Cale Morton

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,110]

This to me is the most amazing thing. How many Melbourne players over the past 10 years have stepped in and looked as comfortable as Cale has in their first 27 games. Sure, he still resembles a garden rake, but in 2 years time will be a really classy match-winner.

I doubt anyone has looked as comfortable in 27 games for the Dees. Saying that, Grimer played his 2nd game today and although he had the odd clanger, he looked very much in his element!

[rpfc 27,640]

I doubt anyone has looked as comfortable in 27 games for the Dees. Saying that, Grimer played his 2nd game today and although he had the odd clanger, he looked very much in his element!

I loved a couple of his clangers, because they were kicks into the corridor trying to start something.

He looks a very smart footballer.

And Morton has tremendous vision and self-awareness, he could be a truly great wingman.

Let Grimes do the kick-starting of HB and let Morton drift forward and take a grab (in a few years).

[The Time is Now 1]

didnt use the ball well at all today

[legend 0]

It isn't the kicks to contests that are forced upon Morton that worries me it is the skill errors made when kicking to team mates when under no pressure.

Today was probably one of his better ones but other games he has missed targets when clear. If he is kicking at goal I feel relaxed but precise kicks to team mates always worries me.

Looking at the stats today he was ranked 19th for disposal efficiency which is also his season ranking among all MFC players.

This puts him behind a lot of players that are continually mentioned by posters as being poor at disposal.

[Freak 100]

the last post was spot on the money. all the radio stations were mentioning that Mortons disposals were the worst aspects of his game. And its hard to disagree. His kicks aren't risky...despite what a previous person states. For starters, he needs to take an extra 2 steps backwards before he kicks..because he kicks it into the man on the mark so many times. Junior football mistakes.

I dont have a problem with a player that turns it over after kicking it 55metres down the line. I have a problem with a player that turns it over trying to pinpoint a man in the defensive 50m . Its a high risk for low reward..not to mention stupid. Nevertheless i was happy with Cale's game..from a quantity of possessions perspective

[Rogue 585]

It isn't the kicks to contests that are forced upon Morton that worries me it is the skill errors made when kicking to team mates when under no pressure.

Today was probably one of his better ones but other games he has missed targets when clear.

I agree. I didn't see the WCE match but it's the major downside in his game IMHO.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

He is already the best of the 3 Mortons

So far, yes. But as another poster suggests, that's not exactly a shock.

Exhibit A

Did you notice that he had absolutely nothing upfield to kick to?

People seem to gloss over this habitually. It's like they don't remember that we used to have one of the best forward-lines going around, back in the mid-2000s, With Neitz, Miller, Robbo, Davey et al... They'd straighten any team up. I lost count of the amount of times, even in a good game like the one we just saw, where the commentator would say "nothing to kick to" when Bruce got it.

While there's some truth to what Freak says, I think the issue of having no targets at least CONTRIBUTES to the issue.

[beelzebub 22,330]

give him this year.. another preseason.. another 5-7 kg and we have a very good player..very good

His strength , or lack of in some contests limits him a tad but this will change. He's not unerringly consistent week in week out yet but will be invaluale over the coming years. A lot of his so called errors are not really his..just a lack of cohesive options. They too will come

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

People seem to gloss over this habitually. It's like they don't remember that we used to have one of the best forward-lines going around, back in the mid-2000s, With Neitz, Miller, Robbo, Davey et al... They'd straighten any team up. I lost count of the amount of times, even in a good game like the one we just saw, where the commentator would say "nothing to kick to" when Bruce got it.

While there's some truth to what Freak says, I think the issue of having no targets at least CONTRIBUTES to the issue.

See round 1, 2007.

EDIT: The part in bold is the key issue. Some disposal mistakes were just awful and under no pressure (McLean had a few and Grimes had one or so), but the lack of options and lack of run by players to make an option was damaging.

[beelzebub 22,330]

See round 1, 2007.

ah yes...that was a day wasnt it..lol.. Could have sublet our forward area to Kings Parking..

[JJJ 570]

ah yes...that was a day wasnt it..lol.. Could have sublet our forward area to Kings Parking..

I wouldn't let Daniher coach the Malvern U/8 squad.

[Rampaging Demons 1]

his kicking is not penetrating - kicks it well over 50 metres.....

he usually makes the right decision but in this early part of his career, you have to accept he is going to make mistakes...

but some of the swithces of play yesterday, well....

