GODDARD the defender who cant defend?

[WinnersOnly]

GODDARD the defender who cant defend?

I wonder if Brendan is aware that playing the sweeping role as he does - that he hasn't actually beaten a quality opponent for sometime. He has become so focussed on being the flashy go to player when tagged he cant work through it. To work though it obviously he has to respect the defensive side of the game and the basic principle of beating your opponent. Perhaps this is a product of the players around him and the coaching philosophies but IMO he nees to go back to basics if he is to become a top echolon player again. He and a few of his team mates have forgotten that its the selfless 1% what make teams great.

[CURLY]

Another ridiculous post. Goddard is only one man.

[Old Mate]

Pretty sure Goddard is our top possession winner for the season...Only issue I see is he's not going forward as much, and that's cos on team balance at the moment he can't. I reckon he'd be coming second in the Best and Fairest behind Lenny.

[WinnersOnly]

Another ridiculous post. Goddard is only one man.

Why is it ridulous Curly - can you name what opponents Brendan has beaten this year?

[CURLY]

Another ridiculous post. Goddard is only one man.

Why is it ridulous Curly - can you name what opponents Brendan has beaten this year?

Whos beaten him is the only question that we need to worry about. Goddards role is to set up play.

[WinnersOnly]

Yes I agree but he also has a forward to shut down. If you look at Heath Shaw or Grant Birchall there first priority it to stop there opponent - I dont believe Goddard sees that as a priority.

[dragit]

He held McKenzie goal-less last week.

He's barely a defender, he drifts around to cut off fwd 50 entries and then set-up play for us.

But yes, he should beat his direct opponent, they all should.

[Moods]

I actually agree with the O.P.

Everyone fell in love with BJ after his heroics in the 2009/2010 season, particularly the 2010 GF. The very essence of footy is to beat your direct opponent. There has been so much zoning/flooding over the years, that I fear some players have lost this extremely vital skill. Jason Gram is working hard to get it back. He may not be the toughest, but he no longer floats off his opponent to try and run 60m to kick the flashy goal. He's far more accountable than what he was.

BJ is a fine footballer, but I reckon this spare man in defense role is killing him as a player. I reckon it did Dustin Fletcher no favours a few years back as well. BJ reads the play well, and can be a beautiful kick. We need him winning far more contested possession. We need him beating his opponent one out - and using his strength - contested marking. In 09 he played a similar role, but took some ripper marks.

Ask any player what their favourite position on the ground would be and I guarantee most would say BJ'S. He plays back as a quarterback, and he drifts fwd to kick goals, with no real apparent opponent most of the time.

The very best players in our team, - Lenny, Roo, Dal, Joey - know what it's like to have to beat their opponent - they have no choice, most of the time they have one follow them around the ground.

[paddy]

I was sitting behind the goals last week and saw some shocking kick-ins by BJ.

Think he is a little off his game, still one our best, but needs a blinder of a game to get confidence back up there.

This is probably the result of our weak half back line. Can be fixed but need better offensive backline structures.

[ThePunter]

He's not playing that much as a spare man at the moment, and perhaps that is the problem. Oppositions are making him accountable.

[Jacks Back]

Pretty sure Goddard is our top possession winner for the season

That's because he gets half of his possessions by playing on from the kick in after a behind.

[sunsaint]

Another ridiculous post. Goddard is only one man.

Why is it ridulous Curly - can you name what opponents Brendan has beaten this year?

Whos beaten him is the only question that we need to worry about. Goddards role is to set up play.

for a start, he was well and truly pantsed by magner last week

[dragit]

for a start, he was well and truly pantsed by magner last week

magner? it was mckenzie famously touched him up,
magner was too busy pulling joey down onto himself and opening up his cheek.

[vacuous space]

The very essence of footy is to beat your direct opponent.

So who are these opponents that are beating BJ one on one? For all McKenzie's work, he basically broke even with BJ. The other five games BJ has got a ton of footy. I'm curious which of those five games somebody's walking away having beaten Brendon.

In full team zone heavy rotations world of modern footy, it's pretty hard to tell who anybody's opponent is unless they're tagging or being tagged. Usually it's either a bit of space or the closest guy. If BJ's loose back, you could say he's opposed to the other team's loose man. Either way, he's played well enough that I can't imagine anyone's really beaten him.

[sunsaint]

for a start, he was well and truly pantsed by magner last week

magner? it was mckenzie famously touched him up,
magner was too busy pulling joey down onto himself and opening up his cheek.

oops sorry you're right
magner pantsed NDS & mckenzie pantsed goddard

[plugger66]

for a start, he was well and truly pantsed by magner last week

magner? it was mckenzie famously touched him up,
magner was too busy pulling joey down onto himself and opening up his cheek.

oops sorry you're right
magner pantsed NDS & mckenzie pantsed goddard

Wasnt Dal nearly our best?

[dragit]

for a start, he was well and truly pantsed by magner last week

magner? it was mckenzie famously touched him up,
magner was too busy pulling joey down onto himself and opening up his cheek.

oops sorry you're right
magner pantsed NDS & mckenzie pantsed goddard

No, NDS was nearly best on ground with 29 touches.

