AFL Player #37: Nic Martin - Looks like he has a runny nose

[TheGrizz]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2024
2024 My Boy Draft: Pick 1, Beerfish

 

[Dons4days]

Probably doesn't help that Duursma isn't performing on the wing either.

Martin back to the wing & Duursma to HF/back up wing.

 

[eth-dog]

To me the obvious answer is Caldwell.

It’s not an accident Essendon looked good with him running close to Heeney who was playing Mid/HF

Caldwell becomes your 2nd Small HB user
Martin becomes the AA wing he was last year before getting moved and Durham becomes your midsized pressure forward who rotates through the midfield

Caldwell possesses nothing in his skillset to suggest he'd be damaging off half back. His skills are tidy but hardly damaging enough to warrant that move. He's an inside mid or tagger.

 

[faible]

Caldwell possesses nothing in his skillset to suggest he'd be damaging off half back. His skills are tidy but hardly damaging enough to warrant that move. He's an inside mid or tagger.

People do seem to be missing the logic behind the move. Daicos and Coleman had massive seasons last year, Coleman arguably winning them the PF off a HBF with his kicking.

The whole point is that it needs to be someone who's got the footskills to hurt the opposition enough to make up for their lack of defensive ability. Neither Duursma nor Durham had that.

I don't think our whole ground defensive running has been good enough to support Martin dominating the game off a HBF running offensively the way the Pies supported Daicos doing it last year.

Our biggest issue in previous seasons has been getting stuck in the defensive half because we lack the ability to run or kick our way through the zone of the opposition so I can see why they've flirted with the idea and will probably stick with it for a little longer, but they need to make the call to put Martin back on the wing if he's not dominating games from back there and we're still running with Tsatas on the wing.

 

[ghostdog]

To me the obvious answer is Caldwell.

It’s not an accident Essendon looked good with him running close to Heeney who was playing Mid/HF

Caldwell becomes your 2nd Small HB user
Martin becomes the AA wing he was last year before getting moved and Durham becomes your midsized pressure forward who rotates through the midfield

Wouldn't be unhappy with trying that either. As I said, I like the premise, not necessarily the fit.

 

[yodellinhank]

People do seem to be missing the logic behind the move. Daicos and Coleman had massive seasons last year, Coleman arguably winning them the PF off a HBF with his kicking.

The whole point is that it needs to be someone who's got the footskills to hurt the opposition enough to make up for their lack of defensive ability. Neither Duursma nor Durham had that.

I don't think our whole ground defensive running has been good enough to support Martin dominating the game off a HBF running offensively the way the Pies supported Daicos doing it last year.

Our biggest issue in previous seasons has been getting stuck in the defensive half because we lack the ability to run or kick our way through the zone of the opposition so I can see why they've flirted with the idea and will probably stick with it for a little longer, but they need to make the call to put Martin back on the wing if he's not dominating games from back there and we're still running with Tsatas on the wing.

Didn't we see the net results of Peter v Paul when we played Zach Merrett back there, isn't this the same but different?

 

[citizen-erased]

Probably doesn't help that Duursma isn't performing on the wing either.

Martin back to the wing & Duursma to HF/back up wing.

Duursma as a HF is a no-brainer for me. He moves well, has a long kick and knows where the goals are. Natural HF imo

Wings for me should be Martin and Merrett. 2 elite running, kicking mids. Merrett defends well, Martin is a good overhead mark.
Don't mind Kelly there. Or Duursma when he's not in the middle. And playing Tsatas there for exposure.

 

[faible]

Didn't we see the net results of Peter v Paul when we played Zach Merrett back there, isn't this the same but different?

Similar concept, Martin a bit better overhead I'd say but much of a muchness.

I suspect they thought Duursma would offer a bit more than he has thus far to help offset moving Martin, and it seems like the pre-season plan was Kelly to take the defensive wing role from Durham and swing back to cover Martin running offensively.

With no Ridley there, Redman being suspended, Kelly being sick and Duursma not (yet) providing much offensive drive, we haven't seen what it sounds like we saw during the preseason.

 

[jdstorm]

Caldwell possesses nothing in his skillset to suggest he'd be damaging off half back. His skills are tidy but hardly damaging enough to warrant that move. He's an inside mid or tagger.

He’s a better user than McGrath and Redman. Competence would be an improvement for Essendon and he looks like he could be that

 

[eth-dog]

He’s a better user than McGrath and Redman. Competence would be an improvement for Essendon and he looks like he could be that

Better user than Redman? That's, um, an opinion.

 

[brain taylor]

He’s a better user than McGrath and Redman. Competence would be an improvement for Essendon and he looks like he could be that

caldwell’s hands in traffic, goal sense, pressure, and overall knack for getting in on scoring chains screams mid/fwd rotation and he’s never played in defense, it’d like robbing peter and also robbing paul because you got bored and felt like doing something.

also “better user than redman” lol come on man

 

[jdstorm]

caldwell’s hands in traffic, goal sense, pressure, and overall knack for getting in on scoring chains screams mid/fwd rotation and he’s never played in defense, it’d like robbing peter and also robbing paul because you got bored and felt like doing something.

also “better user than redman” lol come on man

He’s kicked 17 goals from 41 games the last few seasons playing primarily as a forward.

