Higgins set for return

[The Coon Dog]

Luke Holmesby - Doggies Website - 23 June

BULLDOG forward Shaun Higgins is set to return for his side’s clash against Hawthorn next week.

Higgins has missed two matches since rolling his ankle in the round 11 clash with Collingwood but coach Rodney Eade says he will be right to come back after the side’s mid-season break.

“Indications are that he will be, yes. He is training today so I’ll get an update this afternoon. They thought initially he’d only miss the one week but we gave him two and now he’s got the bye,” Eade said on Wednesday.

Article in full...
(http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/season2010/news/newsarticle/tabid/4112/newsid/96821/default.aspx)

[The Bulldogs Bite]

If Higgins is still carrying a groin injury, I'd rather he didn't play. He's an exciting player that could make a big difference in September, but he's been very restricted and pretty ordinary this year so far.

If Higgins can find form then along with Ward coming back into the side, we should have a better second half of the year.

[Swoop]

I tend to agree with you TBB, at the moment we have healthy competition for spots and we have a number of players pushing for promotion and returning from injury, if the groin is not right let's give him the extra 2-3 weeks to get it right.

Having said that I know with these types of injuries sometimes there's no difference between 3 weeks and 6 weeks so there may be nothing to gain from giving him the extra weeks off. I'll leave that with medicos who know best.

As a side topic, will Higgins continue to tease us for the rest of his career or do people think he will ultimately make the jump to the genuine elite class?

[Desipura]

Play him forward with the occasionally run in the middle, would much prefer him there than a Stack or Hill. Offers us more flexibility.

[LostDoggy]

Great news if he is right to play, and I hope that the medical staff know more about his recovering groin than me! :D Love to see him in the side, as he does give us more flexibility than Stack IMO!

[Greystache]

I'm not convinced he should be an automatic selection once he's recovered. At his best he's damaging and probably in our best 10 players, but his form this year has been mediocre at best, and his turnovers by foot have hurt us badly (I counted 5 goals against Essendon that Higgins had a direct hand in).

I think he should be made to come back through Williamstown and earn his spot through performance.

[Cyberdoggie]

I'm not convinced he should be an automatic selection once he's recovered. At his best he's damaging and probably in our best 10 players, but his form this year has been mediocre at best, and his turnovers by foot have hurt us badly (I counted 5 goals against Essendon that Higgins had a direct hand in).

I think he should be made to come back through Williamstown and earn his spot through performance.

Callan Ward had about 14 weeks out with his flare up. I wonder why we aren't taking the same precautions with Higgins?

[Go_Dogs]

As a side topic, will Higgins continue to tease us for the rest of his career or do people think he will ultimately make the jump to the genuine elite class?

I think he will eventually. He's just a very smart footballer, and he has terrific skills. He's in a leadership role at the club, so that would seem to indicate that he attacks the training etc in a professional manner.

If he ever gets the opportunity to have some decent continuity with his footy, he could certainly step into the elite area.

This year he has at times lacked a little of intensity and work rate, particularly defensively at times. Perhaps it's due to his injuries, but it has been a question mark over his entire time at the club IMO - and an area that he needs to continue to improve if he's to become a genuinely elite player.

I think the club needs to decide where his best spot is too, as I think he could play his best football as a forward who can rotate through the centre, rather than the other way around. He's very clever around the goals and hurts the opposition with his ball use in the forward half.

[MrMahatma]

You'd think Williams and Ward would come in. With Johnno only having one under the belt, bringing Higgins in also makes for a few blokes unlikely to be 100% match fit.

[becmatty]

Get him in. He is a massive talent and if he fires, we will explode in the second half of the season...

[Mantis]

I think he will eventually. He's just a very smart footballer, and he has terrific skills. He's in a leadership role at the club, so that would seem to indicate that he attacks the training etc in a professional manner.

If he ever gets the opportunity to have some decent continuity with his footy, he could certainly step into the elite area.

This year he has at times lacked a little of intensity and work rate, particularly defensively at times. Perhaps it's due to his injuries, but it has been a question mark over his entire time at the club IMO - and an area that he needs to continue to improve if he's to become a genuinely elite player.

I think the club needs to decide where his best spot is too, as I think he could play his best football as a forward who can rotate through the centre, rather than the other way around. He's very clever around the goals and hurts the opposition with his ball use in the forward half.

One area I would question is his decision making. He is a very 'showy' player who likes to take the 'showtime' option rather than the safe & sensible option. The piece of play when he rolled his ankle was a classic example. Rather than heading back across the ground where he had free players he tried to pinpoint a 50m pass to a player isolated between 3 Collingwood players. Regardless of the ankle injury occuring which may have affected his kick it was a dumb decision to attempt this kick.

Too often he also breaks through the centre and rather giving off a handball he 'shows the ball' and tries to get clear and kick long, but invaraibly doesn't kick the ball to our advantage. He is also attempting little 'dinky' passes which infuriate us all as they often lead to turnovers, and in modern footy turnovers mean goals to the opposition.

He is a very talented player who could become elite, but do so he will need to improve this decision making, and possibly his defensive intensity, but he has the tools to do so.

[Doc26]

One area I would question is his decision making. He is a very 'showy' player who likes to take the 'showtime' option rather than the safe & sensible option. The piece of play when he rolled his ankle was a classic example. Rather than heading back across the ground where he had free players he tried to pinpoint a 50m pass to a player isolated between 3 Collingwood players. Regardless of the ankle injury occuring which may have affected his kick it was dumb decision to attempt this kick.

Too often he also breaks through the centre and rather giving off a handball he 'shows the ball' and tries to get clear and kick long, but invaraibly doesn't kick the ball to our advantage. He is also attempting little 'dinky' passes which infuriate us all as they often lead to turnovers, and in modern footy turnovers mean goals to the opposition.

He is a very talented player who could become elite, but do so he will need to improve this decision making, and possibly his defensive intensity, but he has the tools to do so.

Tend to agree which for now at least is why he might serve us best around the forward fifty where we might be able to capitalise more on his 'showiness' rather than it be seen as a risk when in the engine room. With that said, he does need to dramatically lift his work rate when going the other way.