Skinny had a pretty up and down 2006 season:

Round - versus - K - H - P - M - HO - T - FF - FA - G - B

Rnd 01 - Melbourne - 24 - 6 - 30 - 13 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
Rnd 02 - Fremantle - 9 - 0 - 9 - 2 - 0 - 4 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 0
Rnd 03 - Sydney - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
Rnd 04 - Hawthorn - 16 - 7 - 23 - 7 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 0
Rnd 05 - Richmond - 16 - 5 - 21 - 9 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 1
Rnd 06 - Collingwood - 10 - 7 - 17 - 7 - 0 - 4 - 4 - 0 - 0 - 2
Rnd 07 - Essendon* - 5 - 3 - 8 - 3 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
Rnd 08 - St Kilda - 16 - 9 - 25 - 7 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0
Rnd 09 - Adelaide - 18 - 5 - 23 - 8 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 1 - 3 - 0
Rnd 10 - P Adelaide - 12 - 9 - 21 - 7 - 0 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 3
Rnd 11 - WC Eagles - 12 - 7 - 19 - 3 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 0
Rnd 12 - Kangaroos - 16 - 7 - 23 - 8 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1
Rnd 13 - Bris Lions - 12 - 9 - 21 - 4 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0
Rnd 14 - W Bulldogs - 3 - 4 - 7 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0
Rnd 15 - Melbourne - 15 - 12 - 27 - 10 - 0 - 4 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0

Rnd 19 - Hawthorn - 21 - 15 - 36 - 10 - 0 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1
Rnd 20 - Richmond - 17 - 8 - 25 - 6 - 0 - 4 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0
Rnd 21 - Collingwood - 16 - 12 - 28 - 6 - 0 - 4 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0
Rnd 22 - Sydney - 15 - 8 - 23 - 4 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0

394 total possessions, averaged 20.7 possessions per game.


There is no doubt in my mind that Matthew has lost some of his 'magic' in the past two seasons for the blues. I'm sure that if you asked him he'd tell you that 2006 wasn't one of his better years.

Why is this though?

- Did he simply struggle with injury during the year (injured his shoulder in rnd 3 IIRC)?
- Is the ability to play his brand of football - the weave, dodge and slip - leaving him as he gets older?
- Has the quickening of the modern game 'found him out'?
- Does he (as some here have suggested) have conflict with Denis Pagan which is effecting his on-field form?

This is the guy who more or less played CHF in season 2001 during Whitnall's absence. Who is regarded by some as being the best player for the blues in the dark years of 02--04.

What do you all think?
Do you think that Lappin will be a valuable contributor for the blues in 2007?
And if so where is his best position for us -- forward or back?

I think that has a lot to do with it.

Continually losing games wouldn't be putting a spring in his step either.

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There's so much I could say...

I thought he finished the year of in decent form, after being dropped for those couple of weeks.

I don't think he really knew what his role was from one week to the next early in the season. He was all over the place and consequently his game went the same way.

Denis Pagan. Matthew is struggling to get motivated.

Matty Lapping averaged 81 on dream team this year, hardly an average season...

had a cry cause he isn't being played in the midfield.....

AGREE




AGREE


He didn't know whether he was playing as Arthur or Martha this year. Came good at the end.

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Confucius say "Virginity like bubble, one prick all gone"

After the events of the post-season that he went through in 05', i can understand why he had such an up & down year.

This season it's Fisher & Thornton.

Hmmmm. I can see a pattern

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

He was too worried about how much money he missed out on this year when we would not be held to ransom by his pay demands.

He's passed it. I think his reflexes - his trump card all along - have let him down and he is now just another mid-height mid-pace player with 'footy brains'. He used to be able to win the 1 on 1's with quick understanding and quick actions but I think he's slowed down a peg or 2.

There's no shame in that. It happens to players of his age.

It seemed like he was just in the motions........he drifted in and out of games, but he was far from our problem

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"Dont count the games, make the games count"

Hardly a barometer of performance... A kick-in that goes straight to the opposition gets the same value as a 60-metre bullet onto the chest of a leading forward.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

I thought you'd bite, Melvey.



One thing that irks me a bit with Skinny is that he hasn't seemed to take on board the rule change of absolutely crucifying the guy who drags the ball in and sits on it in a contest.

Lappin seems to go to ground whenever he is in a 1 on 1 contest quite a bit -- it might have worked in the past but you can't get away with it now.

It is something that I would have thought the coaching staff would talk to him about -- because I saw it as a liability in his game.

I like Matty and I really rate him as a player. I'm hoping that he'll come out in 2007 and remind us of how bloody good he is -- but realistically I'm also thinking that the good days might now be past him.

Prove me wrong Skinny!

Yeah, his stats were a bit "Skinny".














Get it, get it.















Yeah, pathetic. But it's late.

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I just want my old club back ... (edit) maybe I have!

Actually I think opposition clubs have started to work him over physically and he doesn't really cope well with it.

Mark Johnson did his thug act on him last year and Matty played scared, and Crowley did a similar thing to him in the early Freo game this year and totally put him off.

Then he was injured for the middle part of the season and I think he's struggled to have the same impact.

To an extent also the job he had been doing last year - rebounding flanker - has also been taken over by Heath Scotland.

Considering his contract demands at the end of last year, his form has been woeful. When we needed leadership he has provided NONE.

Well done to the board for not caving in to his ridiculous money demands.

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In WADA we trust

What was he supposed to have ended up getting again? 2 years and something something?

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

So did Whitnall.
So did Fevola.

Hmmmm. I can see a pattern.

Not every thread is required to bash the board and Pagan