BurgoShark
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2008
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It's "good" involvement but 35 tackles and 35 flops are not the same thing. I would say it takes more out of you making 15 good tackles than it does making 35 flops... given the extra effort in terms of getting of the ground and running back into the defensive line. Ryan James is a good player, but the fan and commentator obsession with his stats is just dumb. He is a gun with the ball for sure, but his defensive work is massively over-rated.That's not lazy, that's amazing defensive involvement flopping for 35 tackles
I should also qualify what I mean by "lazy defender". I don't mean "his work rate is poor" or that he is a "lazy footballer". I mean that his effort in terms of up & back, and sliding in the defensive line, is not what it could be, and he is definitely susceptible to being beaten around the ruck, on the slide, or with the inside ball... and the "arm grab" is definitely part of his game. His work ethic/rate is good. His technique and positioning is bad. He needs to fix that before he is good enough to deserve the wraps he gets from his stats alone.