Barrett HS article

[meher baba]

Ball is a GOP at best - and he even looked like a GOP when he was playing for Sandringham.

Ball was never tagged and so was always a chance to rack up "cheap" possesions playing in the midfield , a position where the ball probably crosses over 250 times a game........In fact Ball was ultimately more damaging to St kilda than the opposition as he was holding back the development of players with far more potential - like Armitage.

[joffaboy]

Ball is a GOP at best - and he even looked like a GOP when he was playing for Sandringham.

Ball was never tagged and so was always a chance to rack up "cheap" possesions playing in the midfield , a position where the ball probably crosses over 250 times a game........In fact Ball was ultimately more damaging to St kilda than the opposition as he was holding back the development of players with far more potential - like Armitage.

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.

[MCG-Unit]

Ball is a GOP at best - and he even looked like a GOP when he was playing for Sandringham.

Ball was never tagged and so was always a chance to rack up "cheap" possesions playing in the midfield.....

.......Ball is a fringe player whichever way you look at it.

In fact Ball was ultimately more damaging to St kilda than the opposition as he was holding back the development of players with far more potential - like Armitage.

Ball got 'cheap' possessions did he ? - I thought most were hard ball gets you know the in and under type player, who get clearances to the 'outside runners' like Lovett.... That's the type who get cheap kicks

He's not a fringe player and I doubt he 'held anyone back' at all

I guess now Ball is gone, you can list all his faults

[samoht]

By cheap possessions, I'm not saying that he didn't put his body on the line - I'm just saying he was untagged.

anyone can rack up possessions that way - especially in the midfield.

Dal or Hayes on the other hand have to gather their possessions in general play with a tagger breathing down their neck - a big difference.

Ball was a tough hard working player - but there's no escaping the fact that he was untagged.

All good midfielders get tagged - even good defenders like Fisher get tagged.

It's telling that Ball was not tagged ..so the oppoosition saw him just as I did - as a good/ordinary, hard working player .

[SainterK]

Whatever some of us think, he still holds the title of "mr perfect" throughout the greater footy public. I actually expect to see him play good footy this year, he will be putting heaps of pressure on himself to prove everyone wrong.

He is going to be a perfect fit for Collingwood, he is a fantastic clearance player and will be only expected to use his body as a battering ram and feed the ball to other players.

Given that our footy team has long since evolved to require much more of a player, I console myself with the thought that a top four team such as Collingwood has still not caught up with the Ross Lyon way of coaching or the Saints style of play.