On-ball Brigade - the main contenders

[nmgilbert]

Alright so next season we need to establish ourselves as a top 8 side. I thought it would be cool if we looked at each part of our line up such as the on-ballers, the back 6 and the forward 6 and established who we reckon would be the best players for each spot and why.

Starting with the On-ballers here is who I think should be playing and why.

Ruck: Hille - Is clearly our best ruckman and crashes the packs at stoppages creating space for our players. Is also beginning to become a very handy avenue towards goal through the midfield when running out of defense.

Ruck-rover, rover and Centre: Watson, Jason Johnson and Stanton - Watson is the best extractor we have and will hopefully continue to improve. Johnno is a good possession accumulator and is handy with a goal every now and then. Stanton has a good motor and gets plenty of the footy with the abilitry to run and carry a bit.

Wingers: Lovett, Campo - Lovett has that amazing turn of pace and I reckon just cuts them up when he backs himself. Campo has sublime skills and hits the forwards on the chest.

Summary: Looking at our center bounce set-up there is a distinct lack of pace but plenty of grunt. Against certain teams with slower midfields we'd carve them up with the sensational contested ball winners we have in there. Unfortunately teams like West Coast will be too fast for this on-ball combo.

The other thing I feel is lacking is just the skill level by foot. We rely on a forward line with excellent contested ball winning ability rather than a lead and kick type method of play. It would be nice if our on-ballers had better finishing ability.

Overall I feel our midfield will be around the 10th best in the comp.

Hopefully players like Monfries, Winderlich and Dyson who might be able to address our lack of pace and skills step up this season.

[Windy_Hill]

i dont think its quite as simplistic as nominating three players and a centreman. Different oppositions will require a different set up. I still think you will see Peverill in the middle a lot as a tagging run with player

[tom9779]

I would expect one of our 3/4 midfield draftees to be part of the make up of the middle.

Hislop and Houli should make a pretty good transition to AFL almost straight away.

Hislop in particular might get a role as a tagger early on. meant to be a great tackler.

should be great pressure to keep ones spot in the middle next season, just what our team needs.

[antcl]

If you're going to discuss the midfield, restriciting it to the first five + ruck is silly.

Modern midfields represent about 8 players + the ruck.

[Madden]

Overall I feel our midfield will be around the 10th best in the comp.

While I respect your right to have an opinion mate, i would be very interested to know the names of 6 other sides that have worse midfields than us. I think you'd struggle to be able to do it.

Our midfield is easy in the bottom two or three in the comp IMO. Don't think that Watson, Stanton or JJ would get games in the starting midfields of too many other sides.

[Sismis]

Stanton was almost AA.
JJ is a premiership centerman.
Wato is becoming a very consistent in and under player. If he can emulate anything like the improvement he had this year, next year he will be a force.

We have a lot of improvemnt to make up in this are, this is very true. BUT we have a massive advantage in that our forward line and defence can cover for a lot of the inadequacies. We only need a break even midfield to be a very effective side.

The fact we are relatively slow with JJ and Wato will be mroe than accounted for with the speed we have coming off HB HF and the wings.

[Madden]

Stanton was almost AA.
JJ is a premiership centerman.
Wato is becoming a very consistent in and under player. If he can emulate anything like the improvement he had this year, next year he will be a force.
.

Sis, you know I always respect your positive outlook, and I agree with you most of the time. I also think that Watto, JJ and Stanton are good players, and im happy with them in the side.

But Stanton almost AA? You're kidding yourself. There would have been 15 guys ahead of him I reckon.

[Crowny]

Essendon was around 6th for inside 50s this year. So they are getting the ball down there. Watson is a clearance specialist and I reckon Stants if not AA material at the moment could get there in the next few years.

They could use someone with a bit of pace, Dyson is one, Winder could be another and Dempsey as well. I would expect Davey to slot in there some time soon given that he is expected to prove himself relatively quickly.

[tom9779]

what is for sure, is that every bloke capable of playing in the midfield will get a go next season.

[gringo]

Overall I feel our midfield will be around the 10th best in the comp.

While I respect your right to have an opinion mate, i would be very interested to know the names of 6 other sides that have worse midfields than us. I think you'd struggle to be able to do it.

Our midfield is easy in the bottom two or three in the comp IMO. Don't think that Watson, Stanton or JJ would get games in the starting midfields of too many other sides.

Couldn't agree more. Our midfield has been our achilles for years. The foot skills on JJ, Pev, Heff, Watson are Stanton ordinary at best and they are also cripplingly slow compared with the midfields of rival teams. Whilst there is certainly room for one or two of these players in the team, I can't see us going anywhere whilst they make up the nucleous of our midfield. We simply can't compete wtih quick, skilled midfields.

Stanton would def get a game in rival midfields, and JJ would in most, although there was little interest in him during trade week.

It's nothing new though. I think Essendon has finally realised we aren't going anywhere unless we can get some pace and skill through the middle, and have drafted accordingly.

[gringo]

Essendon was around 6th for inside 50s this year. So they are getting the ball down there. Watson is a clearance specialist and I reckon Stants if not AA material at the moment could get there in the next few years.

They could use someone with a bit of pace, Dyson is one, Winder could be another and Dempsey as well. I would expect Davey to slot in there some time soon given that he is expected to prove himself relatively quickly.

This stat highlights our deficiency in foot skills nicely. The thing is, if a player can't kick properly by the time they make AFL level, why in hell are we drafting them????? I would have thought it would have been the first box that needed to be ticked for a midfielder. At Essendon, it almost seems to be a pre-rec that you can't kick the ball to get a gig in the middle.

