An apology...

[Broadie]

Gee, @sh, glad to see you have the maturity to not see player criticisms as personal abuse.

The point you make about us going out there completely misses the whole argument: the 38 listed players are paid quite handsomely to do a certain job. They should have it pointed out when they are not performing that job, just as I expect to be spoken to if I am not performing all aspects of my job adequately.

As for B&W and Magpie24's comments, you'll note that Dimma & Steinfort are also targets of this criticism.
Broadie

[This message has been edited by Broadie (edited 22 August 2001).]

[junkboy75]

my opinion is that licuria is a great, much improved player but needs to play within his ability. there's no doubting his work ethic, courage, or commitment. he has shut out some great players, like andrew mcleod, and he does the one percenters, like chasing, tackling and smothering. licu is also a strong mark for his size, and is the best handballer in the team.

HOWEVER, he needs to play within himself. I don't know what others think, but I've noticed that he tries to take players on when he shouldn't. he did that in the last quarter against the bombers after a kick-in, and was caught. other times, he just runs himself into trouble, then is forced to kick the ball wildly. he also has a tendency to run to his right when clearly he struggles on that side. licu is fast, but he doesn't seem to have the ability to burn off players like, say, a leon davis or chipper. he also shouldn't try to pinpoint those long 50 metre passes like buckley until he improves his disposal skills.

having said that, I believe that with experience, good coaching and skills improvement, licu will cut out these factors. there were a lot of players who were perceived to lack pace, kicking skills, etc but still turned out to be champions, i.e. tony shaw, greg williams. the reason is that they played within their ability. if licu can do what he does best, he will become an integral cog in the pies' bid to win a flag.

"everyone's a winner hot pies"

[GOPIES]

here here... I agree with junkboy, Licuria is an asset to our team and there will be no-way that Collongwood would trade him. You must remember he's only 23 so he's got plenty of time to improve his disposal(players normally peak at 26) I am sure that the coaching staff will try to improve his disposal over the off-season. Also watch out Paul will poll pretty well in both the brownlow and copeland trophy. Keep up the good work Licu.

HOT PIES!!!!!!!!!!!

[Leonin5=star]

lets not forget his game against the bulldogs where he had abt 20 handballs and 8 kicks...thats a sign of a class player..he knows his weakness so he handballed off to others with better disposal..thats where licuria is invaluable...cause he can win the ball...i thought the problem with essendon is not enough of our players were running off with paul so he could handball to them..so he had to kick the ball himself..

pure magic...

[MarkT]

I admire the loyalty of all of you sticking up for Paul Licuria. I wish it was not so, but his disposal will lead to the end of his career unless it improves significantly. Remember Jason Wild, Luke Godden, etc. They were all gutsy ball getting players. Their skills let them down. These days they are regarded as part of the reason for our decline. Lica is better than them but the fact remains he cannot kick to standard. That is a fact.
To point out just 1 incident that sticks in my mind from the Essendon game:
Last 1/4 running out of defense a beutiful 60m kick. 20m up, 20 down and barely 20 accross. It was the 2nd poor kick in quick succession. Had there not been 1 he would have not got the 2nd possession because the ball would have been at our end not back from where it came.

At is stands right now, Lica is an automatic selection. I think he is in our best side. The problem is that he will be overtaken by some of the young talent coming through, if he is not traded before hand, unless he reduces the errors.

[Greg J]

I was the one who gave three votes to Licker this week (well the first if others have too).

I gave it to him,
a. because he got the ball so much
b. in the last quarter he looked like he wanted to win

It was enough for me. I would have liked to have got the same impression from the rest of the team, but ...

Greg J

[september_joffa]

Players like licca and dimma are all guts do we wanna be a pack of panzies like that essendon shit...i dont think so.

A WHITE SPORT COAT AND A BLACK CARNATION...the joffa's all dressed up for the finals...CARRRRRRM ONNNNNNN GO MAGPIES!!

[Broadie]

Despite the intimations of those who attempt to read my mind (I understand why, given the limited nature of some of my comments), I am not purely a critic of all things Licuria.

The most pleasing thing over the last 10 weeks is that he has stopped thinking he can out-run everyone in the league. I was very much in favoutr of trading him while his disposal was a disgrace and he kept getting caught. The latter part of his game seems to have disappeared (or at least back to "normal" levels), and his skills HAVE improved which gives me hope for the future. But if they aren't significantly better next year (same for Dimma & Steinfort) I'll be the first to call for their heads.

Broadie