Can Chris Dawes keep it up?

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C

Cheapies

Debutant
Jun 10, 2010
107
0
Sir Hurley's Pants
AFL Club
Essendon
I noticed Dawes has been off chops in the first 2 weeks. I thought hes always had the potential to be extremely dangerous:

1) huge bloke
2) not to bad a ground level
3) Good Kick
4) Good hands
5) Has amazing delivery into the FWD line.

Last year didn't have a massive affect, a few games were good but too irregular. Seemed to lack a bit against the top teams.

Seeing as you played 2, hmm lets say below average contenders, teams do you reckon he can keep it up?

continue to rack it up and kick goals?

will the presence of so many goal kickers mean his contribution will stay relatively low?

and perform against the strong teams?

Hes got the potential to really give your team that unbeatable edge.

Please refrain from any Collingwood Bias, would love some honest and insightful replies.

Cheers
 
Cheapies said:
I noticed Dawes has been off chops in the first 2 weeks. I thought hes always had the potential to be extremely dangerous:

1) huge bloke
2) not to bad a ground level
3) Good Kick
4) Good hands
5) Has amazing delivery into the FWD line.

Last year didn't have a massive affect, a few games were good but too irregular. Seemed to lack a bit against the top teams.

Seeing as you played 2, hmm lets say below average contenders, teams do you reckon he can keep it up?

continue to rack it up and kick goals?

will the presence of so many goal kickers mean his contribution will stay relatively low?

and perform against the strong teams?

Hes got the potential to really give your team that unbeatable edge.

Please refrain from any Collingwood Bias, would love some honest and insightful replies.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes he was inconsistent last year but i wont go as far to say that he couldnt stand up in the big games his grand finals where okay for a young one.

Can he keep up the good form only time will tell i've been thinking about this a lot during the off season and so far his delivered but we haven't versed any good teams yet and it may be a while before he gets a good defender put on him.
 
Mars II said:
Yes he was inconsistent last year but i wont go as far to say that he couldnt stand up in the big games his grand finals where okay for a young one.

Can he keep up the good form only time will tell i've been thinking about this a lot during the off season and so far his delivered but we haven't versed any good teams yet and it may be a while before he gets a good defender put on him.
Click to expand...

Yeah his grand final was good ill give him that, but apart from that his season games againts geelong and saints i think were pretty average.

Just the question of standing up in good games i guess
 

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If u were thinking about putting him in ur DT/SC I'd suggest u wait. Not only is he a key forward but is still quite young in terms of games played.

EDIT: Turns out mum will pay for me to get a number on my jumper, but only if its Dawesy. She loves him lol.
 
thecig said:
If u were thinking about putting him in ur DT/SC I'd suggest u wait. Not only is he a key forward but is still quite young in terms of games played.

EDIT: Turns out mum will pay for me to get a number on my jumper, but only if its Dawesy. She loves him lol.
Click to expand...

The 40k rise he faces in price says .. perhaps now is the optimal price to get him.
 
Ed D has nailed it. It is his overhead marking that has improved out of sight. This was always his biggest weakness, even for much of last year, and the biggest factor holding him back as a player. It used to be that a good defender would have him covered in the air if played deep. Or if he played up the ground the opposition would put a more mobile medium sized defender on him as he wasn't an aerial threat and exploit him that way. I was a big Dawes doubter but now that he has addressed this weakness in his game I can't see why he won't continue to have a good year.
 
I remember Dawes did an article either early last year or late 2009, where he stated overhead marking was his best attribute...before he did his knee...a nd that he had been working hard on his ground work while getting confidence back in the damaged joint.

I'll try and dig it up if I can find it.
 
I think he can keep it up and improve substantially. Think Paddy Ryder (same age) only with more presence and upside.
 
As Ed D and Q ball have mentioned. Although I'd go a step further I think the biggest improvement in his game has just been his ability to contest in the air. He was very poor in the air and quiet often had the ball belted out of the general vicinity or slip straight over the top, or run straight under the flight without getting a hand on the ball.

He has addressed this which means even if he gets beaten by a defender he will still provide a solid aerial target and contribute to the structure in a more meaningful way.

As a player his importance has grown out of sight and I think he will be the sort of player who contributes in a meaningful way even if he doesn't have huge stats.

I have a sneaky suspicion this is a supercoach based question to which I'd say I still expect him to have games where he is well held. The nature of the fowardline and modern football means that if he is being held he may will be asked to play a sacrificial role to either create space or be a deep target.

With the above said he may well score very highly on a week to week basis. One thing Dawes has always had is very good ability below his knees. With his improved aerial contesting ability he is going to get a massive amount of ball even when he is spoiled simply because if the ball drops front and center he is a huge chance to crumb his own drop. For that reason he will still be able to get some good stats in games where he isn't playing brilliantly. His kicking for goal is very sound too.
 
Pie eyed said:
I remember Dawes did an article either early last year or late 2009, where he stated overhead marking was his best attribute...before he did his knee...a nd that he had been working hard on his ground work while getting confidence back in the damaged joint.

