Koby Stevens the ideal recruit for the Western Bulldogs

[bornadog]

Sam Landsberger From: Herald Sun October 24, 2012 2:56PM (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/department-of-trades/koby-stevens-the-ideal-recruit-for-the-western-bulldogs/story-fn69a32t-1226502413962)

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/mmsalih/482526-koby-stevens_zps4aedc12b.jpg

THE football world doesn't know much about Koby Stevens yet, but his TAC Cup club says the Western Bulldogs have just acquired a tough and fearless midfield wrecking ball on the cheap.

Stevens was today traded to the Dogs for pick 44 after being starved of AFL opportunities in his three years at West Coast.

The 187cm, 83kg inside midfielder played just 11 games despite blistering form in the WAFL and is expected to take little time fitting into Dogs coach Brendan McCartney’s side.

“He’ll be a sensational player. He was one of the toughest, hardest players to go through this program,” Gippsland Power region manager Peter Francis said today.

“He was probably averaging around the 35-40-possession mark in the WAFL every week.

“He’s strong overhead, he can play back, through the midfield or go forward and he’s been one of our better tacklers too.

“So he’s got versatility and he’s just such a good contested player.”

Francis said Stevens was a “tackling machine” – much like Power graduate and the Dogs first-round pick last year, Clay Smith.

“He’s as hard as a cats head, much like Clay Smith, and they’ll make a great combination too – both are from Bairnsdale and their dads work at Patties Pies together.

“It’s ironic they’re now both at the Dogs. Kobes is perfectly suited to Brendan McCartney."

Francis said it was always going to be tough for Stevens to crack West Coast’s star-studded midfield, headed by Daniel Kerr, Matthew Priddis, Scott Selwood, Andrew Gaff, Chris Masten and Luke Shuey.

“He’s a really contested player, there’s no doubt about that. It’s what he’s built his game around.”

The Dogs also secured father-son prodigy Lachie Hunter in the trade period, at the bargain price of pick 50.

Stevens caps an impressive off-season at Whitten Oval, with the Dogs also able to improve their draft order after moving on veteran full-back Brian Lake, who did not fit their list profile.

“His big, strong body along with a terrific attitude to his football make him a great acquisition,” Dogs list manager Jason McCartney said.

Stevens captained the AIS-AFL team before being jagged by the Eagles with pick 23 in the 2009 draft.

Stevens joins Smith, Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis as young, inside midfielders in the contested mould McCartney craves.

The new recruit played 48 games in the WAFL, amassing 997 disposals. He laid 83 tackles from 19 games in 2010 and became more attacking this season, booting 11.12 from 15 matches.

[Remi Moses]

Good luck to the young bloke.
Gotta now draft some midfield polish, hopefully!

[chef]

Sounds good.

Welcome to the Dogs Koby.

[Maddog37]

997 possies in 48 WAFL games is not averaging "35-40 a week" unless my math fails me.

Loved the tackle on Lenny Hayes in his highlight package. If he does more of that I would be rapt. Especially against the Saints.

[Dancin' Douggy]

997 possies in 48 WAFL games is not averaging "35-40 a week" unless my math fails me.

Loved the tackle on Lenny Hayes in his highlight package. If he does more of that I would be rapt. Especially against the Saints.

48 games is obviously more than one season.

I gather he averaged 35-40 last season?

[Ozza]

I think his former coach was a bit over excited about the 35-40 touches.

He gathered 38 tocuhes in one game. Most other games he was around the 20 possies and a goal type of return with 5 or 6 tackles.

[AndrewP6]

997 possies in 48 games is an average of 20.7 a game.

[ledge]

997 possies in 48 games is an average of 20.7 a game.

And he is only 21 hasn't reached his peak yet, looks all upwards to me considering he is a full on hard nut according to reports.

[Topdog]

Round Opposition K H D M T HO FF FA G B
Round 3 Claremont 8 9 17 5 6 0 1 2 0 1
Round 4 Peel Thunder 14 6 20 8 3 0 0 3 1 0
Round 6 East Perth 1 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Round 8 Perth 18 20 38 7 0 0 2 1 1 0
Round 9 West Perth 13 11 24 3 6 0 2 5 0 2
Round 11 South Fremantle 8 19 27 2 2 0 2 2 0 2
Round 12 Peel Thunder 10 10 20 2 1 0 1 2 1 0
Round 13 Subiaco 11 10 21 3 1 0 1 0 0 1
Round 15 Perth 10 18 28 5 3 0 0 3 0 2
Round 18 Swan Districts 14 11 25 7 3 0 2 0 3 0
Round 19 Claremont 8 4 12 5 1 0 1 1 1 0
Round 21 South Fremantle 14 3 17 5 4 0 2 0 1 2
1st Semi Final East Perth 12 8 20 5 2 0 1 2 1 0
Preliminary Swan Districts 15 6 21 3 3 0 2 3 1 1
Grand Final Claremont 10 5 15 5 7 0 2 0 1 0

http://www.wafl.com.au/stats/players/Y/2012/2/League

East Freo

[ledge]

