The Form of Luke Ball

[mbogo]

I might put Gardner there - Goddard in the centre ...

[Devilhead]

There was someone 4 metres away on his left and he was on his own

You claim the player was on his own - can you remember who it was?? - was he running or standing still??

Given that Luke Ball actually did initially look to give the ball off and given that Luke Ball is a handball machine I find it hard to believe that he would not have given the ball off to this so-called player 4 metres to his left who was supposedly in a better position

Can anyone else confirm who this mystery player was???

he was on his left so I dont see what that has to do with saying if he was on his preferred foot he would have kicked it.

It was to say that Ball can kick 40 metres on his right which would have cleared the defenders head - what's to say he can't kick 40 on his left as well

Do you actually know if he can kick 40 on his left ???

Maybe Luke can kick 40 on his left unfortunately in this case he just didn't connect with it as well as he would have hoped to have

It seems to me you are making an negative assertation without actually knowing what Ball can or can't do based on a missed kick

[saintly_safes]

IMO I think he is doing the job the team is asking of him. Hard at the clearances in & under leaving Dal, Joey & co to get a bit of space to show their wares.We probably will never see the Luke Ball that could have been but Im more than happy that he is in our team no matter if he was a number 1,2 or 69 draft pick

[CURLY]

Anyone who doesnt rate Balls output has never played football. Never needlessly releases the football and wins clearances not just for himself but for the team with his hard blocks and tackles. Please dont quote me a heap of Dreamteam scores to shoot him down as only jackasses rate players this way.

[Moods]

Whenever the form of Luke Ball is discussed, invariably comparisons are made with a) Judd and Hodge and b) his form in 2005 in particular.

I'm sure Ball himself would love to get back to that sort of form. He appears to apply himself as well as any player on our list. Sadly he probably will never kick the ball 50 metres again, or break packs bursting away (some of the things he did in 2005)

I reckon we should appreciate him for what he is. Anyone who has sat near the fence on level 1 and had the play come near them when Ball is around will be able to tell his worth to the team. I love the way he makes 50/50 contests when he has no right to. His worth isn't purely in his possession count, or even his tackle count, it's when the game is really tight and in close, he just has the ability to close players down and create contests. He's as desperate as any player in the comp, and is VITAL to our team

When running into goal from the 50m arc though - he would not be the bloke I would choose to kick the goal for me when the game is on the line.

[savatage]

He's the f****** clearance king!! That's his role, almost single handedly won us the game 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[To the top]

There is no doubt as to his courage, and much of his work is not noticed because it is done where it is done - and very effectively either putting the ball out or putting on the tackle.

He is also very good overhead for his size.

What I have thought for many years now though is that, after playing a "big" game like the 16 tackle game he had at Geelong some years ago when he hauled us back into the match only to narrowly lose, he does have trouble backing up such games.

I do not know whether it is because he takes such a pounding doing what he does - that may well be the reason because he has a very fine body for the game he plays.

So, having had a week off, I would suggest "watch out" because he will come out on all 6 cylinders.

And it may not be so stupid to rest him running into the finals so he can re-charge his body and enter the fray in pristine condition.

[mbogo]

He has that amazing capacity to generate enormous frustration in key opposition on-ballers - who cannot get clean possession - while he continues to get his "average" 22 possies - 8 clearances and 6 tackles. Nice!
Also it must be hard to get a kick at the Saints since we have about 10 guys on averages of more than 20 per game ... when has that ever happened?? Ball hogs like Hayes, Dal and Monty have to give the others a go ..

[bergholt]

i love the guy for his contested in and under work.

i just wish that he was a better kick so that i could be confident when he has the ball in his hands.

footy record from last round says:

contested possession for smalls:

mcqualter: 43.7
milne: 39.8
ball: 37.7
gwilt: 34.9
jones: 34.0
dal santo: 31.6
ray: 31.4
afl average for midfielders: 30.6
hayes: 30.1
montagna: 29.2
goddard: 26.9
geary: 25.9
eddy: 25.6
baker: 25.3
schneider: 24.1
gram: 22.2
r clarke: 22.2

kicking efficiency for smalls:

baker: 72.5
gwilt: 71.1
ray: 70.2
goddard: 68.0
montagna: 67.7
dal santo: 67.2
schneider: 65.6
afl average for midfielders: 65.1
mcqualter: 63.2
hayes: 62.6
geary: 61.1
milne: 60.2
eddy: 59.1
jones: 56.2
gram: 55.2
r clarke: 53.8
ball: 52.9

handball efficiency for smalls:

eddy: 100.0
baker: 91.9
jones: 90.6
ray: 89.1
r clarke: 88.9
mcqualter: 88.0
hayes: 87.2
gram: 87.2
dal santo: 86.1
montagna: 84.2
goddard: 83.7
afl average for midfielders: 83.0
geary: 81.9
schneider: 79.4
ball: 78.5
gwilt: 77.0
milne: 75.0

what does that tell you? he gets a lot of it under pressure and therefore it's hard to hit targets consistently.

also shows why mcqualter will stay in the side. a huge amount of contested possession (though mostly not at stoppages) and still pretty good disposal efficiency. good composure for a kid.