Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 3:04 pm
I haven't looked at any stats or figures to back up what I have said, it's just my opinion based upon what I have seen, as is what I will say below.magpieazza wrote:I have to say that Clokes' running ability is not in question, without looking at direct gps numbers, he runs the pants off all key position defenders, as stated by various media scribes.5 from the wing on debut wrote:That Cloke can run all day is a historical statement just as Peter McKenna can kick a lot of goals. It was once true but it's not true now.magpieazza wrote:I too am a believer of the high pressure/team defense game, run up run back run up run back and so on.
If you like to watch teams who play for eachother, have cohesion and high press please have a look at Liverpool, English premier league, this season, they will win it or go at least top four.
Jurgen Klopp has molded his team into a team of gut busting runners who follow an established game plan. He has world class strikers who sit on the bench if they dont do the team thing.
He also is a great communicator and players play for him.....alot of love and strong bonds made in a short amount of time. (Luke Beveridge comes to mind). Maybe Bux has got strong bonds, IDK Im not privy to that.
Apart from bonds and love etc, Im afraid we need to have a team of mobile endurance runners to start with as a platform. Perhaps medium forwards that can take a grab and can run all day ( Ben Lennon? ) could become valuable players.
The one thing that frustrates me about Cloke is that he can run all day and he can take a grab, but somehow it hasn't clicked for him, whereby once he was as influential as they came. I still believe he is worth more than a third round pick. If he goes to the dogs Beveridge may turn him around and what a bargain pick up that will be to our direct competitor.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the only game this year that Cloke was able to take strong marks against GWS? Wasn't that the game that he wore the apparently too sticky glove, and once the glove was eliminated so was his strong marking?
His marking has dropped off admittedly but you don't lose that sort of talent overnight, for Clokey its a confidence thing and it would not surprise me at all if he started clunking them again.
I wouldn't say that Cloke has ever been much of a pack mark as he has never really been a jumper. He has been a strong one on one mark if the ball comes in quickly enough to allow for that, or he has been a strong mark leading well up the ground as opponents his size were not able to keep up with him.
Excluding the GWS game which was the sticky glove outlier, his marking is on the slide. I don't know that it can be put down to confidence. He has trouble getting away from his opponents to mark like he used to. That can only be because he has been told not to, or is unable to. Given that I have read that the club wanted him to lose weight to become more mobile (I will assume that is true) the likely reason is that he is unable to get away from his opponents.
The other issue is the defensive pressure that he puts on the opposition. Has he made many tackles this year that have resulted in turnovers and goals? Has he chased and harassed defenders? What I have seen tells me that he hasn't. Why would that be? He doesn't want to, or he is unable to? I don't for a second think that he is not trying. I believe that he just can't do it any more.
I have no animosity towards him. I like him. I remember his first game vividly. It's just as I think his form hit the skids last season (2015) and it has continued to decline from there.
If he goes to the Dogs and I am wrong and he does well I will be happy for him, but not if he does it on the back of a drop in weight that he could have done, but did not do, with us.
