Ryan Griffen

[The bulldog tragician]

There have been a few things in other threads about Griff and his form and I thought it deserved some more discussion.

Firstly, was interested in the effect of the captaincy on him. I've noticed he is not put up for media as much as others. For example, after last night's loss Roughead, Cooney and McRae have spoken to the media but as far as I know, Griff has not. With the low morale around the club at present, should we expect to hear more from our captain? If not, is this a sign that Griff, a quiet and humble guy, might be struggling with the role and could this be impacting on his form?

Secondly, the comments made about the lack of burst from Griff are also interesting. How badly we need a player cutting the lines, running down the ground taking a few bounces and then either goaling on the run or gaining meters into the forward line. That should be Griff. Is 'cracking in' at the expense of flair, and how does the game plan allow for both to flourish, as presently I think Griffs game might be suffering from the emphasis on one and not the other.

Thirdly - maybe the guy is just injured. He does seem restricted.

Any thoughts from others on what's going on with Griff?

[Eastdog]

Griff is a great player. I'm hoping he will pick up again in the 2nd half of the season. Yes he has been dissapointing lately but I'm confident he can get back to his best. If he has an injury then that should be the priority which means he may miss games. We want a Griff who is fully up to scratch rather than one that is not.

[F'scary]

Looks to me as though he is carrying an injury.

[Mofra]

Definitely carrying something. He had a back injury at the start of the year, I wonder if he's done an adductor?

At one point last night when he normally would have either broken through an opponent of loaded up on the left, he chose to handball. He's clearly limited.

[wb_age]

I must say, injuries aside I have been disappointed with Griffen's output to date this year. After such a strong 2013 where he showed he could finally shake a tag consistently, he has regressed somewhat.

This may belong to a BMac thread, but seeing he is being completely tagged out of games, why hasn't he been moved to the forward line or possibly even the half back flank? Our team is lacking creativity in most parts of the ground and he has the ability to play a variety of roles. Sure you back him to shake the tag, but how long do you persist and continue to get the same results?

A second thought, is our game style which resembles a constant rolling maul and numbers at the contest making it easier to tag him out of games?

[Go_Dogs]

I mentioned moving Griff to a half back flank in the selections thread - I wonder if it might release him a bit and also allow us to spend more time developing our younger miss.

I think he's definitely suffering from some kind of complaint.

[always right]

Strange that posters are happy to entertain the thought that he may be carrying an injury...but never give the same benefit of doubt to others in our team. Could it be that Griffen simply isn't working hard enough?

[Eastdog]

Strange that posters are happy to entertain the thought that he may be carrying an injury...but never give the same benefit of doubt to others in our team. Could it be that Griffen simply isn't working hard enough?

Yep absolutely AR we shouldn't jump the gun and assume he has an injury.

[GVGjr]

There have been a few things in other threads about Griff and his form and I thought it deserved some more discussion.

Firstly, was interested in the effect of the captaincy on him. I've noticed he is not put up for media as much as others. For example, after last night's loss Roughead, Cooney and McRae have spoken to the media but as far as I know, Griff has not. With the low morale around the club at present, should we expect to hear more from our captain? If not, is this a sign that Griff, a quiet and humble guy, might be struggling with the role and could this be impacting on his form?

Secondly, the comments made about the lack of burst from Griff are also interesting. How badly we need a player cutting the lines, running down the ground taking a few bounces and then either goaling on the run or gaining meters into the forward line. That should be Griff. Is 'cracking in' at the expense of flair, and how does the game plan allow for both to flourish, as presently I think Griffs game might be suffering from the emphasis on one and not the other.

Thirdly - maybe the guy is just injured. He does seem restricted.

Any thoughts from others on what's going on with Griff?

We had the same 'cracking in' theme last year and Griffen was sensational. For what ever reason he is a long way off last years performance. I'd suggest that he hasn't caught up from the delayed start to the season. Griffen is a great footballer but I'm not sure he is a natural in the same sense as say Bob Murphy. Griffen needs the work and plenty of it where Bobby can get by without necessarily having done the work.

I made mention in the game day thread how Hrovat sped past him when coming off for a break. This was early in the game and after a goal Griffen focused on going off to the bench. It was a long run but he didn't have a lot in the bank and it was hard work for him. He had 30 mtrs on Hrovat before he also went to the bench. It's fair to say that Hrovat got there 20 mtrs in advance of Griffen maybe 30 mtrs. This is the strongest indicator to me that Griffen isn't near his best and is running on a significantly lower capacity than last year.

