Player Watch #6: Shaun Grigg

[Barry_Badrinath]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

 

[Darth_Tiger]

Massively underrated player. Plays a role and plays it really well. He knows his job is support for our stars, he is a sideshow and he is ok with that but every team needs them.

 

[smasha]

Super year by Grigga.
Helps our mid structures alot.

 

[SpudsLoveChild]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

He's a solid player who loves a goal.
Go Grigga!

 

[Stevi_Tigers]

puts to bed that stupid notion that grigg is a soft ****

 

[Hate]

We've seen improvement over the years from him but I think this year he's really stepped on the gas and improved in multiple areas of his game, and it's really benefited the team this year. He's plays his role and has become a very important part of our team. I wouldn't have said that 18 months ago.

Must be the brilliance of Lids rubbing off on him from hanging out so much.

Well done Griggs

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

Lies - Grigg is a soft **** dude who just sponges easy possies and never goes the hard ball

its dimma apologists like you who make this club the failure it is

 

[SunshineBoy]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

How many hit outs?

 

[ReaperX]

Tackling was an area of Grigg's game that was considered poor by many laymans, but in reality it was never as bad as it seemed.

Dimma just had the guy playing a different role for a period of time, a role that didn't have tackling as a priority.

And considering that Dimma's game-plan doesn't have tackling as a major focus anyway (he prefers us controlling possession, which usually means less tackling due to having more of the ball), when we would lose, it was easy to look at the pure stats, such as tackling, and lay into Grigg for being "unaccountable" or "soft"

Grigg's never been soft, there's a reason he's getting a game in a team that has won 15 games for the year, it's because he's a good quality player in whatever role he's given.

CRIMINALLY underrated on here by some, along with Houli.

 

[mopsy]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

I think the stat we should focus on is the fact we came 15th or 16th for tackles in the whole comp.
Bruise free footy is what we are accused of and who can blame people for saying it.
I didn't think it would be possible but we went worse in this area than we did last year.

As for Griggy, yep the defensive side of his game has improved to a point where it should always have been at. I look at his last year at Carlton and hes no different now to what he was then. It has taken us 5 years to get him up to a good well rounded standard.

As for tackling only being applicable when doing a role i disagree. It is a basic of the game that should be done well by every player we have.It is an area we are poor in as a whole. If our players aren't averaging at the very least three tackles a game they are not doing their job imo. Our forwards in particular are terrible in this area.

 

[Spluff]

I think the stat we should focus on is the fact we came 15th or 16th for tackles in the whole comp.
Bruise free footy is what we are accused of and who can blame people for saying it.
I didn't think it would be possible but we went worse in this area than we did last year.

'Tackles' on their own are a very misleading stat, that do not accurately reflect defensive pressure. Most clubs don't even look at total tackle numbers, but have a more detailed breakdown of pressure acts. Have you noticed that West Coast are the next lowest in tackles this year? Nobody would accuse them of playing 'bruise-free football'. Similarly, Fremantle are well in the bottom 8 for tackles as well - and they are renowned for their pressure. There have been games this year where our defensive efforts have been poor, but overall we have been very good in this area, hence why we concede some of the lowest scores in the competition.

 

[Ralll]

It shows the versatility Grigg has, he can play the outside seagull role so well and then switch to an inside role and hardly miss a beat.
Hes a smart footballer.

 

[TJTIGER]

I think it shows that Grigg doesn't mind getting down & dirty, should it be what the team needs. Good stuff, Grigga !!

 

[ReaperX]

I think the stat we should focus on is the fact we came 15th or 16th for tackles in the whole comp.
Bruise free footy is what we are accused of and who can blame people for saying it.
I didn't think it would be possible but we went worse in this area than we did last year.

As for Griggy, yep the defensive side of his game has improved to a point where it should always have been at. I look at his last year at Carlton and hes no different now to what he was then. It has taken us 5 years to get him up to a good well rounded standard.

As for tackling only being applicable when doing a role i disagree. It is a basic of the game that should be done well by every player we have.It is an area we are poor in as a whole. If our players aren't averaging at the very least three tackles a game they are not doing their job imo. Our forwards in particular are terrible in this area.

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/fts_team_rankings?type=TA&year=2015&sby=6

On the pure numbers, we're 17th for tackles, just above Carlton in 18th.

However, the 3 main premiership contenders come in at 12th (Hawthorn, who finished 3rd), 16th (West Coast, who finished 2nd), and 13th (Fremantle, who finished 1st) in this category. Sydney is the exception to the rule, they are 3rd in tackling, but that has always been a strength of their current squad, it doesn't make them any more of a threat against the other 3 or 4 top sides in the competition.

Meanwhile, at the top of the tackling numbers, you have the number 1 tackling team (Port Adelaide, who finished 9th), 2nd in tackling (Collingwood, who finished 12th), 4th in tackling (Melbourne, who finished 13th), and 5th in tackling (St. Kilda, who finished 14th).

Tackling is important to a degree, but generally speaking, the stats suggest that it's the teams who aren't winning the ball as much, are the ones with the higher tackling numbers.

And as somebody previously said, the pure tackling numbers don't take into account a solid defensive pressure setup either, nor do they indicate a team's physicality at the contest.

 

[mopsy]

'Tackles' on their own are a very misleading stat, that do not accurately reflect defensive pressure. Most clubs don't even look at total tackle numbers, but have a more detailed breakdown of pressure acts. Have you noticed that West Coast are the next lowest in tackles this year? Nobody would accuse them of playing 'bruise-free football'. Similarly, Fremantle are well in the bottom 8 for tackles as well - and they are renowned for their pressure. There have been games this year where our defensive efforts have been poor, but overall we have been very good in this area, hence why we concede some of the lowest scores in the competition.

