Team Mgmt. 2024 Back Line

[ghostdog]

I know Baldwin is 193cm but he does not play medium. They could get away with it if sides play 3 KPF types but if their are only two then no I do not see all three fitting in. Not sure I would say Reid is a cut above Baldwin agility wise but yes he does change direction better and yes he is good better at ground level despite being taller.

At the end of the day we are in a strong position with our KPD right now so who plays and who does not is not an issue for me. Sure it will lead to us losing one of them at some stage but it is what it is and that is better than last year.

For sure, great depth for tall backs this year.

 

[ghostdog]

Get well soon, Rids.

We're going to miss his class intercepting and distribution, maybe for four weeks, maybe for the season, which would be totally shit.

Forget Laverde. I'd rather move forward. It's fortuitous for Nik Cox as he also needs consistency in the backline. We have enough depth for him not to play on a wing. I don't think he's big enough to play CHB, even though he'll be an ambidextrous weapon back there. So the starting backline for me should be;

McGrath McKay Cox
Redman Reid Martin

Hind 7th

Reid has a laser boot and can intercept. Likely he still takes the second tall forward though, so Cox can play third man up and then release Reid to distribute. No more Cox on a wing, build consistency in his game and cover the spot until Rids emerges from the grave.

 

[MiguelM]

Get well soon, Rids.

We're going to miss his class intercepting and distribution, maybe for four weeks, maybe for the season, which would be totally s**t.

Forget Laverde. I'd rather move forward. It's fortuitous for Nik Cox as he also needs consistency in the backline. We have enough depth for him not to play on a wing. I don't think he's big enough to play CHB, even though he'll be an ambidextrous weapon back there. So the starting backline for me should be;

McGrath McKay Cox
Redman Reid Martin

Hind 7th

Reid has a laser boot and can intercept. Likely he still takes the second tall forward though, so Cox can play third man up and then release Reid to distribute. No more Cox on a wing, build consistency in his game and cover the spot until Rids emerges from the grave.

WTF, please no. Do you know more?

 

[ghostdog]

WTF, please no. Do you know more?

Soz, no, I'm being a doom-sayer. Sorry for the false alarm.

 

[MiguelM]

Soz, no, I'm being a doom-sayer. Sorry for the false alarm.

But so plausible with us!!

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Have to look at the bright side on Ridley - gives somebody else a chance

 

[Yoda_]

Have to look at the bright side on Ridley - gives somebody else a chance

Positive is that Reid has looked the goods which would potentially allow Laverde to play the Ridley role. Not that im a huge fan of it but yeah, could be an option

 

[ghostdog]

Positive is that Reid has looked the goods which would potentially allow Laverde to play the Ridley role. Not that im a huge fan of it but yeah, could be an option

DIstribution is a main part of the Ridley role, so it's a no to Laverde for me. Cox is the guy; can intercept as 3rd man, distribute or give to Reid to distribute.

 

[Zach Package]

Growing a little bit concerned that we’re spending a lot of time trying to orchestrate match ups that won’t absolutely kill us.

Not sure a back 7 where Heppell and Martin literally can’t play on anyone is a good model to be persisting with.

Martin you can probably hack because we get good ping out of the back half with his kicking.

 

[citizen-erased]

Growing a little bit concerned that we’re spending a lot of time trying to orchestrate match ups that won’t absolutely kill us.

Not sure a back 7 where Heppell and Martin literally can’t play on anyone is a good model to be persisting with.

Martin you can probably hack because we get good ping out of the back half with his kicking.

Missing too many
Ridley and redman big outs. Shame reid didnt get a run as he brings the height to play one of amartey or mclean whilst mckay takes the other.

 

[bombreys]

Roberts any chance this week?

 

[andleanback]

Growing a little bit concerned that we’re spending a lot of time trying to orchestrate match ups that won’t absolutely kill us.

Not sure a back 7 where Heppell and Martin literally can’t play on anyone is a good model to be persisting with.

Martin you can probably hack because we get good ping out of the back half with his kicking.

If heppell had any sort of love for the club he’d see that he needs to put his hand up and volunteer to go play vfl

 

[Zach Package]

Missing too many
Ridley and redman big outs. Shame reid didnt get a run as he brings the height to play one of amartey or mclean whilst mckay takes the other.

Perhaps we need to reserve judgement until we see how it structures up with Ridley but too many caveats at the moments.

 

[Yoda_]

Perhaps we need to reserve judgement until we see how it structures up with Ridley but too many caveats at the moments.

typical Essendon, wait for someone else. Need to be more proactive. Why I have little to no faith we don't trade Cox, should have traded Parish, should have done the same.. yeah, you get it.

Always reactive and once identified the cause its too late.

 

[Yoda_]

McKay really has transformed this group. He and Martin have really made us an almost to an actual powerhouse. Get Ridley + Reid into this mix and the making of a special group is really there.


Heppell has had an under appreciated year, McGrath having a career best year (?) whilst Redman may be on the back burner, his upside on current output is huge.

 

[ghostdog]

McKay really has transformed this group. He and Martin have really made us an almost to an actual powerhouse. Get Ridley + Reid into this mix and the making of a special group is really there.


