Stef Martin and Col Garland appreciation thread

[premiershipvigil 10]

Hats off to the FD for getting both Martin and Garland back in.

Great effort by the bigman Martin, he looks ready to kick a couple of goals and seemed to unsettle the Lions with his pace, gave us great depth around the ground and gave Jamar a well earned break.... to those who also thought he would get a game I salute you, to those that didn't se la vi.

I thought Col made some mistakes by tackling Lions players without the ball but then improved dramatically to get in front and outmark Staker.

Col seems very quick and gave Frawley and Warnock assistance as the game wore on.

Very happy with our tactics, effort and execution

[sylvinator 96]

Col Garland has had 12 months out of football. He definitely looks rusty and probably won't be back to him best for another 12 months. But he is critical to our team going forward. He is superquick and tall good mark. The perfect combination meaning he is tall enough to take tall guys (Stake=196cm), quick enough to take small guys, but is also able to take the difficult medium sized forward (Medhurst, Hahn, Pettard type). We should keep him in the team no matter what.

Stefan Martin is a valuable swingman. Every team needs one. He can play forward, defence if we have injuries, ruck backup. I think he is really valuable at the moment, because he is so mobile and agile (so doesn't allow defensive rebounders to simply run off him), but also big enough to provide a contest when he have no options. The ability to kick long to Martin when there are no other options worked really well against Brissy.

[Supermercado 2,802]

Agreed 100% on the Stef Martin Experience. Last night was one of those games where the stats didn't tell the full story of his contribution - how good was it when Bruce kicked to him in a 3 on 1 and he managed to force a contest?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Garland is a gem. He looks good now even after more than 12 months out. Definite keeper up back.

Martin is worth persevering with rather than Newton and Dunn in the ruck.

[basher boyd 0]

I would like to see him spend most of the game at full forward. He has the build and height to fill this position and it is not slow (was second in the Grand Final sprint). With the defence becoming a great unit ,midfield with upcoming youngsters in Trengove,Scully ,McKenzie (who I am a rapt for as much as the previous two) the thing we really lack is a big forward. I thought Petterd had enough opportunities to kick 5 Sat night and we can't expect him to kick the majority of our goals eah week.

Garland started slowly but got better as the game went on. He will improve as the season goes on.

[big tuna 0]

Agree with what most are saying here. Garland started slowly and was outmarked a few times by Staker (who was 1 of their best players on the night) and gave a freekick but improved as the game went on. Took some strong marks himself and gave some rebound out of defence. He will keep getting better each game as he regains confidence.

Martin gives plenty of flexibility. Eventually we will get an injury during a game to a key defender/forward/Jamar and we will be glad he is there to cover.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

I thought Martin had very little impact on the match, probably one of the only ones who couldn't hold his head up in fact

[Nasher 33,617]

I thought Martin had very little impact on the match, probably one of the only ones who couldn't hold his head up in fact

Ridiculously harsh assessment.

[cooko 124]

I thought Martin had very little impact on the match, probably one of the only ones who couldn't hold his head up in fact

i dont know if he was that bad.. but i kind of agree..dont know why martin gets so much man love on this site when he was probably the weakest last night

[premiershipvigil 10]

Agreed 100% on the Stef Martin Experience. Last night was one of those games where the stats didn't tell the full story of his contribution - how good was it when Bruce kicked to him in a 3 on 1 and he managed to force a contest?

Refreshing change, can't recall anyone other than Neitz handling a 3 on 1.

The thing that impresses me is that Martin keeps his feet so well and just kept on going after the ball hit the deck.

Can't underestimate the value of talls who can contest and then hold the ball in your forwad line.

Brisbane got nervous and it gave everyone else either a rest or the chance to get free.

Hopefully with Watts coming in to the team later on in the season it will be handy for Jack to have Martin alongside him. It was certainly handy for Bruce to be able to kick it forward rather than go side ways.

Two genuinely quick and versatile talls coming into our forward line