Wake-up call for Bally?

[Spinner]

When I heard Ball would miss this week, I immediately thought back to this thread too.

The author of the OP (ughh - no pun intended!) was rubbished on here for quite fairly drawing attention to the fact that Ball was named on the bench, and he was right - how often is Ball really ever named on the bench?

Now there's every chance Bally's just being given a rest because he is struggling with injury (and hope that's the case), but the fact he's been left out only a matter of weeks after being named on the bench for the first time I can remember, so although it won't happen, OP is probably owed an apology - it was a good spot.

He was rubbished because naming him on the bench would not have been a wake up call. The players are given the side each week and each week Bally starts on the bench. This time he was named there for us to see but Bally would know where he is playing before us

Being named on the bench in an extended squad is very different I would tend to believe. Yeah the players know where they are always going to start....but being on an extended bench usually means theres a chance of not playing.

No it doesnt. They know the side already. It means nothing. Do you honestly think Luke Ball was told Friday he wasnt playing this week. Well I have a strong feeling he may have been told very early in the week.

Yeh he definitely would know...but I dont think the week before being named on the bench in an extended squad was a coincidence....I think it definitely was done as a bit of a public statement.

[Eastern]

Has anyone else noticed the heavy strapping on Bally's left thumb over the past few weeks.

Not wanting to make excuses for the guy but I would have thought that it would be pretty difficult to play any form of elite sport with a buggered thumb and Osteitis Pubis !!

[bergholt]

the guy's either chronically injured or seriously out of form, and either way let's get him out of the side.

career game averages:

2003: 15.8 disp, 8.4 k/7.4 h = 53% kicks, 3.3 marks, 3.0 tackles, 0.6 goals
2004: 20.0 disp, 11.2/8.8 = 56%, 3.8 m, 5.0 tck, 0.7 g
2005: 22.0 disp, 14.0/8.0 = 64%, 3.9 m, 5.2 tck, 0.5 g
2006: 21.9 disp, 11.9/10.0 = 54%, 4.8 m, 5.0 tck, 0.2 g
2007: 19.2 disp, 10.6/8.6 = 55%, 4.4 m, 5.1 tck, 0.3 g
2008: 21.8 disp, 10.6/11.2 = 49%, 3.9 m, 5.9 tck, 0.4 g
2009: 20.1 disp, 8.9/11.2 = 44%, 3.3 m, 5.7 tck, 0.2 g

lots of stats. what do they mean? this year his tackles are as good as ever, but that's it. he's taking less marks and kicking less goals. but the most telling one is that he's barely kicking it. he's not quite down to ablett's 36% kick/handball ratio, but 44% is easily the lowest bally's ever had.

all of this could be explained by his role. if all he's supposed to do is be a human battering ram, then i guess that's fine. but we all know that he can be a better player than that. in 04 and 05 he was one of the most damaging mids around, getting a fair bit of it, lots of tackles and kicking goals - 17 in 04 and 12 in 05. since then, he's kicked 4, 5, 7 and 3 in 15 rounds this year - on track for about 4 or 5 for the year.

it basically confirms what we've all seen while watching, and what the coaching staff also think, i guess - that something's not right.

good luck to him, this could well be the making of luke ball as a player. let's hope he doesn't have a couple of weeks off and realise that he doesn't have the passion any more...

[saintsRrising]

If you are going to talk stats you also need to take into account that the very high possession game teams play now lead to "boosted" possession tallies.

Just look at the regular bags of 40+ possession tallies by many mids.

This actually means that the possession tally of Balls is less than it needs to be.....plus the last few weeks have been extra low.

Joey and Lenny are both having career high seasons.

[James]

Joey and Lenny are both having career high seasons.

They wouldn't be getting it nearly as much without Ball in the side.

[Bernard Shakey]

the guy's either chronically injured or seriously out of form, and either way let's get him out of the side.

career game averages:

2003: 15.8 disp, 8.4 k/7.4 h = 53% kicks, 3.3 marks, 3.0 tackles, 0.6 goals
2004: 20.0 disp, 11.2/8.8 = 56%, 3.8 m, 5.0 tck, 0.7 g
2005: 22.0 disp, 14.0/8.0 = 64%, 3.9 m, 5.2 tck, 0.5 g
2006: 21.9 disp, 11.9/10.0 = 54%, 4.8 m, 5.0 tck, 0.2 g
2007: 19.2 disp, 10.6/8.6 = 55%, 4.4 m, 5.1 tck, 0.3 g
2008: 21.8 disp, 10.6/11.2 = 49%, 3.9 m, 5.9 tck, 0.4 g
2009: 20.1 disp, 8.9/11.2 = 44%, 3.3 m, 5.7 tck, 0.2 g

lots of stats. what do they mean? this year his tackles are as good as ever, but that's it. he's taking less marks and kicking less goals. but the most telling one is that he's barely kicking it. he's not quite down to ablett's 36% kick/handball ratio, but 44% is easily the lowest bally's ever had.

all of this could be explained by his role. if all he's supposed to do is be a human battering ram, then i guess that's fine. but we all know that he can be a better player than that. in 04 and 05 he was one of the most damaging mids around, getting a fair bit of it, lots of tackles and kicking goals - 17 in 04 and 12 in 05. since then, he's kicked 4, 5, 7 and 3 in 15 rounds this year - on track for about 4 or 5 for the year.

it basically confirms what we've all seen while watching, and what the coaching staff also think, i guess - that something's not right.

good luck to him, this could well be the making of luke ball as a player. let's hope he doesn't have a couple of weeks off and realise that he doesn't have the passion any more...

He's kicking further this year than the past two years (was potting goals from about 50 at training on Wednesday) and he did kick the ball that Gardy marked to beat Geelong.

Obviously he's not doing what Ross wants, so he's got a week or two to think about it.

[SainterK]

Ross is big on roles, I guess we can safely assume that he thinks Ball could do better in his. This isn't about ability....

[derby Street]

Luke Ball doesn't need a wake up call - he would know exactly what caused him to be dropped and what he needs to do. I am sure he has been given feedback from R.L over the past few weeks. Give Lujke some credit for having some intelligence. He will bounce back .

[Milton66]

Ball has been unhappy at his lack of game time, and has been dropped accordingly. His lack of game time has been due to his lack of run and carry as required by Lyon.

Goose is also looking at options with other clubs.