Player Watch #9: Luke Davies-Uniacke [Part II] - [Herald Sun] LDU has parked contract talks with the club & is expected to command offers of more than $1m a season

[ferball]

We have been given priority picks for the end of this year already, peanut.

They have already been used, peanut.

Traded so we could pick up Hardeman, Will Dawson and Goad, peanut

We're not getting any more, peanut..

Are you saying we'll be paid peanuts?

 

[Ball Dont Lie]

In fairness to LDU who are the other mids he is running with? Less then 20 games George Wardlaw, and out of depth Phillips, a cooked Jy and a hot and cold Powell. Is he really the problem or just the cattle around him? He previously had much better support. A much more in form Jy, Cunners, Thomas (2nd half last year), Goldie. Everyone talks about forwarding issues and the defenders but our mids are not AFL standard atm.

 

[archereleven]

I don’t see him reaching those sorts of heights mate. He isn’t consistent enough, he isn’t damaging enough with his disposal and he doesn’t impact the scoreboard.

Players like Neale, Dangerfield, Cripps ect put the team on their back and win games off their own boot. When Carlton were s**t, Cripps single handedly won them games and kept them competitive. I just done think LDU quite has that level in him.

Maybe he’d really shine if he had better players around him, but the absolute best of the best don’t need elite support players.

Single-handedly with Murphy, Gibbs, Simpson, Fyfe, Mundy, Barlow, Sloane, Laird, Ablett, and Duncan?

LDU is surrounded by 20 gamers, not 200 gamers. One isn't the same as the others.

On SM-G991B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Midas]

LDU is having a crack, but his defensive deficiencies are laid bare when we play like this.

He is not Sam Walsh

18

Sam Walsh

Age

23

Ht

184cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.1

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

3.4

5star

No current season stats available

D

26.2

5star

K

15.4

5star

HB

10.8

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

4.8

5star

, Cripps, Steele, Brayshaw, Oliver, Daicos etc in his defensive intent.

He’s also not devoid of any effort, it’s just that’s not his one wood.

When we get flogged like we are it’s highlighting the lack of intent he has compared with his intent to get forward.

He will be a huge asset for us as the midfield matures, it’s just a conundrum because a bloke on 1.5 mill a year in a side like this should be a leader on all sides of the footy and both on and off the field.

And given the dearth of leadership at his experience point now we have lost Thomas as well it’s just a tough spot for him as an introverted individual to be in.

And I agree they’re first world problems and these players are precious at times, but it is what it is.

He could got to a competing club and immediately his career goes an an upward trajectory.

Still a fair bit of unknown here.

 

[blackshadow]

Rowell wouldn't last five games playing LDU's role in this side. It's not comparable. He's a very good player but he can also play a specific role because of who is around him. Who does LDU have taking the midfield load off him?

The bed wetters are out in force.

Can Luke be better? Yes, but he’s not one of the major concerns we have.

 

[R00StaR]

Are you suggesting that because you are an excellent player that you should go straight into your clubs leadership group ?

Some AFL players ( and I know this for a fact ) no matter how talented they were just didn’t want to be part of the leadership group , it’s just not who they are .

LDU lost his dad and is still very much a young man. Perhaps his focus has been on learning his own craft (as his dad would've wanted) and his family over leadership aspirations. Those two should be his major focus, the leadership stuff is secondary.
It should tell us he's a young man with values ahead of himself.

 

[Ruckle]

In fairness to LDU who are the other mids he is running with? Less then 20 games George Wardlaw, and out of depth Phillips, a cooked Jy and a hot and cold Powell. Is he really the problem or just the cattle around him? He previously had much better support. A much more in form Jy, Cunners, Thomas (2nd half last year), Goldie. Everyone talks about forwarding issues and the defenders but our mids are not AFL standard atm.

Yep, its hard to soar like an eagle whilst working with turkeys.

 

[DesertRoo]

LDU lost his dad and is still very much a young man. Perhaps his focus has been on learning his own craft (as his dad would've wanted) and his family over leadership aspirations. Those two should be his major focus, the leadership stuff is secondary.
It should tell us he's a young man with values ahead of himself.

Perhaps he fully understands what leadership entails and shies away from it.
Strangely enough he might be the best candidate we have, until one of the 19 year olds mature.

 

[R00StaR]

I think it's a completely wrong the people claim LDU doesn't give a s**t and will cherry pick a few moments in the game to justify it. He's been working through a lot of physical attention at stoppages and is certainly not playing the best football of his career.

