Toast Esava

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thejester said:
It's kind of amazing that his biggest weakness as a forward was his absolute refusal to mark the ball and that disappeared the second he moved down back.
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It's in large part due to not having to think about where to run to (which you need to as a forward) and just being able to react to the opposition kicking it near you.
 
catempire said:
It's in large part due to not having to think about where to run to (which you need to as a forward) and just being able to react to the opposition kicking it near you.
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And the fact that 9 times out of 10 as a forward your teammates are targeting Tom Hawkins and your sole job is to stay out of his way.
 
catempire said:
It's in large part due to not having to think about where to run to (which you need to as a forward) and just being able to react to the opposition kicking it near you.
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Allowing the game to come to him instead of going out and meeting it might be the best thing for him.
 

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catempire said:
It's in large part due to not having to think about where to run to (which you need to as a forward) and just being able to react to the opposition kicking it near you.
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But even then, I feel like he got into strong positions fairly frequently and simply spilled the mark. Thinking about it more I wonder if it's just that the ball at speed, out in front is difficult, and in defence you often take them when you're moving much slower.
 
thejester said:
But even then, I feel like he got into strong positions fairly frequently and simply spilled the mark. Thinking about it more I wonder if it's just that the ball at speed, out in front is difficult, and in defence you often take them when you're moving much slower.
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Yes I don't think his marking is good on the lead but is much better under a high ball. That might be the speed of it or just how he likes to run and jump "up" at it.
 
standupand said:
Why wouldn't he take the no 1 key forward? As far as I can see, his weakness as a defender is that he isn't an excellent user by foot. Playing a lock-down role gives our other players in the back 6 more freedom to set up attacking plays.
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SDK and Kolo are better lock down defenders. Actually, just thinking about the 2 times I've seen Sav (so could be wrong here), he looks like he's been playing more loose man in defense, so might not need to lock down anyone.
 
I reckon part of it is that Ratugolea never quite adjusted to our slightly longer kicks into F50 compared to the VFL. As a forward he kept running under the ball at AFL level and watching it sail over his head. In defence, the opposition's kicks tend to be a bit up and under because our midfield is good at applying pressure that way, and sticking with an opponent rather than leading away from him means less likelihood of getting caught running under the ball.
 
Jimmy Yamazaki said:
SDK and Kolo are better lock down defenders. Actually, just thinking about the 2 times I've seen Sav (so could be wrong here), he looks like he's been playing more loose man in defense, so might not need to lock down anyone.
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That's a worry. I didn't see the last match sim. But even as a huge fan of Sav's I can't see how he adds value to the team playing as a loose man in defence unless he also does things like break lines.
For the record I still think his best position is forward and could still make it there. I prefer to see creative ball-users in the back half.
 
My 2c given Henry & Hawkins

Send Sav to the main man each week. Keep it simple. Purely lockdown and release to the first option. Allow SDK and Kolo to be the spare and third man up. They’ll read things better and rebound far more effectively.

Give the lad an extended run and show some confidence in him. May play into our hands somewhat that teams may become centric towards the Kings, Lynch, Daniher et al and let’s be honest they could kick bags on SDK on a given day no matter how good he plays.

May not work but I think it’s worth a shot.

Personally I like it when Blicavs drifts forward or in patches could play that forward/ruck role, Stanley through the middle and Esava rucking down back.

Think it’ll be a week to week horses for courses scenario either way should be an interesting watch.
 
supahoops said:
My 2c given Henry & Hawkins

Send Sav to the main man each week. Keep it simple. Purely lockdown and release to the first option. Allow SDK and Kolo to be the spare and third man up. They’ll read things better and rebound far more effectively.

Give the lad an extended run and show some confidence in him. May play into our hands somewhat that teams may become centric towards the Kings, Lynch, Daniher et al and let’s be honest they could kick bags on SDK on a given day no matter how good he plays.

May not work but I think it’s worth a shot.

Personally I like it when Blicavs drifts forward or in patches could play that forward/ruck role, Stanley through the middle and Esava rucking down back.

