Goddard plays across half backdoesnt matter where he plays as long as it's good for the team.. I am almost certain Gibbs was a smart, skillfull & composed HBF in U18 carnival rotating through the wing and center.

..personally i have no bias towards or against any given position on the field, it's a team sport and all positions are valid.. ..hell some coaches [roos, lyon] are all about their HBFs so it's not to belittle him for playing there.. ..after the doormat, i think we can all agree that star HBFs are gold for the team..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

That's all true, but it does complicated list development a bit when players you've recruited with a particular long term role in mind don't end up filling that role. So, for example, the shift of Henderson down back has been good for him and the team, but it does make our draft strategy a few years back (in stocking up on tall defenders) a little superfluous. Perhaps one of the reasons why it feels like we've got so many HBFs on the list, is because guys like Gibbs and Yarran who were probably recruited originally to play other roles are currently filling that position.

..the Hendo switch irks me.. ..last season after jamo's injury i can understand.. ..even after he returned he was hampered so it made good sense.. ..but individually Hendo was coming good just thru development; he was young and inexperienced and recovering from injuries himself.. ..he was always gonna come good.. ..but post fev we've moaned about no quality kpfs.. ..and this season we still just seem to 'shy' away from it still.. ..last week there was a definite change when Hendo went back to CHF..

..across the team it can affect morale.. ..remember, the reason we even got Hendo in the first place was the fact he was concerned about his lack of kpf opportunities at brions.. ..walker wanted out cos he was tired of how he was utilised.. ..it's obvious that Gibbs isn't playing with real passion..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

They might play a similar role in team structure but their comparison on body contact and taking a hit can be viewed differently.
Gibbs when he has played in the middle or on ball has hurried his disposal.
When he has played in defence has put his body there for a hit.
Enright ducks and does not.
I hope that has cleared up my opinion.

..gotcha..

..in regards to Gibbs inside work, not many of our mids have been able to use a bit of time/space around the stoppages.. ..not in any regular consistent fashion.. ..has been this way a little for a couple of seasons i believe, our sometimes high clearance numbers don't neccessarily portray quality clearances, just quantity.. ..Gibbs has been outside of onball work for too long to just pick up the tempo when given a run thru there.. ..especially given our shizen our midfield setups are running..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Agree mentioned the same not that long ago about Gibbs.

Thought he was only a little better today. Just seems to be playing without confidence. Slipping over, running into tackles, butchering the ball by foot.

Thought he was really solid today, and kicked it well.

Thought he was pretty good.

He's the clean up backman, not sure what people want from him.

Everybody is an expert about where he should play, but unfortunately Lingy, Harley, BT, lloydy and Derm , it's not his decision to make.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

So where exactly do the experts think gibbs should play?

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'‘He had an enormous capacity to pump himself up and get the best out of himself when it mattered. He had a fire in his belly – a passion for the contest like few other players’' -- D Parkin in reference to the dominator

Some say onball but they obviously havent watched him over the season and last season. Some have him at half back where he plays well and the team does also when he is there.
Better game yesterday. Through himself in, halved a lot of contests and laid some big tackles. Still off his game a bit but showed some signes a return to form of the first 3 rounds and the freo game is not far off.

Gibbs is a neat player, clean ball handler, good lateral movement, but he is just a receiver across the backline. That is how the coaching staff use him, and he is good at that, but really you'd want your gun #1 draft choice to be more than that. I wish just once the opposition coach thought it was worth tagging him. I wish the coaching staff would put him in the middle and let him use his skill to be a match winner, force the opposition to try and stop him, use his skill to win a contest. According to the stats he had one contested possession yesterday. He is better than virtually everyone in the Dees team. With two mids out you'd love him to win his own ball.

If you look at the high draft picks used on midfielders/ mid sized players since 2005, where does he sit. Murphy Pendles, thomas, selwood boak cotchin, martin hill shuey gaff. Is he near the top of that list or the bottom. He has the skill to be near the top. Love to see the MC push him to be the player many of us think he can be rather than have him drifting across half back getting easy kicks.

Gibbs was okay today... not brilliant. Just ok.

Gibbs is no where near the output of Cotchin, Martin, Murphy, Pendlebury, Selwood, Shuey or Gaff. He is on par with Thomas.

Potential isn't a word that should be associated with a player in his 6th season of footy and 100+ games.

But continual improvement to get back to his best is what should be expected. Let's see if that occurs next week.

I have no issue with him at HBF.. Problem is when the opposition take him back to Full-back, that's where he is wasted...

You are comparing him with on ballers. He isnt one. He cant find space in our midfield to use his skills so he is wasted their. He isnt explosive, he isnt super tough, he isnt built like a tank and isnt zippy.

HBF is perfect position for him to use his skills. We are a better team with him there and it is not a problem when a team take him to full back as that would ruin their shape. No top team will try that and with Yaz there they will have to do it two players. No chance. We will still get plenty of inside 50's from both HBers.

Forget where Gibbs was drafted at. That was 2006. This now. Call it a mistake in picking him but dont blame the player for not living up to what you though he was.

He is out of form at the moment but showed signs yesterday they he was turning the corner.

I'm happy for him to stay down back and you are right about not being built like a tank and not zippy, but surely we can work on his size. Jobe Watson is a slow as treacle but he goes alright.

I think he may be a job player for the rest of his career, but some of those jobs are going to be in the midfield, I can't see him being able to avoid it. So if this is the case he need's to work on his size.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

Soft markers you lot.
His first kick, no pressure, dawdled in from HBF and delivered a less than half volley to a player leading directly at him. Later in the game, no pressure, OOBOTF.
Failed top hold a mark that led directly to a Melb goal and later on fubled an easy one that led to a poster.

I know he had other possessions but he should be better than he has been lately when he is clear. He is too ready to get soft possessions and not ready enough to go in. His tackling was better last night.

Je is #1 pick with 100 games under hsi belt. He is still pretty young but he xhould be approaching his best. Maybe he's off to GWS and is feeling guilty about it. (just thought I'd drop that in for good measure)

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

I would have rated Gibbs' game as 3.5/10. 4 if I was being generous.

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T E A M

I thought we would have been in the shit if it wasnt for Gibbs down back.

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All my dangerous friends