you beat me to it fellow Queenslander. I too have been a long standing critic of Steele Sidebottom. I admit he frustrated me for many a year to a point I thought he was our best commodity for a steal in a trade of.
when he first came onto the seen as a young TAC cup forward who kicked 10 in grand final I saw a very good football player. 2010 grand final and the games leading into that game had me bullish and thinking we have a superstar in the making here. he then like the rest of the team started to spiral downward into the oblivion. just my opinion only.
but last night in my post match game reply which as now disappeared I committed he is our yard stick in a way that reflects the team and how its going, for example, if the team is playing outstanding footy like last night he is one of the best as usual but when the team is playing bad he plays bad as well but is still one of the better players we had in the game. hence why he's the raining Copeland winner. I really feel that the club has turned the corner to a form that we all have been waiting for and I think last night was a breakout game for Sidebottom as well. he was simply outstanding. he and grundy are in the running for a Brownlow this year.
#22 Steele Sidebottom
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qldmagpie67
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think positive
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He's been "elite" since he first pulled on the boots for Collingwood. Because he is so good on both sides of his body and has such brilliant handling skills, he can do things in traffic, under pressure and in the hottest games that other players simply can't.
He is small and relatively slow, so he's never going to be the sort of player who imposes great defensive pressure when the opposition has the ball and he's not the kind of player who will routinely rack up 40+ disposals in the more open footy that's played during the season, when a bit of extra pace generally helps clean up the loose ball.
He comes to the fore when the game is hottest and hardest. The great shame of his career is that he hasn't played in more finals - the thing about him is that he is under no more pressure in a Grand Final than he is in a home and away game because he can go both ways by hand or foot at any time, so the opposition can't close him down.
The routine comparisons people tend to make between Steele and guys who get more of the ball - but do nothing with it - remain annoying. Because of his small size and lack of pace, he's never going to excel on paper - he excels on the field by doing the difficult things that others can't do. At Collingwood, only Pendlebury is a "better" footballer and even Pendles isn't as good on his "wrong side" as Sidebottom. Sidey is not the sort of player to get you to the Grand Final - he's the sort of player that wins them for you.
He is small and relatively slow, so he's never going to be the sort of player who imposes great defensive pressure when the opposition has the ball and he's not the kind of player who will routinely rack up 40+ disposals in the more open footy that's played during the season, when a bit of extra pace generally helps clean up the loose ball.
He comes to the fore when the game is hottest and hardest. The great shame of his career is that he hasn't played in more finals - the thing about him is that he is under no more pressure in a Grand Final than he is in a home and away game because he can go both ways by hand or foot at any time, so the opposition can't close him down.
The routine comparisons people tend to make between Steele and guys who get more of the ball - but do nothing with it - remain annoying. Because of his small size and lack of pace, he's never going to excel on paper - he excels on the field by doing the difficult things that others can't do. At Collingwood, only Pendlebury is a "better" footballer and even Pendles isn't as good on his "wrong side" as Sidebottom. Sidey is not the sort of player to get you to the Grand Final - he's the sort of player that wins them for you.
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think positive
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf
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