Twin towers: Hampson ready to mesh with Maric (alf site)

[one-eyed]

Twin towers: Hampson ready to mesh with Maric
Jennifer Phelan 
afl.com.au
May 8, 2014


SHAUN Hampson is getting closer to finally pairing with the ruckman he "hated" playing against, with Richmond big man Ivan Maric closing in on a return to the field.

Hampson, recruited by the Tigers last year to combine with Maric, hasn't yet had the chance to play with the former Adelaide ruckman.

Maric needed bone spurs removed from his right ankle in late February and missed all of the Tigers' pre-season games.

With Maric scheduled to return in the VFL next Saturday against the Box Hill Hawks, the opportunity for the pair to play together should come sooner rather than later.

"I was recruited to help the big fella out and I haven't played a game with him yet, so I'm looking forward to that," Hampson told AFL.com.au this week.

"I've been looking forward to it all pre-season as well, but his body didn't quite permit it.

"I love the way he plays. I always hated playing against him, and I think I can really help him out in a positive way."

Maric would have played in the VFL this week had the Tigers' team not had a bye.

Instead, he will run out in a week's time, and will likely need more than one game before a senior call-up given his lack of match time this year.

Coach Damien Hardwick told Fox Footy's On the Couch on Monday that Maric was an "elite character and great leader" who would inspire his teammates to play better around him.

The Tigers saw last week against Geelong how important the return of key players could be, with Brett Deledio and Alex Rance part of their five-point loss after they overcame injuries.

Hampson said Maric's return would not necessarily see him spend more time in attack, with the Tigers to adjust their big man structure each week based on who they were up against.

"I think it could be either [player up forward] – depending on who the opposition ruckman is," he said.

"I might match up against some ruckmen better and he might match up against others better."

Hampson has held down the role of the Tigers' No.1 ruckman this year in Maric's absence, playing every game except for round three when he missed with knee soreness.

He said his move to Punt Road after seven seasons at Carlton had "rejuvenated" his passion for the game.

The Tigers have the bye this weekend before moving into a much kinder portion of the fixture after playing four 2013 finalists in the opening seven rounds.

Hardwick is still confident of his team making the finals, while Hampson agrees the next month – where Richmond faces Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney, Essendon and North Melbourne – gives the Tigers a good chance to build some momentum.

While the Kangaroos are the only one of those four teams inside the top eight, Hampson says there is no room for complacency.

"It's a good opportunity, but the way footy's going now, no teams are easy beats at all," he said.

"The next couple of games are GWS and Melbourne, and they're capable of some good footy as well.

"We'll just approach it like we've been approaching every other game and hopefully get a few wins on the board."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-05-08/tigers-twin-towers

[Penelope]

I think hampson has to ask himself why he hated playing  Maric, then apply that to his own game so opposition ruckmen hate playing against him.

[tigs2011]

Whose site is it?



OR

[🏅Dooks]

Whos the guy below Jeff kennet?

[(•))(©™]

We all know what happened to twin towers....

[(•))(©™]

This Hampson kid is a gentle giant which is nice.....

HTFUC!!!!

[🏅Dooks]

Slow and steady loses the race.

[Chuck17]

I think hampson has to ask himself why he hated playing  Maric, then apply that to his own game so opposition ruckmen hate playing against him.

I think if we asked Maric's which ruckman he looked forward to playing against it was probably Hampson

[tigs2011]

I think hampson has to ask himself why he hated playing  Maric, then apply that to his own game so opposition ruckmen hate playing against him.

I think if we asked Maric's which ruckman he looked forward to playing against it was probably Hampson

[Rampstar]

Can we send Hampson back to Carlton for our pick back please 

[The Big Richo]

Hope this means literally mesh them together to make one decent player.

[Stripes]

I'm far from convinced that either ruckman would make a forward. Hampson doesn't seem to be able to mark this year and his inaccuracy in front of goal is renown. I would much prefer to have Griffiths as the 'other' forward/ruckman than either of the other two.

We have already seen what happens when we go forward too tall - we lose too much forward pressure and the opposition sweeps the ball out too quickly. If we really need to go with three tall forwards I would prefer Jack, Griffiths & either Hampson/Maric or Vickery.

Imo option Hampson and Maric should not play in the same team

[tigs2011]

I'm far from convinced that either ruckman would make a forward. Hampson doesn't seem to be able to mark this year and his inaccuracy in front of goal is renown. I would much prefer to have Griffiths as the 'other' forward/ruckman than either of the other two.

We have already seen what happens when we go forward too tall - we lose too much forward pressure and the opposition sweeps the ball out too quickly. If we really need to go with three tall forwards I would prefer Jack, Griffiths & either Hampson/Maric or Vickery.

Imo option Hampson and Maric should not play in the same team

His inaccuracy means jack poo. He won't get the ball down there so he won't miss. Maric is too slow to apply pressure. It's one or the other but I expect we will play them together at least a month before realising what we can all see right now won't work. 

[the claw]

I'm far from convinced that either ruckman would make a forward. Hampson doesn't seem to be able to mark this year and his inaccuracy in front of goal is renown. I would much prefer to have Griffiths as the 'other' forward/ruckman than either of the other two.

We have already seen what happens when we go forward too tall - we lose too much forward pressure and the opposition sweeps the ball out too quickly. If we really need to go with three tall forwards I would prefer Jack, Griffiths & either Hampson/Maric or Vickery.

Imo option Hampson and Maric should not play in the same team

cmon stripes hampson has never shown he can take contested marks. the odd one here and there has been his lot his entire career.few 1% few tackles  and even fewer goals. we had a 7 yr sample and we chose to use a second rounder despite this.

we drafted hampson for two reasons. he was to be a viable third tall option up forward. he was to give maric a decent chop out in the ruck with out losing too much at stoppages and centre bouncedowns.

we have addressed the ruck side of things hampson will give maric a decent chop out purely as a ruckman but ffs the bloke cant mark or kick what else do we do with him i ask this because he sure as hell is not a fwd option if he cant take an overhead mark.

for me the die has been cast ive seen enough.

what needs to happen is we find a bloody good kpf to go in tandem with riewoldt. vickery is not the answer. we play griffiths as the third tall or fwd/ruck with ivan doing the bulk of the ruck work.
so i guess im saying we have a good ruckman in maric we have a promising ruck/fwd in griffiths. we have a good kpf in riewoldt. what we need is the second kpf or very good tall fwd.

for the club to do this would be an admittance that hampson was a mistake and vickery is not the answer fwd. we all know they dont have the brains or the guts to acknowledge this.

[Eat_em_Alive]

Yessssss 
Club won't realise this till Cotch us Newy's age