[Ossie]

This stat highlights our deficiency in foot skills nicely. The thing is, if a player can't kick properly by the time they make AFL level, why in hell are we drafting them????? I would have thought it would have been the first box that needed to be ticked for a midfielder. At Essendon, it almost seems to be a pre-rec that you can't kick the ball to get a gig in the middle.

Because, gringo, the days of being a slow but highly skilled midfielder (ala Greg Williams or to a lesser extent Joe Misiti) are gone.
If you aren't an athlete you simply won't compete. Like it or not, that's the way the AFL is heading.
Of course, there are a few exceptions to that rule (West, Sam Mitchell) but there aren't many.

[gringo]

This stat highlights our deficiency in foot skills nicely. The thing is, if a player can't kick properly by the time they make AFL level, why in hell are we drafting them????? I would have thought it would have been the first box that needed to be ticked for a midfielder. At Essendon, it almost seems to be a pre-rec that you can't kick the ball to get a gig in the middle.

Because, gringo, the days of being a slow but highly skilled midfielder (ala Greg Williams or to a lesser extent Joe Misiti) are gone.
If you aren't an athlete you simply won't compete. Like it or not, that's the way the AFL is heading.
Of course, there are a few exceptions to that rule (West, Sam Mitchell) but there aren't many.

I've been saying that all along and have been held down and sodimised by the majority of BTers for saying it!!!! The point in case is Watson - slow as an 18 wheeler heading up Mt Buller, and shocking kicking skills to boot. Yet we seem to great take pride in sticking as many as we can into our midfield. As I've stated previously, good a player as Misiti was, he even struggled to get a game at times.

[tom9779]

Whilst we need players that can run and carry the ball, watson still has his place.

The guy is a ball magnet.

He isn't quick tho, but doesn't need to be if he successfully feeds the ball to runners in the team.

[Windy_Hill]

Most leading clubs have fully realised mid-fields

Ours is all about potential

In terms of player types i believe we have the following

1. In and Under Types - J Johnson, J Watson, D Peverill, C Heffernan, Nash, Monfries
2. Running Play Makers - B Stanton, M Johnson, J Hird (only occasionally now)
3. Outside Receivers - Dyson, Camporeale, A Lovett, Winderlich, Dempsey

Others - too soon to call

I think we need another hard working in and under (Hislop maybe) and two more play makers in the Cousins, Judd mould. Unfortunately its in this area that I think we still look undermanned. Perhaps Bachar Houli, Davey or Monfries can step into this role

[antcl]

Most leading clubs have fully realised mid-fields

Ours is all about potential

In terms of player types i believe we have the following

1. In and Under Types - J Johnson, J Watson, D Peverill, C Heffernan, Nash, Monfries
2. Running Play Makers - B Stanton, M Johnson, J Hird (only occasionally now)
3. Outside Receivers - Dyson, Camporeale, A Lovett, Winderlich, Dempsey

Others - too soon to call

I think we need another hard working in and under (Hislop maybe) and two more play makers in the Cousins, Judd mould. Unfortunately its in this area that I think we still look undermanned. Perhaps Bachar Houli, Davey or Monfries can step into this role

Isn't Nash more of an outsider? And wouldn't Slattery be in there somewhere? What about Lonnergen, Neagle and the new kids?

[nmgilbert]

I think Monfries will be more of a running playmaker type. I think the biggest problem with that category of midfielder is that none of our players in that category really have good skills to finish what they start with good ball winning ability and creative running.

[Windy_Hill]

Most leading clubs have fully realised mid-fields

Ours is all about potential

In terms of player types i believe we have the following

1. In and Under Types - J Johnson, J Watson, D Peverill, C Heffernan, Nash, Monfries
2. Running Play Makers - B Stanton, M Johnson, J Hird (only occasionally now)
3. Outside Receivers - Dyson, Camporeale, A Lovett, Winderlich, Dempsey

Others - too soon to call

I think we need another hard working in and under (Hislop maybe) and two more play makers in the Cousins, Judd mould. Unfortunately its in this area that I think we still look undermanned. Perhaps Bachar Houli, Davey or Monfries can step into this role

Isn't Nash more of an outsider? And wouldn't Slattery be in there somewhere? What about Lonnergen, Neagle and the new kids?

I believe Slattery is more a small defender. Neagle is definitely not a mid fielder and Lonergan I dont know enough about yet. Nash could be an each way bet

[boncer34]

I'd say Nash falls into the 2nd category.

[karmabomber]

Most leading clubs have fully realised mid-fields

Ours is all about potential

In terms of player types i believe we have the following

1. In and Under Types - J Johnson, J Watson, D Peverill, C Heffernan, Nash, Monfries
2. Running Play Makers - B Stanton, M Johnson, J Hird (only occasionally now)
3. Outside Receivers - Dyson, Camporeale, A Lovett, Winderlich, Dempsey

Others - too soon to call

I think we need another hard working in and under (Hislop maybe) and two more play makers in the Cousins, Judd mould. Unfortunately its in this area that I think we still look undermanned. Perhaps Bachar Houli, Davey or Monfries can step into this role

Isn't Nash more of an outsider? And wouldn't Slattery be in there somewhere? What about Lonnergen, Neagle and the new kids?

I believe Slattery is more a small defender. Neagle is definitely not a mid fielder and Lonergan I dont know enough about yet. Nash could be an each way bet

Windy's been on the Dubai Drambuie too long!