Player Watch #40: Eddie Ford - re-signed until end of 2025

[Passmore]

Amd what if he’s been told to be less selfish and take the blinkers off

Don't give Ed too many instructions. Poor bugger gets confused easy.

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[Sphynx]

Don't give Ed too many instructions. Poor bugger gets confused easy.

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What he lacks there, he makes up in footy IQ.

He leaves Zurhaar for dead in that aspect.

Ford gets to so many more contests, is always presenting in the right spots, is always there for a get out option.

It’s why it doesn’t look like he goes missing for halves of football. He’s always around the ball forward of center and involved. Even if it isn’t on the stat sheet.



He’s going to explode at one point in the next few years and be far better than CZ ever has or ever will be. As will Curtis, who is arguably better already.

Ford has the highest ceiling of the 3 though. Curtis the most mercurial, but Ford could be a 20 disposal, 30+ goal a year half forward if he knuckles down for the next few preseasons.

CZ has promised to be that, he’s built his tank etc. he just doesn’t have the footy IQ and the ball winning ability Ford does. Ford is so good 1 vs 1 and even 1 vs 2 at times.

 

[LB2Snake]

Shame he didn’t take that hanger…….think it could’ve been an arrival moment for him. He’s exciting to watch.

 

[Masked Avenger]

He and Xerri were definitely two players who sensed the game was up for grabs late and lifted noticeably.

That stuff doesn't show up on stats but pretty obvious to the eye.

 

[the big lebowski]

Underrated

 

[shinboner magic]

Is improving before our eyes and is always presenting.

One thing that has gone backwards is his goal kicking- before this season he was very dependable

 

[Psicosis]

He’s a serious player and oppo supporters are starting to notice. Absolute must sign.

 

[Samsquanch]

Has got to become a better kick at goal from inside 50 (and on the line).

 

[giantroo]

 

[RossHenshaw]

Has got to become a better kick at goal from inside 50 (and on the line).

He’s going OK

 

[RossHenshaw]

Is improving before our eyes and is always presenting.

One thing that has good backwards is his goal kicking- before this season he was very dependable

It’s a confidence thing . Technically his set shot looks good

 

[7577969923]

Is improving before our eyes and is always presenting.

One thing that has gone backwards is his goal kicking- before this season he was very dependable

He's kicked 12.3 this season before yesterday. I think he's still pretty good.

 

[RobZombie]

Don't give Ed too many instructions. Poor bugger gets confused easy.

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I like you Mickey but it does you no credit to jump on board with tao’s shitstirring quite so gleefully. Ed’s not a dumb kid by any measure and our colleague's assertions to that effect appear to be made out of whole cloth.

 

[Passmore]

I like you Mickey but it does you no credit to jump on board with tao’s shitstirring quite so gleefully. Ed’s not a dumb kid by any measure and our colleague's assertions to that effect appear to be made out of whole cloth.

Oh Rob. It’s not TAO’s assertions at all. A former team mate of Ed. No he’s not dumb, he’s a nice kid. Was told what he was drafted “he’s a bit different, but the fans will love him if he gets going”

And I like you too as it goes.

 

[justroyal]

Reckon his only mistake yesterday was passing that kick off to scott

 

[chubbspeterson]

Love him. More consistent than Zurhaar I reckon and if we builds his tank could be a weapon. Sign please.

 

[RobZombie]

Oh Rob. It’s not TAO’s assertions at all. A former team mate of Ed. No he’s not dumb, he’s a nice kid. Was told what he was drafted “he’s a bit different, but the fans will love him if he gets going”

And I like you too as it goes.

Cheers Mr P. Our learned friend has insinuated that sort of thing about a few players over the journey and I thought it worth coming out of hibernation to stick up for the lad on that front.

 

[Arthur Cloke]

Don't give Ed too many instructions. Poor bugger gets confused easy.

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Soaking up the clock with 2 minutes to go when we are 3 goals down..... You might be right.

 

[My Left Foote]

Reckon his only mistake yesterday was passing that kick off to scott

Should have backed himself.

 

[My Left Foote]

Soaking up the clock with 2 minutes to go when we are 3 goals down..... You might be right.

Lack of experience and self-belief, he’ll learn from that. Frustrating but not a big deal in the scheme of things.

 

[Hazey1977]

Lack of experience and self-belief, he’ll learn from that. Frustrating but not a big deal in the scheme of things.

He needs to play on instinct with more urgency at times. 9/10 marks he goes back, looks left, looks right, looks left again...... Then looks left, right and left again before realising he didn't need to cross the road, he could just kick the ball .

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[DesertRoo]

What he lacks there, he makes up in footy IQ.

He leaves Zurhaar for dead in that aspect.

Ford gets to so many more contests, is always presenting in the right spots, is always there for a get out option.

It’s why it doesn’t look like he goes missing for halves of football. He’s always around the ball forward of center and involved. Even if it isn’t on the stat sheet.



He’s going to explode at one point in the next few years and be far better than CZ ever has or ever will be. As will Curtis, who is arguably better already.

Ford has the highest ceiling of the 3 though. Curtis the most mercurial, but Ford could be a 20 disposal, 30+ goal a year half forward if he knuckles down for the next few preseasons.

CZ has promised to be that, he’s built his tank etc. he just doesn’t have the footy IQ and the ball winning ability Ford does. Ford is so good 1 vs 1 and even 1 vs 2 at times.

