(03-17-2018, 03:54 AM)shawny link Wrote:Lets not forget that its bloody hard to be accurate by hand let alone by foot when in a congested situation. Just ask Judd.
His deposal efficiency must have dropped a fair way when he had to become a contested player rather then an outside runner in his WC days.
I remember Juddy blindly handballing 15-20 metres forward out of a pack time and time again sometimes it hit a teammate other times it didn't and would land in the opposition hands. Its used to frustrate me a bit but as he did it time and time again it dawned on my (from the comfort of my couch) it must be a lot harder then it seems to use the ball cleanly when blokes have arms on you and in Judds case were hanging off him.
Put in this way I would rate Cripps general field kicking as clean as anyone in our team. His goal kicking has been below par but that's it IMO.
It's hard to hit a team-mate with the pill when they are tailing their opponents to the contest.
Cripps is OK over short distances, but he needs to find some better penetration with his foot skills to be able to break up opposition defensive structures. If he can't they can just zone at 30m and he's not going to have an influence. I don't think his goal kicking will be a problem if he has people capable of sharing the midfield load, and he's already showing signs of a preparedness to push forward.
How good was it seeing Dow, Pickett and Garlett hit blokes on the chest with 45m passes? Hawthorn lived off that sort of ball use for a decade, you just cannot defend against it if the right decision is made!
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"