Think it’ll be a week to week horses for courses scenario either way should be an interesting watch.
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supahoops I think you're underestimating just how good some of the leading forwards in the game are, they're outstanding players for a reason and it's not as simple as having someone like Sav matching up on some of these guys and locking them down, especially when SDK already as a youngster has at the very least held his own and I dare say in most cases has won the majority of battles, which includes against the 200cm plus giant forwards of the game, Sav would struggle against many of these 'tall top forwards'. My call is for a horses for courses approach with the best SDK match-ups going to SDK with a already proven track record, then work our way down from there. This under no circumstances does not prohibit Sav from playing a important part or role if he's given the opportunity to do so, in fact I'm very confident if given enough games and time in the back-half that he can go on and be a excellent AFL footballer.
 

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Hamingja said:
The thing that gives me the fear with Sav down back is his ground ball work. He is agile but he takes forever to get a handpass off after picking it up. A walking HTB is not something you want in the D50.
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Agree, but his field kicking is just average for a big man, not terrible like his set shot. He gets decent distance at least, so if he turns it over its not too bad. Gonna be fascinating to see how it goes- i've been pretty harsh on him since last year but hopefull to be proven wrong.
 
I have always been super harsh on Sav as a forward and especially as a ruckman.

I’d put a line completely through his name... but ill admit from the moment he went back he has looked solid.

Still a very small sample size though.

He has shown he can intercept, so we can tick that off for him.

Next for mine will be to defend well against quality forwards and hamper their game.

If he can intercept mark and hold his own against good forwards then it’s a very good start and he can build from there.

Our list is not stacked with 200cm key backs that can intercept (and hopefully out power key forwards in one on ones) so as much as I hated him in the ruck, I’m very happy to let him learn and improve as a key back.

Mal Michael mk2.

Liam Jones was a talented athlete but looked completely lost as a forward... I’m pretty sure a line had been put through him also... well they said stuff it and tried him as a back as a last resort and he flourished.

Fingers crossed Sav does the same.
 
D BRIDGE said:
I have always been super harsh on Sav as a forward and especially as a ruckman.

I’d put a line completely through his name... but ill admit from the moment he went back he has looked solid.

Still a very small sample size though.

He has shown he can intercept, so we can tick that off for him.

Next for mine will be to defend well against quality forwards and hamper their game.

If he can intercept mark and hold his own against good forwards then it’s a very good start and he can build from there.

Our list is not stacked with 200cm key backs that can intercept (and hopefully out power key forwards in one on ones) so as much as I hated him in the ruck, I’m very happy to let him learn and improve as a key back.

Mal Michael mk2.

Liam Jones was a talented athlete but looked completely lost as a forward... I’m pretty sure a line had been put through him also... well they said stuff it and tried him as a back as a last resort and he flourished.

Fingers crossed Sav does the same.
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Anybody recall this- he was so bored and frustrated with the ball being locked in his defensive zone...
 
Sav most definately was playing on a man and wasn’t loose (Stewart was). However any ball that’s in the air, Sav is there to contest and either bring it to ground or mark it. Sometimes that means peeling off your man.

I thought he did a fantastic job against the Hawks. I think the comparison is Lonergan who was very safe with the ball and just beat his man.
 
Strange Cat said:
I think the Mal Michaels comparison is spot on …obviously not on the same level but as far as their careers went it’s pretty similar

Have to say enjoyed watching Mal back in the day …hell the whole lions side was enjoyable to watch
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agree- loved watching them, particularly the Aker show. That whole team was so good.
 
Hamingja said:
The thing that gives me the fear with Sav down back is his ground ball work. He is agile but he takes forever to get a handpass off after picking it up. A walking HTB is not something you want in the D50.
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Short memories... ?? Blitz did that more often than people realise in his first couple of years. Bews another one. Kolo ditto.
It's part of evolution and maturity in the position of being in the defensive 50m arc.
Give him 2 season and then we'll get a better idea of his awareness.. or lack of it.
Cheers H
 
I knew his contested marking would be great down there. I was worried about kicking errors and defensive agility on the top level forwards. I thought he defended well against some good forwards last night. He is playing safe with his kicking, a bit like Lonergan used to.

Working with Cameron all summer has no doubt been good for him. Because as far as key forwards go, he would be Esava’s worst match up in the league.
 

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