Universal Love Brad Close

[goyoucatters]

Bump.

This guy is relentless. BOG last week and a decent part of a massive come back this week.

It's already apparent he was almost entirely wasted playing closer to goal. Looks to me to be the epitome of Springsteen's signature track...

 

[catempire]

Breakout year. Love him.

 

[year of the cat]

Smart player. One touch. Needs to hit the scoreboard more consistently but the last fortnight that appears to be a part of his game that could be improving. Handy duo with Stengle.

 

[Hinkley29]

How about his shimmy, roving of packs, snaps on goals.

he is weak to non existent in all. Lucky he doesn’t play foward pocket.


oh sh*t.


close should build up his fitness and aim to become a mid. It might suit him better.

Egg cleaner required for Seeds face

 

[Seeds]

Egg cleaner required for Seeds face

Cos he is playing better then last season? My comments were about last season. And he hasn't suddenly found new found talent. He ain't showing any signs of being a line breaker or snapping goals on a regular basis with high goal kicking nous. Instead his hesitation problem seems to have disappeared this year and he is playing much better as a result. Getting the most out of his talent which he wasn't last year cos everytime he got near the goals he got stage fright.

There ain't much higher for him to go talent wise though. He ain't ever going to be an a grader. Or b pluser for that matter. But he is now looking like a good solid half forward flanker with good defensive efforts and an ability to get the ball out with kick hands. His spot in the starting side is no longer questionable.

 

[Hinkley29]

Cos he is playing better then last season? My comments were about last season. And he hasn't suddenly found new found talent. Instead his hesitation problem seems to have disappeared this year and he is playing much better as a result.

There ain't much higher for him to go talent wise though. He ain't ever going to be an a grader. Or b pluser for that matter. But he is now looking like a good solid half forward flanker whose spot in the starting side is no longer questionable.

You ain’t a good judge of talent. Or you ain’t able to admit when you are wrong. Cos he has been in our best 5 players so far this year, and he has clearly taken a step forward.

I think from memory you were heavily critical of his finishing and lacks of goals? You clearly ain’t been watching the last few weeks, cos he ain’t been missing when given the opportunity in front of goal.

Egg cleaner desperately needed.

 

[catempire]

Seeds is never wrong. Players just start playing like he said they should all along.

 

[Warhorse]

Egg cleaner required for Seeds face

Seeds is never wrong. Players just start playing like he said they should all along.

Seeds made the suggestion that Close needs to be further up the ground. Seeds was 100% correct.

 

[Warhorse]

You ain’t a good judge of talent. Or you ain’t able to admit when you are wrong. Cos he has been in our best 5 players so far this year, and he has clearly taken a step forward.

I think from memory you were heavily critical of his finishing and lacks of goals? You clearly ain’t been watching the last few weeks, cos he ain’t been missing when given the opportunity in front of goal.

Egg cleaner desperately needed.

I don't think you understand the role change in the team. He is playing much more outside as a link player - as evidenced by the lowest contested possession count on the ground

Playing further away from goal allows him to work into space for shots. when he is played as a permanent forward pocket he struggles big time with the close checking and lack of space.

Scott actually deserves credit in recognizing this and using his strengths to the benefit of the team

 

[DanA]

I don’t get how you can think he’s reached his ceiling. He’s still got 5kg of muscle to add.

Regardless, he’s become a very reliable and creative ball user and big plus this season.

 

[Seeds]

Seeds is never wrong. Players just start playing like he said they should all along.

No ive been wrong. I thought matt scarlett was a dud. and kane tenace was going to have a long future. I even briefly thought ryan gamble was going to be a gun.

 

[calder_daddy]

Cos he is playing better then last season? My comments were about last season. And he hasn't suddenly found new found talent. He ain't showing any signs of being a line breaker or snapping goals on a regular basis with high goal kicking nous. Instead his hesitation problem seems to have disappeared this year and he is playing much better as a result. Getting the most out of his talent which he wasn't last year cos everytime he got near the goals he got stage fright.