I don't think Magner pantsed anyone, montagna was solid.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Everyone does realise that Goddard has spent most of the year playing in the midfield don't they? He's gone down back at times, sometimes for a quarter, or a half, but has mostly been playing on the wing and at times in the guts. I've been to all our games except for the Port one and sit above the wing at Etihad (directly above where he's played for much of the season) and of course he was in the midfield against Melbourne as well (tagged by McKenzie) and was again against Hawthorn, at least until Fisher went down.

[gringo]

He's always been more of a quarter back style defender anyway. His best has always been chopping off forward entries rather than running with players. He's not quick off the line so can be nullified easily, we usually have Fisher to play that role also if one gets negated. He may be in for some pain in the next few games.

[Moods]

The very essence of footy is to beat your direct opponent.

So who are these opponents that are beating BJ one on one? For all McKenzie's work, he basically broke even with BJ. The other five games BJ has got a ton of footy. I'm curious which of those five games somebody's walking away having beaten Brendon.

In full team zone heavy rotations world of modern footy, it's pretty hard to tell who anybody's opponent is unless they're tagging or being tagged. Usually it's either a bit of space or the closest guy. If BJ's loose back, you could say he's opposed to the other team's loose man. Either way, he's played well enough that I can't imagine anyone's really beaten him.

I consider a s*** truck like McKenzie breaking even with BJ as a definite win to the Dees. 20 possessions is almost acceptable for a hardened 10 year player of Goddard's stature in the game against the likes of McKenzie.

My point is when he finds himself in a one on one contest with anyone on the ground, he should be good enough to win 7 out of 10 of them. For mine he is not. I have watched him be outmarked or break even numerous times this year in these type of contests. It is time for him to step right up to the plate. Roo has been superb for 10 years, time for someone else to shoulder the load. I am constantly staggered when Roo is critisized, not just by opposition supporters but by our own supporters, some even on here. Yet his contribution to our footy club is peerless imo. Goddard on the other hand plays a blinder in the 2010 GF and suddenly there is calls to make him captain instead of Roo! He hasn't even won a B&F at our club yet, yet many ppl who follow footy appear to rate him higher than Roo. He escapes critisism too much for my liking. He plays many very good games, but how often has he really influenced the contest like Roo or Lenny or even Dal have in the past? As I said, he's now into his 10th season. He was a #1 draft pick, and will probably get offered a ridiculous amount of money by GWS at the end of the season. I have seen lists which have him in the best 3 #1 draft picks in the game.

I want more from him that's all. He's in his prime and has more ability than most of the team put together.

[St Chris]

OP - you spelt Gram wrong.

[Teflon]

The very essence of footy is to beat your direct opponent.

So who are these opponents that are beating BJ one on one? For all McKenzie's work, he basically broke even with BJ. The other five games BJ has got a ton of footy. I'm curious which of those five games somebody's walking away having beaten Brendon.

In full team zone heavy rotations world of modern footy, it's pretty hard to tell who anybody's opponent is unless they're tagging or being tagged. Usually it's either a bit of space or the closest guy. If BJ's loose back, you could say he's opposed to the other team's loose man. Either way, he's played well enough that I can't imagine anyone's really beaten him.

I consider a s*** truck like McKenzie breaking even with BJ as a definite win to the Dees. 20 possessions is almost acceptable for a hardened 10 year player of Goddard's stature in the game against the likes of McKenzie.

My point is when he finds himself in a one on one contest with anyone on the ground, he should be good enough to win 7 out of 10 of them. For mine he is not. I have watched him be outmarked or break even numerous times this year in these type of contests. It is time for him to step right up to the plate. Roo has been superb for 10 years, time for someone else to shoulder the load. I am constantly staggered when Roo is critisized, not just by opposition supporters but by our own supporters, some even on here. Yet his contribution to our footy club is peerless imo. Goddard on the other hand plays a blinder in the 2010 GF and suddenly there is calls to make him captain instead of Roo! He hasn't even won a B&F at our club yet, yet many ppl who follow footy appear to rate him higher than Roo. He escapes critisism too much for my liking. He plays many very good games, but how often has he really influenced the contest like Roo or Lenny or even Dal have in the past? As I said, he's now into his 10th season. He was a #1 draft pick, and will probably get offered a ridiculous amount of money by GWS at the end of the season. I have seen lists which have him in the best 3 #1 draft picks in the game.

I want more from him that's all. He's in his prime and has more ability than most of the team put together.

IMO he certainly has more to give but we may never see that at saints cause he needs to be forward of centre to really influence and we need him back sadly........

[sunsaint]

magner? it was mckenzie famously touched him up,
magner was too busy pulling joey down onto himself and opening up his cheek.

No, NDS was nearly best on ground with 29 touches.

I don't think Magner pantsed anyone, montagna was solid.

right again, I was just checking to see if anyone was paying attention
I promise to lift my game

[bobmurray]

BJ is often not accountable for his opponent.Just before he runs off looking for easy kicks he'll yell and point and want
someone else to cover his man and then he's off. I don't know what his coaches have told him or the team regarding that but
what i do know is when he leaves his man and goes searching for kicks his opponent hurts us the other way...happens often enough
to be of concern..

In any case, we need him firing so that he balances the books...

[stkfc1]

I was sitting behind the goals last week and saw some shocking kick-ins by BJ.

Think he is a little off his game, still one our best, but needs a blinder of a game to get confidence back up there.

This is probably the result of our weak half back line. Can be fixed but need better offensive backline structures.

This where we are missing Gwilt. We want BJ on the end of that kick and then using his skills to set up an attack. Would solve a few problems.