Centre bounce hard ball gets?

[Mr Brightside]

One good thing in recent times at training has been the more time N.G Brown has spent in the middle,I,d like to think even though we dont have a superstar midfielder at this stage that we can still build a very workman like midfield(lots of rotations) the only problem I see with that is we dont have the big bodys say like Sydney have,its also not just the ones you win its the ones you make the opposition have to kick under pressure or hold it up an bring it back to a 50 50

Barring injury I see our Rucks been fine Simo is elite,Knobel do's a job an Pato is very much on the improve.Speed an outside runners is know real issue as im sure even some of the kids will come in an have an impact in this area,but like many have said with pure in an unders we dont have a lot but how many do you need to have a good midfield?,I really believe Axe will become our number 1 hard ball get this season,Tucky will again do a good job in this area an the way his trained will have his best season,Johnson will have an impact but it will be limited due to his minding of the oppositions best,Polo is very good in this area but how much game time will his light body handle in the crunchs,Krak im sure has been trained up to have more midfield roles.

Fact is every clearance is not entirley pure grunt an a hard ball get,creative ruck work,nice simple little block to give a half a metre break many facets to clearing the ball,hopefully we can do well in this area but I wouldnt think as pure grunt players we can expect any of the senior players to become these types.

Other then Brisbane an West Coast how good have the midfields of the other premiership teams been in the past decade?

 

[Mr Brightside]

Agree with Redford. Getting first hands on the ball means squat if you haven't the class and structure to use it effectively. A blind kick or handball with the hope that it goes to a teamate won't work in todays football.

We have been the masters of the blind kick and hope. Players like Campbell, Daffy, Chaffey, Rogers, M.Gale, Free, and todays Johnson, Tuck, and even Coughlan made a living out of getting the ball and slamming it on their boot. It seems that this has always been an instinct and a first option.

The fact that we've never had enough support in the midfield has contributed to this panic type clearance play. We've always seemed unorganised, unstructured at stoppages, not enough support, players not knowing where to position themselves, not enough communication, no natural instinct of knowing where a teamate is. We always seem to get tackled, fumble, and miss a target in the heat of the stoppage play.

We need strong yet composed in and under players at the fall of the ball. Players that can hold their ground, are clean with their hands, assess and don't panic. We also need these players to be well skilled enough with enough footy smarts to play outside receiving roles when they find themselves not at the fall of the ball - lending support to another teamate, knowing where to position himself and knowing where to run and receive, and how to use it.

The run to receive is vital, because if you don't have that constant supply of teamates streaming past, then the player busting a gut to win the ball is wasting his time and effort. A quick dish off to a player running past is 100 times more effective than a blind kick and hope, as the player in posession has time, space, momentum and vision to be able to spot a target upfield.

Football has changed but the RFC have been slow to change with it. If you watch the 1980 grand final you will notice that play was based on the "kick it long and hope". It doesn't work anymore. Plays are much more structured now in the attempt to keep posession at all costs.

Wallace is aware of this and is trying to change things. This is a positive. It will take time to make this an instinct in all players - to create a structure where everyone knows their place and role.

In terms of who will step up now in Cogs absence, it needs to be more than one player. If we are gonna rely on one player then we won't improve.

I like Foley. I'm not sold on him by any stretch at the moment, but I think he has the right attitude to make a good midfielder. He is determined and works hard. I thought at times during his early days that he was too one dimensional, a bit small, a bit weak, a bit slow, and a bit iffy on his disposals. However in recent times he seems to have improved in all areas. He's also added an outside attribute to his game as he is willing to run hard to assist and receive and run to dispose. He seems to be rounding off his game. When he's not inside he's wants to be outside.

accurate and precise as usual harold. just one point though. i dont believe wallace has targetted any genuine big bodied skillful onballers in his time at the club. in 3 drafts ask yourselves how many genuine inside players has he drsfted. imo there are just 4 players on the entire list who you could call genuine inside.and one of them is gone. there are a couple who are both inside and out but the majority you would have to say are very much outside players.

every draft i pull my hair out because of the selections we take. 90% of players have been skinny quick outside hbf types with a bit of tokenism to kpp and big hard bodied smalls and mediums getting even less attention..

anyway back on topic the midfield onball rotations are going to fall to raines deledio polo tuck foley tambling and johnson. what other options are there rely on the likes of krakouer tivendale and pettifer we will be in for a tough yr again if these 3 are running thru midfield.

Well have Jack was gone at pick 13 you would have got your wish 8)