In defence of Jake Lever

[Ollie fan 3,475]

Recently there has been a lot of criticism of Jake Laver on this site, with posters suggesting he should be dropped etc..

Some points in his defence. First, he had a rough start to the season with injury. Secondly, over the last 3 weeks  he has had to carry the defence as a tall - and he is not really tall and certainly is not solid - with May gone, Petty banged up, and Max having to go forward to help out there instead of dropping back in his normal manner. Oh, and all of this while trying to act as the general - watching the structures, directing the other defenders, last week helping out a first-gamer. And against good teams.

 

I think he has done pretty well actually.

[Demon3 2,541]

Sorry Ollie, i totally disagree. I think he has been awful. And i would hope he has a better last half of the season. I understand his limited start to season, but its his decision making that shows me he is horribly out of form like a lot of players. 

Good thing is he can recapture it and hopefully a settled back 7 will do wonders for the team.

[dazzledavey36 55,358]

I don't think anyone has suggested him to be dropped to be honest...

[BDA 22,883]

He's down on form like the rest of the team

May marshals the defence so his absence has had a direct impact on Rick's form and confidence. May's return will steady the ship

Lever was AA last year. He'll come good

[daisycutter 29,738]

mentioned on radio that there is concern that some afl players could be suffering from effects of long covid

long covid can have extreme effects but is in fact a spectrum of effects where it may not be noticeable as such but is enough to affect elite performance and appear as just a form slump 

just putting it out there

[rpfc 28,779]

He has an injured foot. His 1-1 numbers are good but the fact that he has had so many 1-1s is a problem. Teams have figured us out a bit and keeping Jake ‘honest’ and it is leaving others exposed.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,408]

The last three games we’ve been hit with injuries/suspension, teams are moving the ball quickly and isolating our defenders. Let’s get the band back together and get some stability back.

It starts this week!

[monoccular 17,574]

28 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

mentioned on radio that there is concern that some afl players could be suffering from effects of long covid

long covid can have extreme effects but is in fact a spectrum of effects where it may not be noticeable as such but is enough to affect elite performance and appear as just a form slump 

just putting it out there

Daisy.

 I am glad that you raised this. 

Have tried to find which players have missed with Covid protocols  - as I recall they include BBB Jackson ?Tracc  all of whom have been well below par. 
 

So instead of slanging off at our players for being “duds” maybe some can try to think a bit deeper. And of course maybe those of us who think the Eagles are tanking could reconsider that many of them also were out with covid related issues. 

[layzie 34,003]

Yes and it is still the lingering unknown period of COVID where we don't have enough sample data to go on with timeframes for getting back to peak physical condition etc. 

[Lucifers Hero 40,364]

25 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Daisy.

 I am glad that you raised this. 

Have tried to find which players have missed with Covid protocols  - as I recall they include BBB Jackson ?Tracc  all of whom have been well below par. 
 

So instead of slanging off at our players for being “duds” maybe some can try to think a bit deeper. And of course maybe those of us who think the Eagles are tanking could reconsider that many of them also were out with covid related issues. 

Players with covid:

• Round 6:  Viney and Lever
• Round 7:  Jackson, Sparrow, Kozzie, ANB and Petty.

Ben Brown was a close contact.  Petracca caught the nasty flu that has been going round and affected a few on the list.

Poor Petty, comes back in round 8 and starts getting patched up in and since round 11.  Not much time for healing of any sort.

Hopefully with two recent consecutive 9 day breaks (and an 8 day break to follow) has/will help them all recover a bit and they can fire up this week.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Lucifers Hero

[whatwhat say what 22,948]

clearly can't jump at the contest since that foot injury

[dazzledavey36 55,358]

29 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

clearly can't jump at the contest since that foot injury

He's jumping at the contest but he's miss timing his marks.

Few times he's flew way too early and not impacted as he usually does.

[david_neitz_is_my_dad 4,084]

All those points are correct, which is why he has been poor... Just because May is out or Petty is sore shouldnt mean that Lever gets a pass for not being a solid defender

[daisycutter 29,738]

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

Daisy.

 I am glad that you raised this. 

Have tried to find which players have missed with Covid protocols  - as I recall they include BBB Jackson ?Tracc  all of whom have been well below par. 
 

So instead of slanging off at our players for being “duds” maybe some can try to think a bit deeper. And of course maybe those of us who think the Eagles are tanking could reconsider that many of them also were out with covid related issues. 

the medical specialist said that long covid is affecting between 10-20% to some extent but more data/analysis required, so it is a significant concern at least

[daisycutter 29,738]

1 hour ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Players with covid:

• Round 6:  Viney and Lever
• Round 7:  Jackson, Sparrow, Kozzie, ANB and Petty.

