Interested to hear peoples thoughts on Thornton's standing in the team. I for one have done a complete 360 in my opinion on him (as I have with D Armfield).
The fact that he is no longer that no. 1 defender in a team that was getting flogged week in week out has done wonders for his confidence and it shows in his general demeanour on the ground. Body language much much better than it was back in those days.
He is the only true player that we can AFFORD to have do a job at either end when need be. (Waite can play in the backline but why would we do that, and Henderson can play forward but right now the more games he plays settled in defence, the better for his own confidence and long term worth to the team). Ratten talks about the need for players to be versatile and play in multiple for positions. For the most part I think its a rubbish thing to say because each player performs better in one specific position over another, however his comments make sense when injuries occur etc etc. I actually think Thornton is the one exception to this though.
As a forward, Thornton clearly gives us another important marking option down there, which we know we are thin on. Waite, resting ruck when he's not on the bench, and Walker as quasi-tall down there isn't enough and doesn't cause too much discomfort for opposition defences in terms of their own KPDs needing to match up. Thornton is the man to exploit matchups in our forward line and if not for himself then at least maybe he takes away a better defender from Walker.
He can mark over his head quite comfortably and is a decent set shot. Having said all this, his defensive pressure is where he leaves abit to be desired and needs to improve.
As we know, IF need be he can do a job in defence.
People knock him for his short pass 'sideways' game. I actually think he's one of the better kicks in the team for spotting up passes under 30m and to me it just shows he understands what tempo football means. Slowing things down can be just as important as all out attack if its an appropriate time in the game for it. Gibbs understands this too. Not everyone can and/or needs to be a linebreaker.
I don't think it necessarily comes down to a Thornton v Bower debate for a spot in the team. But if it does, would take Thornton every day of the week for the versatility he offers. Bower was great yesterday but his position is easily replaced by a Laidler, Duigan, Tuohy and even Russell
.
In a team light on with senior players, he at least brings experience to the table (almost notched up the 200 games) if not leadership.
We are not dealing with the pre 2011 Bret Thornton anymore, he is an entirely different proposition now.
Trust me I never ever ever thought I'd be saying this. Ever. But the guy needs to play each week from hereon in.
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