The Aaron Davey...problem

[Striker475 696]

We keep seeing it. The best tagger of the opposing side goes straight to Aaron. Sometimes it's a legitimate tag, others (see: last Sunday) it's those suspect rather heavy tags.

The issue is, Davey can't break a tag. I haven't seen him tear a game open like he used to for probably 2 seasons. Cannot remember the last time.

What the hell do we do about it? In 2 or 3 years where you have Scully, Trengove and Gysberts running around he may not attract the tough tag and have a better shot, but in 3 years he's 30. He seems to have lost a metre or two of pace and is totally ineffective right now. While I did see calls for those around him to bump the tagger and give him some protection, in the end it is Davey who has to stand up.

Honestly, I think Bailey should look at dropping him once we have Scull and Jordie fit again. Yes, I know, it's a big step, but right now he's useless. Either that or play him up forward again for a while crumbing under Jurrah/Martin rather than as a midfielder in and around the contest.

[Sir Why You Little 37,297]

We keep seeing it. The best tagger of the opposing side goes straight to Aaron. Sometimes it's a legitimate tag, others (see: last Sunday) it's those suspect rather heavy tags.

The issue is, Davey can't break a tag. I haven't seen him tear a game open like he used to for probably 2 seasons. Cannot remember the last time.

What the hell do we do about it? In 2 or 3 years where you have Scully, Trengove and Gysberts running around he may not attract the tough tag and have a better shot, but in 3 years he's 30. He seems to have lost a metre or two of pace and is totally ineffective right now. While I did see calls for those around him to bump the tagger and give him some protection, in the end it is Davey who has to stand up.

Honestly, I think Bailey should look at dropping him once we have Scull and Jordie fit again. Yes, I know, it's a big step, but right now he's useless. Either that or play him up forward again for a while crumbing under Jurrah/Martin rather than as a midfielder in and around the contest.

If he doesn't break this Tag problem, i can see him being used as a sub quite often.

Keep the opposition guessing. At the moment he is holding back the team, and it hurts to say that.

His little kicks are effective, but in no way damage the opponent as he is always between wing and Half Back.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

I'd like to see him tagging Ablett this week with a licence to create when we have the footy.

[jayceebee31 768]

I'd like to see him tagging Ablett this week with a licence to create when we have the footy.

You would have to be absolutely joking. Ablett would burn him out in a quarter and we would have to sub Davey.Jones or Maloney or even Gysberts mat tag him.Gysberts done a great job on him last year.

[Parma 28]

I'd like to see him tagging Ablett this week with a licence to create when we have the footy.

I dont know how big his tank is but i like the thought of perhaps him taggging oe else back to the fwd line. He has had to become a midfielder/half back last few years due to our poor disposal. Now let him do what he does best. wreck havock on opposition defenders.

[Striker475 696]

The more I think about it the more I like the idea of chucking him back in the forward line. He's absolutely zero impact right now, even against a side like Brisbane. Don't know if Fold Coast have a tagger worth a damn though, so it'll be interesting this week.

[e25 5]

Drop a player that is so damaging that the opposition tags him first..?

Great idea.

[/sarcasm]

[Red Sox 2]

It's quite frustrating seeing how easy he is put off. But this is also a team problem. The free kick for Jamar aside his team mates do not get up and help him in anyway at all.

Jurrah did at one point, Trengove will give a bump or two here and there but other than this there is very litte support. Even the shepherding, blocking and making space is lacking when they handball off to him in traffic.

[Striker475 696]

Drop a player that is so damaging that the opposition tags him first..?

Great idea.

[/sarcasm]

Name me one game he's blown apart since the start of 2010. Because I honestly can't.

[Range Rover 1,935]

I will no doubt get hammered for saying this but I would consider trading Davey at the end of this season. Get a player and/or a pick for him that better suits our needs going forward.

[Harrisonrules 273]

We keep seeing it. The best tagger of the opposing side goes straight to Aaron. Sometimes it's a legitimate tag, others (see: last Sunday) it's those suspect rather heavy tags.

The issue is, Davey can't break a tag. I haven't seen him tear a game open like he used to for probably 2 seasons. Cannot remember the last time.

What the hell do we do about it? In 2 or 3 years where you have Scully, Trengove and Gysberts running around he may not attract the tough tag and have a better shot, but in 3 years he's 30. He seems to have lost a metre or two of pace and is totally ineffective right now. While I did see calls for those around him to bump the tagger and give him some protection, in the end it is Davey who has to stand up.

Honestly, I think Bailey should look at dropping him once we have Scull and Jordie fit again. Yes, I know, it's a big step, but right now he's useless. Either that or play him up forward again for a while crumbing under Jurrah/Martin rather than as a midfielder in and around the contest.

So the taggers win. The coach is there to get one step ahead of the opposition. Are you saying he cann't do that. I must admit I don't think that is one of Baliey's strengths. But to give up your champion because a few have had success on him is to throw in the white towell. Fancy comparing McKenzie to a Davey type. Totally different style players. McKenzie is competing with Maloney and Jones

[Red Sox 2]

Name me one game he's blown apart since the start of 2010. Because I honestly can't.

Don't add 2009 to your argument though!

[Outside fifty 967]

The fact is Davey is simply being played out of position at the moment. Putting him in the mid field worked well initially but the opposition has cottoned on to his weakness, i.e. his mental toughness. Putting him back in the forward line seems to be the obvious solution, although I do like the idea of trying him as a Sub as well.

[Striker475 696]

Don't add 2009 to your argument though!

Haha. Yeah, he was good in '09. But last year strikes out for the reason that we actually started to win a few games. I was much more ambivalent about it before then - in fact, Aaron Davey was who I watched the Dees for during the draft-pick days, as no matter how bad we were you could always count on him to do something magical. But last year he seemed to go missing more and more, even when we were winning and playing well despite losing (the Bulldogs game being the standout example in my mind, watching him do nothing at all and come off the ground looking frustrated as hell every time he was interchanged).

