Francis is immune to criticism a most of the time. Treated very differently to players like Langford.
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In what way?
Theyâre very different players.
What they have in common is that theyâre drafted within a year of each other, are comparatively young, and have both (right or wrong) not been given the senior opportunities that they would elsewhere.
There was also the goal that he set-up for Baguley thats seems to be forgotten by some.
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For me itâs staggering that he hasnât been played in the seniors each week.
He hasnât âgot goingâ or âfound his rhythmâ, but how can you expect him to when he hasnât been given a run of games in a row?
When we did give him a run of games late last year, he blossomed.
Must play and must play every week. I see no reason he canât play ahead of Ridley and leave the rest of our defensive structure the same.
A) Yes. Players drilled in one position, repeatedly, for years, several times a week, at a minute level of detail and then slotted in elsewhere. Iâm not âblamingâ it because he did very well, relative to the rest of the team, despite this.
B) Youâre incredibly incorrect on this.
Whose to say they would have got the opportunities at other clubs unless they were bottom of ladder/ in development mode?
Francis for all his talent lacking in fitness/application it seems. Hence Ambrose has been preferred this year & heâs not ahead of Hurley.
Itâs a slow burn for Francis IMO but important player for future.
Langford seemingly lacking in competitiveness/ aggression at the man and ball. If you donât find that you get spat out of AFL system eventually.
Latter half of last year we had obviously no Shiel and Zaka injured so opportunities were there. This year he is back in pecking order as Woosh stated.
Iâm to say.
Neal-Bullen has played more games than Langford.
If there is one quality you need in todayâs game itâs the ability to play manic. Short, tall⌠you got to be able to move across the ground with speed and intent.
Unfortunately there is more opportunity on club lists for berserker athletes who can barely kick than there is for slow-moving pure footballers.
One of the reasons why Guelfi and Parish are ahead of Lang and Francis
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Iâm not comparing them at all. Iâm just saying i could go over to the Langford thread and slag him off all day and nobody would really care. People seem to get a lot more defensive with Francis. Iâm not commenting on whether either of them deserve it. I donât like it when people are overly critical of anybody really.
Heâs one of the fittest players in their squad who runs himself into ground & cracks in hard.
There is no coasting with him
Sometimes less talented players will have more successful careers based on attitude and work rate
As Patrick Ambrose can attest
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Iâm not saying Francis shouldnât be criticised, but heâs played 14 games of AFL. Langford had played 50. Youâre damn right heâs going to be treated differently. I doubt many would be trumpeting Francis if he played like this 35 odd games down the road.
BuuuuutâŚyou were saying people arenât critical enough of Francis?
Odd.
And odd comparison to make.
lol. Which you totally did.
No i wasnât. I never said people arenât critical enough of him. And i meant i wasnât comparing them as players, which i though you were doing by mentioning when they were drafted etc.
So youâre saying that weâd have played Neal-Bullen about the same as Melbourne has and MelbourneâŚwould not have given Langford as many games?
This is my doubtful look.
Yeah, I have no idea what youâre trying to say.
People are plenty critical of Francis, btw.
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Ok. Nice chat.
Agreed, couldnât find the words before but heâs playing as if burdened by something. I know itâs easy to associate this observation with his mental health but he doesnât look happy. Or, is it simply a case of him being so focussed thereâs no outward projection of positive vibes? Whatever it is, he presents as different to the player who lit up the comp late last year. With the game on Sunday, didnât notice him so much in the first half but he worked really hard in the third presenting as an outlet along the wings.
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He got 3 games in a row at the start of the year. All were down on last yearâs form. He wasnât quite right in that Melbourne game. Whether it was the knock he copped during the game or something else.
He hasnât seemed fit since⌠whether he is or not. If he is fit enough, then his second efforts should rightly be questioned.
Worsfold didnât seem overly enthused by his performance in the post match presser. Said he was ok but said theyâll hold him to higher standards than that
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Plus it wasnât last year. It was 2017
He was ok in patches, i dont buy into the 2nd best forward so leave him alone
Just because someone was worse does not mean he canât be critisized for the handfull of exceptionally poor efforts he made
I still question his dedication to getting his fitness right
And there were a handful of times were he was close enough to impact a marking contest but never made any attempt at all after realising he was not in a marking position for mine that is unacceptable
He does have the talent to dominate in just about any part of the ground but he needs to prove he has the attitude and workrate to match
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