I don't know about this,
I think Zurhaar and Ford are very similar players with very similar games. I think the only difference at the moment is Zurhaar is playing like he doesn't want to get hurt, his attack on the ball and man isn't there this year. he is genuinely short stepping, which is polar opposite to how he has played his career so far.
The only issue Ive had with Zurhaar is his selfishness, he first instinct is to go for 45m right sided banana on the run, rather then trying to hit up a target, 35m directly in front.. Hopefully we can remove that from Fords game before he becomes a senior player. they both would be a hell of a lot more dangerous bursting through and giving off goal assists, when they're there.

 

[Sphynx]

I placed this in stat observations and Zurhaar's thread, I will put it in Fords thread for reference back in a few years:



I will also put it in here:

I decided to do an exercise when assessing the Zurhaar contract situation.

Eddie Ford is definitely one of the more underrated players in the competition at the moment.

I think in general, the coaching staff have been misusing him quite badly.

So I've decided to prove why I think Zurhaar shouldn't be on anything but a standard playing contract comparable to what Ford or Curtis would be offered.

I've compared CZ/Curtis/Ford and adjusted their season averages per 120 minutes (100% TOG). Now obviously a players ability to run out more TOG is important, but Fords season stats are all over the place because of 5 sub appearances.

There's also an element of Zurhaar being a senior player and having right of way currently over Ford also.

This is purely to assess like for like, their impact when they are on the ground for the same time.

All of them are extremely comparable:

• Ford has the best football IQ. He gets the most of the ball per 120 minutes.
• Curtis is the most damaging per possession, he also puts on the most pressure, the eye test would back that up.
• Zurhaar kicks just slightly more goals than Curtis/Ford. I think Ford plays higher up the ground on average so is more dangerous per minute spent I50 than probably both Curtis and Zurhaar. It's because of his overhead ability.
• I think most people would be surprised at Fords scoreboard impact vs Curtis/Zurhaar. He's already as good as both.
• Ford is the best overhead of the 3.
• Fords goal assist and score involvements are good considering his ratio of disposals per inside 50 vs Curtis and Zurhaar.

- Zurhaar is 4 years older than Ford and 5 years older than Curtis.


Now, based on the below, would you be offering 5 or 6 years at $700k+ to Zurhaar, if so, are you prepared to offer that to all 3 of them over the next 2 years?

Based on the below, it's absolutely incredible that Ford has been the sub as much as he has. Curtis and Zurhaar are statistically in our best 10 players, how the coaches have deemed Eddie isn't in the best 22 for 1/3 of this season is almost alarming. How Stephenson has played so much football at half forward over him is mind boggling.

Adjusting TOG back down to 80% for a medium forward, the coaches have basically been miss handling a 22 year old, 15 disposal a game, 35 goal a season medium forward.

Tom Papley

11

Tom Papley

Age

28

Ht

177cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

9.1

4star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.7

4star

T

3.2

5star

G

1.5

5star

D

12.3

3star

K

8.9

4star

HB

3.4

2star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.5

2star

G

2.4

5star

D

13.4

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

3.4

5star

G

1.6

5star

averaged 15 disposals a game and kicked 36 in 2023. Kosi Pickett averaged 11 dispoisals and kicked 37.

No player under the age of 23 kicked 35 goals and averaged 15 disposals per game in 2023.


If Ford was afforded the same game time and opportunity as Zurhaar and Curtis, he'd be averaging those numbers in 2024 based on the per minute stats across a big sample size, in a side with the lowest i50 count in the league and having won 1 game for the season.

Some of Fords stats comparatively are as good as Sheezel and Wardlaw for his age and position.

Player

Age

Age_Decimal

Matches

Kicks

Handballs

Disposals

Inside50s

ContestedPossessions

Marks

ContestedMarks

MarksInside50

Tackles

TacklesInside50

Goals_Total

Goals_Avg

Behinds

ShotsAtGoal

GoalAssists

ScoreInvolvements

ScoreInvolvementPercentage

OnePercenters

Tackles

PressureActs

Cameron Zurhaar

26​

26.61​

14​

9.4​

6.5​

15.8​

3.2​

6.8​

4.2​

0.8​

1.8​

3.2​

1.8​

27.0​

1.9​

1.2​

3.6​

0.5​

5.9​

33.5​

1.3​

3.2​

14.3​

Eddie Ford

22​

22.52​

12​

9.6​

7.7​

17.4​

1.5​

6.9​

6.4​

0.9​

2.2​

3.0​

1.5​

21.2​

1.8​

0.7​

2.8​

0.5​

5.7​

33.2​

1.2​

3.0​

14.8​

Paul Curtis

21​

21.82​

15​

8.7​

5.3​

14.0​

2.3​

6.8​

4.3​

0.8​

1.4​

3.3​

1.6​

26.4​

1.8​

1.1​

3.4​

0.7​

6.2​

35.9​

1.0​

3.3​

17.4​

 

[Johnny99]

I placed this in stat observations and Zurhaar's thread, I will put it in Fords thread for reference back in a few years:



I will also put it in here:

​

Really good analysis Sphynx.

I never realised how close the 3 are in terms of stats.

It probably shows how expendable CZ is. If another club was to offer a salary which pushed the compo up to Band 1. we probably should take it.

Like Magoo last year, who has been replaced by Charlie this year.

Only thing I will say, CZ plays more like a key position forward, than the other two. I think that is his point of difference.

 

[Sphynx]

Really good analysis Sphynx.

I never realised how close the 3 are in terms of stats.

It probably shows how expendable CZ is. If another club was to offer a salary which pushed the compo up to Band 1. we probably should take it.

Like Magoo last year, who has been replaced by Charlie this year.

Only thing I will say, CZ plays more like a key position forward, than the other two. I think that is his point of difference.

All the stats indicate that Ford should be playing that role of the 3, not CZ.

Ford played a lot like a traditional FF in juniors also.