I don’t think clangers and fantasy statistics note 50/50 contests. I clearly remember a lot of easy kicks that should of been made being turned into 50/50 contests and end up resulting in turnovers. This was a problem for the first part of the season
I have huge amounts of respect and admiration for hep. I didn’t really rate his first part of the season but after the carlton lost I thought it was a turning point and he was really, really fkg good. He wasn’t alone in the first part, most guys were ordinary. But his disposal massively improved throughout the year, imo
The whole team were down that first part of the season. However my feeling was that people wanted to blame someone and Heppell was the choice. Zerrett was worse and yet barely anyone commented on other than to say he was down, Hepps though copt all the abuse.
Agree on this part, an easy kick that should be low and flat and easily stays in our teams hands compared to the same kick being high and floaty allowing time for a spoil i don’t think is counted as a clanger. A lot of kicks that should result in an uncontested mark end up having to be a contested mark is the issue and that’s why players with a low flat kick, especially these days with such organized zones, are so important.
Clangers? Maybe not. Kicks that are routine and easy but take too long to get to their target an gives the opposition a chance to spoil? All too often.
There’s always certain players who get over criticised for their occasional disposal errors. They also usually tend to be the players who get the most possessions and do the most running.
I don’t think he does make that many turnovers, but he absolutely does tend to make a fair few of one type, hang kicks up there just a little too long.
Telegraphs it and the opposition can sweat on that kick, and get numbers to that contest and turn it over.
With the arrival of Shiel and the likelihood of McGrath getting some more time in the middle, is there a chance Heppell will be pushed back to a half back flank?
Nah doubt it. Dyson has been our main man inside and around stoppages. Shiel’s arrival will only push him back to 2nd. Followed by the likes of Myers, Parish, Langford and McGrath. If anything it will give us the luxury of moving Merrett around a bit more.
It’s more that he may be squeezed out, not altogether but may have his time on the ball significantly reduced. At GWS, Shiel was just behind Coniglio and Ward as an inside mid and just behind Kelly and Whitfield as an outside mid. He is probably our best inside and outside mid so he will be the man and will get a lot of time on ball. I think Smith and Stringer will get the same time as last year. And McGrath, Parish and Langford will all get a fair bit more time. All three are primed. With Goddard gone and Gleason and Redman both unlikely for round 1, it makes sense that he goes back for some time at least. The others who should see less on ball time are Myers, Zaha and Merrett but I don’t think they will go back.
He’ll stay in the guts. He averaged 5 clearances last season. We didn’t get Shiel in so we could move our best clearance player out of the middle. And he’ll be the last player pushed out. I think some people might be underestimating his inside work.
Reasonable points. Merret has been thrown back on many occasions in the past - though to be fair, mainly in 2017, not 2018. I see Hepp as being our equal most productive mid right now, before including/seeing Shiel. Merret, Hepp, Shiel and McGrath for me, will be the prime movers and the engine of the team. They each bring something a little different to the middle. Langford, Stringer will alternate fwd/mid. Smith & Zaka are primarily outside. Then there are Parish, Myers and a couple of others who are floating around that area.
I think we’ll rotate heavily through the midfield. Shiel is more likely to affect the amount of time the likes of Stringer/Walla than he is someone like Heppell.