Brownlow 2014 thread [merged]

[Willy]

Heppel v Priddis comparison is not apt. Priddis is superb in the clinches but slow and unskilled on the outside, to the extent that until mid way through this year at least, he polarized west coast fans. Heppel is nowhere near as rugged in close but is a far more polished user. Pretty different players.

Not at all willy, I beg to differ - Heppell cannot kick more than 40-45 and his kicks lack penetration, he just disguises it well by always going the short easy option. He does NOT break lines with run(he is slow) or his kicking and this season he has established himself as a very good inside mid who finds the ball so the comparison vs other inside mids that are ball magnets like Priddis is justified imv. Don't fall for the hype - have you seen him striding out at speed and putting it lace out? he chip. chip chips and accumulates and tbh I get really frustrated when I hear so called experts taking about his exquisite skills.

Interesting points but I still think heppel has good skills and is used a lot more on the outside than Prid. Maybe he lacks a raking boot but certainly he hits a high percentage of his short and mid ranged targets. You can still be a good user without a massive leg. In the same way that Sam Mitchel can't kick more than 30 meters but he is an elite short kick and rarely wastes it. H
Put it this way, on the inside/outside scale I reckon Proddis is on the far left whereas Hep is somewhere in the middle. Hep gets fed the ball a lot by his teammates because the team rates his ball use. Prid wins all of his own ball. Both good players in their own right but I don't think you'd be comparing them in the first place if they didn't share the long blond hair thing.

[tony_montana]

Heppel v Priddis comparison is not apt. Priddis is superb in the clinches but slow and unskilled on the outside, to the extent that until mid way through this year at least, he polarized west coast fans. Heppel is nowhere near as rugged in close but is a far more polished user. Pretty different players.

Not at all willy, I beg to differ - Heppell cannot kick more than 40-45 and his kicks lack penetration, he just disguises it well by always going the short easy option. He does NOT break lines with run(he is slow) or his kicking and this season he has established himself as a very good inside mid who finds the ball so the comparison vs other inside mids that are ball magnets like Priddis is justified imv. Don't fall for the hype - have you seen him striding out at speed and putting it lace out? he chip. chip chips and accumulates and tbh I get really frustrated when I hear so called experts taking about his exquisite skills.

Interesting points but I still think heppel has good skills and is used a lot more on the outside than Prid. Maybe he lacks a raking boot but certainly he hits a high percentage of his short and mid ranged targets. You can still be a good user without a massive leg. In the same way that Sam Mitchel can't kick more than 30 meters but he is an elite short kick and rarely wastes it. H
Put it this way, on the inside/outside scale I reckon Proddis is on the far left whereas Hep is somewhere in the middle. Hep gets fed the ball a lot by his teammates because the team rates his ball use. Prid wins all of his own ball. Both good players in their own right but I don't think you'd be comparing them in the first place if they didn't share the long blond hair thing.

heh nah got nothing to do with them sharing the long locks - when Watson went down Heppell played a lot more inside this season - he actually surprised me with how well he did, last season he got fed the ball more and was more in/out, this season he was a lot more inside. Mitchells short kicks are penetrating and laser like, and can still cut through - heppells are just sideways or short and do no damage, bc he doesn't have the capacity to hit bullet like daisy cutters like Mitchell. That's why he rarely wastes it. I call it padding stats.

[lamington]

Heppel v Priddis comparison is not apt. Priddis is superb in the clinches but slow and unskilled on the outside, to the extent that until mid way through this year at least, he polarized west coast fans. Heppel is nowhere near as rugged in close but is a far more polished user. Pretty different players.

Not at all willy, I beg to differ - Heppell cannot kick more than 40-45 and his kicks lack penetration, he just disguises it well by always going the short easy option. He does NOT break lines with run(he is slow) or his kicking and this season he has established himself as a very good inside mid who finds the ball so the comparison vs other inside mids that are ball magnets like Priddis is justified imv. Don't fall for the hype - have you seen him striding out at speed and putting it lace out? he chip. chip chips and accumulates and tbh I get really frustrated when I hear so called experts taking about his exquisite skills.

Interesting points but I still think heppel has good skills and is used a lot more on the outside than Prid. Maybe he lacks a raking boot but certainly he hits a high percentage of his short and mid ranged targets. You can still be a good user without a massive leg. In the same way that Sam Mitchel can't kick more than 30 meters but he is an elite short kick and rarely wastes it. H
Put it this way, on the inside/outside scale I reckon Proddis is on the far left whereas Hep is somewhere in the middle. Hep gets fed the ball a lot by his teammates because the team rates his ball use. Prid wins all of his own ball. Both good players in their own right but I don't think you'd be comparing them in the first place if they didn't share the long blond hair thing.

 Mitchells short kicks are penetrating and laser like, and can still cut through - heppells are just sideways or short and do no damage, bc he doesn't have the capacity to hit bullet like daisy cutters like Mitchell. That's why he rarely wastes it. I call it padding stats.

Damn right on Mitchell. The accuracy, precision, and pretty much everything about his short/medium kicking is nothing short of amazing. Mitchell's ability to thread the needle is nothing short of mind blowing. There is no comparison to Heppell's kicking to Mitchell's

[Penelope]

i love bagging heppel for being a buffalo girl, but tony is correct in that he is winning a lot more contested ball.

also agree that his disposal is overated. he looks good, in that his kicking action looks as though he should be a great kick.  people tend to ignore or not notice poor disposal from these types of blokes, yet if someone looks awkward or different in their disposal they notice and remember the poor kicks.

there are a lot of people around that would pick up a turd if you sprinkled glitter it.

[Yeahright]

another rookie too. Wake up RFC find a bloody rookie

First rookie

[Francois Jackson]

another rookie too. Wake up RFC find a bloody rookie

First rookie

i should have elaborated. What i meant is another rookie having great years. Not sure where i read but 10-15 rookies playing in Saturdays GF.

That's a quality return from players that originally cost you nothing, yet some on here are getting excited about a top ten pick.

[DCrane]

I thought the Brownlow told a bit of a story about Heppell, 2 BOG's in losing teams, he gets most of his footy cheap on a half back flank, 15m chip kicks that have a return to sender sticker on it and the overlap handball to under pressure CHB spuds who have no option but to handball it back to him. Heppell will thrive as Essendon begin their slide down the ladder over the next couple of years and may yet get himself a medal for the most cheap kicks on a half back flank, whatever that award is called. 

[Chuck17]

With McKenzie winning the Eagles B&F they can even see that Priddis is not the best

Massive devaluation of the Brownlow

[big tone]

I thought the Brownlow told a bit of a story about Heppell, 2 BOG's in losing teams, he gets most of his footy cheap on a half back flank, 15m chip kicks that have a return to sender sticker on it and the overlap handball to under pressure CHB spuds who have no option but to handball it back to him. Heppell will thrive as Essendon begin their slide down the ladder over the next couple of years and may yet get himself a medal for the most cheap kicks on a half back flank, whatever that award is called.

With all due respect, you have NFI. 

[Phil Mrakov]

I thought the Brownlow told a bit of a story about Heppell, 2 BOG's in losing teams, he gets most of his footy cheap on a half back flank, 15m chip kicks that have a return to sender sticker on it and the overlap handball to under pressure CHB spuds who have no option but to handball it back to him. Heppell will thrive as Essendon begin their slide down the ladder over the next couple of years and may yet get himself a medal for the most cheap kicks on a half back flank, whatever that award is called.

give the man a cigar