#49 Matt Dea

This is his time; it’s exactly what he’s on the list for - reliable defensive depth that can come in and do his job well

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I think this guy has one of the best pair of hands at the club.

I think he will do well if given an extended run at it.

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I don’t know this is actually true - or at least how it plays out. Perhaps Dea is better as long as he’s not outsized, but at his height he’s going to be outsized more often than not. And they seem to see him as an undersized tall, more than a back flank.

So so is putting it kindly, IMO.

It’s interesting to note 2 of our defensive finds of 2016 - Dea and Hartley - really got found out in 2017. Kelly and Brown - probably less defensively inclined - more or less carried on their form.

I wonder if that’s an expectation thing. As in 2016 we were getting pumped week in week out so anything that wasn’t 8 kicked on them seemed ok. But now we expect them to perform they cant do much above pretty average?

Part of it.
I also think we played pretty straight up, dumbed down, man on man, try to just give a contest type game plan, especially down back. I think Hartley in particular has struggled since we asked him to balance that defence with some attacking stuff too. He’s caught in two minds a lot.

Mind you, C Hooker looked pretty poxy at about the same point of development, albeit he started with all counter-attck, under M Knights.

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Gleeson is a fairly poor one on one defender, regardless of his opponent’s height. He’s very good as a third man up, but Dea would have him covered by a fair margin in a lockdown role.

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Reckon Dea is actually surprisingly good playing undersized - pretty decent hands, again, for someone who gives off that “good honest hard nut” vibe. And surprisingly poor on smalls, again, for someone you’d assume would love that challenge.

He’s not quick enough for genuine smalls and not quite big enough to play on talls @ 186cm. Too much of an inbetweener but always gives 100%

I think for the crows, if their 3 tall forwards are fit, I’d rather Brown come in.

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I feel as if he’s a better defender and harder at it than McNeice.

BRING

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He can’t play on smalls though even though you’d imagine he could.

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He’s articulate, Neeld should use him to do the pressers to shield Woosha.

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He’s what 24? Maybe 25? He’s not a star and never will be.

But there’s something about him that wishes we gave him more games. Like he reminds me of MJ or something. You know that if it’s his time to go he’s going to go. And not ■■■■■ out of a contest.

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  1. Turns 27 in October

lol. Just when i managed to compose myself I forgot about his bloke :slight_smile:

In 2016 he expressed his gratitude to the club for giving him a second chance after being cut by Richmond.
He hardly got a game last year, but perservered.

I can remember a lot of quality games in defense from DEA

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Oh really? Well that’s dispointing.

If it were up to me he’d be in the 1’s every week
Based on heart and effort if nothing else

Me too