[jabberwocky 2,301]

I unlike a lot of other posters have been far more critical of Morton's courage than this disposal. I actually believe he is a highly skilled footballer who will hit targets with a few seasons to adjust to the speed, angles and spaces and we can never under-estimate the importance of appropriate options and the ability to decide on the correct one. I actually believe that this is far more of an issue with our footy team than just putting the problem into the "skills" basket. Jones, Morton, Frawley, etc and others can actually kick the footy.

A few weeks ago I started a thread taking issue with the apparent type of player that it appeared that Cale was trying to become. There is no place in todays game for a player who wants to only play uncontested footy. I stand by that. At the time that thread was started I observed that Cale had been taking his eyes off it for several weeks. It is interesting to note that in the game following that Adelaide game he started out of the starting 18.

Cale has shown a lot more intensity in contested situations since. In the third qtr yesterday he kept his eyes on the footy and needed to be strong in a couple of hairy situations. I was calling for him to be sent to Casey a few weeks ago. It appears that I may have been hasty. It gives me confidence in the coaching staff and the player that they have for now adjusted his thinking.

Cale isn't build like Jones or Moloney and winning the hard ball is never going to be his forte, but he has to be more than an outside runner, I think he can and will be with the right coaching. One dimensional players are a liability, can be countered easily and are found wanting in the big games.

[Allen Jakovich 516]

I unlike a lot of other posters have been far more critical of Morton's courage than this disposal. I actually believe he is a highly skilled footballer who will hit targets with a few seasons to adjust to the speed, angles and spaces and we can never under-estimate the importance of appropriate options and the ability to decide on the correct one. I actually believe that this is far more of an issue with our footy team than just putting the problem into the "skills" basket. Jones, Morton, Frawley, etc and others can actually kick the footy.

A few weeks ago I started a thread taking issue with the apparent type of player that it appeared that Cale was trying to become. There is no place in todays game for a player who wants to only play uncontested footy. I stand by that. At the time that thread was started I observed that Cale had been taking his eyes off it for several weeks. It is interesting to note that in the game following that Adelaide game he started out of the starting 18.

Cale has shown a lot more intensity in contested situations since. In the third qtr yesterday he kept his eyes on the footy and needed to be strong in a couple of hairy situations. I was calling for him to be sent to Casey a few weeks ago. It appears that I may have been hasty. It gives me confidence in the coaching staff and the player that they have for now adjusted his thinking.

Cale isn't build like Jones or Moloney and winning the hard ball is never going to be his forte, but he has to be more than an outside runner, I think he can and will be with the right coaching. One dimensional players are a liability, can be countered easily and are found wanting in the big games.

Top post!

[deanox 8,782]

i actually comment to some people that cales defensive side was alot weaker than his attacking, but given that he was used more on the wing/hff it wasn't too much of a problem. it was interesting to see him playing in the back half on sunday, and being forced to be accountable, and in a situation where a turnover or a poor effort results in a scoreboard representation of your mistake, not just an opposition possession. maybe this is a coaching strategy to teach him to be harder, and more desperate for the ball.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Top post!

Thank you my learned friend.

[Freak 100]

good game by morton...but i still see problems with his kicking (like many others). He kicks into the man on the mark too often, and kicks it on the full at least once a game. when he is playing, he sees a player open and chooses to kick to him. So he puts his head over the footy, concentrates and executes the kick..but by that time the player is no longer open..hence a turnover. he has a long load up time which results in a high amount of turnovers and many of his kicks being smothered.

[H_T 2,941]

34 touches from him and 28 were kicks. If anyone says that he gets cheap kicks or something negative about his game today well you just to hard to please. He was great and boy am I excited about his future.

Yes he was good, on this occasion. He lifted his game in his home state. Lets hope he can bring this kind of game back to the G this Saturday.

[Binmans PA 26,495]

This kid is a beauty and you could tell from his very first match last year he had something special. I had no idea he'd racked up 30 odd on the weekend though, until I read the figures today. I knew he was prominent, but I thought Jones was more effective the other day.

When they interviewed Cale before the game, they touted him as a potential key position player. I'm not sure I'd want him playing there. I think Bails has his position right at the moment. That said, when he beefs up, I certainly wouldn't be against the idea of throwing him up forward. He's a good kick, but probably a better kick to kick, rather than shot on goal.

He's probably our most exciting young midfielder. IMO anyway.

[angryfijian 25]

I was listening to SEN today and someone (didn't catch his name) said Morton was in all Australian form at this stage of the year and is a gun. It's great to hear people starting to talk about younger players and their ability in glowing terms.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

All Australian form? Hmm. Don't know about that.

