#22 Steele Sidebottom

[perthmagpie]

I love Steele. I wish he would be more urgent after he gets a mark or free. A willingness to move it on quicker at times would be an improvement. It's only a minor criticism though. Clearly our third best player.

[Gerry Cooper]

If anything he tries to be too creative which is why we see the short passes. These are often cutting through heavy traffic to a player who hasn't always anticipated how Steele thinks and who often is under pressure as a result. I wouldn't trade him for anything. He is one of our best players of the modern era.

[King Monkey]

He's so good at what he does, he should be considered an elite player of the competition.
But, the only reason he isn't considered in the elite class is because he's his own worst enemy.

I've been thinking about what the best words are to describe his football for a while now and it came to me clear as day a couple of times last night - he's a smartarse.
When he's got the footy in his hands, he's a deadset smartarse and it backfires more often than it should.

[thompsoc]

He is a flawed elite player.
Would command a big transfer of good pick/s!

[Raw Hammer]

Another horrible smart arse forward handball straight to a man under immense pressure akin to that shocker on the wing in Adelaide a few weeks ago. Should be dragged for that garbage. It's hubris, and it stinks.

[qldmagpie67]

KM I've been on him for ages now about the same stuff
His best is very good no doubt but it's all the other facets of his game that annoy the heck out of me.
For someone so skilled (apparently) to not be able to convert that goal last night, miss targets by miles or kick it at there feet and those dinky show pony kicks or handballs undermines any good things he does.
You don't see Pendles or Dangerfield or alike doing that on a regular basis like him.
Your right he is a smart a$$ and needs to be brought down a peg or 5.
As for trade value he was pick 11 and we wouldn't get that back now. We might get a late 1st round pick or a low second plus 3rd round pick from a club looking for mids but we wouldn't get a top 10 pick from anyone especially now with the length and value of his latest contract

[King Monkey]

Out of 750 odd players on AFL lists, there are only a small percentage that can significantly influence games on their own. He's one.

Trade him???? - f*** no
Grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake that smartarse, lairy streak out of him - yes.

[think positive]

Out of 750 odd players on AFL lists, there are only a small percentage that can significantly influence games on their own. He's one.

Trade him???? - f*** no
Grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake that smartarse, lairy streak out of him - yes.

Yep said the same thing a couple of years ago about Faz,when a lot said he was a dud. He was arrogant, lazy. And look at him now. That foot injury gave him a whole new outlook,one without footy as his job. And now just how bad to do we miss him?

Just imagine if instead of letting a personal problem with Heath shaw get in the way, how our back line would look now. We need heater.and we need Sidey. Gees I wish to god we would stop getting rid of all the characters; I love a vanillathickshake, but sometimes yougees more flavour

[Pies4shaw]

Not all players are capable of turning up and playing at their best, week in and week out the way Pendlebury does. But the guys that win your team premierships are the ones who step up under pressure, sometimes because of temperament and sometimes because they are so skilled that they feel no extra pressure. Sidebottom gets a huge tick on both counts.

It's certainly frustrating when he kicks a sideways clanger but I don't much care - if the team were better, it wouldn't matter and the real question to ask is which of our guys could be relied upon to step up in a final (assuming any of them ever get to play in another)? Sidebottom is the first player I would pick. Previously, it would have been Dale Thomas.

It's horses for courses, really - you need the guys who will do enough often enough to get you there (eg, Beams, who could win a best and fairest in a decent side but had no extra finals gear) and then you need the guys who are unstoppable in the big games when they're switched on. Of course, if we don't start winning some football games soon, we should probably trade him to a club that does - it would be a tragedy for the game if Sidebottom never got to play a Grand Final now that he's got really good.

[think positive]

Not all players are capable of turning up and playing at their best, week in and week out the way Pendlebury does. But the guys that win your team premierships are the ones who step up under pressure, sometimes because of temperament and sometimes because they are so skilled that they feel no extra pressure. Sidebottom gets a huge tick on both counts.

