his most brilliant stuff has been at ground level with the ball. And I'm beginning to wonder if we're robbed of that with his playing full back to a passable level
Balta is a freak athlete, and we are definitely limiting his potential output by playing him at full back. In terms of match-winning impact, he could be like a bigger version of Dusty - how many players do we have (or does any team have) that have that unstoppable ability to win their own ball, break lines and kick three goals within five minutes in a GF?
If we could fast forward a year or two and be told Balta had just won the Norm Smith medal, we wouldn't be the least bit surprised. But he probably won't do it from full back.
I remember, whenever you were playing against the likes of Pavlich, Hird, Koutafides, you always knew you were just one quick, unstoppable burst away from staring at defeat.
I have a simple question - what would be easier:
- find a good KPD and move Noah up the ground
- keep Noah back and find another Noah to send forward?
Lots of luck finding another Balta!