Ling to full forward

[Pure_Ownage]

Has anyone considered how dumb the Geelong's professional coaching staff would actually have to be before they suggest Ling should play FF?

He is way to slow, otherwise of course he would be used there, only last year he voted by the AFL Players as one of the best kicks for goal. The coaches know more than anyone about his kicking, they obv have a very good reason for not wanting to exploit it.

Also dont retire the guy yet, no-one has more will power to find a way through a form slump than this guy. His entire life all his wanted to do is play for Geelong.

But it's not about a form slump, it's about the fact that he is extremely slow and it's getting worse. If it were a form slump I'd be the first to tell people to get off his back, but that's because you can turn a form slump around, but if your body won't allow you to something (i.e. run at any sort of speed) anymore I don't see how you can turn that around. So unless he has an undisclosed injury that is the cause (of him rapidly slowing up), I would say the end is very near.

I agree with what you say about him playing forward though, he is way too slow for it to work. And to think some people think Pods is not agile enough

He really has to play to his strengths and limitations and cannot be fancy when he has the ball. I am thinking of a Luke Ball-type game, where he does not 'play the Geelong way' and look for dinky handballs after evading tacklers, but must play the percentages and go first option every time.

I would agree with that. Frankly I thought the speed of the game really would render Ball past it by about now, but they've been able to fashion a role for him where he can still contribute and his limitations aren't able to be exposed as much the other way. We need to do the same for the rest of the year, and if he can shovel the ball to the runners (as I've said you get the others near him) and not be forced to take on tacklers when he doesn't have the speed to do so, it could still be fine.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Actually the proposed interchange cap which looks certain for 2011 may buy him another year.

I would agree with that.

Not his fault either, he's a wonderful servant of the club, but if the game keeps getting quicker, it will hasten the end of his career, no doubt whatsoever.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

What about Hogan or Djerkurra? Both have the excellent athletic traits to get it done, both should be able to attack at the same time as tagging, and it means you retain the attacking abilities of a Bartel or a Kelly.

Hogan I think could do it if his body could be developed (obviously had the back injuries and limited pre season). I think Djerrkura could do it too but I don't know if he'll be here next year.

 

[doodl]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Should have been rested weeks ago when his back flared up. Those of us who have been around for a little while will remember how awful he was in '06 because his back really plagued him all year. He couldn't even turn quickly, just had to run straight forward all the time. The coaching/medical staff have been negligent in not resting him. Captain or not he needs a rest.

Bring Duncan in. He provides a real spark to our midfield and boy do they need it. It's all well and good to have a tagger when they can do the job but right now Ling is stopping noone. Not even Scott Dangleberry. Let alone your judds, Hodges, Swans etc.

Of all the currently underdone players we have we need to pull all the stops to get Ling right for a finals tilt IMO.

 

[Turbocat]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Hogan I think could do it if his body could be developed (obviously had the back injuries and limited pre season). I think Djerrkura could do it too but I don't know if he'll be here next year.

Looking at Weston in the V's , he struck me as a an ideal candidate for the role. 189cm , strong looking build , has reasonable speed and the skills to be dangerous the other way.

 

[d_henderson1810]

So that's Ling, Corey, Ottens, Rooke, MIlburn all possible retirements, +/- Wojo. Good way to free up funds and start again. Wojo still has it.

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Or free up funds and use it to offer Gary Ablett more to stay put!

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Looking at Weston in the V's , he struck me as a an ideal candidate for the role. 189cm , strong looking build , has reasonable speed and the skills to be dangerous the other way.

I see what you mean, but I have 2 issues with that:
1. Weston is quite raw, so unlikely to be ready in 12 months time, which is about all I think Linga can go for. In that sense Hogan or Djerrkura are better options.

2. We don't have a lot of young players with genuine speed on our list (hunt, weston, motlop and varcoe and that's about it) and the way the game is going I think you need those guys as linebreakers rather than putting such rare assets in tagging roles.

I reckon Hoges could go ok depending on his body and it would simplify the game for him and help with his major deficiency in that he is indecisive and tries to do too much. I really like Djerrkura as an option too, from what I have seen in the 2's, he can win his own ball, he can run all day, and gosh when he tackles people do they stay tackled. Now you would expect that given he's more developed in the body than our 19yo, but even so I have been impressed by it. We'll see what role he gets next year if he's still here.

 

[Turkey Tom]

Reminds me of the 'Scarlett to full forward' call from a few years ago. I think the coaching staff even foolish tried it.

Didn't think he did that bad a job on Pendlebury to be honest, and it wasn't that long ago he did a good job on Hodge. You stop Hodge you go a long way to stopping Hawthorn as the Swans proved last weekend.

 

[Sttew]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

What about Hogan or Djerkurra? Both have the excellent athletic traits to get it done, both should be able to attack at the same time as tagging, and it means you retain the attacking abilities of a Bartel or a Kelly.

Not bad!

 

[Sttew]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

What about Hogan or Djerkurra? Both have the excellent athletic traits to get it done, both should be able to attack at the same time as tagging, and it means you retain the attacking abilities of a Bartel or a Kelly.

Not bad!

 

[DO IT TO IT]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

play him on a suitable opponent

vs collingwood put him on ball, and boyd against the dogs for instance

 

[poopa trooper]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

play him on a suitable opponent

vs collingwood put him on ball, and boyd against the dogs for instance

would love to see Ling on Boyd. great challenge for Boyd to see if he can still get 30+ possessions (and have an influence) on a player i still consider to be the best tagger in the game.

