Simon Buckley....jury's out

[Surfa 0]

Buckley needs time to mature thats all he is quite tall and is super fast for his height , that passage where his stole the errant handpass and looped it around as he run past was inspiring. something about his head makes him look stupid though lol. but on his talent side if you look at his posession he is doing more than 18 other players in the team... look at miller ffs. atleast buckley can read the play and asertain where the ball is going ... the easist part of our great game is learning to kick certain things like speed and being in the right spot at the right time and that quick sidestp out of troble is a gift from the gods... i think this is the only reason frawley gets a game he has a great sidestep even if he is slow as long as he doesnt get caught no harm done.

[w00dy 146]

i think when you're called simon godfrey by the commentator you're future in footy isn't looking too good...

[Adzman 2,154]

You can learn how to dispose of the ball correctly.

You can learn how to defend.

You cannot learn explosive speed, you either have it or you don't.

The ball is in buckleys court, if he wants to play at this level he has the ability (and this year the chance to develop). Still think his upside is great enough to gamble on. Will be given another chance next season to cement a spot, if by then he hasn't, he will be swept out and will become a local footy star.

[jacey 333]

You can learn how to dispose of the ball correctly.

I thought that once too but Simon Godfrey defied me.

I've got plenty of time for the kid but he needs to bring his head to the footy.

[Mono 455]

Possibly and here's hoping. Similar to how Travis Johnstone is playing at the moment in Brisbane. Trapper had 32 touches and 2 goals on Saturday night but how many of those possesion were hard-ball gets?

Actually, he had 9 contested possessions, and 6 tackles. Took him about 3 or 4 games at the MFC to get that many of those stats.

What a difference an accountable culture makes (this from comments TJ made about the culture at Brissie in an interview).

[45HG 1,559]

Take out that last game, which he clearly revved himself up for, and travis averages 2.5 tackles a game at Brisbane. He averaged 2.6 for the dees over his last 3 years, so i'd like to see him sustain it before i'll make comments like the Brisbane culture is making him a better player

[w00dy 146]

You can learn how to dispose of the ball correctly.

You can learn how to defend.

You cannot learn explosive speed, you either have it or you don't.

The ball is in buckleys court, if he wants to play at this level he has the ability (and this year the chance to develop). Still think his upside is great enough to gamble on. Will be given another chance next season to cement a spot, if by then he hasn't, he will be swept out and will become a local footy star.

good points, but what is causing buckley's poor disposal? is it that he is simply not a good kick? or does he lack the composure to be able to look up find a suitable target and deliver accurately by foot at AFL level?

just because he's fast doesn't mean he can keep up with the speed of the game... when he makes these poor kicks, it looks like he's rushed and unsure of himself rather than just a bad kick...

and composure is another thing that is very hard to learn... you either have it or you don't...

[Real Demon 232]

He is another halfwhit footballer that melbourne will keep for too long and then realise "Oh [censored]" what have we done this guy hasnt given us anything. There is no place for him in the melbourne team. He has the worst disposal in our team and turns the ball over every chance he gets.

My god.......this is gold!

You can't even spell it correctly, and you're calling him a half wit!

See the computer monitor in front of you..........start slamming your head into it as hard as you can........then come back on here and post.........perhaps then you may come up with something semi intelligent.

[Rogue 585]

Jones/McDonald/Moloney/Bartram? All four do not appear to get the same focus but in my opinion are far worse in both facets than what Buckley showed yesterday.

The four you've mentioned do more than what Buckley does. They may not have the pace that Buckley has, but they find the ball more, and all work much harder defensively than Buckley does. Bartram's disposal is fairly average, but I'd say the other three easily shade Buckley when it comes to skills by foot.

[Nasher 33,617]

I thought that once too but Simon Godfrey defied me.

I've got plenty of time for the kid but he needs to bring his head to the footy.

Poor kicks generally stay poor kicks forever. Some will progress to "adequate" but rarely will a poor kick ever become good unless they have come to the game late.

Godfrey's biggest problem was that he had tunnel vision, and was terribly slow at disposing of the ball (back to my favourite argument of speed of leg vs speed of ball -- Godfrey had neither). This meant that by the time he was ready to give to the first option it was gone. His field kicking in general wasn't as bad as many thought.

On Buckley, I'll suffer a few poor field kicks here and there, but until his defensive work improves, his negatives outweigh his positives. Like Wrathchild said though, you can't teach that level of natural pace, so the tools are there, but his mindset needs to change. Ball's in his court. He'll be an interesting development over the next year or two I think. If he can't learn the defensive side, he's finished.

[Weedster 174]

The four you've mentioned do more than what Buckley does. They may not have the pace that Buckley has, but they find the ball more, and all work much harder defensively than Buckley does. Bartram's disposal is fairly average, but I'd say the other three easily shade Buckley when it comes to skills by foot.

I actually think he's got something because he goes and gets the ball..has pace..shows some spirit. His kicking needs to improve, but hell..look at the turnovers from Bartram, Bell and even Jones last week..he's hardly on his own there !! Give the kid a chance

[StevenStretch 1]

anyone mind explaining to me why we are getting into a young kid making his way, having to earn his spot every week when we have much senior players to him *cough*bruce*cough* with worse disposal. I like the kid he plays with confidence and has a crack, something really lacking in our team. How can you expect him to hit a target everytime he gets it when we dont have anyone moving or providing a target, the only reason opposition players look good is because if you put a ball in a 40m radius of franklin or brown or pav they will prob get it. Poor buckley has no1 to kick it too, robbo encourages everyone to bomb it in the air coz speccies are his game and Miller... well....

to play with the confidence he does, considering we get belted every week and he gets dropped every other week speaks volumes of the blokes determination and love for playing football, he backs himself in, i'm more then happy to see him make a couple of mistakes.

