Luke Ball

[Snag Breac]

Love the article, especially when he talks about footy-speak cliches:

Sometimes you can almost see the players trying hard to hold such words down, trying to minimise the amount of cliches they can fit into a sentence, while being careful not to let something slip that will result in being called into the coach's office for a please explain.

He a credit to the club, on field and off.

 

[Old Spice]

Love the article, especially when he talks about footy-speak cliches:

Sometimes you can almost see the players trying hard to hold such words down, trying to minimise the amount of cliches they can fit into a sentence, while being careful not to let something slip that will result in being called into the coach's office for a please explain.

He a credit to the club, on field and off.

Good to see he's taking it one week at a time and keeping a lid on it. It's to his credit.

 

[Snag Breac]

Good to see he's taking it one week at a time and keeping a lid on it. It's to his credit.

Luke bares his soul and this is what he gets.

 

[Gothepies36]

Always liked him when he was a Saint, love him as a Magpie.

i second that

 

[Gothepies36]

How good has he been for us thus far?
He is in my top 3 favourite players at the club, behind Swan and Daisy, and that's purely because I admire the way he goes about his footy.

He has quickly adjusted to our midfield structures and is now close the dominant pure in and under midfielder in the comp.

I know we have all acknowledged how good he has been but I still think we are under-rating him a bit, I think he would be pretty high up in our B&F so far this season.

He may even go pretty close to AA, maybe not the final 22 but at this stage I definitely think he would at least be put in the 40 man squad.

Well done Luke and keep it up.

Luke is in my top three players too along side swan and side bottom

 

[Gothepies36]

Here is an Article he has Written in the age:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...de-can-only-make-us-better-20100608-xtnl.html

he is a very well spoken guy

 

[SaddaZ]

Here is an Article he has Written in the age:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...de-can-only-make-us-better-20100608-xtnl.html

Really interesting piece. He has a really good point. When has Judd ever been described as possessing a personality? At least Roo cries. If Shae does make it i hope he would follow through with that personality.

I think Luke Ball has been a great pickup for us this year. Just love watching him extract the nugget. Seems to be playing with a bit of bounce, something extra than what he has had in the recent past...a point to prove and some job security?

Thanks Ross.

 

[Forgotten Legend]

i second that

I third that. Was also one of my favourites at Saint Kilda with Riewoldt. I felt sad for him when I saw him cry on the bench after the Grand Final, one because they lost with it being so close and two, because he was on the bench when he would've wanted to have been on the field, trying to win a flag.

Playing excellent for us, will definitely perform well in September.

 

[Swanny36]

Just love watching him extract the nugget.

Thanks Ross.

I LOL'd.

But yes, I do agree that he has been invaluable to us thus far.
IMO he is going to get better as well.

 

[Swan4Brownlow]

he is a very well spoken guy

Completed a Commerce Degree at Monash Uni and I'm pretty sure he's now onto a Law Degree. Fair to say he isn't a dill

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Best acquisition in years. Love his in and under work, the knock-ons, the dives into the unknown in search of the pill and the lack of fear for his own safety. If he gets a kick, that's a bonus.

 

[didaka]

Did anyone see the highlight package they showed at half time on Saturday of the football Luke Ball had been winning.

It was just ferocious.

I actually watched the replay of Saturdays game last night, and put on the blinkers to focus on Luke Ball at the stoppages.

The work he does at these contests is just amazing and I can't remember seeing a player in black and white (even Scotty Burns) having such an impact at the stoppages.

If he wasn't getting clearances, he was either creating more stalemates, or stopping Sydney players from clearing the football.

There was one instance on the wing that basically had me drueling.

The ball was bounced and Mumford and Jolly contested. The ball was moved around within the radius of the ball up, neither team could clear it early on, Ball went for the hard footy, missed it, it looked as though Bolton was about clear to move the footy on, and out of nowhere Ball lunged with a crunching tackle smashing Bolton into the ground, we then cleared the footy.

The work Ball does at the clearances is sublime.

I remember after round 2, there were so many players getting stuck into Ball due to his foot skills, and what he could actually offer to our football club, but now as it stands he is just about one of the more important players at our club.

His number probably stack up for career best form, although, he probably isn't in career best form in a sense as he had a massive year at the saints where he was AA.

Anyhow I remember the general consensus around the saints supporters on this board was we had only really scored an average at best player with shonky kicking skills that wouldn't improve our side a great deal, but at this stage he has improved our football side a huge amount.

