Player Watch #21: Noah Balta - Signed Until 2032

[Tygrys]

It is actually crazy he keeps getting played down front now. I've lost count of the amount of times the club has made a bad line-up decision, corrected it & we instantly see a spike in form, before going back to the first idea for the same result.

Be it Balta up forward, Castagna, Baker up forward, Aarts, going 3 talls - just feels like there is a lack of understanding amongst this group of where they best fit

I kind of feel it's kind of the opposite of what happened in 2017. Accepting the limitations of players, playing them in their best position and then creating a game plan that made the most of their strengths. Now it's like even if Balta is a far better defender than forward, they don't care, they will through sheer willpower make him into a forward.

Part of the problem I suspect is that they have already made up their minds that they want to spend big on mids this trading period. Accepting that Balta is a defender and only a defender probably means that we will have use our first pick on a young KPF. It's ridiculous of course, they should be embracing this. A young A-Grade plus Balta and Gibcus down back together means a premiership contending spine for the next decade. But yeah it's all strange to say the least.

 

[db26]

It is actually crazy he keeps getting played down front now. I've lost count of the amount of times the club has made a bad line-up decision, corrected it & we instantly see a spike in form, before going back to the first idea for the same result.

Be it Balta up forward, Castagna, Baker up forward, Aarts, going 3 talls - just feels like there is a lack of understanding amongst this group of where they best fit

Proof in the pudding early this year we reverted back to Balta in defence and Baker to and bang they hit form and the team looked alot better then we reverted back again I can't work it out. The same with Gibcus. Simple rule in footy you play your players in there natural positions.

 

[Grrr]

He was milking time off the clock like they all do with a minute and a half to go, just mistimed it. Just par for the course the way this season has been going.

 

[SunshineBoy]

Come on, lay off the kid, he is learning and yes it was dumb, we need drills by the coaches on how to play out the closing moments of the game.
What to do, where to be ETC.

That would be like getting blood out of a stone, to expect thst from the coaching staff

 

[SunshineBoy]

He wasnt good. We went foward twice early in the last and Young absolutely destroyed him. They were pretty much our only 2 entries in the first half of the last quarter. If his conversion is poor he doesnt do enough to have a good game without it. That miss in the 3rd quarter from a pretty soft free 15 out was our one chance to get a break on them. Then obviously the incident at the end. Also not turning around for Boltons handball when Bolton had no other option.

When he is a 3rd tall he doesnt get near it. We also risk ruining him as a defender the longer we keep him forward. I wouldnt play a 3rd tall at all, obviously that gives us a second ruck problem, but our forward line needs to go smaller. Lynch, Jack and Cumberland is enough marking power with Shai going forward as well.

Have we tried him on the hbf yet?

 

[SunshineBoy]

Proof in the pudding early this year we reverted back to Balta in defence and Baker to and bang they hit form and the team looked alot better then we reverted back again I can't work it out. The same with Gibcus. Simple rule in footy you play your players in there natural positions.

Exactly , but the stubbornness of the messiah has destroyed careers

 

[NaturalDisaster]

Playing players in different positions does not kill their careers.

You all whinge that hardwick has no plan b, yet when he tries different things its "PLAYERS SHOULD BE PLAYED IN THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS"

 

[Muddiemoose]

He was milking time off the clock like they all do with a minute and a half to go, just mistimed it. Just par for the course the way this season has been going.

Yeah just pushed the envelope a little to far, must admit I didn’t hate his game tonight forward either, execution could of been better but took some really great marks and give himself some decent scoring opportunities

He has come off a few injury’s this year so his disposal was always going to take a few weeks to improve again

 

[db26]

Playing players in different positions does not kill their careers.

You all whinge that hardwick has no plan b, yet when he tries different things its "PLAYERS SHOULD BE PLAYED IN THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS"

First of all it hasn't worked and it's got nothing to do with Plan B it's about utilising your squad in there best position for there success and the teams.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

First of all it hasn't worked and it's got nothing to do with Plan B it's about utilising your squad in there best position for there success and the teams.

No, you play player’s in whats best for the team, with Lynch out, Balta forward was best for the team.

If lynch was in, Balta would have played down back.

 

[tony__montana]

I don’t think Balta meant it to come out like that. He was flustered.

Get rid of our final 2 passengers, soldo for Lynch and Edwards after next week and we won’t lose another game

 

[Grockadoc]

He is up forward because the loss of CCJ and Chol in the 1 off season hurt our key forward stocks. We had no one else to turn to when Lynch went down besides Sampson Ryan who is not ready. This was why Balta had been training as a forward all off-season in cases like this.