Ben Brown was a close contact.  Petracca caught the nasty flu that has been going round and affected a few on the list.

Poor Petty, comes back in round 8 and starts getting patched up in and since round 11.  Not much time for healing of any sort.

Hopefully with two recent consecutive 9 day breaks (and an 8 day break to follow) has/will help them all recover a bit and they can fire up this week.

we don't know though if any others had it in the preseason period

[tiers 2,843]

Our backline was so effective because they played as a team, not as a collection of individuals, to direct, support, encourage and gang tackle the oppos.

Injuries and other issues to May, Petty, Maxie, Lever, Hibberd, Salem and Tomlinson have a way of unsettling and reducing the effectiveness of the group. It is unfair to single out one part of a group.

Let's hope that they all overcome their issues and come together to dominate as before.

 

 

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

3 hours ago, daisycutter said:

mentioned on radio that there is concern that some afl players could be suffering from effects of long covid

long covid can have extreme effects but is in fact a spectrum of effects where it may not be noticeable as such but is enough to affect elite performance and appear as just a form slump 

just putting it out there

I dont think his fitness was ever in doubt. LJ looks to be more the one that is suffering.

Edited June 20, 2022 by CYB

[Demon Disciple 12,274]

Our cohesion all over the field and team defence which were exemplary last year, have gone AWOL for most of this year.

We haven’t played our ‘brand’ of footy for a while, long before our losing streak. We are no where near as hungry or ruthless as we were last year. 

[Bates Mate 4,510]

He looks panicked with ball in hand this year

[Demon3 2,541]

56 minutes ago, Bates Mate said:

He looks panicked with ball in hand this year

Absolutely he does. Is that because there is no May, or is it because its form. Bit of both i suggest.

[DeeSpencer 26,082]

7 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I don't think anyone has suggested him to be dropped to be honest...

If either of Turner or Joel Smith were healthy and had established themselves in the side as a 3rd tall I’d very much consider giving Lever a physical and mental break. 

Gus is playing the intercepting role and May and Petty have the talls, we really only need baseline competent defending from the 3rd tall at this stage. We could give Lever a few weeks as we did at the start of the year. But with Turner and Smith probably still a month away from VFL footy that’s not going to happen any time soon. 

 

[DeeSpencer 26,082]

Lever relies on up field pressure, confidence, team structure and having the mobility to match up and exploit either smaller or less mobile tall opponents. 

He’s down on confidence, he’s clearly down on mobility, the up field pressure has been dreadful and his role has changed especially with May out and key defenders going down.

May back helps, as does Hibbo having the ability to swap on to talls who go deep. Hopefully the bye helps his body and helps the team sort out their pressure.

I still think Gus and Lever in the same backline is a bad combination though. So, we’ll see if they can both find the right balance.

[Little Goffy 14,639]

My 'dizzy' post kind of covers my thoughts here as well. It's a much tougher prospect as a tall defender in a team which relies on up-field pressure to force rushed and predictable kicks. Lever was recruited to gobble those up and shoot the ball back out again after taking intercept marks.

How much of his drop in form is attributable to the team process going a bit soft and how much is his personal form is hard to judge. But there's definitely been a serious drop. Even the state bear it out;

STATISTIC             2021      2022

Intercepts               10.3     6.2    

Cont marks              1.8      0.6

Marks                       5.4      4.2

Rebound50s             4.1     2.2

Metres gained         277    193

One percenters       6.7       5.0

Overall he' dropped off by about a third across the publicly available stats which are most relevant to his game.

 

Definitely one of the players we want to see returning to their best form if we are going to be climbing back up again from our equal-top-of-ladder slump.

 

 

 

 

[FritschyBusiness 1,478]

Ricky Two Firsts is one of our better players overall without a doubt. He has had a rough start to the year rolling his ankle 3 times and still played games plus other niggles.  

There is no doubt the defense hasn't been doing what it did last year and the rest of the team are not helping him with our pressure dropping right off this year. 

No Steven May for 3 games and Petty coming on and off again also doesn't help. 

It's a team sport and everyone needs to do their part for people to shine in their roles. 

We'll all be praising him by the end of the year. 

[DEE fence 5,039]

8 hours ago, monoccular said:

Daisy.

 I am glad that you raised this. 

Have tried to find which players have missed with Covid protocols  - as I recall they include BBB Jackson ?Tracc  all of whom have been well below par. 
 

So instead of slanging off at our players for being “duds” maybe some can try to think a bit deeper. And of course maybe those of us who think the Eagles are tanking could reconsider that many of them also were out with covid related issues. 

Been my thoughts as well, always incredulous when fans pot established players' heart as a first response not allowing for other factors. Pretty sure i saw an accusation of him taking 'short steps' on this site.