I love this bloke. Probably my favourite player.

 

[mattys123]

I have to admit, Luke Ball is playing a lot better then I thought he would be.

I thought he would be just an "average" addition to our midfield, but I am so glad to be proven wrong.

He is so important to us now, that was shown very clearly in the Melbourne game where Ball was missing, and we struggled to win the ball in contested situations, especially late in the game.

He is fast becoming a favourite of many pies supporters.

There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that if we didn't have Ball and Jolly, we simply wouldn't be a contender, in fact we may even be fighting to make the 8.

I'd say we have won 3-4 games extra just because we have Ball and Jolly now, and Ball has now become just as vital and important as Jolly.

 

[didaka]

I think at this stage, Ball has well and truly overshadowed Jolly. I think Darren is starting to catch up though.

I think to really get an understanding of how good this man is at what he does best, everyone should do what I did.

IQ or record the game, and put the blinkers on and just watch Luke Ball at every instance he is involved in a stoppage.

You will find a new respect for him and what players like Luke Ball bring to the game.

I also think Ball may have realized that he needs to eliminate his short coming from his game as much as possible.

Early in the year he at stages seemed to believe he was Nathan Buckley when he had the football in his hand running forward and would try to hit up a player like Cloke or whoever on a lead. The kick would generally either fall short, or have too much on it.

You don't see this anymore. He is using the football more by hand now, and seems to look to bring the better players by foot into the game. I think he may have been given these orders by the coaching staff, and I think it has really made him a better player.

I don't think he would've been given these orders at St. Kilda and he really highlighted his decline as a skilled footballer and was a reason Saints fans weren't to disappointed to see him go.

It seems that we are seeing less and less or Luke Ball's flaw now which is his kicking and it's making him a much more effective player.

Daniel Cross is a prime example of how good a player can be if he plays to his strengths and as it stands, Luke Ball is now as good as Daniel Cross.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Luke Ball goes close to winning the Copeland this year.

 

[Frankie23]

Look at the coaches votes which are alwats a good indication of a players performance during a year. Ball is on 32, if he puts in a decent performance on Saturday Night he could enter the top 10 (Hayes? 10th on 38) This just shows his impact on us and the compitition this year.

He is a gun, and we still havn't seen his true worth. Finals footy.

When the heat is on in September, along with Jolly, these two will be the key to our sucess, and from what I've seen they will stand up.

Loving the pair!

 

[mattys123]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Luke Ball goes close to winning the Copeland this year.

I did a small (and very rough) 13 round review using the Copeland voting system and while Swan had a lead, I came up with the following top 3.

1. Swan
2. Ball
3. Thomas

Swan didn't have a huge lead though, and I could have swapped Thomas and Ball's votes around in several games.

If Ball can play the last 9 games and all finals we play in, I think he's a "monty" for top 3, and a smoky to take it out, although it's bloody hard to beat Swanny in a Copeland these days.

 

[didaka]

Kevin Bartlett said on his morning show on SEN before the season started that Luke Ball will go close to winning the Copeland.

Old fart might know more than we think.

Also I reckon Dale Thomas is just about AA at the moment.

It funny. All the exposure he got during the times he was an inconsistent show pony, he now changes his style to an ultra consistent ball winner, and he hardly gets mentioned.

 

[Gambit78]

He reminds me of Gavin Brown in his hey day.

 

[daics cousin]

I love Lukey Ball.

I remember when he was playing at the saints i knew he was a collingwood supporter when he was a kid ,and thought gee it would be great if we could get him,and finally we did.

We have to pace him cause ae of his re occurring groin becuase he simply goes in too hard.We desperately need him for finals,he will star.

Imagine the impact he will have. say we reached the gand final and it was a collingwood vs Stkilda grand final.Ball would be instrumental.If he can get his kicking right he will be right up there in the top elite players.

I still reckon Ross Lyon cost himself and the saints a premiership by taking Lukey off the ground after half time in the grand final.

It was clear that luke ball was best on ground and lenny hayes was not far behind.The game was close and if ball was playing after half time
he would have made the difference and stopped geelongs flow especially
at the stoppages.I cannot understand why would you take your best performer out of a ground final in the second half when clearly
Bally was best on ground till half time.Their loss and our gain.

