Needs to start delivering some no chin music to opposition forward lines.
Always liked him and still do - I think he’s just the opposite of “wise beyond your years.” He keeps making slightly silly mistakes here and there (not truckloads) and doesn’t seem to be cutting them out as quickly as we’d like.
Still laugh at comparisons to McKenna though.
can’t win 1-on-1, gets caught out defensively. takes on too much.
quite simple really.
Were you drinking at the game ?
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Gleeson is half decent 1 on 1 - McKenna is simply not (in the air anyway)
Gleeson is (slowly) becoming a good intercept mark, doubt McKenna will ever be much in the air (not that he has to be).
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Mckenna is 2x the kick though.
Yep never been much doubt about that
Really??? Even though he was quiet in the first half, his second half was outstanding, especially in the 4th. He was plucking the ball coming into the defensive 50 at critical times. Still a young kid and will learn to sustain a 4 quarter effort. BTW I have never been a big fan of the kid either but I’m growing on him.
I worry about his kicking out of defence - It’s very much hit and miss - Actually this was the weakest part of our game on Saturday - Kicking in the back half was ordinary and lucky not to be punished in the back half - Strangest thing is our kicking forward of centre was a much higher standard.
Some of you need to take a chill pill, the reason he gets caught with the ball sometimes is because he is the only one of our players to be where the ball is at that particular time. He is Fletch like with his reading of the play, yes he needs to do when he ends up with the ball but he has it and hopefully can learn to make better choices.
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There’s a difference between getting the ball because you read the play well and trying to break three tackles.
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He was good in the first quarter taking the game on through the middle, and very valuable for us in the last, intercepting and sweeping down back safely when we were defending our lead. Sure he was caught with the ball right in front at one point and has yet to learn how to disguise professional taps to the boundary.
I would suggest his intercept marking makes a significant contribution to the team defence. During last year he seemed to play best in the last quarter in a number of games
Defensive Intercept marks
3: Baggers.
2: Ambrose, Gleeson.
- Hurley, McGrath.
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I don’t mind him but I’d like him to be a lot more composed in traffic, given he’s there as the rebounding defender. 3-4 times he tried to beat tackles and failed abysmally.
He’s been around 4-5 years, a year longer than Ambrose, Fanta & Zerrett who are all a lot more composed, and now he’s passed the 50 game mark. How long does that ‘he’s just a kid’ tag give you a free pass?
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I don’t think he tried to beat rioli, he hadn’t had prior and he decided not to offload a handpass to no one in panic. He was pretty lucky but his mistake was the fumble which robbed him off time rather getting tackled.
He will not make the same deliberate out of bounds mistake again.
I thought he was a little unlucky with the holding the ball at the punt road end because poppy dragged it back in. Ump said he put in on the ground but I thought he just fumbled as he went to ground and players seem to get away with that all the time with no prior.
The kicking flub to Watson in the second was poor, we were under the pump at the time and it was probably the wrong moment for that high risk option. If one of his teammates had been telling him to hold he would have. That is a team situational awareness issue as much as a Gleeson issue.
If he is going to brazenly block forwards in marking contests he needs to disguise it better. He’ll learn that.
His worst mistake for the night was the marking contest against Smith where he turned his back on the play despite being in good position and then missed the drop of the ball. A defenders back should never be too ball unless they are running back with the flight. He needs to be side on to that contest between Smith and the ball so he can watch both (Fletch was the master of this positioning) or straight out backing himself and facing it in front position.
Conversely, his high risk kick to green in the 1st was awesome and that run through the guts and long kick to Fanta after a strong mark was also very good.
On the night I think he was 2 goals for and 3.2 against from all that lot.
He’ll have better games no doubt.
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I thought I recognised you.
Billy Hayes, right?
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His kicking is pretty average, he often fails to kick a drop punt that spins properly. But he is the best intercept marker in our back line, so he is comfortably in our best team.
Also, his ability to keep an opponent quiet is underrated. From memory he spent a fair bit of time on Breust, whose influence on the game was minimal.
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I love Marty - but I think McGrath had Breust for most of the game.
I’ve worked with Billy. He’s a character.
Best 22 in a canter. The kid was fantastic last week. Contested marking, run off half back, kicking to the top if the square - huge.
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It is pretty clear the coaches agree with you on that point, FighterBomber!
Lots to like about Marty, I have always liked the cut of his jib. He is only 23 and has just hit the 50 game milestone. With his wiry build and late maturing body he is the type of player who could play another 9 - 10 years. For someone who looks like they might snap in half in a tackle he is surprisingly resilient. He has missed bugger all games in the last couple of years.
His intercept marking is very good, one on one he is getting better as he gets stronger and can jostle with the other player both on the ground and in the air. His kicking is great and he hits a lot of dangerous targets and sets up a lot of our scoring opportunities.
He just needs to work on not thinking he is the hulk and can bust through tackles and also killing the ball over the boundary. Get better at not making it look deliberate or being caught with the ball because you are too scared to take it over the boundary. He will get there, I am sure. He forms a vital part of our back line and we are a better team with him in it.
I think he will be a long term player for us and be that “James Kelly” type influence to younger players in his twilight years. Hopefully with the multiple premierships to go with it.
Has a good kicking technique and his run from the back line and then the diagonal kick up field are first class.
Keeps his eyes on the footy and is very balanced.
He can take a grab.
Interesting to see his stats compared against the other “rising star” players back in 2015. Did very well for such a skinny bugger that he was back then. Bomber must have thought he was OK as he gave him a rd 1 game back in 2014 and Hirdy and co must have thought so too as he played all year in 2015 and again under Woosha last year. They can see the player in him developing nicely.
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