I went to the U-18 all stars match that year and Bolton & Florent were my picks of the bunch. Actually had a random come up do Dad and myself and ask if we were recruiters. In hindsight I should have said yes and strung them along a bit.
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I’m really looking forward to see how hard Scott makes players work for their spots in the side and how good he is at getting to most out of them by emphasising their strengths and keeping things simple.
The optimist in me says that McGrath will respond to the challenge, especially as a back.
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There was a club video, I think from 2021 pre-season where Forster-Knight introduced draftees to the rest of the list.
Was one of the most deadpan, uninspiring speeches I’ve seen.
He rattled off draft pick numbers and junior accolades for each draftee. The other players whistled and went ‘ooooh’ each time Forster-Knight listed something.
I thought it was pretty embarrassing and felt like a bullying vibe among the list.
No wonder we’re shithouse.
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Remember when they pulled aside a bloke who COULD kick equally well off either foot - and they told him to concentrate on kicking with a preferred foot…?Development, EFC style.
If you’re talking about Mutch, I think that was good advice. In the end his kicking was a barrier to him making the great, despite being adept both sides.
The main barrier to Mutch developing into a senior footballer was that he was injured all the time and couldn’t develop at all.
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The players are bullied so much on field every week they probably think it’s normal behaviour.
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I don’t know that mcgrath is a bad kick. I think his problem is too many over the shoulder and panicked kicks, not his technique
With you on parish though. Seeing him burst from congestion and kick to a leading target only for the ball to dribble over the boundary line is beyond frustrating
I think he’s done a ■■■■ job, just like anyone else that’s been at the club for a long time.
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doesnt sound like us at all…
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Shiel’s kicking action is very flawed.
His foot comes through far too early…. Which means he gets under the ball, resulting in the ball ballooning high and long.
The issue he has when kicking short distances, is that he doesn’t wait on the kick so it’s closer to ground (like most footballers)…. But still kicks early & under it.
He adjusts how hard he kicks the ball, when he’s kicking short to a target. Which is a huge problem.
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Dinsdale Piranha would have been proud of litotes like that.
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And in the first year he arrived here, and kicking all those behinds when he could have easy goals, he said something like “as a true professional I will work on fixing that issue”.Hmmm… I guess he has been too busy working on fixing his property portfolio to do much about his kicking issues
He sort of didn’t really have anything standout to him.
He was above average runner, OK at a contest, OK size, OK pace, OK skills, OK overhead.
Another place and time he might’ve had a servicable 50 or 80 games but I cant see how he ever would’ve had a big impact. (See also: Browne, A)
Just what you get at pick 50 or whatever.
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From the u18s he struck me as a Heath Hocking type. Never going to win you a flag off his own boot, but happy to do the unglamourous grunt work and gut running that allowed the stars to shine.
But without the size and contest work.
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i would have said the main barrier was he was just simply average as hell myself
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This seems the best place to put this. I don’t mind this decision.
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wonder if the people slagging RFK are gonna welcome his master with welcome arms?
Dodo now has a official target on his back
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