Roast Stephen Hill

[Belnakor]

This guy is fast becoming the daniel wells of his generation.

Cannot break a tag, consistantly shutdown and limited to sub 15 possessions.

Not just today, last season same problem. Too soft, not as quick as you'd think, doesn't chase and his much lauded defensive side seems to be non existant.

Did we make a mistake taking him so high in the draft? Hasn't played a stand out game in 18 months.

People constantly say 'they tag him because he is so dangerous!' Thats only partly true. They tag him because its extremely effective, whereas someone holding fyfe off the ball all day today did little to dampen his effectiveness.

Hilly needs to step up and soon.

 

[Admiral Byng]

I think he is the sort of player that will start slowly because of a heavy tag but still end the game full of running. He has got a big tank for the level of gut-running.

Maybe needs a few of the other big bodies to lay a few bumps on the tagger early on.

 

[E Shed]

Was one of our best in the second half. Nearly pinched it for us with that longs goal.
He's getting there. Confidence is coming back.

 

[Gero _ Hendo]

once we have our a team midfield back the tag won't be so bad, but he should be performing better. could be worth throwing him I'm the backline or forward to get some confidence....

 

[Latro]

He got 18 possessions.

 

[yakka man]

Was one of our best in the second half. Nearly pinched it for us with that longs goal.
He's getting there. Confidence is coming back.

Ross Lyon - "We're a no-excuse football club. A half doesn't get it done."

I love Hilly, but if he doesn't start running out four quarters he should be the sub.

 

[E Shed]

Ross Lyon - "We're a no-excuse football club. A half doesn't get it done."

I love Hilly, but if he doesn't start running out four quarters he should be the sub.

There were plenty worse than him out there. Just because we have higher expectations of him if he's outperforming most of the rest then why does he get an early shower?

 

[Chops_a_must]

Pav had an opportunity to lay out Shaw with a fair shepherd on Shaw and pulled the handbrake.

It's the sort of thing that is staining Pav's reputation.

He needs to do it. And so do every one of the senior players. If they don't start getting stuck into Hill's taggers, I will spew.

Having said that, too many times in the first half he was caught ball watching and did not commit to the contest - instead seemed concerned about his man getting the ball. No-one is going to hold his hand. He needs to get involved from the first bounce.

 

[Latro]

I dont think it it is a coincidence that he plays better with Barlow on the ground. They cannot tag as hard when they have another player to worry about. In the first half today the only midfielders they worried about were Fyfe and Hill.

He will play better when we have Mundy and Barlow back to full fitness. Most teams would struggle without there quality midfielders.

 

[Taylor]

He gets tagged so heavily, not because it is effective or else they would tag Duffield, but because if he runs free he is worth almost a team goal per kick.

Yes, Stephen Hill is a rubbish player, that's why the opposition put so much effort into stopping him. They tag team him, they work against him as a unit. We still don't protect him as a team and that's the real problem.

Our club hasn't ever had a player capable of being as damaging as Hill. We got Fyfe later but if not for Stephen Hill I think you would be landing these threads on Nathan Fyfe's head, because if the opposition put as much effort into him as they do with Hill and Fremantle puts as little effort in to free him up as they do with Hill, we'd get the same result.

Hill isn't as good overhead as Fyfe, but that is the only area of his game he is superior in. Hill has as good a touch with the loose ball, Hill is faster on the burst and Hill is a much, MUCH better kick of the ball.

Stephen Hill in Geelong's midfield would already be a star, it will be a barometre of where our team is at when Hill gets as much team support as he needs to tear a game apart.

That's just my opinion anyway.

The Dawsons and McPhees of our team need to be putting big, BIG bumps on Hill's tagger. They need to suffer.

 

[E Shed]

And just by the by, Daniel Wells is playing superb footy in his late 20's as will Hill.

 

[yakka man]

There were plenty worse than him out there. Just because we have higher expectations of him if he's outperforming most of the rest then why does he get an early shower?

