Nic Naitanui.....If not now.....when?

[Upgrayedd]

He's struggling so far, it's pretty plain to see

He also struggled in 2013 due to injury.

Im not sure what your suggesting, that his output has been low due to injury so he's over-rated?

He's not very good at AFL, Skill wise, Not a great kick, Endurance doesn't suit his game either, and has never really developed his endurance to the point where you can constantly have an impact like most ruckmen in the game

What he is however is a relentless hard worker, Plays within his skill limits and quite possibly the best athlete ive seen in terms of being over 200cm and being able to influence contest below the knee's, incredibly coordinated and in my opinion THE best tap ruckman in terms of knowing where his midfielders are, using his length and athletism to get a clean tap to his onballers.

He's not just the excitement machine people peg him, He's one of the more gritty and hard workers in the AFL. However the last two years he's struggled to be on the field

 

[lmach]

Poor man's Cyril Rioli.

They're nothing alike.

 

[Dagless]

He's not very good at AFL, Skill wise, Not a great kick, Endurance doesn't suit his gamestyle either,

What he is however is a relentless hard worker, Plays within his skill limits and quite possibly the best athlete ive seen in terms of being over 200cm and being able to influence contest below the knee's, incredibly coordinated and in my opinion THE best tap ruckman in terms of knowing where his midfielders are, using his length and athletism to get a clean tap to his onballers.

He's not just the excitement machine people peg him, He's one of the more gritty and hard workers in the AFL. However the last two years he's struggled to be on the field

Not having a go, but considering he is a ruckman, and that is his primary role, these two points seem antithetical to one another...

 

[Superstar swan]

Telling you right now, the way he talked up right now, if his career ended now, wa would rate him a club great. People over here in wa are blind to how bad at football is he is. Will never get moved on

 

[I Lost My Keays]

Overrated

 

[Underdog]

Overrated

Thanks for your super insightful input. We are all lucky to have witnessed your post.

 

[pokerspiv]

Easy target. He deserved his AA spot.

yeahnah

 

[whatwhatsaywhat]

will any west coast fans be okay with him chewing up $1.1m of the salary cap every year for the next 5 years?

 

[pokerspiv]

A fit Nic Naitanui is THAT important to our side.

If he's unfit why are your match committee playing him?

Face it, he's just not very good.

 

[clivenator26]

yeahnah

Jacobs would have been deserving as well.

Nicnat (in tandem with Cox) took a mediocre midfield to the the top 4 - he has been a shadow of the player since and wce's midfield has subsequently been found lacking.

NB - I dislike standing up for anything WCE.

 

[pokerspiv]

Nicnat (in tandem with Cox) took a mediocre midfield to the the top 4 - he has been a shadow of the player since and wce's midfield has subsequently been found lacking.

On any KPI he wasn't in the top 15 ruckmen in the league, his selection was a disgrace. And WC did not finish top 4 in 2012.

They had Kerr and Embley in 2012 too. Now they don't, their midfield is lacking. Naitanui is still there and he's still doing sweet FA.

 

[Dagless]

On any KPI he wasn't in the top 15 ruckmen in the league, his selection was a disgrace. And WC did not finish top 4 in 2012.

They had Kerr and Embley in 2012 too. Now they don't, their midfield is lacking. Naitanui is still there and he's still doing sweet FA.

Did lol, would lol again.

 

[Underdog]

On any KPI he wasn't in the top 15 ruckmen in the league, his selection was a disgrace. And WC did not finish top 4 in 2012.

They had Kerr and Embley in 2012 too. Now they don't, their midfield is lacking. Naitanui is still there and he's still doing sweet FA.

What KPI's are these exactly?

 

[Underdog]

will any west coast fans be okay with him chewing up $1.1m of the salary cap every year for the next 5 years?

When there's evidence rather than unsubstantiated rumour he'll be getting paid this, we'll discuss further.

 

[whatwhatsaywhat]

what, like here and here?

 

[pokerspiv]

What KPI's are these exactly?

Hitouts, possessions, marks, take your pick.

Of all ruckmen in the league he was in the 15-20 range for disposals per game, hitouts per game, marks per game etc.

The one department he excelled in was taking speccies. But taking 1 speccy a game shouldn't warrant AA selection when he did little else.

 

[hench]

Won't comment until I see a full year after Cox retires.

 

[Underdog]

Hitouts, possessions, marks, take your pick.

Of all ruckmen in the league he was in the 15-20 range for disposals per game, hitouts per game, marks per game etc.

The one department he excelled in was taking speccies. But taking 1 speccy a game shouldn't warrant AA selection when he did little else.

First of all, generic statistics are not KPI's. KPI's are a specific set of criteria used to measure performance and are quite often not measured by statistics.

Secondly, how about some of these statistics...

In 2012, Naitanui was...

2nd in hitout win % (no surprises behind Sandi)

1st in hitout to advantage %

1st in clearance percentage for ruckmen

2nd in overall clearances for ruckmen (one behind Maric, expected because Maric plays much more in the middle)

1st in contested possessions for ruckmen (more than Judd, Bartel, Black and Deledio in fact)

1st in contested marks for ruckmen (45 followed by Cox with 38 and Maric with 30)

2nd in goals (behind Cox, finishing with 24 compared to Maric and Jacobs with 7 each)

1st in pressure acts for ruckmen

1st in champion data points for all ruckmen (13th best average in the AFL, I believe)

1st in coaches votes for all ruckmen

1st in the AFL for initiating scoring chains.

Basically, the AA selectors had to choose between the most effective ruckman (Naitanui) or most prolific (Jacobs, Maric). They chose most effective. You might disagree with that decision, but at the very least, he was in the top few ruckmen that year and calls of a disgraceful decision are calls of ignorance.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Not having a go, but considering he is a ruckman, and that is his primary role, these two points seem antithetical to one another...

Im a huge fan, seen him play since he was 14, A lot of people were excited back then on how dominant this young bloke could be if he figured out how to play. I think he still needs to work on contested marking and learning to kick, It's not a huge problem because he's pretty disiplined so he's not trying to kick it to leading men over 40 meters so its not a huge worry but he could be much more damaging

If you understand what im getting at, AFL skills are not great, understanding of the game which he gets shit about is very unwarranted because he's a smart player

 

[Underdog]

what, like here and here?

Where is the evidence? That is merely speculation.

 

[Freomaniac]

He is overrated but I would of taken him over Watts in 2008.

He is not a dud. 95 games and 65 goals is very good for a guys like him. I agree the guy is inconsistent, but at his best he is very good. Most teams would have him in their squad. So he gets 12 disposals a game. So what? You expect him to get 30 disposals a game? He is a ruckman. His man stats are hit outs.

 

[Freomaniac]

What a stupid thread..
I'd have him at my club, and you'd all have him at yours.

I agree... General consensus dont question his ability, they question his consistency.

 

[Underdog]

He is overrated but I would of taken him over Watts in 2008.

He is not a dud. 95 games and 65 goals is very good for a guys like him. I agree the guy is inconsistent, but at his best he is very good. Most teams would have him in their squad. So he gets 12 disposals a game. So what? You expect him to get 30 disposals a game? He is a ruckman. His man stats are hit outs.

Garry Lyon does! 40 in fact.

And people wonder why we consider such criticism of a young ruckman as absurd.

 

[Ted38]

He is flashy garbage

At least he's flashy, Watts on the other hand is soft and lazy.

 

[Ted38]

The main reasons he hasn't really reached the heights that many predicted he would is because of injuries and the fact that too many people over rated him.