As his teammates, like Dom Tyson yesterday, if they like being miraculously gifted the ball in space from a seemingly impossible pack of players, leading them to then have time to slot a goal...

I still think some of his handballs are too good for his team mates and they just don't believe he'll get the ball to them. They keep running instead of taking the receive and it makes it look like Clarry missed them.

Oliver's handball volume doesn't bother me at all because he is also a perfectly acceptable kick, and most importantly, he isn't afraid to kick when the moment calls for it.

His handballs are a great strength, and usually that comes with a caveat about using handball because the kicking is weak. It just doesn't apply in this case.

This is not a Mark Jamar situation!

  On 07/05/2018 at 06:35, dino rover said:

He is very good but I'd like the stats on handball completions

I thought several handballs went straight to opponents - plenty of pressure - indeed but a kick fwd might have been better

In anticipation of howls of outrage of any criticism at all of our players ... Do your worst

Closest I could find was he went at 83% disposal efficiency over the weekend which included 7 clangers.

AFL statistics also have him in the top 20 for average effective disposals per game.

  On 07/05/2018 at 09:40, Little Goffy said:

Oliver's handball volume doesn't bother me at all because he is also a perfectly acceptable kick

He's a very very good kick.

Going back to his decision making and poise, there was one play, in the first quarter I think, where he was tackled and one hand was pinned. He had the smarts to put the ball on the boot, and hit Hannan on  the chest with a Saints player hanging off him. You can't teach that. He is exceptional.

He is also very quick hand to foot, which is another strong skill to have.

  On 07/05/2018 at 02:15, A F said:

Legitimate A grader. People don't complain about Tom Mitchell.

Love Titch. My only complaint is that he plays for the Poo5 and Wee5.

He is perfect. You don’t mess with perfection. 

Nobody told Monet to stop drawing flowers. 

I like the goal he handballed from 40. 

The kid is a freak, the example highlighted was just one of a few sublime pick up with immediate handballs, I can’t recall anyone that could do that as well as he since I’ve been following footy closely since the ‘80’s (Williams was awesome, but he didn’t have the speed of hands Clarry has). That said, I thought there was a few times he hand balled when he should have kicked, once he gets the balance right, he will Be one of the top 5players in the league, I can’t wait to watch this kids career 

  On 07/05/2018 at 03:13, Demon Jack said:

Clarry is 20 years old and would already come close to being one of the top five Demon midfielders of all time. 

You know you've picked up a good player when his only fault is that he utilises his laser like handballs too often. 

The kid is a freak.

 

 

We have a once in a lifetime player here.  Do nothing else but sit back and enjoy it.   I don't think we've even seen the start of it yet!!!  

The media keep beating it up that Clarry handballs too much, it’s the biggest myth in football he is just so good at it why change, sure he could smash it on his boot out of a stoppage and kick vk it to the opposition or he could handball it to someone in a better position, Clarry makes the correct decision most of the time so I’m happy to back him in 

And it's not as if his kicking is below average either. From draft scouting report Nov 9, 2015:

"He booted 20 goals this season from 16 games with the Bushrangers, including a six-goal haul in the final round of the home and away season. He's also a nice user of the ball, evidenced by his perfect score in the goalkicking test at the combine."

Goalkicking test procedure: the test assesses a player's ability to kick accurately from set shots, tight angles and on the run. Players have five shots at goals - two set shots from 35m out in either pocket, two snaps from 20m in front off each foot and a running shot from 40m out directly in front.  Players will have to kick with left and right feet, and need to complete the test in 70 seconds.

 

  On 07/05/2018 at 03:28, jumbo returns said:

Clarrie....lol

The kid just 'gets' it

Yep, “see ball get ball” - McCartney 2017

His speed and accuracy by hand is absolutely elite, fine by me if he continues it! He sets up run by handballing further also. I would like to see him kick more as he has some drive in his leg also. A pretty decent overhead mark to go with it, can remember a Mark maybe v Collingwood last year where he went back with courage into a pack.

