Burnaby Lakers rightie named ILIndoor No. 18

ILIndoor Top 50: Robert Church, No. 18

Tuesday December 13th, 2016

Article courtesy of Inside Lacrosse


ILIndoor’s sixth edition of the Top 50 players in lacrosse is based on voting from Stephen Stamp, Bob Chavez, Marty O’Neill and Teddy Jenner.

Each voter submitted a Top 50 list, and names on the list were awarded points based on the vote. A No. 1 vote was awarded 50 points, No. 2 got 49 points, etc. ILIndoor is publishing 1 profile per day through December up to the National Lacrosse League season opener.

Included in each profile is statistics for the most recent season(s) and comments from each voter on the profiled player.

Robert Church

 GamesGoalsAssistsPointsLB
NLL regular season1835518698
NLL playoffs48122015
WLA regular season13292453 
WLA playoffs7131730 

 

Stephen Stamp

Church is one of those guys that doesn't necessarily stand out in casual viewing of games but earns more and more respect when you watch him closely. He seems to do something every game that just makes me say “wow”. Church works inside, scores critical goals and has a deft passing touch in traffic.

Marty O’Neill

Church has many aspects to his game that are unselfish, which makes the Saskatoon offense that much more scary. You will find him in the middle trolling for rebounds and he’s a power-play wizard. His offensive talents are part Sanderson, part Benesch. Like others in Saskatoon, he hasn't had his ultimate season yet. That is because there simply isn’t enough ball or playing time to go round to have just a few be the continuous focus. 

Teddy Jenner

I still think Church is underrated in some NLL circles. He doesn’t need the ball in his stick long to be effective as he has become a fantastic off-ball player. However, when he does control the rock, there aren’t too many better. Church is a greasy and slippery player who has benefited from playing with some incredible players but his lacrosse IQ allows him to take his game to another level.

Bob Chavez

Of course, Church has the physical skill to be an NLL player but it says more to his mental approach and ego when he does what he’s doing with the Rush. When you have the capability of being a No. 1 offensive option but don’t demand it, and you’re happy with being a contributor to the greater good of winning a team title, it goes far and he’s already got a pair of Champion’s Cup rings to show for it while contributing 35-plus goals in each of those 2 championship seasons.

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