JLT game 3

[ElwoodBlues1]

I agree but in short bursts only.

Very risky playing this 'kid' week in week out as a key forward when we are so deficient and desperate for someone to stand up at that end of the ground. I can see it already he will be under the spotlight with majority of  supporters will soon forget his age and stage being critical of him if he doesn't have an impact. In our side he could get the best defender some weeks and/or at best, the second best opposition defender - tough gig for youngstar. 

Is this the best thing for him longterm or just what we need so we will push him to fill a important gap at any cost.

Yet playing back (the positon he was recruited to play) he usually gets the 3rd best defender, can intercept mark and not be in everyone's sights as the man we need to make an impact. He just develops slowly as he should. Its only his 2nd year and seems to me that we are throwing him to the wolves in an attempt to get a tough position covered.

Is this what the better teams would do? I think not.

Cripps and him are our best hopes - Cripps already is getting banged up - lets not do the same to Weitering.

Take your point Shawny and I dont want him banged up like Cripps got last season...if he starts to look run down then I would expect the coach to look after him and maybe even give him a
week off or less taxing position as required...

[Professer E]

Does anybody know where Charlie C is at?

[LP]

Does anybody know where Charlie C is at?

I haven't heard a whisper since he hobbled off, the club must be improving!

I suppose we will know what is going on at 4:30pm on the 23rd.

[Lods]

The Weitering situation is an interesting one.

It's a bit of a catch 22

Play him forward and bolster the forward line and I suspect he'd soon be drawing a fair bit of attention.
But if you don't play him back and the forward line remains a dysfunctional mess the ball will come bouncing back into the backline and he'll be under immense pressure down there.

Poor kid's going to cop the attention wherever he plays.

[flyboy77]

The Weitering situation is an interesting one.

It's a bit of a catch 22

Play him forward and bolster the forward line and I suspect he'd soon be drawing a fair bit of attention.
But if you don't play him back and the forward line remains a dysfunctional mess the ball will come bouncing back into the backline and he'll be under immense pressure down there.

Poor kid's going to cop the attention wherever he plays.

Again, a lot depends on how our midfield stacks up this year.

Will Murphy get back to near best? Will Gibbs give a f...or is he thinking I wanna go home? Will SPS add much in Season 1?

At least we know what Cripps will bring!

[DJC]

I agree but in short bursts only.

Very risky playing this 'kid' week in week out as a key forward when we are so deficient and desperate for someone to stand up at that end of the ground. I can see it already he will be under the spotlight with majority of  supporters will soon forget his age and stage being critical of him if he doesn't have an impact. In our side he could get the best defender some weeks and/or at best, the second best opposition defender - tough gig for youngstar. 

Is this the best thing for him longterm or just what we need so we will push him to fill a important gap at any cost.

Yet playing back (the positon he was recruited to play) he usually gets the 3rd best defender, can intercept mark and not be in everyone's sights as the man we need to make an impact. He just develops slowly as he should. Its only his 2nd year and seems to me that we are throwing him to the wolves in an attempt to get a tough position covered.

Is this what the better teams would do? I think not.

Cripps and him are our best hopes - Cripps already is getting banged up - lets not do the same to Weitering.

Bolton made sure that Weitering played on the competition's best forwards in his first season and he looked comfortable matched up with Franklin, the Riewoldts, Kennedy etc.  He has also looked comfortable leading into space as a forward.

I think that Weitering's development may progress more smoothly if he is able to focus largely on playing one position.  However, it's irrelevant whether that position is as a defender or a forward.  If he is to be used as a forward from time to time, I would prefer to see him starting there rather than being switched during the game.

One of the reasons Weitering was recruited is because he can play forward and back. 

[flyboy77]

From what I've read (from memory), he played quite  a lot of junior footy as a forward?

Others care to comment?

[LP]

From what I've read (from memory), he played quite  a lot of junior footy as a forward?

Others care to comment?

Yes, he spent a lot of time in his junior days and school football playing CHF. Of course at that level he was significantly better than opponents. In school football I watched teams like Carey or Marcellin stand multiple opponents on him to try and stop his influence.

In one match he was knocked out cold by having to deal with two KPDs contesting a mark while the opposition midfielders jumped into him from front on. He marked the ball on the HFF but hit the ground out cold still holding the footy, the crooked umpires never even awarded a free kick and rather than paying the mark they re-started the game by a ball up after the ambulance which collected Weiters left the field! Weiters school lost the game by a goal!

In his local footy league one day, prior to his senior school footy days, I saw him kick about a dozen goals for Mount Martha in the first half then change teams and kick about a dozen goals for the opposition in the second half. In those leagues, U14 / U15, clubs are impelled to avoid blowouts so it happens sometimes that a superstar will switch teams temporarily.

One thing of interest to readers, a kid who many considered a better footballer than Weiters, not definitively better but marginally better, and touted by many as the next SOS. No longer plays football at all, primarily because of being disheartened by the nepotism that occurs at TAC Cup development levels.

[sandsmere]

Bolton made sure that Weitering played on the competition's best forwards in his first season and he looked comfortable matched up with Franklin, the Riewoldts, Kennedy etc.  He has also looked comfortable leading into space as a forward.

I think that Weitering's development may progress more smoothly if he is able to focus largely on playing one position.  However, it's irrelevant whether that position is as a defender or a forward.  If he is to be used as a forward from time to time, I would prefer to see him starting there rather than being switched during the game.

One of the reasons Weitering was recruited is because he can play forward and back.

BB has made it pretty clear that Weitering will be playing mostly in defence in 2017.
There will be an occaisional gig as a forward.
Very sensible in the first few seasons.

[Baggers]

What a difficult balancing act with Weits. Our forward line is one of the worst, if not THE worst in the league so it's almost a case of necessity to play him there more often than you might otherwise want. Harry is a work in progress and will take time and Casboult is just an 'almost' player - takes a good mark from time to time... the end.

We'll have to get games into Harry but expectations will remain modest for his influence in games. Our midfielders and small / medium forwards will have to impact the scoreboard much more. I hope SOS2's form in the season proper improves on what he dished up in the JLT series.