What a pick up. And to think we could have ended up with Darcy Parish instead ... we’d be howling by now!

  On 07/05/2018 at 09:47, MikeAlphaTango said:

Closest I could find was he went at 83% disposal efficiency over the weekend which included 7 clangers.

AFL statistics also have him in the top 20 for average effective disposals per game.

Yes I watched the game again last night

He misdirected only 2 handballs one with @5 minutes to go quarter 2 and one 3 minutes before the end of quarter 3 - which is very good

In the stress of first watching the game I over think the mistakes made

 

The people calling for him to kick more just don't get it.  For him to kick more, it means he's handballing less.  His kicking is excellent, but his handballing is on another planet.  The footage above (the dish to Gus) is further proof - he could've easily evaded that tackle and ran along the boundary to kick it.  Why people would want him to do that more, and less of the actual feed to Gus, is just ridiculous.

Clarry has an amazing ability to know where our player should run, well before the player know themselves.  You can almost see the moment where our player reacts to the play, then starts moving in the right direction.  It must be an amazing feeling for them when Clarry has already made that decision on their behalf, and has put a handball in that proximity, meaning they generally look up and the ball falls in to their hands.

He's already one of the best Melbourne players I have ever seen, and I date back to the days where I had Robbie's number on my back.

 

  On 07/05/2018 at 02:13, Diamond_Jim said:

I think what many people are saying that while his handballing is fantastic imagine what he might achieve by increasing his kick numbers.

Close analysis of Sunday's games shows there were at least a couple of times when he could have kicked to advantage but he chose instinctively to handball to no advantage.

He could be an absolute star of the game rather than the very very good player he is at present.

Agree. He gets alot right but you sew him at times with a clear run from the centre and he handballs sideways. He is a very good kick and needs to learn when to ignore the other mids and kick it to the leading forwards.

  On 08/05/2018 at 01:49, Gorgoroth said:

Agree. He gets alot right but you sew him at times with a clear run from the centre and he handballs sideways. He is a very good kick and needs to learn when to ignore the other mids and kick it to the leading forwards.

Then Jones just had to stop demanding the ball on every occasion come what may

Its a glaring weakness in Jones game born out of playing with poor players over so many years and carrying the load himself

It now costs us dearly and really imposes pressure where there shouldn't  be any

If he mitigates his demands to when he is clearly in a better position his game will improve along with the combined out put of our midfield

The comparison with Diesel is faulty. He didn’t have to deal with the congestion at the ball players today have to deal with. Diesel used to hit a running player on the chest 20 meters away. Clarrie does it with half a dozen players surrounding him. No comparison at all.

All that needs to happen is for midfielders to get used to his instincts.

When Oliver was drafted an Essendon mate said what were we thinking drafting him ahead of Parish and found it funny. Today I messaged him and said, "would you still take Parish over Oliver?" - his response, "Oliver is Too slow and poor disposal"

How do I reply to that! Best answer will be used!

  On 08/05/2018 at 08:38, SFebey said:

When Oliver was drafted an Essendon mate said what were we thinking drafting him ahead of Parish and found it funny. Today I messaged him and said, "would you still take Parish over Oliver?" - his response, "Oliver is Too slow and poor disposal"

How do I reply to that! Best answer will be used!

send him this image and ask him where is parish on this chart. also ask him how many b&f's parish has won

  On 08/05/2018 at 08:38, SFebey said:

When Oliver was drafted an Essendon mate said what were we thinking drafting him ahead of Parish and found it funny. Today I messaged him and said, "would you still take Parish over Oliver?" - his response, "Oliver is Too slow and poor disposal"

How do I reply to that! Best answer will be used!

Just send him 4 videos:

1. His assist to Garlett against Richmond last year

2. His one handed trap and handball against Hawthorn in his first year

3. The handball against the saints to Jones to set up a goal

4. The 25m handpass from the middle of a pack to (I think) Petracca against Brisbane last year. 

If anyone wanted to put together a highlights package for him i’m sure Demonland would be eternally grateful!