I didn't say drop him, but for the first two games this year he has done abosolutely nothing in the first half. He would be a good sub, but I said in another thread that I would drop Suban and move Hilly to the backline.

 

[Belnakor]

He got 18 possessions.

Only because they dropped the hard tag on him towards the end of the game

He doesn't work hard enough to break a tag. He needs to run the opposition into the ground, provide options, hit the stoppages already moving.

Instead he sits off the ball and allows the tagger to slow him up every time.

Seriously i'm a massive hill fan, but the level of football he is playing is miles off the mark. He is borderline best 22 and in his first year he looked like he could be one of the elite midfielders in the comp.

Daniel Wells was exactly the same.

Hill looks slow to me at the moment, his agility seems down too. He still is a super boot, but so does Hurn or Rich. I think we are massively overrating Hill because of what he looks like he could be. Not what he actually is.

 

[Falkon]

"This guy is fast becoming the daniel wells of his generation"

Interesting how some posters on this board seem to single out perfomances by indigenous players.

 

[yakka man]

He gets tagged so heavily, not because it is effective or else they would tag Duffield, but because if he runs free he is worth almost a team goal per kick.

Yes, Stephen Hill is a rubbish player, that's why the opposition put so much effort into stopping him. They tag team him, they work against him as a unit. We still don't protect him as a team and that's the real problem.

Our club hasn't ever had a player capable of being as damaging as Hill. We got Fyfe later but if not for Stephen Hill I think you would be landing these threads on Nathan Fyfe's head, because if the opposition put as much effort into him as they do with Hill and Fremantle puts as little effort in to free him up as they do with Hill, we'd get the same result.

Hill isn't as good overhead as Fyfe, but that is the only area of his game he is superior in. Hill has as good a touch with the loose ball, Hill is faster on the burst and Hill is a much, MUCH better kick of the ball.

Stephen Hill in Geelong's midfield would already be a star, it will be a barometre of where our team is at when Hill gets as much team support as he needs to tear a game apart.

That's just my opinion anyway.

The Dawsons and McPhees of our team need to be putting big, BIG bumps on Hill's tagger. They need to suffer.

Every Freo supporter with half a brain rates Stephen. But the bolded highlights it perfectly. If only one aspect of Fyfe's game is better then Hill's then why has Fyfe risen to the elite category yet Hill still struggles. I'm sure that you don't think that opposition teams don't put any effort in stopping Fyfe.

Hill is in the top three for fitness at the club, so it's getting to the point that Hill has no more excuses and needs to lift his efforts.

 

[Belnakor]

And just by the by, Daniel Wells is playing superb footy in his late 20's as will Hill.

The problem was wells took a good 7 years to come good. How much success has north had in that time? He got carried because they were an average team, and he also got dropped before he came good.

 

[shiny_on_top]

once we have our a team midfield back the tag won't be so bad, but he should be performing better. could be worth throwing him I'm the backline or forward to get some confidence....

This is just not true. You don't even need to put a specialist tagger on him anymore. Teams can now send their 18th+ best player to him and expect a breakeven at worst nowadays. Also, people don't kick from their chest do they? So why do you try to smother as if he is going to kick the ball from it. Put your head over it and get your hands lower. Having said that, I do think he'll eventually learn how to beat the tag - both 2nd halves this year have been much better.

 

[yakka man]

I really think the club needs to specifically hire someone to coach and work with Stephen Hill on his own. Such is the potential for his career. He's got the best ruckman in the comp tapping down to him yet he always seems to remain stationary in the ruck taps.

And I still think he needed to add a tiny bit more weight to his frame.

 

[Belnakor]

"This guy is fast becoming the daniel wells of his generation"

Interesting how some posters on this board seem to single out perfomances by indigenous players.

Is that you misfud?