Round Opposition K H D M T HO FF FA G B
Round 3 Claremont 8 9 17 5 6 0 1 2 0 1
Round 4 Peel Thunder 14 6 20 8 3 0 0 3 1 0
Round 6 East Perth 1 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Round 8 Perth 18 20 38 7 0 0 2 1 1 0
Round 9 West Perth 13 11 24 3 6 0 2 5 0 2
Round 11 South Fremantle 8 19 27 2 2 0 2 2 0 2
Round 12 Peel Thunder 10 10 20 2 1 0 1 2 1 0
Round 13 Subiaco 11 10 21 3 1 0 1 0 0 1
Round 15 Perth 10 18 28 5 3 0 0 3 0 2
Round 18 Swan Districts 14 11 25 7 3 0 2 0 3 0
Round 19 Claremont 8 4 12 5 1 0 1 1 1 0
Round 21 South Fremantle 14 3 17 5 4 0 2 0 1 2
1st Semi Final East Perth 12 8 20 5 2 0 1 2 1 0
Preliminary Swan Districts 15 6 21 3 3 0 2 3 1 1
Grand Final Claremont 10 5 15 5 7 0 2 0 1 0

http://www.wafl.com.au/stats/players/Y/2012/2/League

East Freo

Looks like Claremont tagged him

[Sockeye Salmon]

Looks like Claremont tagged him

Got injured during the game, I believe, as he did round 6

[ledge]

Got injured during the game, I believe, as he did round 6

All 3 games against Claremont?

[Sockeye Salmon]

All 3 games against Claremont?

I meant round 19. He did have 3 ordinary ones against Claremont, stats wise, didn't he?

[Raw Toast]

I meant round 19. He did have 3 ordinary ones against Claremont, stats wise, didn't he?

Pretty much, though 7 tackles in a grand final is decent, and a good game in which to have the most tackles you've had all season (not quite on the level of O'Keefe though!).

[ledge]

Pretty much, though 7 tackles in a grand final is decent, and a good game in which to have the most tackles you've had all season (not quite on the level of O'Keefe though!).

Tackles are a strange one, it means you chase but it also means you were second to the ball.

[boydogs]

I meant round 19. He did have 3 ordinary ones against Claremont, stats wise, didn't he?

Claremont was in the GF, so probably just quality opposition.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Tackles are a strange one, it means you chase but it also means you were second to the ball.

Ummmm. Ledge, with all due respect.
The ball bounces strangely. Opposition ruckmen are trying to tap the ball to your opponent.
Balls spill off marking contests. The opposition will be kicking and handballing to their own players. The odds of being first to the ball are severely stacked against you.

If you're laying lots of tackles it means you're right near where the ball is, and you're not giving in. You're maintaining your involvement in the game.

Tackles are good.

[chef]

And he is only 21 hasn't reached his peak yet, looks all upwards to me considering he is a full on hard nut according to reports.

Yep, and hopefully will be able to contribute from round 1.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Ummmm. Ledge, with all due respect.
The ball bounces strangely. Opposition ruckmen are trying to tap the ball to your opponent.
Balls spill off marking contests. The opposition will be kicking and handballing to their own players. The odds of being first to the ball are severely stacked against you.

If you're laying lots of tackles it means you're right near where the ball is, and you're not giving in. You're maintaining your involvement in the game.

Tackles are good.

It's an old Paul Roos quote, "of course I never tackled, i always had the ball"

[ledge]

Sorry I should have put CAN also mean your second to the ball, and of course tackling is good.

[jeemak]

Just like any stat, tackle stats can be great to support your argument, but at the same time easily turned against your argument with a little reasoning.

A player might be tackling a lot compared to possessions gained because he is tagging an accumulator very well, or because he's staying around the ball and not providing any offensive effort to get in a position to receive the ball (among other things). If you concentrate, it's actually easier to just tackle and negate rather than keep a balance between doing that and creating and being useful offensively.

His stats present a good case for not worrying too much about numbers and basing opinions on what you see throughout a game and adding some qualitative analysis. It might just happen that he had an ordinary day GF day, and decided the only way he was likely to contribute was by applying defensive pressure and laying tackles. It happens.

[Bulldog Revolution]

It's an old Paul Roos quote, "of course I never tackled, i always had the ball"

Such a modest, non egotistical character - Does Aker need an assistant?

[GVGjr]

What positions do you think Stevens might fill for us?

[LostDoggy]

What positions do you think Stevens might fill for us?

I was thinking about this the other day, i think he should become a run with player through the midfield. Not a tagger as such, just to try and curb the influence of opposition stars. Not sure about his tank though?

Leave Libba/Wallis to focus all there energy on getting the footy.

[jeemak]

If he can play high forward then I think he needs to be used as part of the midfield rotation from there as a starting point.

Our midfield was starved for players that could relieve the first line of on-ballers and at a minimum keep the opposition in check. It seemed that even the mediocre teams in the competition had players that could hurt us throughout the game. Stevens will hopefully help add the depth required to stop the tide when our top line is resting or injured.

[EasternWest]

What positions do you think Stevens might fill for us?

My thoughts are HBF rotating through the middle. From what I've read he has ok speed and good disposal, and I think coming off half back that's something we've battled with.

What do you think G?

[GVGjr]

My thoughts are HBF rotating through the middle. From what I've read he has ok speed and good disposal, and I think coming off half back that's something we've battled with.

What do you think G?

I think so. If Murphy moves to the forward line next season then along with Dickson and Higgins it might be a logjam for mid sized forwards so I think it a back flank or wing might be a good fit for Stevens.

I just tried to whiteboard a likely team line-up for next season and it's not an easy task.

[SlimPickens]

I was thinking about this the other day, i think he should become a run with player through the midfield. Not a tagger as such, just to try and curb the influence of opposition stars. Not sure about his tank though?

Leave Libba/Wallis to focus all there energy on getting the footy.


His tank is one of his strengths.

[EasternWest]

I think so. If Murphy moves to the forward line next season then along with Dickson and Higgins it might be a logjam for mid sized forwards so I think it a back flank or wing might be a good fit for Stevens.

I just tried to whiteboard a likely team line-up for next season and it's not an easy task.

You know, I'd forgotten about that being discussed. In that case I'm a bit more certain that I think Stevens will spend time on the flank.