Good on ya Lukey you will be a premiership player with the pies mate.
It even may start from this year.What a laugh if we did meet the saints
in the granny and we beat them with lukey getting best on ground and even better if we beat them by a point.VINDICATION !

Cause let me tell flks if we nmake the grand final this year,we will WIN it.

 

[TradeDraft]

Did anyone see the highlight package they showed at half time on Saturday of the football Luke Ball had been winning.

It was just ferocious.

I actually watched the replay of Saturdays game last night, and put on the blinkers to focus on Luke Ball at the stoppages.

The work he does at these contests is just amazing and I can't remember seeing a player in black and white (even Scotty Burns) having such an impact at the stoppages.

If he wasn't getting clearances, he was either creating more stalemates, or stopping Sydney players from clearing the football.

There was one instance on the wing that basically had me drueling.

The ball was bounced and Mumford and Jolly contested. The ball was moved around within the radius of the ball up, neither team could clear it early on, Ball went for the hard footy, missed it, it looked as though Bolton was about clear to move the footy on, and out of nowhere Ball lunged with a crunching tackle smashing Bolton into the ground, we then cleared the footy.

The work Ball does at the clearances is sublime.

I remember after round 2, there were so many players getting stuck into Ball due to his foot skills, and what he could actually offer to our football club, but now as it stands he is just about one of the more important players at our club.

His number probably stack up for career best form, although, he probably isn't in career best form in a sense as he had a massive year at the saints where he was AA.

Anyhow I remember the general consensus around the saints supporters on this board was we had only really scored an average at best player with shonky kicking skills that wouldn't improve our side a great deal, but at this stage he has improved our football side a huge amount.

I love this bloke. Probably my favourite player.

Does anyone have that Video?

 

[TradeDraft]

if Ball played vs the Dees we would of won that game

 

[TradeDraft]

I think at this stage, Ball has well and truly overshadowed Jolly. I think Darren is starting to catch up though.

I think to really get an understanding of how good this man is at what he does best, everyone should do what I did.

IQ or record the game, and put the blinkers on and just watch Luke Ball at every instance he is involved in a stoppage.

You will find a new respect for him and what players like Luke Ball bring to the game.

I also think Ball may have realized that he needs to eliminate his short coming from his game as much as possible.

Early in the year he at stages seemed to believe he was Nathan Buckley when he had the football in his hand running forward and would try to hit up a player like Cloke or whoever on a lead. The kick would generally either fall short, or have too much on it.

You don't see this anymore. He is using the football more by hand now, and seems to look to bring the better players by foot into the game. I think he may have been given these orders by the coaching staff, and I think it has really made him a better player.

I don't think he would've been given these orders at St. Kilda and he really highlighted his decline as a skilled footballer and was a reason Saints fans weren't to disappointed to see him go.

It seems that we are seeing less and less or Luke Ball's flaw now which is his kicking and it's making him a much more effective player.

Daniel Cross is a prime example of how good a player can be if he plays to his strengths and as it stands, Luke Ball is now as good as Daniel Cross.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Luke Ball goes close to winning the Copeland this year.

They said the same think on One Week at a Time that He Changed his Game for the better

 

[Thommo 42]

He hardly ever kicks and if he does, its usually under pressure - so I'm not too fussed by jis kicking.

His grunt work has exceeded my expectations 10 fold, and I had reasonably high expectations to start with.

Absolutely love him, and he is vital for us come September. There won't be any easy midfield ball against us like last September when we had no Ball or Pendles.

 

[loki04]

I have to admit, Luke Ball is playing a lot better then I thought he would be.

I thought he would be just an "average" addition to our midfield, but I am so glad to be proven wrong.

He is so important to us now, that was shown very clearly in the Melbourne game where Ball was missing, and we struggled to win the ball in contested situations, especially late in the game.

He is fast becoming a favourite of many pies supporters.

There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that if we didn't have Ball and Jolly, we simply wouldn't be a contender, in fact we may even be fighting to make the 8.

I'd say we have won 3-4 games extra just because we have Ball and Jolly now, and Ball has now become just as vital and important as Jolly.

I take it you didn't pay close attention to him at the Saints?

When I found out we were getting Ball I was over the moon, he attacks the footy like a maniac and it was something the current team lacked.

Having a brilliant season to date.

 

[iGNITER]

I love Ball.

When he said he wanted to be at Collingwood last year I was stoked.

Pick 30 in the draft was an absolute bargain.