Decent midfielders get about 17 goals a season and forwards it’s far more.

Overall knack on getting in on scoring chains means he’s a person who can start and continue scoring chains. That’s the exact skillset required off HB and he has the added bonus of being able to Tag dangerous HHFs

 

[brain taylor]

He’s kicked 17 goals from 41 games the last few seasons playing primarily as a forward.

Decent midfielders get about 17 goals a season and forwards it’s far more.

Overall knack on getting in on scoring chains means he’s a person who can start and continue scoring chains. That’s the exact skillset required off HB and he has the added bonus of being able to Tag dangerous HHFs

back flank still doesn’t utilise his contest-oriented skillset, he’s an inside player

 

[faible]

He’s kicked 17 goals from 41 games the last few seasons playing primarily as a forward.

Decent midfielders get about 17 goals a season and forwards it’s far more.

Overall knack on getting in on scoring chains means he’s a person who can start and continue scoring chains. That’s the exact skillset required off HB and he has the added bonus of being able to Tag dangerous HHFs

He plays as a high-half forward / midfielder, that's very different to playing as a true forward.

 

[boncer34]

People do seem to be missing the logic behind the move. Daicos and Coleman had massive seasons last year, Coleman arguably winning them the PF off a HBF with his kicking.

The whole point is that it needs to be someone who's got the footskills to hurt the opposition enough to make up for their lack of defensive ability. Neither Duursma nor Durham had that.

I don't think our whole ground defensive running has been good enough to support Martin dominating the game off a HBF running offensively the way the Pies supported Daicos doing it last year.

Our biggest issue in previous seasons has been getting stuck in the defensive half because we lack the ability to run or kick our way through the zone of the opposition so I can see why they've flirted with the idea and will probably stick with it for a little longer, but they need to make the call to put Martin back on the wing if he's not dominating games from back there and we're still running with Tsatas on the wing.

Should chase that Hawthorne bloke Massimo something.

 

[jdstorm]

back flank still doesn’t utilise his contest-oriented skillset, he’s an inside player

He’s and Inside/outside (Balanced) Player.

But he’s not better than Parish, Merrett, possibly Sheil, Setterfield, Perkins and Hobbs as an inside player.

That’s where his size becomes an issue. You couldn’t have Merrett, Parish and Sheil together. You can’t have Caldwell in that mix. With those two either.

His hardness is an advantage as a defender because he will stick tackles and be able to win the ball at defensive stoppages. Less so when in space as a HF

 

[ghostdog]

He’s a better user than McGrath and Redman. Competence would be an improvement for Essendon and he looks like he could be that

Yeah he's not a better user than Redman, at all.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

Putting aside the defensive component (both his struggles on this front, and that we really aren't covering for him either because plenty of others don't defend in the first place too), he is just trying to play way too much hero-ball when he's actually got the pill.

He had a kick-in to the back pocket where he pulled the pass across his body at late notice and stabbed at it hard. This one hit the target but it's just an unnecessarily complicated way of hitting what is a basic kick for little advantage.

When he first arrived on the scene he was a good user of the footy because he had good vision but he usually kept it simple. He needs to get back to that.

They need to tell him to pull his head out of his arse. A 15m kick sideways does not need to be a heroball bullet, dude has to get back to weighting kicks properly.

 

[Zach Package]

We’re taking ‘Nic is the distributer’ far, far too literally.

Hard to reconcile given we know it’s a group that can’t follow instructions.

 

[Maxabillions]

Worst 28 touch half I’ve ever seen

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Was terrible in first qtr but could see what theyre trying in 2nd qtr. More of that please

 

[Blind Turn]

I just couldn’t give him votes today and I feel a bit dirty about it. It’s a bit like the umps overlooking Diesel Williams’ 44 possession game in 1993 that gifted Wanganeen the Brownlow. He did get a lot of ‘possessions’ from kick-ins though which makes me feel a little less dirty when you also consider that another handful of his touches were clangers.

 

[cobra land]

I wouldn't have in the votes today, way too many turnovers and poor decisions with ball in hand.

Would much rather him getting his possessions wing/forward, he's costing us a 2/3 goals a game trying to drill the ball through his teammates chest.

 

[Inspecta Gadget]

Snuck in my votes. Thought his 16 possessions in the second half were 300% more effective than the 28 he had in the first

 

[Happyskeret]

So does anyone think he is a failed experiment at half back?

 

[cobra land]

Yes.I think he and Kelly need to swap roles.

We need his goals/assists and Kelly gives us nothing offessively but would be more suited down back.