He wasn't playing on medium forwards last year. He was playing on guys like Lynch.
Yes but this is actually kind of my point - do we think that he’ll be playing on guys like Lynch once again this year, now that Hurley and Hooker are back in the side?
Even if Hooker stays forward, you’d have Hurley and Hartley taking the key talls, with Ambrose left to take the medium forward, which I’m not sure he’s cut out for.
If Ambrose is able to blanket Lynch, which he did a far better job of than Hurley in the past, why wouldn’t you okay him and let Hurley play on the second or third best for forward in order to create a mismatch?
Ambrose doesn’t have to get a single touch to be of value to the side.
I’d rather have our AA key defender take the opposition’s best key forwards than Ambrose, who battled manfully last year when we had zero other options available.
I’m the opposite. I’d rather see Ambrose completely negate one of the top opposition forwards and take them out of the game. Then have Hurley on the 2nd or 3rd guy and being able to drift off and set up plays going forward.
Nice in theory but you’re still left with a bloke on the last line of defence whose kicking, handballing, marking and overall clean hands are a concern, IMO.
What I’m saying is, unless Ambrose is able to make up some significant ground in this area, I just see him as a stop-gap option until Francis/Ridley/whoever comes on and is able to take ownership of that third defensive tall position.
But then again, I’m still not convinced that Hooker forward is the right option, either.
We have two AA key defenders returning to the side and I’d like at least one of them to take the opposition’s best forward - coz y’know, that’s what they do best.
Lol at some of these comments. Not everyone can be an elite intercept marking, rebounding machine defender. But it’s lucky we have one anyway in Hurley…? No, he’s not Josh Gibson. But the Hawks also have a guy called Ben Stratton who gets a game every week without fail playing a pure lock down on the 2nd or 3rd forward.
Let’s not forget Ambrose was ranked 4th in the league last year for goals conceded by direct opponent per game last year. In the team that finished bottom.
No one’s expecting Ambrose to be Josh Gibson but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to see some improvement in overall skill level before considering him a lock for the best 22.
He’s turning into a very, very good lock down defender. He’s a monty for round one and best 22 ATM
The biggest positive I see with him is it allows Hurley to be a bit more attacking, if ambrose keeps up this kind of development I would have him and Hartley as the key defenders and Hurley as a attacking third tall, I think that’s quite a realistic possibility
It took Hurls time to adjust down back. In his first year down there he didn’t offer a whole lot on the attacking side of his game. He first had to ensure he negated his opponent each week before looking to venture out and attack more which was developed in his next year. You can say the same thing for Carlisle, Hooker, Fletcher, Wellman etc.
I think Ambrose will be the same as he becomes more confident. Still if he has Francis and Hurls playing around him he doesn’t need to.
Im on the Ambrose Banwagon. (I wanteed to trade him early last year)
His development has allowed us to play Hooker forward.
Even if we went with 3 tall defenders - Hurley and Francis would be considered the more attacking ones.
He is essentially our Teddy richards, we tried him as a forward, where he was average, he is actually more suited to a shut down defender role.
He’s one of the fittest blokes in the side, and one of the strongest. He can shut down any defender and run with them all day. He is physically intimidating and makes the opposition look over their shoulder. He can also protect his team mates and fly the flag when necessary.
I agree with some that he needs to work on his skills/composure when he has the ball, but we can definitely afford to have him in the side.
I was a bit disappointed in the frees he gave away last night but it’s only a praccy match and all defenders give a few away every now and again.
A lot of blokes were quiet last night and aren’t being criticised. Ambrose played the whole game, did a LOT of good work but people tend to want to highlight the bad stuff.
We all know Ambrose is no Rance. But some have short memories. Last night Ambrose played on Darcy Moore, who scarcely moved out of the goal square, so Ambo was ultra defensive.
The last AFL game was against Carlton, Ambo was on Liam Jones who was in career best form ( not that that means much) playing the mobile half forward role. Jones had 5 kicks for the game and didnt bother the scorers, but Ambrose kicked several passes inside 50, and was involved in several more handball chains through the centre that lead to goals . Those who say he is a liability with ball in hand would need to look at him in games where he plays more across half back and follows his opponent upfield.
We all know Ambrose is no Rance. But some have short memories. Last night Ambrose played on Darcy Moore, who scarcely moved out of the goal square, so Ambo was ultra defensive.
The last AFL game was against Carlton, Ambo was on Liam Jones who was in career best form ( not that that means much) playing the mobile half forward role. Jones had 5 kicks for the game and didnt bother the scorers, but Ambrose kicked several passes inside 50, and was involved in several more handball chains through the centre that lead to goals . Those who say he is a liability with ball in hand would need to look at him in games where he plays more across half back and follows his opponent upfield.
Will be horses for courses, but in my mind he is the best option we have to take the mid sized quick marking forwards. Also has ability to play on gorillas.
He wasn't playing on medium forwards last year. He was playing on guys like Lynch.
Yes but this is actually kind of my point - do we think that he’ll be playing on guys like Lynch once again this year, now that Hurley and Hooker are back in the side?
Even if Hooker stays forward, you’d have Hurley and Hartley taking the key talls, with Ambrose left to take the medium forward, which I’m not sure he’s cut out for.
I think Ambrose will be used as our number one lock down defender, effectively going to the best key forward on the opposition. I can’t believe people don;t rate him, every player he has played on has had a below average game and there was definitely a lot of quality in there, reiwoldt he kept goalless last season as well. Iv’e given him the nickname the glove.
I do agree he isn’t great with ball in hand but i think one lockdown tall, one lockdown small defender plus one lockdown midfielder is the perfect set up. The other playmakers can thrive around it and it negates the best mid and best tall and small forward from the opposition.
Completely recognise and applaud his talents as taller lock down defender - but same can also be said of Hartley - and neither of them are effective offensively.
To me, there appears a lot of support already for a backline of:
Unless we play on a team where we may need to negate several key talls (ala West Coast or GWS), I’m just not sure we need all three of Hurley, Ambrose and Hartley. By doing so, are we sacrificing a spot that would be better taken by a rebounding player? We seem to lack a bit of speed and/or polish kicking coming out of the backline if the above were the case.
Edit: the development of McGrath and Francis would be crucial to our backline structure.