#45 Conor McKenna - the first six years

Saad’s IMO the best back pocket in the league.

Conor’s very good, but I don’t think he’s in the same class.

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Seconded, there aren’t many who are better defensively and those who are provide little going the other way.

Both Conor and Saad are also better against taller opponents than they should be.

Nobody has mentioned his run down tackle where he chased a player from hb, pressured him to handball 60 metres out then ran on and tackled the guy he handballed it to and saved a goal 100 metres from where he started

That was the most unessington thing I’ve seen in a long time.

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I want to see Saad on Franklin when we play the swans. I seriously think it would be a good match up for us. Or at least fun to watch.

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Elite vision and skill, creative and now combative. Never used to worry too much about defence, now showing genuine grit. So important to us.

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Lol

Yeah not sure about that one

Serious question who are the better half backs in the league compared to him? There would not be many. Rory Laird and Shannon Hurn and Lachie Whitfield if he plays there. Think McKenna is closing in on these guys.

He has rounded out his defensive side nicely, and is becoming the perfect hbf.

He needs to go from Averaging sub 20 possessions to averaging plus 20 before he’ll be considered in the top echelon of HBF.

At this stage he is at peak-Suckling levels, hopefully by seasons end he’ll have elevated his game to the next level.

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Met a Bomber bloke today at the VFL who reckons Conor simply should NOT be in the side,…

Wut? Said I. Ummm, … okey doke. Good to meet ya, … I better get back. @theDJR is trying to explain percentage to me… :grin:

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You meet all sorts in Frankston :blush:

Must say some of the scenery was pretty good though.

This is where I dislike stats and think they are over thought. 15 possessions particularly kicks that break the lines and deliver to a team mate in a good position are far more valuable than 25-30 dinky little chip kicks.

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Except the best half backs like Hurn and whitfield are penetrating kicks and get it more than 15 times…

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My imagination or did he play a chunk of the game on the wing?
Maybe a sign of things to come.

Nope. Always started off hbf. Just motored forward a lot and then sprinted back.

I saw him start more than one centre bounce on the wing.

Eg. He actually started Q2 on the wing.

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Conor McKenna vs Melbourne

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Was in my bests.

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Nice game Connor

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Best play was the second-last one, particularly because very shortly afterwards he had to run the ball out of defence. Any mortal would have been too cooked to do that.

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His power running is a little bit superhuman.

His kicking on the day swung between sublime and ridiculous. I think he’s hitting some short kicks with a slightly bent-leg poke, which he’s always done but I reckon it’s drifting further away from normal

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