There ain't much higher for him to go talent wise though. He ain't ever going to be an a grader. Or b pluser for that matter. But he is now looking like a good solid half forward flanker with good defensive efforts and an ability to get the ball out with kick hands. His spot in the starting side is no longer questionable.

You ain’t a good judge of talent. Or you ain’t able to admit when you are wrong. Cos he has been in our best 5 players so far this year, and he has clearly taken a step forward.

I think from memory you were heavily critical of his finishing and lacks of goals? You clearly ain’t been watching the last few weeks, cos he ain’t been missing when given the opportunity in front of goal.

Egg cleaner desperately needed.

I almost had an aneurysm seeing the word ain’t used so many times incorrectly.

I ain’t built for that

 

[Seeds]

You ain’t a good judge of talent. Or you ain’t able to admit when you are wrong. Cos he has been in our best 5 players so far this year, and he has clearly taken a step forward.

I think from memory you were heavily critical of his finishing and lacks of goals? You clearly ain’t been watching the last few weeks, cos he ain’t been missing when given the opportunity in front of goal.

Egg cleaner desperately needed.

being a good judge of talent and failing to admit mistakes is two different things. You can be both or neither.

and no im not a good judge of talent. Im just willing to admit obvious weaknesses in certain players that for some reason others arent willing to publically accept.

three big gripes with close with goal scoring. His unwillingness to take a shot. His lack of goal nous. His lack of speed/agility compared with other deep foward pockets.

he appears to be fixing the first problem this year. He aint hesitating like he was last year so now he is kicking some goals. The other two problems are still weaknesses for the foward pocket role. I doubt his lack of goal nous can be fixed with time and his speed/agility certainly wont be. Playing higher up the ground is where i think he is better suited as a high half foward. And maybe some midfield time as well. Like stokes in his later years. i mentioned this many times last year. Utilise his quick handball strength. Not deep foward pocket.

 

[catstragic]

There ain't much higher for him to go talent wise though. He ain't ever going to be an a grader. Or b pluser for that matter.

Legit confused by this. He's played 33 games, already looks a gun and no way he is near the peak of his ability. Even if nothing else changes he will be much stronger with better endurance in 2-3 years, and he is already at least a B+ player just on output, even this early in his career.

 

[catstragic]

I don't think you understand the role change in the team. He is playing much more outside as a link player - as evidenced by the lowest contested possession count on the ground

Playing further away from goal allows him to work into space for shots. when he is played as a permanent forward pocket he struggles big time with the close checking and lack of space.

Scott actually deserves credit in recognizing this and using his strengths to the benefit of the team

He looks so much better working through the mids into the forward line than he does running out of it. Gives great defensive pressure without the ball too. He may have the sleaziest mustachio of all time but becoming one of my favourite players.

 

[feelinfeline]

being a good judge of talent and failing to admit mistakes is two different things. You can be both or neither.

and no im not a good judge of talent. Im just willing to admit obvious weaknesses in certain players that for some reason others arent willing to publically accept.

three big gripes with close with goal scoring. His unwillingness to take a shot. His lack of goal nous. His lack of speed/agility compared with other deep foward pockets.

he appears to be fixing the first problem this year. He aint hesitating like he was last year so now he is kicking some goals. The other two problems are still weaknesses for the foward pocket role. I doubt his lack of goal nous can be fixed with time and his speed/agility certainly wont be. Playing higher up the ground is where i think he is better suited as a high half foward. And maybe some midfield time as well. Like stokes in his later years. i mentioned this many times last year. Utilise his quick handball strength. Not deep foward pocket.

Lacking speed? I think all the players he's run down this year may disagree.

