(03-01-2024, 02:54 AM)kruddler link Wrote:LOB did have some good games as well. He even showed a bit of agro in some. I think it was a game against the pies where he gave a solid 'don't argue' to the tackler and put him on his butt and kept on his way. His kicking was also something to behold.....when he didn't get overwhelmed by pressure.
Lods says "you're only as good as your last game." and its a saying oft told. However, there are contradictory sayings as well.
Things are never as good, or as bad, as they seem.
Which can be used for warning people off using recent form as a predictor for long term form. That is, just because you played well last game (or poorly) doesn't mean that you will play that well (or poorly) in every game.
Ultimately, i prefer to NOT use the most recent game to make judgements, but seek more data. There are exceptions though. You don't need more than 1 game to realise Eddie Betts is not a ruckman. Some players have (or don't have) certain attributes, be that physical or mental and that is evident without a form line.
I remember back in the day watching Bryce Gibbs in an U18's game. It was evident from the half a match i watched that he had 'time', poise, vision. Some things you can see straight away. In Boyds case, it was the opposite. He had none of those things. He's not the only one. Other players have made it without those attributes in the past and others will in the future....but if i were placing bets on chances of players making it without those attributes, you would always bet against them for the best odds.
Maybe Boyd is the exception. Maybe his early games were the exception.
Im not the only one that had the same conclusions.
I've got no allegiance for or against him, or pittonet, or tdk or silvagni or anyone else people accuse me of having bias for/against. My interests are always for whats best for the team, the list, and the club. At the end of the day, i don't give a stuff which players get us the 17th flag, just that we get it. If i trod on a few players feelings (and posters feelings who they are favourites of) then so be it.
I don't actually believe that "you're only as good as your last game"
It's a footy cliche "like one week at a time."
I look for a body of work.
Sometimes a positive aspect, although identifiable, takes a while to show itself under the pressure and intensity of AFL.
But good 'last games' and recent form is what gets you a spot in a side and a chance to show what you can do.
If Boyd stagnates or goes off the boil he will drop back in the pecking order
I just wonder though...when we go with an initial judgement like
"I wrote him off after 1 game."
Do we resist, to some extent, what comes after and push back against the positives as the player develops and gets confidence at a senior level