He had a poor.moment, but I thought his game tonight is better than a lot Jack has played this year.

The moment he fluffed I was disappointed at for 2 reasons:

1: We just needed to score. I would have preferred a behind innthat situation given Freo's dominance ind the middle in the last.

2: When he marked he had a player 20m in soace running to the goalsquare over the top and did not even once turn his head to look.

Had 2 opportunities to influence the scoreboard, once himself and once by assisting another player and did not do either of them.

 

[SDMTiger4]

First of all it hasn't worked and it's got nothing to do with Plan B it's about utilising your squad in there best position for there success and the teams.

Spot on. You only have a Plan B to implement when the game is not going according to plan. You don't play your players out of their favourite positions for games on end. Senseless. For those old enough to remember, think The Ghost, being switched from HB into the forward line to change things up a bit and provide a spark when the team needed a lift. And more often than not the Ghost delivered.

 

[RJK Tiger]

The umpire did not * up. I timed it with a stop watch. Called 15 seconds gone at a little over 15 seconds, blew his whistle to hurry Balta up at 28 seconds. Called play on just after 30 seconds and Balta kicked the ball at 35 seconds.

The umpire played it perfectly.

yeah i did the same, ready to start raching for the pitchfork - but reality is Noah just ****ed up. Ump got it right

 

[tony__montana]

I thought he was as involved and busy in general play as I’ve seen him up forward but his execution was horrible.

Positive is that he’s getting to the right spots now which shows some progress

 

[Tiges1229]

“ who cares “ he says , yeah only 100,000 members Noah , idiot.

 

[DoItForCaptBlood]

It was a poor decision. But as others have mentioned, it was the fastest play on call I've ever heard. After the warning whistle they always give AT LEAST 1 and sometimes 2 seconds before the play on call. The call though was immediate. Literally warning whistle ..play on.

I think Balta is a bit IDGAF. One thing for me was when he was on the bench after doing his hammy. The camera went to him and he pulled a face straight at the camera, was even the tongue out? I was like, who the fk does that after doing their hammy!!

 

[Cdog71]

He doesn’t know how to play as a forward

 

[Rocco sifreddi]

He doesn’t know how to play as a forward

I don't think he does either .

 

[tropicaltiger]

First of all it hasn't worked and it's got nothing to do with Plan B it's about utilising your squad in there best position for there success and the teams.

not really dimma played under sheeds, i like it that balta, baker, gibcus, rioli, short can play back or forward and have a run on the ball. dimma is the only coach that has delivered since Tshirt tommy.
Matthew Pavlich says hi..... I played in four positions as an all Australian, five if you want to include interchange.

 

[SDMTiger4]

yeah i did the same, ready to start raching for the pitchfork - but reality is Noah just *ed up. Ump got it right

Of course he stuffed it up. Terrible mistake by Balta. My only question or comment for some that know the rules better than me, is when the ump called play on, it didn't take long for the Freo player to smother the ball. Was he in the protected space when the ump called play on?

 

[My Cotchin Rules]

I don’t think Balta meant it to come out like that. He was flustered.

Get rid of our final 2 passengers, soldo for Lynch and Edwards after next week and we won’t lose another game

I'd be dropping Nankervis before Soldo but that's just my opinion and it won't happen as Nank is a co-captain.
I just feel Soldo has more to offer than Nank atm if Lynch comes back in.

 

[SDMTiger4]

I'd be dropping Nankervis before Soldo but that's just my opinion and it won't happen as Nank is a co-captain.
I just feel Soldo has more to offer than Nank atm if Lynch comes back in.

And that's part of the absurdity with the decision to name Nank as a co-captain. Someone who may not always play, through injury or loss of form, yet gets a gig based on being a 'captain'. Still have him over Soldo though.

 

[Charlie Pannam]

On reflection I’m sure Noah was hurting badly after the game, looked like he was about to burst into tears
I think the “who cares “ comment was meant to be ok I screwed up but there’s more important things in life. His Emma Murray Mindfulness technique’s just being expressed awkwardly

 

[Muddiemoose]

On reflection I’m sure Noah was hurting badly after the game, looked like he was about to burst into tears
I think the “who cares “ comment was meant to be ok I screwed up but there’s more important things in life. His Emma Murray Mindfulness technique’s just being expressed awkwardly

That’s how I took it as well, was just a post game interview after a very weird end to a game
Still processing what had occurred but also trying to express that trying to point at any one play wouldn’t change the outcome