I'll try and dig it up if I can find it.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is that Dawes was an absolute man child. There would have been very few guys his age with the mobility, strength and size to go with him. Which meant that he'd be able to win a huge amount of contested marks with sheer size. In the AFL whilst still a brute that size and strength advantage isn't as great so there is a greater emphasise on sound hands and technique. I maybe wrong but I think his marking would have struggled as he tried to adapt to the change to competiting against men regardless of the injury.
 

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shawthing09 said:
The problem with that is that Dawes was an absolute man child. There would have been very few guys his age with the mobility, strength and size to go with him. Which meant that he'd be able to win a huge amount of contested marks with sheer size. In the AFL whilst still a brute that size and strength advantage isn't as great so there is a greater emphasise on sound hands and technique. I maybe wrong but I think his marking would have struggled as he tried to adapt to the change to competiting against men regardless of the injury.
Click to expand...

Tomahawk was also a manchild in the same team and tearing it up. He hasn't come on as hoped and Dawes has had more hurdles. I think his self confidence was the biggest issue with his marking. Everything was a chest mark. Now he has the confidence to take them in his hands. If he gets close to Trav Clokes marking prowess, he'll be unbelievable.
 
To the OP bear in mind that he was the leading goalkicker in the NAB cup as well, they may have only been practice matches but he kicked 9 goals from 3 games. That's 15 goals from his first 5 games in 2011 so he's been very consistent and really does look on track for a 60+ goal season barring injury. It'll be a tough ask for any team to keep him under 2 goals a week this season because of his sheer size, mobility and the volume of inside 50's we have.

I'm very excited at the prospect of playing Richmond in round 4 now they've lost Mcguane and Rance through suspension which leaves them with only Thursfield, Post and Goudis as options for Cloke and Dawes, it could get ugly.
 
shawthing09 said:
The problem with that is that Dawes was an absolute man child. There would have been very few guys his age with the mobility, strength and size to go with him. Which meant that he'd be able to win a huge amount of contested marks with sheer size. In the AFL whilst still a brute that size and strength advantage isn't as great so there is a greater emphasise on sound hands and technique. I maybe wrong but I think his marking would have struggled as he tried to adapt to the change to competiting against men regardless of the injury.
Click to expand...

I only commented because this was what Dawes himself had said specifically regarding his marking, his injury and his own confidence in his marking.
The comment was made after his AFL debut and after a year in the VFL.

It makes sense his development of more strength and confidence in the knee which he saw as the reason for the lack of overhead marking ability after the injury, could possibly be the reason his overhead marking has improved to the point that we are now discussing it here...don't you think?
Far be it from me to accept the actual players opinion on the subject when we all obviously have a better idea of the background of the injury and his skill levels prior.:rolleyes:
 
Dawes has really surprised me I would say he is a good AFL player now who is reasonably consistent. Watching him in the 2's last year I was impressed with his leadership and ground skills but when he went in the 1's he far exceeded my expectations.

As a person he has a good head on his shoulders and I think will get the best out of his ability. Does that mean he becomes a superstar? I dont know or just a handy solid key forward.

He is a good player to compare with your own Gumbleton, who finally had some luck with injuries and had a reasonable break out year last year and will hopefully get some more luck to see how good he can be. There is an upside in both players but both have taken a while to find their feet.

Up until last year I was gutted we did not take Tippet but am now happy with our decision to recruit him even if Tippett ends up the better player.
 
Dawes would have gone in the first ten in the 2006 draft but for his knee (he was pick 28 after Reid and Brown at 8 and 10). In fact, although he's been in the system for four years, he's only played 32 games; he's at the beginning of his AFL career proper. He's at the same point Reid and Brown are. He'll ebb and flow but I believe he'll pass Travis next year and go on to be the equal of Brown and Franklin in time. Lead forwards can be like exciteable thoroughbreds; highly strung and taking a lot of time, but on their day unbeatable. :thumbsu::)
 
For a man of his size, his work at ground level is just phenomenal. Most tall forwards really struggle once the ball hits the deck but this is where I think Dawes is quite unique. He won't only keep the footy in front of him but will also pick it up clean as a whistle and dispose it into space for a running player.

Go back and watch his Grand Finals from last year. May have only had about 10-15 touches but the stats that weren't counted had him in my top 3 best on ground. The man is a freak. The old man loves him.
 
Been saying since pre-season that he'll kick 60 this year, and if he can, that's MORE than fine for us.

A 60 goal a year forward in our current team, is as good as an 80-100 goal full forward for most other teams.
 
I think Dawes said overhead marking was a technique thing where he wasn't taking the ball at the highest point, and that he was doing work on this to remedy it.

On the Supercoach thing, hmmm I'd probably say no. I suggest playing only a few key position players and surrounding them with midfielders.

If Dawes is to become a Supercoach keeper, then he would be a legitimate contender for All-Australian.

If Dawes ends up All-Australian this year and has any sort of decent finals series, you might as well hand over the cup there and then.
 

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Can Chris Dawes keep it up?

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