Player Watch #30: Charlie Comben - defender or forward? CC T5 in the AFL for avg.intercept marks p/game - re-signed until end of 2027

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Colby Cheer Squad said:
1999 Grand Final (small sample) suggests that Wayne Carey could have been the greatest centre half back of all time. Did Pagan make a mistake in wasting him at centre half forward all those years? Obviously not.
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Not sure it's completely relevant to Comben, but you raise an interesting point. Carey actually played more than one game at CHB, as per the following article:

www.nmfc.com.au

Wayne Carey’s move back

The man regarded as one of the best to have ever played confirmed he spent time as a backman.
www.nmfc.com.au www.nmfc.com.au

"He (Pagan) came up to me after the game and said 'Son, if I ever play you at centre half back again punch me fair in the mouth'.

I think the article is a bit confusing. North did play Freo in round 5 but didn't get the stats cited in the article. He had 17 possessions and 3 goals in a loss. North played Freo again in round 20, where Carey had the referenced 26 disposals and kicked 8.

There is a game against Brisbane in round 4 which looks like he played back. He picked up a lazy 26 touches with 12 marks, 7 rebound 50s, and a goal.
 
King Corey said:
Carey played back quite a bit in 1997 to protect his repaired shoulder.
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Yep, most of the latter part of the season was at CHB, one game in particular against Hawks he towelled up Holland who was considered by some to be a distant 2nd or 3rd best CHF in the league at the time.

Onto Charlie, i'd love a solution where he can stay back permanently, think its like he tries too hard up forward, appreciate could be an experience thing but really like him down back.
 
King Corey said:
Carey played back quite a bit in 1997 to protect his repaired shoulder.
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Sounds a bit similar to playing Comben back to protect his 'literally every bone in his body'...

IDK what we do with him in the end, but he's showing more back there than he did forward. is that purely because of continuity, health, and the ball actually being near him? Or is he just an outright better backman than forward? Tis a mystery worthy of being solved.

I'm fine with swinging him forward every now and again to see if he shows glimpses of equal quality down there, but at the moment, if it was me, I'd also be considering swapping to the permanent marker next time i put him down in the back 50 on the white board.
 
Devington said:
Sounds a bit similar to playing Comben back to protect his 'literally every bone in his body'...

IDK what we do with him in the end, but he's showing more back there than he did forward. is that purely because of continuity, health, and the ball actually being near him? Or is he just an outright better backman than forward? Tis a mystery worthy of being solved.

I'm fine with swinging him forward every now and again to see if he shows glimpses of equal quality down there, but at the moment, if it was me, I'd also be considering swapping to the permanent marker next time i put him down in the back 50 on the white board.
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I agree he has looked really good in defence. But I feel his exposed form as a forward at AFL level is taken from too small a sample. Whenever I watched him play forward in the VFL, he looked ominous. And ultimately, it is easier to find key defenders than it is to uncover the next quality key forward.
 
ChairmanZia said:
okay, but comben is one of the best defender not just at north but in afl, why are we doing anything to change that?

But thankfully by looking at the team sheet, they put pink on a forward pocket meaning he will play chf.
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He's been good in the role and I'd say he's been elite in clunking intercept marks.

But he's not in the same bucket with the overall game as guys like Taylor, Weitering, Andrews, Moore etc. currently.
 
hotchilli said:
He's been good in the role and I'd say he's been elite in clunking intercept marks.

But he's not in the same bucket with the overall game as guys like Taylor, Weitering, Andrews, Moore etc. currently.
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And that's a problem because?

I hope you are not going to move him out of defense into forward became he is not the absolute best.

He is atm as effective as mckay and that's saying something as he has only played 11 games in defense.
 

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ChairmanZia said:
And that's a problem because?

I hope you are not going to move him out of defense into forward became he is not the absolute best.

He is atm as effective as mckay and that's saying something as he has only played 11 games in defense.
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That's not what I'm saying, it's just in response to you saying that he's one of the best in the AFL which he clearly isn't currently.

I only want us to swing him forwards if we believe he can impact the game more from that end of the ground although I'd prefer to see him play out the majority of the year in defense.
 
hotchilli said:
That's not what I'm saying, it's just in response to you saying that he's one of the best in the AFL which he clearly isn't currently.

I only want us to swing him forwards if we believe he can impact the game more from that end of the ground although I'd prefer to see him play out the majority of the year in defense.
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He's 4th most intercept marks, got to count for something.
 
ChairmanZia said:
He's 4th most intercept marks, got to count for something.
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Like I said.

hotchilli said:
He's been good in the role and I'd say he's been elite in clunking intercept marks.

But he's not in the same bucket with the overall game as guys like Taylor, Weitering, Andrews, Moore etc. currently.
Click to expand...
 
A quieter, but a highly mature, game by the great chom.
 
I wasn’t expecting him to land that goal, but I wasn’t expecting him to make the distance look somewhat effortless either.
Weird, weird predicament we find ourselves in…

On another note, I’m not saying this because there was any spite, but I was looking forward to McKay leaving because I didn’t think he was worth more than a potential pick 2. Whether it was skill, team buy-in etc + injuries.

How do we compare Comben to McKay’s ceiling as a defender?
 
justroyal said:
I wasn’t expecting him to land that goal, but I wasn’t expecting him to make the distance look somewhat effortless either.
Weird, weird predicament we find ourselves in…

On another note, I’m not saying this because there was any spite, but I was looking forward to McKay leaving because I didn’t think he was worth more than a potential pick 2. Whether it was skill, team buy-in etc + injuries.

How do we compare Comben to McKay’s ceiling as a defender?
Click to expand...

Comben is far more mobile and has forward potentials.
 
Devington said:
Sounds a bit similar to playing Comben back to protect his 'literally every bone in his body'...

IDK what we do with him in the end, but he's showing more back there than he did forward. is that purely because of continuity, health, and the ball actually being near him? Or is he just an outright better backman than forward? Tis a mystery worthy of being solved.

I'm fine with swinging him forward every now and again to see if he shows glimpses of equal quality down there, but at the moment, if it was me, I'd also be considering swapping to the permanent marker next time i put him down in the back 50 on the white board.
Click to expand...
I'm more than happy to leave the door open to a return forward, but I do caution there is no rush either way. He is an absolute baby in football terms and still very young. I don't think it's that big a deal if he spends 1, 2 or even more seasons down there. It doesn't prevent a move later on, he has time on his side, just needs continuity at the moment.
 

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Player Watch #30: Charlie Comben - defender or forward? CC T5 in the AFL for avg.intercept marks p/game - re-signed until end of 2027

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