LOL at comparing Laverde to Peverill. I would be rapt if Laverde could be as good as Pevers.
He doesnโt get involved in games and has little impact on them.
Granted he is improving, but when you are starting from where he is, you would want to.
I wish the club would give him a new role.
Iโm not sure what more he can contribute as a fourth tall/flanker that isnโt getting the ball funnelled through him or agile enough to provide serious pressure at ground level.
Itโs a role you give to somebody that is in their first or second season not somebody thatโs in their fourth.
They need to throw him in the deep end like Langford and see what he can do.
At this rate of development heโs not going anywhere.
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I donโt think hell be a midfielder like that. Should continue majority forward minority mid.
Whack him on a wing and see what happens.
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Thatโs where I would play him also.
Give him 5 weeks to start making an impact or heโs gone back to the VFL.
I like him. I still have no idea why or what he does or where he plays or what heโs being asked to do though.
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I havent written him off just yet as I said he did ok on sat night however he needs to impose himself on the game a bit more. A lot more
Looking forward to Trav taking his place in 5-6 weeks time
Playing Begley role and ppl were questioning his output as well. Shows how tough the role is even when winning
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I actually think he is playing a perfect role for the team. He has been leading up the wings to contest long kicks out to the flanks. This has meant that Stewart and/or Smack have been able to stay in the forwardline and gives us โshapeโ going forward.
Previously Stewart and JD were forced to go right up the wings to be that contested option but Laverde has moved into that role. Still has some bad moments but can take a contested grab, often creates a contested ball and is good enough at ground level to compete if it hits the deckโฆ
A lot of moaning about how we lack โinside bullsโ and yet Laverde does exactly that and still gets panned. Is only gaining confidence and hopefully the next 8 weeks make him as a player.
I was a huge fan at draft time, almost gave up and now not really sure if he will โmakeโ itโฆ but right now he is playing an important role and building each weekโฆ not much more we can ask surely?!
I would also suggest we go and look at what Melksham is doing at Demons right nowโฆ the former whipping boy who also copped the โlooks like tarzanโฆโ tagโฆ Sometimes it takes a few years for a player to find their feet at the level. Fingers crossed.
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You make some decent points, but the melksham comparison is way off. Melksham was a decent player to begin with. He produces some real good games with us
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Anyone else starting to think that pbomber has some sort of personal issue with Laverde? Maybe he was going out with pbomberโs crush at some point and they never got over it.
He is slowly improving and I think he is worth persisting with for another 4-5 weeks. The problem is Green is itching for his spot, so he better start impacting games more.
He had some rippers, but he was very very inconsistent.
Heโs probably had his role simplified a little bit at the Dees, but the main thing is heโs (finally) found consistency.
What? He goes hard, but heโs not really been anywhere near clearances at AFL level.
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Hopefully he whacks you back.
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They need to keep playing L and L for another month, to give them a good run at it, something neither have had. Langford seems to have rid himself of his languid style. Laverde is becoming more comfortable as he gets the pace of the ball. I feel at times he just needs to read the play better
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Happy to give him a block of games as long as he shows continual improvement. Bare in mind this guy has never got any consistent game time because hes always been injured .
LAV essentially doubled his output possession wise so seems to be understanding his role better and team mates looking to use him also.
With Stringer playing midfield more and more, LAV being that 3rd marking target important.
He is providing a strong contest and follow up at ground level been good. Just need to get him hitting scoreboard now.
If JD was in fact coming back soon LAV likely would be competing with Stewart and thus drop back to VFL again though.
Given our midfield is firing finally Iโm pretty sure Woosh would want to go back to the 3 tall fwds.
Thought he was much improved this week. Got higher up the ground and was used a bit more flexibly.
Took some very strong contested lead up marks. We need to see more of that from him. Also laid some very aggressive tackles which has been missing from his game since probably his first year.
Iโm still not lid off about him but that was arguably his best game for the club and there were some encouraging signs.
Certainly the balance of the forward line looks better than I thought it might with 3 mediums going through there and two talls. We seemed to be holding one tall one medium and 2 smalls deep at various times which feels like a good mix. Certainly a significant improvement on 3 talls deep and going for the same mark which we saw a lot of earlier in the year. Pushing one tall up drags out a KP and lav/stringer are big enough to keep a 3rd tall accountable.
The forwards were certainly assisted by some deft kicks to space later in the game too, rather than bombs to the hot spot
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I challenge you to watch this and think he didnโt have an influential game. Played his role and had three direct goal assists. He is also very strong in the contest and can actually move quite well through traffic. He stays in the side until the end of the year for mine and let him build his confidence.
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