He's had some really poor moments at times that people have come for him with the knives out. Despite all that he still leads the club in pressure acts per game and defensive half pressure acts per game, doesn't really align with the narrative he doesn't give a s**t.

We can't afford to lose LDU, we need quality senior players in the 26+ bracket as that's clearly been one our biggest issues in why we have found ourselves in this situation in the first place.

As ive said in the past, we can look at any team down the bottom and see their betters players not doing as many of the little things when the belief in winning falls away.
Look at Richmond, smashed by the Bulldogs sitting 17th with only 1 win more than us yet they have a bunch of premiership players in that team. Are those players busting arse to do every 1%er like they did in the past? not a chance.

 

[R00StaR]

Perhaps he fully understands what leadership entails and shies away from it.
Strangely enough he might be the best candidate we have, until one of the 19 year olds mature.

Thats very true. If we look at what they class as a sigma male these days, they're happy doing their thing behind the scenes and not being the leader. But at the same time they often make the best leaders, just they wont seek it out.

 

[berniemccarthy]

In fairness to LDU who are the other mids he is running with? Less then 20 games George Wardlaw, and out of depth Phillips, a cooked Jy and a hot and cold Powell. Is he really the problem or just the cattle around him? He previously had much better support. A much more in form Jy, Cunners, Thomas (2nd half last year), Goldie. Everyone talks about forwarding issues and the defenders but our mids are not AFL standard atm.

This is precisely the problem. It take time for the others to know when to block, which side to feint to etc. G Ablett Jnr used to have a ruckman and two blockers when he went to the middle. We should be doing similarly because LDU takes the most distance when he runs.

 

[King Corey]

Leadership is a pretty abused term in football.

There appears to be a leaning towards corporate environment style "talkers" based on the footage that gets out there from clubs.

I'm also critical of the public voting system we used.

If you're a young player who doesn't rate Luke or Jy, you're hardly going to stand up and exclude them when you have to read out your votes in front of the whole group.

Not that I think is the case at North but I've seen similar processes help bullies retain their ranks in other environments.

With regards to Luke, I'm loathe to denigrate his "Leadership" just because he might not enjoy standing up and talking with his chest puffed out.

 

[big_e]

I'm also critical of the public voting system we used.

If you're a young player who doesn't rate Luke or Jy, you're hardly going to stand up and exclude them when you have to read out your votes in front of the whole group.

Yeah, this was one of the stranger elements of that video. I think there'd be a lot to be learned from a vote that is secret to the other players but visible to the coaches.

I get that goes against the Leading Teams philosophy but someone who has been in the room for a matter of weeks isn't going to rock the boat, no matter what the consultant tells them to do.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

I was reading somewhere recently that Fyfe is having to redraw with a lot more attention since Tucker came to North.

Is this correct? If so, could we not try to play Tucker (or Greenwood) inside to protect LDU, block, create space and tackle?

 

[Roos1991]

Can’t understand why people would be happy to lose him.

******* idiots would be my guess. Frustrating at times, yes. But undoubtedly sets us back years if he goes. He just needs a solid midfield structure that offers him some protection and doesn't kill his momentum.

 

[Roos1991]

I was reading somewhere recently that Fyfe is having to redraw with a lot more attention since Tucker came to North.

Is this correct? If so, could we not try to play Tucker (or Greenwood) inside to protect LDU, block, create space and tackle?

This. Tucker is doing sweet heck all. Some protection for Luke would have him tearing games apart. Gets none at the moment, gets belted for four quarters a game, and then BF shits on him as if North have another 6 blokes knocking the door down in the VFL.

 

[Roos1991]

I don’t see him reaching those sorts of heights mate. He isn’t consistent enough, he isn’t damaging enough with his disposal and he doesn’t impact the scoreboard.

Players like Neale, Dangerfield, Cripps ect put the team on their back and win games off their own boot. When Carlton were s**t, Cripps single handedly won them games and kept them competitive. I just done think LDU quite has that level in him.

Maybe he’d really shine if he had better players around him, but the absolute best of the best don’t need elite support players.

Would probably welcome base level average support players around him. Doesn't even get that.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Geez some savage reactions in here. I don't think you can say he's not trying out there.
He can get better with ball in hand and his workrate defensively but not sure we should be pushing our only A- grader out the door unless he wants out or the deal is just too good to refuse.
Petracca doesn't really work hard defensively but the team is set up with complementary pieces to do that.
He's feeling the weight of those errors he makes and dropping his head. Needs to just move on to the next play.