I agree any stat in isolation can be misleading. I still maintain we are a poor tackling side and don't apply enough defensive pressure across the board.
It is the biggest single reason why i have never thought us a realistic chance of winning a flag. It is something that can be fixed and has nothing to do with talent. It is one of the few areas i am actually scathing of the coaches and footy dept. We are 17th for tackles in the comp only the wooden spoon rabble Carlton are behind us in this area. It is without a doubt a weakness and an area that has to improve significantly.

 

[ReaperX]

I agree any stat in isolation can be misleading. I still maintain we are a poor tackling side and don't apply enough defensive pressure across the board.
It is the biggest single reason why i have never thought us a realistic chance of winning a flag. It is something that can be fixed and has nothing to do with talent. It is one of the few areas i am actually scathing of the coaches and footy dept. We are 17th for tackles in the comp only the wooden spoon rabble Carlton are behind us in this area. It is without a doubt a weakness and an area that has to improve significantly.

This theory doesn't make sense when you look at the numbers though, we are the 3rd best defensive team in the league for Points Against.

Yes, some stats can be taken out of context and spun a certain way, but what the team concedes in actual scores against is a pretty good indication of how good a team is at defending, and we're one of the very best at it in reality.

We're not a great tackling side, but we don't really need to be in order for our game-plan to work. And our game-plan has beaten Hawthorn, Fremantle, and Sydney during the season, and only came up JUST short against the Eagles.

In my opinion, it would be more than logical to suggest that our tackling numbers are not incredibly relevant to our premiership chances, at least compared to the "points against" column. Would you rather us be #1 or #2 at tackling, but be #17 for Points Against instead? Because the stats suggest that teams who are better at tacking, actually concede far more scores. Not sure if they are directly linked, in fact they're probably not, but still it's an interesting one.

 

[JAKLAUGHING]

The beauty of our game plan is that its not exhaustive... we last four quarters...

 

[Coach_Required]

I've been a big critic of Grigg since he came here but you cannot complain about his season this year. He has been very good and not the seagull good variety either he has been happy to get a few knocks in a contest in 2015. Just needs to keep it going.

 

[Big Unit 30]

****in Hell.
I've always referred to him as turnstile arms.

I'm absolutely amazed at this stat

 

[mcuzzy]

Defensive effort and contested composure on the ball were two things he really needed to improve.

Done and done.

Very important player who always seems to get called a dud by casual fans who either don't watch us play or they know nothing about footy.

 

[BILC]

Fantastic year from Grigga.

What's Andy Collins doing these days?

 

[jc12]

Grigga picked up 94 tackles for the home and away season, finishing 5 clear of Martin on 89.

Who would've picked that at the start of the year? He's really transformed his game this year and does a lot of good defensive work.

Also finished 3rd for clearances, 5th for contested possessions and 4th for hitouts. He's improved his contested work enormously since his outside seagull days.

he proved me wrong and i love it, never thought he was massive tackler, would be high in the BandF this year

 

[Marmik]

What is Griggs contract status?

 

[Wallaby]

This theory doesn't make sense when you look at the numbers though, we are the 3rd best defensive team in the league for Points Against.

Yes, some stats can be taken out of context and spun a certain way, but what the team concedes in actual scores against is a pretty good indication of how good a team is at defending, and we're one of the very best at it in reality.

We're not a great tackling side, but we don't really need to be in order for our game-plan to work. And our game-plan has beaten Hawthorn, Fremantle, and Sydney during the season, and only came up JUST short against the Eagles.

In my opinion, it would be more than logical to suggest that our tackling numbers are not incredibly relevant to our premiership chances, at least compared to the "points against" column. Would you rather us be #1 or #2 at tackling, but be #17 for Points Against instead? Because the stats suggest that teams who are better at tacking, actually concede far more scores. Not sure if they are directly linked, in fact they're probably not, but still it's an interesting one.

I have no idea what to make of tackle numbers. West Coast are -ve 300 tackles on the year. Freo are -ve 200. Hawthorn +ve 100. Essendon are +100.

If you look up the lowest scores for the season - the tackle numbers are not significant one way or the other. West Coast beat GWS 120-33 - and GWS had more tackles.

I'm coming around to the thought that if you play well and have your defensive structures in place - you don't tackle much. Tackling is what you need to do as a last resort when the opposition have broken your structures and you are chasing.
Sure, there are tackles in contested situations, ball-ups etc. Sydney have high tackle numbers for and against - due to the congested game plan. But the numbers here are relevant to the games style rather than pressure.

I don't know what tackle numbers mean - but I think as a stat it is pretty useless. It needs more work to be useful. How does Grigg - an obvious outside player - become our leading tackler? We (public and commentators) have no real idea about what tackle numbers mean.

 

[TJTIGER]

Seems tackling as a stat on it's own can mean any number of things. Has to be considered with other stats & game style. Our game style is spot on as far a decreasing rotations go. Full ground team defence, shares the load more & takes care of players overall......

There have been 1 or 2 things Grigga has said that leads me to believe that he prefers the inside game as well ( or at least a better balance). I think the calls on him being a seagull have been harsh and I think as we get more youth (outside run) he'll continue on with the role he's been playing this year as a more mature body (IMHO)....