 

[My Tilly]

being a good judge of talent and failing to admit mistakes is two different things. You can be both or neither.

and no im not a good judge of talent. Im just willing to admit obvious weaknesses in certain players that for some reason others arent willing to publically accept.

three big gripes with close with goal scoring. His unwillingness to take a shot. His lack of goal nous. His lack of speed/agility compared with other deep foward pockets.

he appears to be fixing the first problem this year. He aint hesitating like he was last year so now he is kicking some goals. The other two problems are still weaknesses for the foward pocket role. I doubt his lack of goal nous can be fixed with time and his speed/agility certainly wont be. Playing higher up the ground is where i think he is better suited as a high half foward. And maybe some midfield time as well. Like stokes in his later years. i mentioned this many times last year. Utilise his quick handball strength. Not deep foward pocket.

I'll admit Seeds, I did not think Close had that much upside in his game but the way he started this year has been terrific. I know he's got some easy goals but that is through his work rate and reading of the play as it unfolds.
He was very quiet on the weekend but he did do some nice things in the final quarter.

These guys are so crucial to our long term plans.
If Close can become a Cam Guthrie (or similar), and we have the projected trajectory of Sam De Koning as a potential All Australian KPD, Holmes, Stephens etc, we are going to snag another superstar in the coming decade, and that could really get us back into contention again.

 

[Seeds]

Lacking speed? I think all the players he's run down this year may disagree.

Lacking speed for a foward pocket. Not for a midfielder.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

I'll admit Seeds, I did not think Close had that much upside in his game but the way he started this year has been terrific. I know he's got some easy goals but that is through his work rate and reading of the play as it unfolds.
He was very quiet on the weekend but he did do some nice things in the final quarter.

These guys are so crucial to our long term plans.
If Close can become a Cam Guthrie (or similar), and we have the projected trajectory of Sam De Koning as a potential All Australian KPD, Holmes, Stephens etc, we are going to snag another superstar in the coming decade, and that could really get us back into contention again.

This is where a potential drop down the ladder (even if only for a season) would work in our favour if unintentionally timed right, in picking up that generational elite midfielder.
You simply don't get an Oliver-Walsh-Rowell outside the early first round.

 

[Ratcat]

Sometimes you wonder where the improvement might come from, well imo he's one we can place a big tick in that box!....Holmes is obvious as well, and then we have young SDK, we'd been crying out for another tall defender to matchup with Blitz.
We took a long while to get going against the Pies, but when we did we showed just how good we could be!

 

[Generalissimo]

You ain’t a good judge of talent. Or you ain’t able to admit when you are wrong.

Por que no los dos?

 

[BORIS332]

being a good judge of talent and failing to admit mistakes is two different things. You can be both or neither.

and no im not a good judge of talent. Im just willing to admit obvious weaknesses in certain players that for some reason others arent willing to publically accept.

three big gripes with close with goal scoring. His unwillingness to take a shot. His lack of goal nous. His lack of speed/agility compared with other deep foward pockets.

he appears to be fixing the first problem this year. He aint hesitating like he was last year so now he is kicking some goals. The other two problems are still weaknesses for the foward pocket role. I doubt his lack of goal nous can be fixed with time and his speed/agility certainly wont be. Playing higher up the ground is where i think he is better suited as a high half foward. And maybe some midfield time as well. Like stokes in his later years. i mentioned this many times last year. Utilise his quick handball strength. Not deep foward pocket.

He's a very good player. No player is devoid of weaknesses. Why look for the negative in everything and not just admit he's been very good? 7th in our B&F last year and his first three games indicate he's even better this season.

 

[BORIS332]

Lacking speed? I think all the players he's run down this year may disagree.

 

[BORIS332]

This is where a potential drop down the ladder (even if only for a season) would work in our favour if unintentionally timed right, in picking up that generational elite midfielder.
You simply don't get an Oliver-Walsh-Rowell outside the early first round.

Plenty of gun mids have been taken outside the first round: Parker (p40), Merrett (p26), Touk Miller (p29), Zorko (rookie), T.Kelly (p24), T.Mitchell (p21), etc. etc.

 

[Kitcat]

It was also obvious last season that the hesitancy of Close in taking a shot at goal was simply a lack of confidence. Now, deservedly, he has more confidence and is kicking more goals.