Armoooo wrote:He is not the softest player going around but he still isn't exactly a hardnut, he doesn't mind taking a bump, my main problem with him is his consistency or his lack of it, if he could put in a solid 4 quarter game more often I would rate him a lot higher than what he is doing atm...
I agree with you Armoooo.
Some players just don't thrive on the phyisical contact. As juniors, they avoid it and it and can often get away with it. It's not neccessarily because they are scared or soft, but because it's just not a natural part of their game.
In the big league you can't. You can still try to avoid it, but you need to be able to absord the physicality aswell. Sometimes you can't avoid it, and sometimes you even have to go looking for it.
Alot of players struggle with this adaptation.
Nigel Lappin and Jason Akermanis are two that come to mind. They were 'squibs' when they started out. They would avoid the contact at all costs. However as time went by, they would still generally try to avoid it but were able to handle it when they needed to. They didn't avoid contests because they were scared, but because good players play to their strengths.
They could be outside players when they needed to, but they could hold tackles and take hits when they needed to also.
It made them great players.
Dal is one of these. He should avoid contact when he can, because he's at his best when he has the ball and has space. However you don't always get the ball given to you - so you need to be able to influence contests physically when you have to.
I see Fiora as the same. He should avoid the physical contact when he needs to, but he must be able to take it when he needs to aswell. He's still learning this but has certainly improved.
We actually a few of these guys. It's an area where I thought GT did well. X, Joey, Milne, Fiora, Dal and Aussie were all guys who made our list appear 'the best in the comp' but in reality we were very much an 'outside' list. We had to change the natural style of these guys' games - that's not an easy thing to do.
Aussie improved (but still physical contact was a weakness), Joey has improved, X certainly has improved and Dal definately. Milne still struggles in this area.
This will be a huge test for Lyon, and potentially the difference between a flag and a top 6 finish - getting 'outside' players like Fiora to be able to influence physical contests aswell. At the very least, they need to be able to break even in physical contests - not get beaten.
