Delisted Michael Close (2012-2017)

[Monkey Daniel]

To be fair that figure's a little misleading because there's been a few out on the full and others that have fallen short.

When I've seen him in the ressies he actually seems to kick through the tougher/wider shots a bit better. The simpler kicks he tends to get under. His ball drop does needs work too - it is fairly high and he occasionally goes chasing after it which doesn't end well.

He's a 20yo (rounding up by 2 days) KPF though with a great attitude. He's going to be a gem.

The kicking style is something that Dunstall mentioned on the telecast Saturday night.. I'm sure Lynchy said that he had a similar high drop too.
Anyway hopefully with Browny around the club to assist, he'll turn it around. Let's not forget Mitch Clark improved his goal kicking

 

[chopperduck]

goal kicking will improve. To be fair, the his last few shots he looked to actually just put to the top of the square. Never seemed to be lining up to the goals.

 

[Caiphus]

He seems to have adjusted his kicking technique (regressed to his natural technique?) in the last couple of games, but he is getting away from his defenders more, taking marks and impacting the game. He is steadily improving in the right areas and at the moment it only really matters for his own confidence whether he is putting the ball through the bog sticks.

 

[acuguy]

Definitely has the key forward strut after he takes a grab. Becoming more confident each week about his ability to become part of our forward line solution

 

[Haso]

Needs to get himself into the Stefan Martin Bulking Program.

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

 

[Billy Puller]

Very pleased with his progress. Bobs up for a quarter or two and shows a lot before vanishing. That should only improve in time, hard to think he's only a 2nd year kpf

 

[Tim the Toolman]

There wouldn't be any harm in having Bernie Quinlan talk to the boy. He still has volumes of lessons that he can teach young players regarding their kicking. Taught me to torpedo when I was 25 so it's never too late

 

[jjami15]

I wish I could do a torp! 37 bit too late?

 

[Lionmoe21]

i have noticed something in his game that is worrying, he tends to lead to the angles and has gotten a few oppurtunities because of this but he dosent have the ability/confidence to kick them and ends up just kicking it up in the middle of the 50. has to start leading towards the corridor more

 

[whatboutbob]

i have noticed something in his game that is worrying, he tends to lead to the angles and has gotten a few oppurtunities because of this but he dosent have the ability/confidence to kick them and ends up just kicking it up in the middle of the 50. has to start leading towards the corridor more

He kicks em from all angles in the ressies.

 

[Dylan12]

I like Close, but it shits me to tears this going back to where he marked the ball and trying to dictate where he marked it as if he has some sort of say, particularly when he is 20m out from goal...like one foot is going to make a bloody difference when you have no say where the mark it.

Dead set embarrassing and doing nothing more than making a dick out of himself. And worst yet, he makes another mark a few metres from the first mark as if when he is running in he will notice that mark. Seriously. Get your bloody ball drop right before worrying about 59 other things when all you are doing is kicking a bloody ball. I'm all about processes, but Close is seriously over complicating a very simple act which only requires a few simple steps, none of which requires trying to set a mark 20m out from goal.

 

[charles202]

I like Close, but it shits me to tears this going back to where he marked the ball and trying to dictate where he marked it as if he has some sort of say, particularly when he is 20m out from goal...like one foot is going to make a bloody difference when you have no say where the mark it.

Dead set embarrassing and doing nothing more than making a dick out of himself. And worst yet, he makes another mark a few metres from the first mark as if when he is running in he will notice that mark. Seriously. Get your bloody ball drop right before worrying about 59 other things when all you are doing is kicking a bloody ball. I'm all about processes, but Close is seriously over complicating a very simple act which only requires a few simple steps, none of which requires trying to set a mark 20m out from goal.

Couldn't disagree more about changing his routine whether he is 20m in front or whether he is kicking from the second row, focus on the routine and the result should take care of itself. Will improve his ball drop as he matures just needs a few off-seasons of kickings thousands and thousands set shots

 

[whatboutbob]

His routine gives me a chuckle every time.

 

[SizeMatters]

I think his routine is over complicating things. Any number of small things can go wrong and distract him. He is young so he has 10 years to improve on this and make it a bit more fluid in motion.

He would be the last person I'd kick to if we needed 2 goals in a minute

 

[Caiphus]

I'd say bad kicking isn't actually a habit for him yet and it is a bit presumptuous to be blaming his routine when everyone was praising him as a deadeye-dick not three weeks ago. He is averaging almost a goal a game which is pretty good for a second year second round KPF where his influence on games is steadily growing and he was not known as a goal kicker in either his junior days or his exposure in the ressies. His average number of disposals is steadily rising but the big thing I've noticed is he is getting separation in more dangerous positions as he goes along. A bit more strength so that his gas tank holds out for longer and I think he will be a 15-20 possession forward down the track which should see him with 3-5 shots on goal/game where he should sink the regulation 2/3 of them.

 

[pulpdriver]

I like his routine. Shows assertiveness and he's definitely shown in his play he won't be pushed around. Looking forward to the time when he's lining up for number five in the goal square and still insisting his opponent stop crossing the mark.

 

[T Rick]

I don't mind his routine at all or his assertiveness re the line of his mark. The fact that he has a routine is important and the fact that his is a little different doesn't bother me one iota. Each to his own...

 

[Tairy Greene]

I love his routine and his confidence to point to his mark. His second marking is quite clearly where he kicks from, so I'm going to call it that he'll never kick in to the man on the mark. Love a bit of arrogance in a young guy.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Pretty good research about the efficacy of pre-performance routines in Basketball, can't think of why it wouldn't transfer over to AFL. I have actually noticed he kicks worse when he doesn't follow his routine. As long as it's working keep doing it I say.

 

[Kevvo]

He also gave a good explanation of it on the fancast a couple of weeks ago: "I'm not the longest kick in the world, so every extra metre counts". I like his routine.

 

[POBT]

He also gave a good explanation of it on the fancast a couple of weeks ago: "I'm not the longest kick in the world, so every extra metre counts".

I see this as a problem for him. He's got to be able to kick goals from 50+ if he's going to become a class forward. I think his kicking action needs a lot of work.

 

[Kevvo]

I see this as a problem for him. He's got to be able to kick goals from 50+ if he's going to become a class forward. I think his kicking action needs a lot of work.

To be clear, I was talking about his routine as opposed to his kicking action. I agree his action could do with improving. I'd also love him to be an accurate kick from 50+, but if he's not, I'm comfortable with him knowing his limits and making the right call.

 

[cotter101]

Even more so when you factor in he is a CHF rather than a Full Forward. Needs to be able to slot them from 50 if he is our next CHF.

Still has plenty of time to improve it though.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

I see this as a problem for him. He's got to be able to kick goals from 50+ if he's going to become a class forward. I think his kicking action needs a lot of work.

I'm sure he and coaches are aware of it. In what was a very light session today he spent some time with The Birdman practising his ball drop and kicking follow though. In fact the session was largely devoted to goal kicking for all players.

 

[JasRulz63]