It's certainly frustrating when he kicks a sideways clanger but I don't much care - if the team were better, it wouldn't matter and the real question to ask is which of our guys could be relied upon to step up in a final (assuming any of them ever get to play in another)? Sidebottom is the first player I would pick. Previously, it would have been Dale Thomas.

It's horses for courses, really - you need the guys who will do enough often enough to get you there (eg, Beams, who could win a best and fairest in a decent side but had no extra finals gear) and then you need the guys who are unstoppable in the big games when they're switched on. Of course, if we don't start winning some football games soon, we should probably trade him to a club that does - it would be a tragedy for the game if Sidebottom never got to play a Grand Final now that he's got really good.

We keep going the way we are, and we will be in danger of not holding onto our talent. Seriously, why would you play for Collingwood right now if you could go to a team with a coach

[qldmagpie67]

Not all players are capable of turning up and playing at their best, week in and week out the way Pendlebury does. But the guys that win your team premierships are the ones who step up under pressure, sometimes because of temperament and sometimes because they are so skilled that they feel no extra pressure. Sidebottom gets a huge tick on both counts.

It's certainly frustrating when he kicks a sideways clanger but I don't much care - if the team were better, it wouldn't matter and the real question to ask is which of our guys could be relied upon to step up in a final (assuming any of them ever get to play in another)? Sidebottom is the first player I would pick. Previously, it would have been Dale Thomas.

It's horses for courses, really - you need the guys who will do enough often enough to get you there (eg, Beams, who could win a best and fairest in a decent side but had no extra finals gear) and then you need the guys who are unstoppable in the big games when they're switched on. Of course, if we don't start winning some football games soon, we should probably trade him to a club that does - it would be a tragedy for the game if Sidebottom never got to play a Grand Final now that he's got really good.

Agree mate not every one can be a Pendles and your point about Dayne Beams is valid he hasn't played well in a finals game yet. But there are big occasions away from finals that can be the difference in your team making a finals appearance and not and this is where he needs to show up and he more than often doesn't do it. He can be devastating for a quarter or half like the Anzac Day first half or first quarter against the Dee's but he doesn't do it for 4 qtrs often enough. Even last night yeah ok he did a couple good things with some nice passes but they were counteracted by several poor efforts as well. The last quarter when Pendles is off he's captain of the side we are in front of just down and need our best players to stand up and lead. What did he have in the last term ? 4 touches with a turnover. Hardly the stats of a leader or elite player. Pendles missed over half the last term and had 7 touches and was leading like a experienced elite player should. There in lies the difference.
To many people hang on the couple of good things he does without looking at the game in its entirety and how his turnovers or lack of desire leads to the opposition gaining momentum or increasing momentum

[Museman]

Truely elite players do not make the errors he makes on such a consistent basis, he has some tricks, he's a forward playing out of position, his tricks will hurt an opp forward and his blunders, of which there are plenty will have significantly less impact there, but mr potato cannot see this, mr potato cannot see much.....

Elite..? phark NO!!!! Worth persisting with in the corerect manner? Definitely.

[jackcass]

Not sure why people think that a few clangers denigrate his status to below elite. Point me to the elite players in the league who don't make mistakes. I've been one of the biggest critics of his errors but I still think he's easily in the elite bracket and arguably our best big game player.

[daics aka the ruckman]

Not sure why people think that a few clangers denigrate his status to below elite. Point me to the elite players in the league who don't make mistakes. I've been one of the biggest critics of his errors but I still think he's easily in the elite bracket and arguably our best big game player.

Its because those clangers are every game and cost us dearly. He is just a good player in my book.

[TheJonesBoy]

Cant be considered elite.
If we classify Danger, Hodge, Buddy, Ablett elite...he's streets behind them.

His kicking can be, but he chips it to ankles more than any footballer I've seen.
Leading forwards must just close their eyes and hope.

Also find he tries to make the easy look difficult, almost as though he does get bored and likes the challenge of trying something left field.

People will defend him by throwing up efficiency stats, but its the ones he butchers that so often cost us momentum or what should have been a scoring chance.