It’s an interesting discussion, people have different definitions of “breakout” and for some players it can be a pre-season where they come back on a new level (due to a new role, bigger body etc), for some it can take a season of gradual improvement or just eliminating some bad habits or being more consistent (Langford last year). For others it can happen in the space of a single game, and I think Laverde might have had that against Port when he kicked 3 goals in the opening quarter, but I guess we won’t know until we see him back it up.
I think both of these guys (Langford & Laverde) will go from being capable to really dominating games in 2019.
There’s a few others that could really take off (Francis/McGrath/Parish), and I guess the best thing is they should all benefit from each others improvement.
I get a bit confused when appraising Hurls, and defenders in general, because defense is such a team effort. Often a defender can look bad, but maybe he was covering someone else’s man or the mids didn’t hold up the ball at all. Often if a mid fluffs a kick it ends in a ball up but a defender makes a mistake and it could be an immediate goal.
I thought he competed well 1 on 1 but his disposal by foot let him down a lot.
He’s definitely a “gun” player that we rely on so it’s imperative that he be in good form.
He averaged 2.3 this season. No-one at the club averaged 5. I reckon considering how much we rotate players through the middle it would be a massive effort to average 5.
Personally i’d be hoping for average 20+ possessions and averaging 1+ goals a game.
The goals per game part depends on how much he is rested forward. I guess the possessions depend on how much time he gets in the middle as well.
I’m hoping he simply gets more time on ground so he actually spends more time in midfield and forward
Spot on, hurley elite already. The criticism on here in incredible. He has been playing in an attacking role which sometimes leave him out of position. He has been instructed to play this way.
And it relys upon team defence, and some resemblance of pressure through the middle.
With the addition of Frances and gleeson I suspect his role will be adjusted slightly. We will then see more games like he had against buddy. Clearly that day he was instructed to play a more devenive role.
Yeah, I don’t think he is as bad as is made out; usually, he’d mess up the final kick forward which is why he stood out so much. Momentum killers stick out as much as backline blunders to most fans, which is why Heppell and Goddard copped it so much this year.
Yeah I think that number’s silly given what he actually does well. His vision is one of our best assets as the 2nd possession, we essentially want Hepp giving it to Langford to find targets.