Ollie did ok in the first half vs the dees the week prior though
................. or a VFL unknown player I have warmed to Boyd and think he is in our best 22/23 and happy to give Austin a tick for his recruiting.In fairness to Boyd he wasn't really an unknown, it was quite a surprise for some that he had slipped in the pecking order to become a MSD candidate, they had expected him to be picked up in the draft proper but for reasons we will never know clubs let him slide.
Criticism of Ollie is not about his tireless effort. He runs and runs and runs... but not enough comes from all that effort. Acres runs and runs all day as well, with considerable impact in games.The problem that Ollie and others like him have is the focus on weaknesses that the AFL brings, if you hesitate opponents see it and forever more know, they know where to stand and what to say to put doubts in your head, it's the sporting equivalent of a game of chicken and they know you've blinked before.
Ollie needs, like many others, to commit his body to tackling, his tackling efforts have been and are a liability... easily broken. The only reason I recommend dropping Ollie to the Magoos is so he can learn to add other strings to his bow.
This.
I feel the same way and my issues with him initially was that he folded under pressure and his kicking suffered.
As you mention, it's still a bit of a worry, but he has improved a lot in this area.
If we had someone else capable of negating small forwards, I'd be keen to get him further up the ground and help our connection between mids and forwards and also between forwards and the big sticks.