The observation some have made about him lacking flair is spot on but I think the conclusion that it's because of the 'cracking in' way that we play is way off. He often gets tags but when fit he can still burst away from them. At the moment he can't do that.

What we need is the other midfielders to do to his opponents what Carlton did to Mitch Wallis when he was trying to harass Murphy.

[bulldogtragic]

We had the same 'cracking in' theme last year and Griffen was sensational. For what ever reason he is a long way off last years performance. I'd suggest that he hasn't caught up from the delayed start to the season. Griffen is a great footballer but I'm not sure he is a natural in the same sense as say Bob Murphy. Griffen needs the work and plenty of it where Bobby can get by without necessarily having done the work.

I made mention in the game day thread how Hrovat sped past him when coming off for a break. This was early in the game and after a goal Griffen focused on going off to the bench. It was a long run but he didn't have a lot in the bank and it was hard work for him. He had 30 mtrs on Hrovat before he also went to the bench. It's fair to say that Hrovat got there 20 mtrs in advance of Griffen maybe 30 mtrs. This is the strongest indicator to me that Griffen isn't near his best and is running on a significantly lower capacity than last year.

The observation some have made about him lacking flair is spot on but I think the conclusion that it's because of the 'cracking in' way that we play is way off. He often gets tags but when fit he can still burst away from them. At the moment he can't do that.

What we need is the other midfielders to do to his opponents what Carlton did to Mitch Wallis when he was trying to harass Murphy.

Interesting pick up G. I think the best were 'West Coke' in those few years, but some do it better than others. How do you rate our 'selfless' blocking and well, obstructing opponents off our better guys? To be honest, I've not even considered it to date.

[GVGjr]

Interesting pick up G. I think the best were 'West Coke' in those few years, but some do it better than others. How do you rate our 'selfless' blocking and well, obstructing opponents off our better guys? To be honest, I've not even considered it to date.

Wallis was dropped after Carlton worked him over. Murphy who was down the previous 2 weeks beforehand burned us because of the support he received.

To do it properly it needs to be orchestrated with players all over the ground looking to give the tagger something else to think about.

It hasn't appeared to have been a priority for us but it should.

[Remi Moses]

One of the reasons we're battling is the minimal input of Minson and Griff.
I'll say this if Griff is carrying an injury, and I say"if". time to put him away for the season.

[Topdog]

Strange that posters are happy to entertain the thought that he may be carrying an injury...but never give the same benefit of doubt to others in our team. Could it be that Griffen simply isn't working hard enough?

Well it is because he was actually injured in the pre season, was supposed to be out for about 5 games and came back very quickly. After coming back he looked absolutely short of fitness and still looks so. If he isn't injured than he is suffering from a lack of pre season. I personally think it is both.

[Bulldog4life]

Well it is because he was actually injured in the pre season, was supposed to be out for about 5 games and came back very quickly. After coming back he looked absolutely short of fitness and still looks so. If he isn't injured than he is suffering from a lack of pre season. I personally think it is both.


Spot on.

[bornadog]

We are desperate for Griffen to get back to some form, he is our only A grade player and without him there has been no one to take the game on and get us over the line. I think his lack of preseason has been the largest factor. Injury wise, who knows?

[Ghost Dog]

Strange that posters are happy to entertain the thought that he may be carrying an injury...but never give the same benefit of doubt to others in our team. Could it be that Griffen simply isn't working hard enough?

Like who?

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

We are desperate for Griffen to get back to some form, he is our only A grade player and without him there has been no one to take the game on and get us over the line. I think his lack of preseason has been the largest factor. Injury wise, who knows?

There is little doubt that his slow start to the year through injury hasn't helped and is playing without confidence. I would like to see Griff played at centre half back to allow him to run off an opponent like Jesse White and would give him a new lease of life and responsibility.

[1eyedog]

There is little doubt that his slow start to the year through injury hasn't helped and is playing without confidence. I would like to see Griff played at centre half back to allow him to run off an opponent like Jesse White and would give him a new lease of life and responsibility.

That's silly. White would take him deep at every opportunity and outmark him 19 times out of 20. I'd like go see Griffen go to HBF and Higgins go forward. We have a glut of young players who can cover in the midfield. Cooney should also play there more in bursts to cover him.

[always right]

There is little doubt that his slow start to the year through injury hasn't helped and is playing without confidence. I would like to see Griff played at centre half back to allow him to run off an opponent like Jesse White and would give him a new lease of life and responsibility.

Yep....just like Rohan Smith in the 1998 prelim. That turned out well;)