glasses off

 

[Lavy_Panther]

His game vs GC was elite. Very few mistakes and that run down the wing is still one of the best things ive seen a first year player do..

However, his last two weeks have been very ordinary. Compared to that GC game.

He tripped over because he did not want to or cant use his right foot. His kicking still has question marks all over it.. not as bad as Georges at the moment, **** me that campaigner butchers the footy

Extremely odd hill to die on.

 

[DuckYeah]

Extremely odd hill to die on.

If I could make .gifs by taking screen shots of kayo i’d have backed it up. Kayo doesn’t let me screen shot any longer.. Ive said he’s a 7/10 kick, after falling over not wanting to run on his right side, he’s now a one dimensional 7/10 kick.

FWIW 7/10 is still good.

George is about a 4/10 kick for comparison.

 

[shintemaster]

Jet. We have been spoilt somewhat having Sheezel, Wardlaw & McKercher all come in and have massive impact from the first game they played. 2025 is looking like a real ride.

 

[Roosurgence]

Completely disagree. One of the most important kicks taken as turnover often means instant death. It's a massive responsibility to take the kick ins.

Still don’t agree it should be recorded as a statistic.

They should only record possession earned. Maybe they should record them like hit outs and have kick out as its own statistic and not recorded the same as an earned possession.

Totally agree that the kick itself is important from a game play sense. But the kick out stats are just useful for SuperCoach players and betting agencies from a statistical perspective.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

Kick outs shouldn’t be recorded as a stat.

The only reason they do is to keep people dropping money to the betting agencies on blokes getting a certain number of disposals.

They are the cheapest of stats.

No cheaper than an OOF free kick (which used to be called a "penalty", not a free, because you didn't earn it).
I actually think it is stranger that it previously was not counted.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

On the kick ins: if they were cheapies and didn’t mean anything, anyone could do it and we wouldn’t be using our two best kicks over the last two years to do it.

 

[Roosurgence]

On the kick ins: if they were cheapies and didn’t mean anything, anyone could do it and we wouldn’t be using our two best kicks over the last two years to do it.

The thing is that anyone can do it. You don’t actually have to earn the disposal to get a kick in.

There is a difference on how well they get taken, but it still doesn’t mean that anyone can’t do it.

From a statistical point of view, they are the cheapest of all possessions. From a gameplay perspective of course you want your best ball users taking them.

I would actually argue Fisher has been pretty poor bringing the ball back in from a kick in.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

The thing is that anyone can do it. You don’t actually have to earn the disposal to get a kick in.

There is a difference on how well they get taken, but it still doesn’t mean that anyone can’t do it.

From a statistical point of view, they are the cheapest of all possessions. From a gameplay perspective of course you want your best ball users taking them.

I would actually argue Fisher has been pretty poor bringing the ball back in from a kick in.

Fisher’s footy IQ wouldn’t be half of Sheeze or Kerch’s.

Vision and smarts are just important as kicking.

It is still a vital skill that decides whether you have a 15-25% of starting a scoring chain or coughing up another opposition score, and worse for us, change the momentum of the game.

 

[Clarke is King]

The similarities with Zach Merrett are uncanny.

 

[ToxicMegaPunts]

Extremely odd hill to die on.

He's already dying from the AIDS that Warlord's kicking gave him yesterday.

 

[DuckYeah]

He's already dying from the AIDS that Warlord's kicking gave him yesterday.

Surprised you didn’t catch it.. must have been watching a different game or your expectations are low