Nothing to do with race everything to do with talent that is being wasted

 

[Tweedy]

once we have our a team midfield back the tag won't be so bad, but he should be performing better. could be worth throwing him I'm the backline or forward to get some confidence....

Wouldn't that damage his confidence, knowing he's not good enough to play midfield and has to be shifted elsewhere? I think Lyon has done the right thing by backing him in and keeping him in the midfield. Some more midfield support and some solid blocks wouldn't go astray.

 

[Belnakor]

Every Freo supporter with half a brain rates Stephen. But the bolded highlights it perfectly. If only one aspect of Fyfe's game is better then Hill's then why has Fyfe risen to the elite category yet Hill still struggles. I'm sure that you don't think that opposition teams don't put any effort in stopping Fyfe.

Hill is in the top three for fitness at the club, so it's getting to the point that Hill has no more excuses and needs to lift his efforts.

Fyfe seems to get to many more contests than hill, yet hills fitness is apparantly better. Hmm.

One thing fyfe has in buckets that hill doesn't: a hardness and thirst for the contest. Fyfe goes into every contest expecting to win the ball. Hill sits off the pack and waits for someone to dish the ball to him. Hill never gets crunched or injured because he never puts his head over the ball or dives after the ball.

He needs to start to WANT the ball, at the moment he just doesn't look hungry enough.

 

[Tweedy]

Not sure that's entirely fair. I saw him at the bottom of packs a few times today. He does need to win more of his own ball though.

 

[Bradesmaen]

This guy is fast becoming the daniel wells of his generation.

Cannot break a tag, consistantly shutdown and limited to sub 15 possessions.

Not just today, last season same problem. Too soft, not as quick as you'd think, doesn't chase and his much lauded defensive side seems to be non existant.

Did we make a mistake taking him so high in the draft? Hasn't played a stand out game in 18 months.

People constantly say 'they tag him because he is so dangerous!' Thats only partly true. They tag him because its extremely effective, whereas someone holding fyfe off the ball all day today did little to dampen his effectiveness.

Hilly needs to step up and soon.

What a blatant lie. Tagging Fyfe reduces his effectiveness, all you have to do is watch today, when he was under massive pressure he kicked it poorly, one time he tried to kick off balance and sliced it OOF.

Both need to learn how to break a tag. Hill is working hard, you can see it because he is exhausted trying to run from his man. He finally broke it in the second half when they shifted Shaw to Barlow and put Jack on him. The other problem was, this game was not very open and never was going to be so that always limits his effectiveness. Pretty hard to use your two dominant weapons when the ball is surrounded by 20 players all the time.

The people on this forum that constantly bag players like this make me feel ill to be a supporter of the same club. Especially when it is the same supporters week in week out. It is like they don't actually support the club, but would prefer to bag it to make themselves feel better. Last week Pavlich finally broke his "choker" tag according to Bellend, now Hill is shit. Every week Ibbo cops a roasting from you, even when he does well. Mundy was also your favourite player to bag for a long time. Then there was the whole "Steves" and jumper colour bullshit. Have you ever said a good word about the club?

 

[yakka man]

Fyfe seems to get to many more contests than hill, yet hills fitness is apparantly better. Hmm.

One thing fyfe has in buckets that hill doesn't: a hardness and thirst for the contest. Fyfe goes into every contest expecting to win the ball. Hill sits off the pack and waits for someone to dish the ball to him. Hill never gets crunched or injured because he never puts his head over the ball or dives after the ball.

He needs to start to WANT the ball, at the moment he just doesn't look hungry enough.

And the whole Football community knows it. I just hope the club properly addresses it.

 

[Belnakor]

What a blatant lie. Tagging Fyfe reduces his effectiveness, all you have to do is watch today, when he was under massive pressure he kicked it poorly, one time he tried to kick off balance and sliced it OOF.

Fyfe was named our best, he was under alot of pressure but he still managed to have a good game and did some nice things. Hill on the other hand was a non entity until they moved shaw off him.