Have we diverted from the plan?

[axel2cotch2lids]

This is going to sound like a bit of a player bashing and too an extent its correct but I am also concerned that we have diverted ever so slightly from the plan.

The last 2 weeks I have been watching Ricky Petterd and I can't help but think we are beginning to divert from our recruiting plan.

I thought when the new regime came in that one of the non-negotiable's for all new recruits was being able to dispose of the football by foot.

Then we get in Petterd and place him in a key role delivering football out of the back half. Ricky also ducked his head three times going back for the marks against Collingwood, all of which he dropped resulting in Collingwood goals. I don't see what the coaching staff is seeing. I just don't see it.

He was an okay half-forward for Melbourne, but missing a shot on goal, or dropping a mark in the F50 doesn't have the same repercussions as turning over the football with poor kicking from D50 or dropping marks in D50.

 

[Dyerstraits]

Just started back playing AFL after a long injury stint and playing a new position in a new team, premature to judge him harshly.

 

[Bojangles17]

tbh I dont think petterd is at the root of our problems last night, he was far from our least effective player, questions need to be asked why is it we extracted so little from a couple of fellas that sit well within our top 5 players, perhaps 10-20% more from them may have made all the difference

 

[Thrice3]

The guy certainly can take a grab and can make good decisions with handballs. As soon as hes marked it, he has an option on that he has about 3 seconds to pull the trigger on, but I think he tries to wait for a better option that never comes and just ends up going down the line and kicking to a contest between 8 people which we always seem to LOSE! It happened so many times last night, played right into Fremantle's hands. He's got some good potential to work with but **** me he really needs to improve his decision making when it comes to disposing by foot.

 

[_RT_]

Harsh to be saying his disposal is lacking when he is going at 72.3% effective disposal for the season. That's better than Conca Grigg Martin Jackson Edwards Tuck Knights Cotchin and Riewoldt. Oh and before someone says yeah but he doesn't have a heap of contested possessions to put pressure on his disposal nearly 1/3 of his disposals have been won in a contested situation.

 

[Mr Magic]

This is going to sound like a bit of a player bashing and too an extent its correct but I am also concerned that we have diverted ever so slightly from the plan.

The last 2 weeks I have been watching Ricky Petterd and I can't help but think we are beginning to divert from our recruiting plan.

I thought when the new regime came in that one of the non-negotiable's for all new recruits was being able to dispose of the football by foot.

Then we get in Petterd and place him in a key role delivering football out of the back half. Ricky also ducked his head three times going back for the marks against Collingwood, all of which he dropped resulting in Collingwood goals. I don't see what the coaching staff is seeing. I just don't see it.

He was an okay half-forward for Melbourne, but missing a shot on goal, or dropping a mark in the F50 doesn't have the same repercussions as turning over the football with poor kicking from D50 or dropping marks in D50.

Petterd has superior disposal and decision making with ball in hand than most peers. Also he is a better mark and wins the ball more... WTF???

His agility and poise compared to others is why we are a better team

 

[Rayzorwire]

Harsh to be saying his disposal is lacking when he...

Had six clangers, did very little positive with the ball again and kicked like Wayne Campbell has been giving him personal lessons in how to kick the ball so it provides maximum opportunity for the opposition to kill whichever poor bugger has to wait under the ball?

About the only good thing you could say about his game, was that it probably wasn't as bad as yet another anonymous effort from Newman.

As for the OP, I agree axel, though as I've expressed before, I think we've deviated way more than a little on the score of ONLY getting in good ball users.

I think Hardwick and our football department in general vastly underestimated the reality of how long it would take to get his new draftees to a point of being able to run games out well enough to genuinely compete. He obviously realised that he had to prioritise full game run over his previously idealistic notions of perfect delivery from skilled ball users after year two and our recruiting and drafting since has strongly reflected that fact. I think you'll find that if you asked him back when he drafted a bloke like Helbig, he thought he'd be well on the way to being an established player by now. Instead, he may well be forced to play a bloke like Lonergan ahead of him, because he can actually get the footy and run, not because he can use the ball well.

'Good' disposal is the biggest irrelevancy in football when you can't get the ball and you can't run out a full game. We began adjusting the that harsh reality in the pre-season before year three and we're still playing catch-up to some extent, hence another new batch of mature recruits, where 'skilled ball user' is a desirable quality, certainly not the essential quality it was painted as when Hardwick took over.