I keep banging on with that point, but, yes yes yes. It's unavoidably an easy way to negate someone being that good in the air. Just don't kick the ball his way.Jimmy Skitz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 3:19 pm
because no one kicks near him?
Its about what makes us the best attacking side possible for me, that could mean Freddie in the centres, on the wing or at 15, that's for the new attack coach to work out
There is some worth in that still. If you're playing a team that usually kicks to compete and they kick longer, then Freddie's excellence under the high ball has changed their tactics. Realistically though, good teams have more than one kicking strategy in their locker anyway. So it shouldn't force them to adopt something alien. Whilst many excellent teams largely kick long these days anyway. Look to drag the back field out of position, then get a net gain when a weaker kicker has to put it out.
If someone's brilliant at getting over the gain line like Jasper, then he can carry lots every game. That's an option every time his team has the ball. Same with a jackal like Tommy being able to target lots of breakdowns. It's valuable every defensive set. A tackler like Martin being able to smash stuff. Always useful. A SH such as JvP being able to kick the ball further than many SHs. Etc etc. These players can utilise those standout skills lots of times every game. If the opposition just decide to not put high balls on Freddie for 80 minutes, then Tigers can't box kick it backwards to him just to show it off.
That's a gigantic issue if a players skillset is so weighted towards that skill. There's a reason that Warburton was basically laughing at Wales kicking to contest on Freddie so much during the Six Nations. Better teams have figured out not to.
Plus, final bit of my diatribe, you can still use his high ball work as a centre. Just use it proactively as a chaser, rather than reactively by waiting for box kicks that good sides increasingly wont hang on him as he's so good under them. If anything centre is a better position to chase from, as him chasing doesn't then mean your FB isn't in the back field for the next phase.
