Pretty typical really
What games have you been watching?
Hooker is a rock down back. Has been holding marks all year long.
Was clear BOG in the Geelong game - coaches thought so too.
Hooker straightens us up significantly down back, and down forward too FWIW. IF only we had two of him.
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Well gee willy gosh, if the Coaches thought Hooker was BOG then he must have been.
Wonder then who was playing on Hawkins who had 20 possessions and kicked three goals. And yep Hooker got the ball 21 times; just shows how stats lie then, as the Coaches couldn’t have been wrong.
We all love Klunk, but he is more effective kicking 4 goals than trailing opponents to the ball. And he is an average field kick, and he has no run out of the backline.
And maybe my judgement is clouded from watching the game.
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Yep. The major takeaway from the game, was that Tommy Hawkins was on fire!
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Wow, and I thought it was the intense pressure that the Bombers put on the Cats for three quarters.
Yep those Coaches and Paul Peos always get it right.
Not always. But about Hooker’s game V Geelong? I’m 100% undoubtedly right.
Look, Bacchus, if you wanna make the argument about him moving forward again, it’s actually a pretty easy argument to make. You certainly don’t need to rewrite history to make it.
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Just reckon he is too slow to play anywhere but 30 metres from goals at either end.
No doubt about his marking ability and passion, but he is slower than ever and was shown up badly on Saturday.
I know he is a crowd favourite like Hurls and BJ, but maybe just maybe we cannot have these three on the backline.
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If the ball is freewheeling into the back half like it was against Richmond all our defenders will trail.
The game is won by applying pressure on the ball coming in so it comes in high and it brings the interceptors are brought into the game.
All the good teams do that!
We showed we are capable of it but we aren’t yet mentally strong enough to do it week on week.
Hooker is going well.
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See, I think he’s just as capable up either end. I don’t think we should lock him into either position, I think he should play where he is needed. There is a pretty good argument that with Joe out, he is currently needed forward.
And I’m not denying the lack of pace, btw. I do think it’s just as much of a problem up forward as it is down back, though. I’m actually more worried about how slow he’ll be in two years time.
P.s. Stringer!
He kicked 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of a game that was dead.
He didn’t get a mark inside 50 until 4 minutes into the last quarter.
He was comprehensively beaten by Hooker that night.
And yes, coaches votes are far more reputable than any other sort of voting forums out there…
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I think what Richmond show us is that now more than ever it’s not a game for a superstar to win. It’s a team game.
Sure the guns help but if our entire midfield didn’t push back so hard V Cats and GWS our defence would have looked ■■■■.
If our forwards didn’t get sucked to HB then our mids could find a target and dispose and look better V tigers.
Hooker was great V cats. Hawkins had a few ■■■■ goals when the game was well and truly dusted. Couldn’t care less.
Not one person will deny Hooker isn’t the quickest bloke off the mark though.
We need to be able to shift the magnets and move players according to opposition strengths. We never do this. Ever. We have Hooker and Hurley who can bookend either side. Plus guys like goddard (who should now be moved forward now). Our team could be versitile. It’s currently not.
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He had a great game. I just think we missed him up Forward.
See i think he’s only had one truely bad game , and thats the Carlton game which everyone was ■■■■.
The rest of his games , he has been competing and working hard.
Some games its come off, some not so much.
But in reality , its not gonna look like it most weeks, esp cos of the way we’ve played nost of the season.
None of our forwards have looked great this year, and theres a reason for it. The getting sucked up the ground crap.
I mean raz didnt look all that great against richmond. If our players are constantly having to chase tail cos of bad tactics , or the coaches not making players stick to ir , or the players not doing it themselves, there is only so much they can do.
For me, stringer has been pretty good this year. Hopefully uts the foundation to turn him into a more dominant force both as a mid and fwd.
Obv not to dustys output yet , but he just put in his best game , where he bullied his way through the best defensive side going around at present.
He has the tools to be as big in the game as martin. Whether or not he wants ut or lives up to it, who knows.
But his effort is there imo.
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Thanks DKP for reading the thread title.
Do some of you blokes realise there is a Hooker thread?
No wonder Stringer is enjoying flying under the radar when even his thread is hijacked by the Hooker back / forward / cooked? debate
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I just don’t reckon he’s very good at working to space. Career average something like 12 or 13 touches…
Funny, I thought on the weekend he gave us a glimpse of what’s to come. And I liked it very much. The boy is learning more this year than the rest of his career put together I reckon. I think he is developing very nicely.
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Last year he had some great moments, this year he is a spud. Slower than me and cannot hold a mark above his head
Which one is it?
Was a pretty complete game from Stringer. I could quibble and wish his disposal rate was higher but that’s just trying to be over critical.
Like the whole side, finding form and being consistent is a major issue. IF he can keep it up then he will have met all the expectations that people had for him.
Looking at his clearances in the Richmond game he has developed a good understanding with Tommy as well as being a bulldozer breaking tackles around stoppages.
It will be interesting if he can repeat those clearance numbers, because Tommy is up against a better class of ruckman for this game.
I foresee him going to more stoppages in this game, particularly in the forward half