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Midfield Depth
- Thread starter Scoop
- Start date
Our clearance work was so much better in the 2nd half. Bolton for sure impacted that. Needs to be in the middle for centre clearances. I'd love to see how many CBA's he attends and what our win rate is with him in there. I don't have stats but from using my eyes, appears much higher with him in there than without.
A lot can happen over a season , especially in kids first couple of seasons, however I’d be trying to lure Tom Green to punt rd , I think he’s the type of bull you can build a midfield around, has a lot of a fit Cripps about him imho. obvpiously he won’t come cheap, at this point I’d be prepared to give up a couple of our young mids , I.e Ross ( even though his our best atm) and try and use our first 2 picks on genuine pacey mids. Be nice to ad an A grade mid free agent like Kelly or Merrett, be very nice to ad a class left footer to the mix
Tom Green would be perfect for us. I've previously mentioned I think Cotch should be moved forward, his attack on the ball in the F50 would be immense, and having someone like Green there would help. I wonder if we consider this with Ross or RCD, bring them in, see how they go in the middle but have Cotch start forward with stints in the midfield.
Not saying the Skip should retire , hope he plays until he’s 40, however I won’t be shocked if this is his final year.
As I’ve said before mrp, theres not one player of our Cubs that is going to be better then any of our starting 4 mids at this point Dusty, Skip, Prestia and Shedda , I think Shai is definitely going to be excellent but at this point his pure attack which is fine if we get the right mix with him , a bit like the way we let Dusty be Dusty .
No need for panic as we are still in a great rare place, however it’s area that needs attention going forward, as I said before could be fixed in one off season with a bit of luck.
Our Ruck stocks maybe also able to help achieve another mid, which one we let go is the key to the price we get back
There were people on 9’s Footy Show wondering why Green isn’t played every week for GWS. I wonder if they’ve been told he’s off to Tigerland at first opportunity and consequently don’t want to put too much development into him.
Of those four mids you mention, three were top 10 picks and two of them were top 3 picks. In general, the elite talent is found in the first round of the draft and usually within the first 10 picks. There are exceptions but they are just that, exceptions.
We are paying a price for our recent success. Our earliest pick in the last 4 drafts has been pick 17 in 2018. We are just not getting a look at the elite talent in the draft but that’s what’s supposed to happen to a team in our position. Overall, I think we’ve managed to recruit well during this period, adding fresh faces to the best 22 every year.
If I was to be critical of one aspect of our recruiting/list management it would be our tendency to hold on to players too long. I’m a big believer that good players, regardless of draft position, size, development level, conditioning etc adapt quickly to AFL and barring injury will be playing regularly by their third year. We’ve currently got Chol (6 seasons), Miller (4th season no games), Garthwaite (5th season), Naish (4th season), Egg-Smith (4th season) and CCJ (4th season) still on the list and it’s obvious that most of them are just not up to it. I’d have preferred we gave opportunities to others instead of persisting with most of the above.
Agree , an that’s my point re our young mids , we don’t seem to have any A grade talent coming through, but as you say that’s just what’s going to happen when you have a 3 time premiership midfield like we do.
I think it’s pretty much irrelevant spook , we wouldn’t have been able to get him through to the PSD anyway, and it’s quite often now that players want out while under contract
I agree in part, to only give them 3 years no more, but some are only 18 yrs old and weigh a bag of rice when you draft them. Some take longer to develop.
The issue with us is that we have been giving away players for nothing.
Ellis shouldve been a pick between 25-35.
Higgins cost us pick 17 and we rid of him for pick 17. Bulter shouldve been a pick under 50.
There's a huge difference in kids drafted between pick 25-50 to picks 51-75.
Well, then. Let's get him.
We're supposedly keen on Kelly too, who's clearly gettable. Add both of those and our midfield is transformed.
With Cotchin getting towards the end and Prestia heading for 30, we need an influx of talent. We have the draft picks to make something happen. If we can't, we'll be heading for a top-5 pick of our own in a few years.
He's overrated if you still subscribe to the 2019 view that he's a top-5 player in the comp.
He would improve our midfield and we can potentially get him as a free agent. You'd be bringing in a rising 27-year-old quality ball-user who averages 24 touches a game over his career. We could teach him to play forward-ball instead of defensive side of the pack sweeper. I thought he was good last night.
He'd have to take a pay cut, but there aren't many other options to bring in a senior talent.
It would be a move to extend our current window. The other option is to accept it's closing and use our draft wealth on the next generation.
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We can only hope, wowser. Duckwood on his last legs.
The other I would love to get (who wouldn't) is Noah Anderson. Same draft class as Green, like Green a big Tiger fan as a kid, and like Green, contracted for two more years after this. Pie in the sky, but he's coming on beautifully at our Northern Academy. Craig Cameron's still there? He owes us, doesn't he?
It is the way I do some things so don't expect normality from me
