pretty much how i see it
The look on Zaharakisās face when he played on in the square - so often our effort and good play goes unrewarded. Hooker isnāt Robinson Crusoe in that sense though. We burn our forward entries with stupid decision making nearly half the time we go in there I reckon.
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Richmond? It was his fault we turned it over at half back and couldnāt move the ball past the centre? Ditto the crows game frankly. I think people are overreacting because he played on when he shouldnāt have and missed an easy one at a crucial stage.
Iāve seen JD miss plenty of easy ones and make stupid decisions too. It happens. Hell he kicked 1.6 with a few oobf against Melbourne. Hooker has never done anything approaching that. Players all over the ground made poor choices and executed badly at times yesterday.
Meanwhile JD and cale are on track to kick over 100 combined and there are precious few kp combinations that can boast that this year.
Iām sure no one is more ā ā ā ā ā ā off and disappointed than cale and he the type of person to crack in and work on it.
People claiming the experiment has failed and calling for him to be dropped are so far off base it boarders on trolling frankly
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Hopefully he learns from this.
Fwiw I am not at all against him forward, and rapt overall with how hard heās tried in the role, and the structural support it has given the side and the season he has helped Joe have.
But yes the Richmond game was pretty awful, he looked extremely off the boil, dropping simple marks he normally takes and missing opportunities we needed. Granted, he was far from alone on that night.
I 100% like him forward, he just had a sh*t game, thatās all
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Agree how important he has been regarding our forward structure
I think just like a lot of people, how good our backline would be with him, Hurley and Ambrose
Reckon a lot depends on how Francis develops and where he develops
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They said that about Joe at the start of the year, pretty sure you were one of them. Seems you were wrong then.
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Joe is a natural forward. Cale isnāt. I did say that when Joe was missing set shots. And he has improved a great deal in that area. The other areas of his game were very good, itās the goal kicking that is/was the final piece of the puzzle for him.
Wasnāt the first time i have been wrong about a player and it wonāt be the last.
Is Michael Symons his goal kicking coach?
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Big need for some perspective in here. Hooker is currently eq. 19th on the league goal kicking table. His tally of 33 would have won our club goal kicking 4 of the last 7 years and is only 1 off equalling the tally in two other seasons. That is without even considering the impact he had on helping Joe and the small forwards. Absolute no brainer for me that he plays forward.
Contested marking no as good up forward? Yeah right. Top 4 in the comp for contested marking - equal 2nd on average per game. Also 13th in the league for marks inside 50ā¦
Players have bad days because they are human. Only last week he won us a game.
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The question is, would he have saved more goals than heās kicked. Maybe its worth throwing him back, swap Luey for Hartley and push Bell Forward.
Why would we do this? Bellchambers not proven as a forward. Leuenberger has struggled compared to Bellchambers this season and then we put Hooker back into a role he hasnāt played for 2 years and has done no training for at all this season. Not a single win for me.
Hooker works forward.
Frankly, I think there are a lot of delusional people in this thread. Complaining about Hooker. Talking of Hartley forward. Here are some simple pieces of information about forwards, backs, and Hooker that should make you more informed decision makers:
- Being a forward is hard. There is a reason why Hurley, Carlisle and Hooker are all better backs than forwards. That Lucas should have been AA in his one year at CHB. That Leppitsch, D. White and Neitz were so good back there. That the common tale is that failed forwards go play back? Because being a defender is much, much easier. The idea that you can take a decent, average backman like Hartley and turn him into a forward is pretty ridiculous.
- Hooker is a good forward. Heās 3rd in contested marks in the league. 19th in goal kickers. In his first full season as a forward. There are a swathe of clubs who would love to have him available to play for them.
- Our midfield has generally been rubbish this year, and up until the last few weeks we were low on the ladder for I50ās. Our conversion rate of I50 entries to goals was one of the best. Hooker is a big part of that.
- Many forwards are not hugely accurate. Hooker has actually kicked 33:19 this year. That isnāt too bad at all, for a first season in front of the big sticks.
- All the returning players have struggled. How come Hooker doesnāt get any credit?
- As per Redbullās comment, it is likely that heāll pass the highest goal tally of EFC players for 6 of the last 7 seasons. And people are whining???
Wake up people. Heās doing well up forward, will get better with experience and practice, and aināt going anywhere.
Exactly. Sorry for swiping some of your stats.
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I understand all the good that Hooksy has offered, it doesnāt change the fact that heās a very dumb footballer
Well said ants
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basically I like him forward and think heās a good forward. no one else in the team can take a strong contested mark like him outside of Joe.
but would very much like him to cut out the most mind numbingly stupid things Iāve ever seen on a football field.
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That question has an answer, ā¦ Ambrose.
NAME ONE !
Go onā¦