One thing I did like during the Hawks match was the way Astbury and Grimes were teaching Ben on the job
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Pick 63, 2017 Ben Miller - Welcome to Tigerland.
- Thread starter an_oxford_man
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I don't care if he's Yiddish or Transylvanian this Bubkes bloke is going to be a star, LLH. And he's already lightyears ahead of Miller.
We don’t need him to be a star, we just need him to play his part. I think he did play his part on Saturday - he spoiled, he marked and I think I saw him lay a shepherd too. After his serviceable game Im wondering why he wasn’t played earlier this year, it’s not like we didn’t need a tall defender
I think it was mainly because he injured at the time the opportunity arose. Garth got the nod instead
I think broad on the wing helps us a lot
Get him out of the backline
Big, athletic, tidy skills, discipline... was also racking them up in the 2s earlier in the year so seems to have the ability to rebound. I'm a (hopeful) fan
Is it enough to become that tall defender we have been looking for?
The thing i liked, he was calm and seemed to fit nicely alongside big V and Grimes.
Hard to tell after one game. But he certainly didn't do himself any harm with that performance.
After putting years into him he is a definite keeper now that he has a taste & has shown a glimpse.
Good size about him.
After putting years into him he is a definite keeper now that he has a taste & has shown a glimpse.
Good size about him.
If we're going to fit Miller in the backline, and we must have at least 2 tall defenders so it is Miller or similar, there is a bit of a balance problem.
Who are our back 6/7?
Miller, Balta, Grimes, Vlastuin, Rioli, Stack, Broad, Short, Mansell - that's 8 players and I'm assuming that Baker maybe plays forward.
Possibly Broad on the wing, but he is a great defender so I'm not convinced we would want to move him.
Have to balance having the ability to defend and to launch off half back.
DS
Who are our back 6/7?
Miller, Balta, Grimes, Vlastuin, Rioli, Stack, Broad, Short, Mansell - that's 8 players and I'm assuming that Baker maybe plays forward.
Possibly Broad on the wing, but he is a great defender so I'm not convinced we would want to move him.
Have to balance having the ability to defend and to launch off half back.
DS
Agree with that, especially leaving Broad back. Hopeful that Stack can play forward too on occasion - what a difference that made in the last 10 minutes on Saturday. Reckon one of the eight either misses out (e.g. Mansell) or is forced to play elsewhere (e.g. Short to a wing perhaps).
I've always said we need Grimes to be the free third man up defender and deepest sweeper. Broad is Mr fixit who can go on another tall, elusive small, or hard leading medium forward if required. Vlastuin is the intercept marking medium back who floats around and mops up. Miller and Balta provide us this opportunity. Short, Rioli, Stack to provide rebound.
He's also very quick, I think he tested under 3 seconds for the 20 metre sprint in his draft year, maybe even 3rd fastest. Pretty good for an almost 2 metre tall bloke.
Was there a balance problem with Astbury, Balta (previously Rance), Grimes and Broad?
We need a stopper to perform Asbury’s role and play on the gorillas. Grimes and Broad can play small or tall which has been a big benefit when opposition teams look for mismatches in their forward line… and our guys peel off to assist.
If Miller (or Talia) can perform that stopping role then Grimes can do more rebounding.
Astbury knew his limitations and didn’t take risks rebounding. Dave’s best asset was his marking ability (especially in packs) and his positioning to assist team mates. Not sure Miller or Talia possess the same marking ability as Astbury. If you punch 100% of the time as a defender… you become predictable to opposition small forwards. Astbury marked the ball more than he punched it.
What Miller does possess is speed and long levers. He closed late and spoilt well in a couple of the contests he was involved in on the weekend. I can’t see why we wouldn’t keep him on the list.
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I agree we should keep Miller.
I think we have solved the balance issues by having injuries of late, we need to look at how we best deploy these players because we seem to have too many defenders and we clearly need some height in defence. Miller and Balta give us the height we need, given the nature of the game at the moment do we need more tall players too? I don't know but it would be damned hard to fit them all in. Hmm, now I look at it, Balta and Grimes are both 194 apparently, Broad 192. Lots of giant forwards out there these days, need to make sure we can defend against them, but not lose the ability to run off half back and attack.
DS
