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Where the Fritsch?

Demonland

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Lord Travis

Lord Travis 4,777

Posted
Posted

Our backline is stacked, our forward line is in tatters. Play him forward for the remainder of the year.

He's been disappointing this year IMO His first season was very good, and I expected him to keep improving, but he seems to have gone backwards/stalled this year. It's probably been a result of being moved around and not settling into a position. I'm still not sure if this is good for his development or not yet.

Long term I still see him as a forward/wing option. I think his best football was played early in his career as a forward, and his worst football has come down back where his lack of intensity and body strength has been exposed, case in point being dropped late last year. For whatever reason his goal kicking is generally accurate, his forward half kicking is generally accurate, but his field kicking in the back half has been a genuine liability this year. 

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Smokey

Smokey 1,294

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

Our backline is stacked, our forward line is in tatters. Play him forward for the remainder of the year.

He's been disappointing this year IMO His first season was very good, and I expected him to keep improving, but he seems to have gone backwards/stalled this year. It's probably been a result of being moved around and not settling into a position. I'm still not sure if this is good for his development or not yet.

Long term I still see him as a forward/wing option. I think his best football was played early in his career as a forward, and his worst football has come down back where his lack of intensity and body strength has been exposed, case in point being dropped late last year. For whatever reason his goal kicking is generally accurate, his forward half kicking is generally accurate, but his field kicking in the back half has been a genuine liability this year. 

I don't disagree with most of it. Maybe a tad harsh though, I don't think he is a "genuine liability" with his kicking down back. I think you'll find he nails targets quite often, its just the clangers that register more in peoples minds. He is a net positive to the team wherever he plays, if he's genuine anything its genuine best 22 for mine. 

Edited by Smokey
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Demon3

Demon3 1,623

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I get that he had to be down back, but now that we have our core backs returning, he should never cross the defensive half way line. 

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Lord Travis

Lord Travis 4,777

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27 minutes ago, Smokey said:

I don't disagree with most of it. Maybe a tad harsh though, I don't think he is a "genuine liability" with his kicking down back. I think you'll find he nails targets quite often, its just the clangers that register more in peoples minds. He is a net positive to the team wherever he plays, if he's genuine anything its genuine best 22 for mine. 

It should be noted that Fritsch is often the one with ball rebounding and will try to bite off harder kicks than others. For whatever reason though his kicking efficiency is way down in the defensive half. If you go through the AFL Pro stats stuff, his kicking efficiency forward half is 84%, but defensive half it's down at 53%. Mind boggling he isn't playing forward more considering our number 1 issue is connection in the front half! 

Salem, Jones and May are our most efficient coming out of defence, Lever and Jetta would both be up there as well had they played. We have enough kicking skill down there that Fritsch should no longer be forced down there anymore. Play him forward!

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dimmy

dimmy 724

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Posted

I really do not think he has been a disappointment this year at all. He seems to be used as our "swingman"The benefits will soon come through.

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binman

binman 13,629

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Surely now lever and jetts us back he goes to the hf or wing. I'm not surprised about the differential in DE forward and back. I reckon kicks from the back half are harder as they are often under much more pressure, both mental (I miss this they score) and real (high presses, manic inside 50 tackling and congestion).

I'd love to see him and Salem delivering the ball inside 50 and taking some set shots.

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binman

binman 13,629

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

he's clearly a forward.  terrible move by Goodwin to contemplate putting him down back.

Mm let me think. Why would he do that?  Might it have something to do with the fact that for most of the season we have had 2-3 of our first choice defenders out injured?

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Dr.D

Dr.D 1,060

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4 minutes ago, binman said:

Mm let me think. Why would he do that?  Might it have something to do with the fact that for most of the season we have had 2-3 of our first choice defenders out injured?

he's the same as tom McDonald. an awful defender that cant handle the pressure of defensive 50. Totally different forward.

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Wrecker45

Wrecker45 3,131

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1 hour ago, Lord Travis said:

For whatever reason his goal kicking is generally accurate, his forward half kicking is generally accurate, but his field kicking in the back half has been a genuine liability this year. 

I wonder if he lacks peripheral vision. Some of the kicks he’s done from full back have been kicked perfectly at our bloke but the opposition float across and intercept far too easily.

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Lord Travis

Lord Travis 4,777

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9 minutes ago, Wrecker45 said:

I wonder if he lacks peripheral vision. Some of the kicks he’s done from full back have been kicked perfectly at our bloke but the opposition float across and intercept far too easily.

Fair point. His kicks are often cut off by the opposition when they're not shanks. That would go a fair way to explaining his poor ball use in the back half actually!

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Smokey

Smokey 1,294

Posted
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1 hour ago, Lord Travis said:

It should be noted that Fritsch is often the one with ball rebounding and will try to bite off harder kicks than others. For whatever reason though his kicking efficiency is way down in the defensive half. If you go through the AFL Pro stats stuff, his kicking efficiency forward half is 84%, but defensive half it's down at 53%. Mind boggling he isn't playing forward more considering our number 1 issue is connection in the front half! 

Salem, Jones and May are our most efficient coming out of defence, Lever and Jetta would both be up there as well had they played. We have enough kicking skill down there that Fritsch should no longer be forced down there anymore. Play him forward!

Couldn't agree more. I'm starting to worry that his development has been impacted badly by being played out of position for too long.

Send him forward and leave him there ffs. 

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bing181

bing181 6,039

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Smokey said:

I'm starting to worry that his development has been impacted badly by being played out of position for too long.

Or that his development has been impacted positively by having to work on his defensive skills, not to mention, learning the forward's craft by playing on them.

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tiers

tiers 979

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Posted

Let's remember that when we had May, Lever, Salem, Jetta and Hibbert out at the same, Fritsch and Frost were forced to play in defence.

Both would be better suited to play up the ground but we had to cut the cloth to fit. Both are still learning good skills but this year is now gone so leave them alone. And who would they supplant in the mid/forward line?

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roy11

roy11 257

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Posted

hopefully next year we won't see him in the back-line at all. Hopefully this year is an abnormality injury wise. 

 

For some reason my dumb brain has given him the nickname Fritzl, which is not the best nickname to be honest. 

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Laughing Goat

Laughing Goat 289

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Our backline is stacked, our forward line is in tatters. Play him forward for the remainder of the year.

He's been disappointing this year IMO His first season was very good, and I expected him to keep improving, but he seems to have gone backwards/stalled this year. It's probably been a result of being moved around and not settling into a position. I'm still not sure if this is good for his development or not yet.

Long term I still see him as a forward/wing option. I think his best football was played early in his career as a forward, and his worst football has come down back where his lack of intensity and body strength has been exposed, case in point being dropped late last year. For whatever reason his goal kicking is generally accurate, his forward half kicking is generally accurate, but his field kicking in the back half has been a genuine liability this year. 

2019 Average: 17.6 disposals, 4.1 turnovers, 1.9 tackles @ 74% efficiency (4 goals)

2018 Average:  16.3 disposals, 2.7 disposals, 2.6 tackles @ 77% efficiency (17 goals)

Edited by Laughing Goat
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Lucifer's Hero

Lucifer's Hero 17,409

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Going by this article Fritsch is the back-up guy when needed in defence which has been most of this year.  versatile-fritsch-happy-to-float

Recently he has been playing on the wing and expects to play there or forward in the future (unless needed to plug a gap in defence due to in game injury ala Hore last week).

Think we are all happy about that as it plays to his strengths.

Not sure there is much value comparing his stats 2018 vs 2019 as he has played at opposite ends of the ground.

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