[Chook 15,023]

Put him wherever the guy who's tagging him is least comfortable. Give the dudes around Davey explicit instructions to protect him. Frawley in the backline, Jamar around the middle, Aussie in the forward-line, etc. Give him every chance to break his tag, because he's important enough to put in the effort to do that.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

You would have to be absolutely joking. Ablett would burn him out in a quarter and we would have to sub Davey.Jones or Maloney or even Gysberts mat tag him.Gysberts done a great job on him last year.

No actually. He has the pace to go with Ablett, if not the tank. Jones has been torched by Ablett because of his lack of pace, and using Moloney as a tagger doesn't make sense as he is our main clearance mid. And I don't think Gysberts has any of the right attributes for the job.

Bail could do the job, but my thoughts on using Davey are that if he can follow Ablett around the ground when he's on-ball, it limits the effectiveness of a potential tag on him. His main weapon is his use of the ball when we have it anyway and I don't see how this would be compromised.

I think you under-sell Davey's fitness if you think Ablett will blow him up so fast. He's been a key part of our midfield for a long time now.

[The Chazz 4,077]

You would have to be absolutely joking. Ablett would burn him out in a quarter and we would have to sub Davey.Jones or Maloney or even Gysberts mat tag him.Gysberts done a great job on him last year.

Are you serious? Yeah sure, Gys had 26 disposals himself, but that's because he was on his own for a lot of the game (he must have been considering Ablett had 32 possessions himself, and kicked 2 goals!).

Nothing against the kid, well, maybe, but he's going the right way to prove me wrong!

[Red Sox 2]

Haha. Yeah, he was good in '09. But last year strikes out for the reason that we actually started to win a few games. I was much more ambivalent about it before then - in fact, Aaron Davey was who I watched the Dees for during the draft-pick days, as no matter how bad we were you could always count on him to do something magical. But last year he seemed to go missing more and more, even when we were winning and playing well despite losing (the Bulldogs game being the standout example in my mind, watching him do nothing at all and come off the ground looking frustrated as hell every time he was interchanged).

Put on the spot it is difficult to recall game breakers from him in 2010, your right.

The call earlier to trade is way off the mark though as he was pretty close to being named skipper I would have thought, so he won't be going anywhere quickly.

I'd like to see Davey given a bit more help off the ball from some teammates. Shaking tags is not just down to the individual although I do note that Flash can do his bit a hell of a lot better.

[daisycutter 29,891]

The fact is Davey is simply being played out of position at the moment. Putting him in the mid field worked well initially but the opposition has cottoned on to his weakness, i.e. his mental toughness. Putting him back in the forward line seems to be the obvious solution, although I do like the idea of trying him as a Sub as well.

problem with Davey being a sub is that the first time he plays a great game as a sub everyone would argue he should be full-time

Same will apply to any player. Lets face it the sub is not in best 21 so don't expect too much from a sub, whose prime role is of insurance against injury. If he can play an impact role given the right circumstances then that is just a bonus. I don't think there s anything such as grooming a sub. Its more a question of picking best 21 then assessing who would make best sub and I would guess it would be someone who is versatile in the roles they can play and who is a reasonable accumulator.

BTW, Davey back into the forward line (with occasional short stints elsewhere)

[Striker475 696]

The call earlier to trade is way off the mark though as he was pretty close to being named skipper I would have thought, so he won't be going anywhere quickly.

He's head of the Aboriginal development program too. There's more to his role than just on-field, so there's no way he'll be leaving.

[Mono 455]

I'd like to see him tagging Ablett this week with a licence to create when we have the footy.

I would think Bail will get that job.

Drop a player that is so damaging that the opposition tags him first..?

[/sarcasm]

He was tagged by Raines last week - no player of any note. I don't think he gets the 1st tagger.

Davey's other real weekness is 'no right foot'.

The FD has to come up with a way of getting value from him.

[jnrmac 20,271]

2010 Averages

Games Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Goals Behinds Tackles Hitouts Frees For Frees Ag.

20..........14.4.........4.9.............19.4...............2.2..........0.4........0.4.........3.8..........0............1.2..................1.1

[Deestroy All 14,266]

He's always tagged, often plays well, when he doesn't play well people say he can't handle a tag.

As for Sunday, he was cheated out of the game pure and simple. If that was Judd copping that treatment or any star on a Friday night game, there'd have been about 8 frees for and 3 thrown out reports. It was a disgrace.

And good on Liam for running 40 meters to show Aaron some support after he was belted 100m off the ball.

Perhaps Beamer and Sylvia should take note.

And Aaron, hunt your own ball more.

[jnrmac 20,271]

Aaron needs to learn to cope with it first and foremost.

The we need strategies to assist. Players blocking etc.

And then Aaron needs to try tagging the key oppn player to try an take one of their guys out of the game. Even if it creates a 2 on 1.

The more they are tagging Aaron, the less they are tagging Scully, Gysberts, Trengove etc. That's the reality.

And good players learn to deal with it. Aaron you're a good player.

[Roost It 1,434]

I will no doubt get hammered for saying this but I would consider trading Davey at the end of this season. Get a player and/or a pick for him that better suits our needs going forward.

Potentially too disruptive to our indigenous players. In Davey we have a 40-50 goals a year crumbing forward. He's an absolute weapon up forward and it's time to settle him there. Good luck tagging him around goals.

HF Sylvia Watts Jurrah

F Woanaeamirri Cook Davey

in 3 year opposition coaches can tag Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, Morton, Blease, Jurrah and Watts. Davey will end up the Coleman Medalist who laid the most tackles.