 

[kanyewest]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Poopa Troopa, I'm guessing Ling on Boyd will probably happen this weekend. Rocket has said Cooney is unlikely to play, and I can't see him going to anyone else. Maybe Griffen? If he does, then those questioning his pace will certainly find out a lot more. Then again, Ling might not even play so who knows.

 

[Turbocat]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

I see what you mean, but I have 2 issues with that:
1. Weston is quite raw, so unlikely to be ready in 12 months time, which is about all I think Linga can go for. In that sense Hogan or Djerrkura are better options.

2. We don't have a lot of young players with genuine speed on our list (hunt, weston, motlop and varcoe and that's about it) and the way the game is going I think you need those guys as linebreakers rather than putting such rare assets in tagging roles.

I reckon Hoges could go ok depending on his body and it would simplify the game for him and help with his major deficiency in that he is indecisive and tries to do too much. I really like Djerrkura as an option too, from what I have seen in the 2's, he can win his own ball, he can run all day, and gosh when he tackles people do they stay tackled. Now you would expect that given he's more developed in the body than our 19yo, but even so I have been impressed by it. We'll see what role he gets next year if he's still here.

Pure , Djerrkura may be an option but i really do not see Hogan as legit shutdown player. Too light for my liking. My bias may be showing on him but I really doubt he would ever worry the Judd's and Swan's of the AFL

As far as Weston being raw , yes I agree.As far as I've seen their playing him more in the running role you have described but with his pace he could be a very useful addition in the middle especially if he could build to Rooke's shape and have that bleed "blue and white" attitude.

 

[vinum coupe]

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Or free up funds and use it to offer Gary Ablett more to stay put!

Gazza can get stuffed. Everyone is past him.

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[vinum coupe]

I've said for the past 2 years that Lingy was in trouble, and he keeps showing me up.
I still blame the 'handball out the back to Ling' in 06 as a major reason we were shit.

They've been trying Kelly in some tagging roles and it isn't working.

The cats are in a hard place. Ling won't look so slow when we are on top.
That wont happen in the finals.
And he probably needs to be freed up to run forward. I think it's a sign of a good tagger that you can create damage the other way.

Lingy is struggling to do this right now.

Put him at full forward ? ha ha ha ha ha ha

We're stuffed. Any suggestions on where I should plan my first mid September holiday in 4 years? Snows looking quite good actually.

 

[OldStyle2007]

Don't write the obituary yet....

They are changing the interchange rule
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/100109/default.aspx

If changes go thru, Lingy's endurance will be a strength again, and they won't just be able to use the i/change to circumvent the need for stamina

p.s. just one thing though - with the speed of the game I would like to see Lingy drop down one weight division, just to give himself the best chance to be as fast as possible

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

Pure , Djerrkura may be an option but i really do not see Hogan as legit shutdown player. Too light for my liking. My bias may be showing on him but I really doubt he would ever worry the Judd's and Swan's of the AFL

As far as Weston being raw , yes I agree.As far as I've seen their playing him more in the running role you have described but with his pace he could be a very useful addition in the middle especially if he could build to Rooke's shape and have that bleed "blue and white" attitude.

I agree, although Hogan has had injuries that have limited his ability to strengthen up his body so if injury free he might be able to do that.

On Djerrkura I've never understood why he hasn't been tried in the role. He has all the attributes strength wise, and he has a tackling mentality (which you need) and he's not slow either. The only knock could be the fact that his disposal can be a bit iffy at times but on Sunday it was pretty good. Thought he did fairly well in his debut games too so I'd certainly be more inclined to give him another year moreso than Gamble. I suppose we'll see what happens.

Either way I think we need to start developing a future tagging option because Ling can't go on forever.

 

[Thy Dukes]

Ling should play as a defensive forward on whoever the damaging half back is from the side we're playing.

He's just not up to playing on the best midfielder anymore but he could definitely play as a defensive forward and shut someone out of the game and kick a few goals every now and again.

I agree with this post. Ling cannot play full forward because he doesn't have the explosive pace to get clear of an opponet and take a mark on the lead or the physical game to outmark any of the full backs around the comp. However he could tag the oppositions most dangerous backman E.g a Deleido or a Gilbee like the job he did on Rich about a month ago. Many of you have said that these players will be too quick for him but I tend to disagree because they don't move around as much and just sweep across half back which gives them less room to lose Lingy where as in the midfield there is lots of space to try and lose him around the ground.

Lets not forget how good this bloke has been for so long now, between 07-09 he would have beaten his opponet in 95% of games and he was always playing on the best mid from the opposition so don't doubt his ability to transform himself again at least until the end of 2011.

 

[ByeByeBrendan]

Hiding him at full forward isn't gonna do us any good. I wish we'd select a captain who is clearly best 22 one of these days, could people seriously not tell time would start catching up with Ling very quickly last year? This was always going to happen and it puts us between a rock and a hard place when it gets to the point that he belongs in the 2s.

 

[Inferno]

Re: Ling to Full Forward -thoughts

What's with this Ling to full forward talk all the time?! The commentators bang on about how he used to play full forward... yeah, like 10 years ago! He would be a terrible full forward. He's...too...slow! Jesus.

They say that because he's a great mark................against midifielders who aren't used to playing in the backline but got dragged down there by Ling.