I agree with mb.
He was not tagged in general play, but not many of Balls posessions were "cheap".
The reason he was never noticed was because he was always "in and under".
Unfortunately due to him being run into the ground by a former coach who had no idea about player management, his OP destroyed his running ability (an ability mind you, that had Garry Lyon saying he was faster than both Judd and Hodge when he had them in junior International Rules as coach).
To Balls credit, he remade himself into a hard ball get player who got it out to players with more speed like Dal and Joey. Worked hard for clearances.
To say he held back Armitage is laughable. If he was good enough Armo would have forced hisway into the team. As it was Geary and Eddy was picked before Armo.
Ball had many deficiencies, but getting "cheap" posessions, and a detriment to the Saints? Please.