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- Dec 14, 2015
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Of course elite kicking beats any zone but the fact remains, Hepp isn't going to make ground chasing back where a quick small defender would have a chance if the chance were there.Zone is about keeping the ball in front of you. If they kick through it and get overlap, no one is beating the ball back to goal, so that’s irrelevant. Heppell pretty good at positioning and not letting the ball over his head. People need to remember elite kicking beats any defensive zone.
No player is going to make up ground with elite kicking in a zone. Ball moves faster than any man on earth. Zones are a structure, if it gets beat there is never a structure created for a broken structure. It’s scramble and try and pressure. Heppell lacks pace on a lead or when get taken up to stoppage and turned around, but no one has enough speed to save a broken zone.Of course elite kicking beats any zone but the fact remains, Hepp isn't going to make ground chasing back where a quick small defender would have a chance if the chance were there.
Correct, and when the elite kicking lapses as it can, Heppell has no ability to do this.No player is going to make up ground with elite kicking in a zone. Ball moves faster than any man on earth. Zones are a structure, if it gets beat there is never a structure created for a broken structure. It’s scramble and try and pressure. Heppell lacks pace on a lead or when get taken up to stoppage and turned around, but no one has enough speed to save a broken zone.
His role is to defend. If he has to go and scrap it out he has to go, as he did last night.Heppells lack of foot speed compared to smaller halfbacks is irrelevant. Unlike McGrath, Hind, Martin, his role is a taller intercept halfback.
Even though we are playing an aggressive forward press, where we need 2 way power running to defend transition. No player is going to be fast enough to defend turnovers.
So we still need players staying in the back half.
His role is to defend. If he has to go and scrap it out he has to go, as he did last night.
Yes in the defensive half as a taller halfback.
I was stating his lack of footspeed is irrelevant to his role.
No coach creates a structure for a broken structure. They aren’t going to blame Heppell for not covering a broken structure because of foot speed.Correct, and when the elite kicking lapses as it can, Heppell has no ability to do this.
You are right. But that’s when everything works perfectly….which isn’t always. Where the kick is off there are opportunities to react and close down. Have seen McGrath and Redman do it many times.No coach creates a structure for a broken structure. They aren’t going to blame Heppell for not covering a broken structure because of foot speed.
They will blame him if he slow to get to position, or lets the ball over his head. Those things he is very good at.
Blame Heppell for not having leg speed on a lead or getting turned around going to stoppage. Not for being unable to catch a footy in a broken zone
Exactly. Thank you.You are right. But that’s when everything works perfectly….which isn’t always. Where the kick is off there are opportunities to react and close down. Have seen McGrath and Redman do it many times.
But even within the zone his speed is an issue. At the game yesterday it was clear to me how agressive our defensive positioning is and he and Lav both struggled at times to close space given the latitude they provided the opposition.
Wayne Harmes disagrees.Ball moves faster than any man on earth.
Last night was his best game this year by a long way and there were still a number of errors that don’t show up in the stats. I mentioned them last night, within the space of 10 minutes in the 2nd quarter he went back looking to mark instead of punching and it resulted in a goal (he did it later in the quarter and marked it and then finally punched in the 3rd quarter), he then kicked the ball inside 50m after a mark (nice mark too) and he kicked it 10-15 metres short of our talls and was to the Saints advantage.
on the lead, yes you can blame Heppell for his lack of leg speed. But when the ball gets out the back you can’t blame hep for not chasing it down. Positioning mostly gets effected by our players entry kick, more so than people getting beaten on leads. Shallow entries usually end up In the zone getting beaten the other way.You are right. But that’s when everything works perfectly….which isn’t always. Where the kick is off there are opportunities to react and close down. Have seen McGrath and Redman do it many times.
But even within the zone his speed is an issue. At the game yesterday it was clear to me how agressive our defensive positioning is and he and Lav both struggled at times to close space given the latitude they provided the opposition.
Last night was his best game this year by a long way and there were still a number of errors that don’t show up in the stats. I mentioned them last night, within the space of 10 minutes in the 2nd quarter he went back looking to mark instead of punching and it resulted in a goal (he did it later in the quarter and marked it and then finally punched in the 3rd quarter), he then kicked the ball inside 50m after a mark (nice mark too) and he kicked it 10-15 metres short of our talls and was to the Saints advantage.
he’s been great but the inherent bias associated with disliking someone really makes it hard to see that he’s been great. i’m the same, everyone is
Why is that you think? I think it’s because he’s the only guaranteed starter regardless of form. He’s treated differently.There seems to be an emphasis by a lot of Essendon people on Dysons mistakes, over just about every other player in our team - who make just as many or more.
Hmmm I think it would be a wise coach who plans for Plan A to fall down every now and thenNo coach creates a structure for a broken structure. They aren’t going to blame Heppell for not covering a broken structure because of foot speed.
They will blame him if he slow to get to position, or lets the ball over his head. Those things he is very good at.
Blame Heppell for not having leg speed on a lead or getting turned around going to stoppage. Not for being unable to catch a footy in a broken zone
Why is that you think? I think it’s because he’s the only guaranteed starter regardless of form. He’s treated differently.