Deserves his thread on the new forums. What a comeback. Disposal on the improve, up tenfold and when he makes a mistake now he makes them taking the game on.
Needs work on the one on one contest but looks like he can really hurt his opponent off the ball and help us set up play. Almost took dempsey's role today.
He was absolutely rubbish in the 1st quarter. After that he was pretty good.
Looks a shadow of the player he was to me.
Agree to disagree then lol. He will be a big part of the next premiership IMO.
Looks a shadow of the player he was to me.
IMO, his strength pre-injury was his confidence taking on players. He seems to be getting that confidence back. He's not pulling it off every time, but we've persisted with less before
I thought he was slow to get going then was pretty good.
Looks a shadow of the player he was to me.
Agree with FB, early on he was getting well beaten by Menzel, then he lifted and had a decent game. Has been in decent form in recent weeks, starting to see some consistency in his game now.
He was OK. A couple of good overhead marks probably made him look better than he was. Not a bad game but I wouldn't hang my hopes on him like some of his fans will. Hope he keeps improving.
He was OK. A couple of good overhead marks probably made him look better than he was. Not a bad game but I wouldn't hang my hopes on him like some of his fans will. Hope he keeps improving.
Pretty much how I see it.
He won't make it unless he gets his one on one play sorted out.
Terrible first quarter, very good after that. Almost fell off the chair when he took that contested mark. Not a big fan of his dinky kicks, but often his disposal is very effective.
I’m not sure he’s defensive back anymore; if anything he might be our Nick Maxwell. That’s selling him a long way short of what he was, but until he gets an appetite for the body on body that’s the case.
Big, big return if he gets that back.
His first quarter was terrible but at least he worked himself back into the game and got involved better as the game went on.
Pretty inconsistent game I thought with a lot of areas to work on.
Solid game. We need to give him time to regain his best. Another solid preseason will help his confidence.
We all know his best is very very good.
He is back.
More suited a lose man, rebounding HBF/Third tall.
Has to recover and build his strength in the off season as he has a heavy reliance on that aspect of his game and it lets him down a lot. But very promising signs.
Had a very ordinary 1st quarter. I had given him up. Redeemed himself in the ensuing 3.
Geez, the penny has dropped ... i'm fickle. :(
I think, in many respects, because of the horrendous run with injuries he has had, you almost have to treat him like a second year player. Did plenty of good things today, interspersed with a few clangers. Definitely has to improve his one-on-ones (though so do a few others, some with much more experience than him). We shouldn't forget he was a relatively high draft pick who placed 2nd or 3rd in the Rising Star. His body has taken a pounding, but he is still young enough and needs to work on getting his confidence back... I hope he succeeds because he has shown a bit in the past and we still see some glimpses.
Menzel beat him early, but Pears was very good after quarter time. Still not back to his best (yet). He and Hooker are very close to signing new deals.
He's not doing too badly. Pre injury, he was more of a key position defender, but he's a bit undersized for that now, plus we've got Carlisle and Hooker ahead of him. So he seems to be trying to adapt to more of a half back role as well as trying to get his confidence and form back from before that horrible run of injuries.
First time I saw that poise he had in that standout year since his injuries.
May be returning to golden form, would still be a pre-season away from it though.
Is very handy at ground level, and usually pretty composed.
Has totally lost the plot in marking contests though. Can take them himself ok, but his spoiling is a thing of the distant past.
I still see a decent career for him, but I think he'd be better to trim down and develop as a rebounding / spare defender, than try and bulk up to play on the bigger guys.