[Surfa 0]

anyone mind explaining to me why we are getting into a young kid making his way,

good point stretcher..he is hardly our teams issue at the moment lol he does get dropped and we dont win , he plays and we dont win.. so not really his fault lol and confidence is a amazing thing when he gets some his kicking will improve.. do any of you really think that he will get a game if he cannot kick?? its kicking under pressure that is hard and he will get better as he becomes used to the tempo..

[Real Demon 232]

I thought Buckley played a good game today, and took another step forward.......disposal was a lot better as well.

Just watched the replay of the game on Foxtel, and the Channel 7 commentators (Commetti, Watson, and McAvaney) praised him numerous times, and said he looks like a real talent for the the future.

[mikeod 21]

I thought Buckley played a good game today, and took another step forward.......disposal was a lot better as well.

Just watched the replay of the game on Foxtel, and the Channel 7 commentators (Commetti, Watson, and McAvaney) praised him numerous times, and said he looks like a real talent for the the future.

I really think Buckley could turn out in a similar mold as Chance Bateman. He has the speed, but he just needs to work on his awareness, and his decision making.

He is moving forwards which is all we can hope for. Taking people on. I like it.

[w00dy 146]

could've easily been dropped after last week... but wouldn't do his development any good just giving him one game... Bails gave him another crack, and all credit to him he improved...

personally i'd like to get games into Chris Johnson, and after getting 2nd best for Sandy today I'd like CJ to come in next week... i think our game plan suits him perfectly, and he uses the ball well...

[Real Demon 232]

personally i'd like to get games into Chris Johnson, and after getting 2nd best for Sandy today I'd like CJ to come in next week... i think our game plan suits him perfectly, and he uses the ball well...

Agree.......I'd like to see CJ get some more games as well, and hopefully he will get his chance and take it!

[rpfc 28,779]

He plays with a boldness that's refreshing considering the short kicking, hit a target style of a few clubs (looking in your direction Sydney and St.Kilda). Similar to White from Richmond who is another youngster finding his way.

[Rogue 585]

I actually think he's got something because he goes and gets the ball..has pace..shows some spirit. His kicking needs to improve, but hell..look at the turnovers from Bartram, Bell and even Jones last week..he's hardly on his own there !! Give the kid a chance

If you read my post - which I assume you did, because you quoted it - you'll see that I specifically mention his defensive workrate, not his turnovers. An example would be to do the hard and unglamarous thing in running hard to man up an opponent that is loose and could present an option for the ball carrier, rather than just jogging along.

PS. Fwiw, I thought Buckley showed much more today in terms of hard running, and attack on the ball.

Edit: Another really positive thing I saw was that at a stoppage, he provided a block for McLean so that he could lose his tag. McLean didn't end up with the ball, but those are the sorts of things I thought were missing from Buckley's game earlier on.

[Surfa 0]

i thought he was quite costly today.. certain times when we were surging forward he dropped his bundle, scragged the kick or just missed the contest... having said that i stick by my original comments and think that he does get his hands on it and agree that he will learn and be valuable..

One thing i have seen him do on a few occasions is intercept handpasses etc.. obviously a thinker with good concentration lol and if he was like me in my younger days my actions couldnt keep up with my thoughts so definately get better with age...

all good just dont do something silly and drop him ..the season is over and give all the borderline players a crack.. and let them know why... a little pressure will sort the men from the boys..

[Jarka 767]

He definitely improved on some of his lacking areas yesterday, was good to watch him attack the ball hard and dish out some handballs. Also as previously mentioned he was good with the 1%'s.

I quite like our midfield with Valenti and Buckley involved, with some of their hard work around the packs they release McLean and Jones to be more attacking players, we just need one or two really quick ball users to cap them off.

[Jaded No More 68,974]

He definitely improved on some of his lacking areas yesterday, was good to watch him attack the ball hard and dish out some handballs. Also as previously mentioned he was good with the 1%'s.

I quite like our midfield with Valenti and Buckley involved, with some of their hard work around the packs they release McLean and Jones to be more attacking players, we just need one or two really quick ball users to cap them off.

Clever use of Buckley by Bailey. Playing him in defence, making him accountable for his man.

Still takes on too many opponents, still can't hit targets consistently enough.

[diesel 420]

Still takes on too many opponents, still can't hit targets consistently enough.

I don't see these as negatives Jaded. He has only played about 10 games and has already taken a quantum leap in his decision making form pre-season. He will fit perfectly with a hard, tough and accountable game plan.

[Jaded No More 68,974]

I don't see these as negatives Jaded. He has only played about 10 games and has already taken a quantum leap in his decision making form pre-season. He will fit perfectly with a hard, tough and accountable game plan.

I really REALLY want to like him, but I get extremely irritated with players who play like millionaires but can't get the basics right.

Still, he's got plenty of time to improve all that... and at least he's quick

[AzzKikA 2,371]

I thought that was his best game this year, got plenty of it, many hardball gets and tackled well. We be a superstar.