He reads the play better as a defender. Times his runs and intercepts much better. Presenting as a forward and being able to authoritatively take a pack grab that way is much harder. Defenders are killing him.
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100% correct.
We have a bad habbit of playing players in VFL in positions they wonāt play in the AFL.
We reward them by bringing them in to play completely different roles.
Is it any wonder they look lost or find it hard to keep up with the game?
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Sad but trueā¦ Iām afraid we stuffed this pick up royally.
There, I said it.
Even Smack, first game back, although rusty, clunked a few. Didnāt see Franga clunk any decent pack ones.
Yet another part of Johnās coaching that frustrates the hell outta me. And if it isnāt working in games, then it isnāt too late to switch him with say Hooker. Older coaches tend to be stubborn.
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He needs to be back. Swap him with Hooker. At least Hooker likes playing forward
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Stuffed the pick up? Nope. Franga would be a gun in a team which played him consistently in the correct position
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Late last year he was being hailed as a future star by all the commentators. Now Essendonās āsystemā is turning him into just another in the long line of once-had-promise Essendon plodders.
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You could see that Walla had turned his back so Francis was looking at his back, he was calling for Walla to turn aroundā¦ in hindsight he should of just released the ball and gained space.
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Despite all his failed marks and getting mown down he had two reallly really bad bits of play in the last quarter.
I canāt remember who they were but we had two shot at goal that were touched on the line by Grimes (Francis was his direct opponent)
I think it was the first one (maybe it was Redman) but the shepherding on the line by Francis was non existent, it should have been a clear goal to us but Francis lacked the game sense and forward nous to shepherd the ball through. Stringer would have done this 100%
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Echoes of Hurley here: Fwd or Back. Clearly heās being played fwd out of necessity + itās not doing his confidence any good. Are we ruining the development of yet another player?
Play him back before we lose him for good.
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For a guy his size and supposed strengthā¦ He gets moved around in marking contests far too easily, and he rarely stands up in a tackle.
I do think we may have overrated this guy to an embarassing level.
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Heās a defender. Put him there, leave him there and within a few weeks heāll prove his worth. If we donāt want to, plenty of other clubs do.
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I agree, he may be able to swing forward when games are in the balance but in everyday terms he needs to be placed on the HBF and left there.
Unfortunately, with Hooker, Hurley and Ambrose all playing decent footy there is no spot for him.
Iād look at trading him at years end but I donāt think he would attract sufficient value to his talent and as such is worth persisting with rather than moving on.
Edit: should we try go with Hooker, Hurley, Francis back and Smack and Ambrose forward. At least Ambrose will bring some grit to the forward line that itās lacking.
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Sure he is a defender and would play better footy from a HBF but does that excuse his lazy and/or soft efforts while being used as a forward to fill a hole in the side?
For mine he should be busting his ā ā ā ā to help the team in whatever role he is needed to fill
Parish is not a half forward and did not play his best games when he was put there but his effort was still unquestionable
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I think he is a bit of a tease
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Iād try Hooker forward again and have Ambrose and Francis supporting Hurley down back. Hooker was moved back when Ambrose was injured and our defence was in tatters. Now itās our forward line thatās a mess. Hooker is our Mr Fix it.
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Quite ironic that weāre questioning his attitude when hes played out of preferred position. We did pick him as our Carlisle replacement.
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Playing third key defender next to Hurley and Hooker, itās one of the easiest jobs in football. Can we not say he needs that to play well.
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I think Hooker is too important to our backline and can act as an onfield coach to Francis. Hookah isnāt going to be around much longer, he needs to become that obfield coach to our emerging talls, getting them ready for when he and Hurley retire.