But just the sheer amount of ball-winning he does, in a side that's screaming out for a decent outsider, is exciting at his age. One of the things that's always annoyed me is how, at MFC, we never seem to be able to recruit those Rich/Palmer/Judd types that come in and within the first three years have games where they're showing an elite output. I don't expect anyone to do it REGULARLY within their first three years, but to do it just every so often to show you what they CAN do is what gets the fans going. So many demons take 3 years to break into the side, let alone play 22 good rounds.

Morton is in like Flynn at the moment.

[Little Goffy 12,770]

Exhibit A

Did you notice that he had absolutely nothing upfield to kick to?

We had to try and win the game going long to a contest was the only option. If anything we should blame the players who he kicked it too for not attempting to punch the ball over the boundary line.

If we had two Cale Mortons, then the first would always have the other to kick to...

Hopefully we'll see a set up like Strauss and Grimes at HB kicking to Morton, Davey, and Blease on the wings, then whack it in to Watts, Sylvia and Bate, with Maric and Wonaeamirri to clean up any strays.

Meanwhile Moloney, Jones and Mclean do the hard stuff inside, Bartram tags relentlessly and our shiny new tall defender squad keep shutting it down any time it comes the wrong way.

Notice that you don't even have to include a single pick from this coming draft to get a pretty exciting picture?

[demon3165 2,087]

I was listening to SEN today and someone (didn't catch his name) said Morton was in all Australian form at this stage of the year and is a gun. It's great to hear people starting to talk about younger players and their ability in glowing terms.

It was Robert Shaw ex coach and he picks an A Team each week on Sen he also said that we have a big future going forward.

[Goodvibes 3,596]

If we had two Cale Mortons, then the first would always have the other to kick to...

Hopefully we'll see a set up like Strauss and Grimes at HB kicking to Morton, Davey, and Blease on the wings, then whack it in to Watts, Sylvia and Bate, with Maric and Wonaeamirri to clean up any strays.

Meanwhile Moloney, Jones and Mclean do the hard stuff inside, Bartram tags relentlessly and our shiny new tall defender squad keep shutting it down any time it comes the wrong way.

Notice that you don't even have to include a single pick from this coming draft to get a pretty exciting picture?

As Daniel Kitson would say, "I think we're in the presence of a maverick". Careful DD, all this positivity might have you pigeon-holed as a 'happy clapping, glass half-full, strawberry fields-loving optimist". Keep it up!

[Binmans PA 26,495]

If we had two Cale Mortons, then the first would always have the other to kick to...

Hopefully we'll see a set up like Strauss and Grimes at HB kicking to Morton, Davey, and Blease on the wings, then whack it in to Watts, Sylvia and Bate, with Maric and Wonaeamirri to clean up any strays.

Meanwhile Moloney, Jones and Mclean do the hard stuff inside, Bartram tags relentlessly and our shiny new tall defender squad keep shutting it down any time it comes the wrong way.

Notice that you don't even have to include a single pick from this coming draft to get a pretty exciting picture?

The only thing about this is that neither Sylvia or Bate have shown enough to suggest they'll be good enough. Sylvia was drafted in 2003, that means this is his sixth year of senior footy. By now he should have at least strung a full game together. He hasn't and I don't mean to take a big dig at him, but for a #3 draft pick, he worries me. Probably his best game has been against Brisbane last year (where he still didn't play four quarters of footy and drifted in and out of the play) or even Richmond this year (in which he kicked two goals in 5 mins, laid a few tackles and that was about it). Whilst, I'll admit his attack at times this year, has been the best I've seen from him, that's not saying much. Bails has been good for him, but he's still a struggler, IMO. I hope he proves me wrong though.

As for Bate, his best game was probably against Hawthorn in the NAB cup early this year, playing from basically the goal square. Like Sylvia, he still hasn't put consistent football together. As for his efforts on Sunday, they were not full of this passion that some members on here are talking about, but in fact seeming boredom. I'm not sure if he was underdone going into the Eagles match, but he certainly didn't look interested. On more than one occasion, he let his hard working team mates down, by not chasing out of defense and not going hard enough at the contest.

I'm sorry to bring a negativity to this thread, as generally, I'd agree with a lot of the positivity being put forward, but I'd still question whether the Sylvia/Bate combination will help win us a flag.

And that's digression for you. So to stay on topic...Cale Morton is a gun.