I think people actually forget just how awful watts really was
Heās been left there all year.
Heās just not that good a HBF, and I donāt know why weāre persisting with it.
he was doing great at hbf before he got injured
that month down there with massimo and redman we looked solid for the only times this year.
but that was why kelly came to us
plays tall and small
lol
I recall him getting his usual midfield time early in the year before being played as a dedicated HBF as the year went on. His best game of the year was against St Kilda playing in defence and since that game heās had Covid and been out with injury. I want to see a much larger sample of games before we rule him out in that role.
1 Like
If Truck gets the boot after 2 seasons Dodrio SURELY this time goes after 20.
2 Likes
Killed by coaching.
Was a fierce competitor when he arrived. He now chooses when to go like the rest of them.
2 Likes
āStarā, eh ? So you were James Stewart in reverse.
I could see Parish ending up at Geelong, any chance you reckon?
1 Like
Um, no we donāt. Ignoring Heppell and Hind (age) and Cutler & McDonagh (not good enough) the only small backs we have other than McGrath are Kelly, Redman, Mass and Lord. And we usually play 4 of them. Short term we also have Hind, but if McGrath isnāt playing defence longer-term we REALLY need another small defender soon.
I have never forgotten how bad Watts was. His selection as #1 still causes me mirth.
1 Like
McGrath was playing as a top level small defender in 2017 and 2018. So we know he can do that. In 2019 he was transitioning to midfield and was just ok.
In 2020 and 2021 he was playing midfield and both years was tracking elite for clearances, tackles and disposals. He was top 20 in the league for all of those stats pre-injury in 2020 and top 35 in 2021 pre-injury.
So he can play. His 2022 has been a dumpster fire, as has many of his compatriotsā. Blitzers wanting to trade him now for long-shot picks should think again. Rather than valuing him off his worst year out of six.
19 Likes
The issue is that even when he played midfield, he was panicked, often threw team mates under the bus and loved nothing more than a panic kick turnover. Got a lot of the ball, butchered it way too frequently
2 Likes
heās just a average anything
output is that of jack watts
1 Like
This reminds me of when someone pulled out the stats on Stanton and was going āheās top 5 in the league for clangersā! I then checked it and found the other top 10 players for clangers were most of the best mids in the league (Pendlebury being the key one missing). The more you get it, the more mistakes. Especially when youāre at the coal face which McGrathās clearance stats show he was. For those who are average kicks, Blitzers remember what goes wrong and mull on it. They donāt for opposition players to the same degree.
Note that for average clangers per game McGrath was quite high in 2020 (although many of the elite mids were higher). But in 2021 he was about 75th. So funnily enough, a kid in his third year as a midfielder was getting better.
2 Likes
Iām not looking at stats. Iām saying he continually shat himself, butchered the ball and while Iām at it, shirked contests.
He got a lot of it, but he wasnāt a particularly good midfielder
3 Likes
McGrath panics more than a blitzer when their boss asks wtf they did all day.
15 Likes
Not really.
About 2/3 of a game in midfield in round 1 - thrown around for a bit after injuries.
Not much in round 2.
A fair bit in round 3 (he had Petracca & did a solid job, we played well, didnāt get the job done)
Heaps in round 4 (Adelaide, first win but we were crap)
A fair bit in round 5.
None in round 6.
Etc.
Weird how he never settled.
I should blindly kick my files over the back of my head in a panic next time I get asked how Iām doing.
1 Like
Heās never going to be a fantastic ball user, but at his best he wins a fair bit more ball than he turns over.
1 Like