Heppell has had an under appreciated year, McGrath having a career best year (?) whilst Redman may be on the back burner, his upside on current output is huge.

Agree re: McKay. I'd be interested to know how this year is shaping up for him compared with his previous years.

McGrath is playing full of confidence. I love that he can lock down and provide dangerous rebound. His kicking seems to have improved a lot too, probably as a result if better pressure up the ground. Before, the dump kicks made me cringe but they also gave a little bit of time for defenders to set up. Now they probably have a lot more time to set up so less need for dump kicks and he can be more aggressive.

Martin still having the odd clanger but I feel like he's improving in his role, just to the eye.

Redman will pick up. Got 4 coaches votes on the weekend so he's on his way.

Ridley and Reid returning should only enhance the offensive impact of those three.

I'm happy Heppel's having a good year, but to me the paradox is that while he's depth with Ridley and Reid out, Roberts and Hayes are not getting to develop in the 1s. They are the future. We should be getting games into them. The principle of having Heppel in the VFL isn't diminished by his good form IMO. He should still be there. Laverde's lucky that he's battle-hardened as an undersized KPD.

I still think we need a line breaking small defender (or two) to run and carry.

 

[ant555]

Roberts any chance this week?

He should be on form although he has been playing wing. I suspect Scott will hold him back a bit while the side is winning . It will probably will be a situation where he backs the older guys in first this time around.

 

[ant555]

McKay really has transformed this group. He and Martin have really made us an almost to an actual powerhouse. Get Ridley + Reid into this mix and the making of a special group is really there.


Heppell has had an under appreciated year, McGrath having a career best year (?) whilst Redman may be on the back burner, his upside on current output is huge.

Redman looks to be playing a different role with Martin and McGrath pushing up the ground. Having watched Friday a couple of times after looking at the stats he is clearly playing a deeper role and along with McKay / Laverde / Kelly they where the back 4 in the set up.

 

[bombreys]

He should be on form although he has been playing wing. I suspect Scott will hold him back a bit while the side is winning . It will probably will be a situation where he backs the older guys in first this time around.

Fair enough in a winning side too - I hope Shiel doesn't just automatically leapfrog him though (Roberts). I'm a big Shiel fan - seemingly a lot more than most on here - but I hope he's made to earn his spot back. I only watched the VFL last week online, but he wasn't good enough to bring straight in for mine. I suspect he's back for ANZAC day, but I hope that a) he's (Shiel) not expecting to just waltz back into the team and b) Scott's going to make him earn it, coming off the back of the best win of the young season.

 

[Yoda_]

Growing a little bit concerned that we’re spending a lot of time trying to orchestrate match ups that won’t absolutely kill us.

Not sure a back 7 where Heppell and Martin literally can’t play on anyone is a good model to be persisting with.

Martin you can probably hack because we get good ping out of the back half with his kicking.

Team defence is king

 

[Yoda_]

Agree re: McKay. I'd be interested to know how this year is shaping up for him compared with his previous years.

McGrath is playing full of confidence. I love that he can lock down and provide dangerous rebound. His kicking seems to have improved a lot too, probably as a result if better pressure up the ground. Before, the dump kicks made me cringe but they also gave a little bit of time for defenders to set up. Now they probably have a lot more time to set up so less need for dump kicks and he can be more aggressive.

Martin still having the odd clanger but I feel like he's improving in his role, just to the eye.

Redman will pick up. Got 4 coaches votes on the weekend so he's on his way.

Ridley and Reid returning should only enhance the offensive impact of those three.

I'm happy Heppel's having a good year, but to me the paradox is that while he's depth with Ridley and Reid out, Roberts and Hayes are not getting to develop in the 1s. They are the future. We should be getting games into them. The principle of having Heppel in the VFL isn't diminished by his good form IMO. He should still be there. Laverde's lucky that he's battle-hardened as an undersized KPD.

I still think we need a line breaking small defender (or two) to run and carry.

I think kicking is king when rebounding from defence. That Cats dynasty only really only had Wojo with speed, they relied on kicking. Melbourne at the moment are more based on kicking than speed. Exceptiosn will happen but I feel kicking is more important than speed. Power athletes, especially runners is what is needed imho. I am loving the Duursma pick as each week goes by, improve on the current ones and we'll be flying

 

[Zach Package]

Team defence is king

Well yeah, if you decide to play Mason Redman on Sam Darcy and the team defence doesn’t hold up he’s kicking 8 and supporters are trying to stab Scott with a pen while he’s giving a presser.

 

[ghostdog]

I think kicking is king when rebounding from defence. That Cats dynasty only really only had Wojo with speed, they relied on kicking. Melbourne at the moment are more based on kicking than speed. Exceptiosn will happen but I feel kicking is more important than speed. Power athletes, especially runners is what is needed imho. I am loving the Duursma pick as each week goes by, improve on the current ones and we'll be flying

I've said this before; I think we'd be best served by having a range of options coming out of defence. We need the speed to run and carry as much as to be able to deliver by foot. A dynamic backline with a range of offensive options. Kicking is only as effective as the availability of options up the ground. If they're being tightly checked and can't take marks easily, a speedy backman to run and break lines can cause a bit of panic and help to loosen that up a little bit.

McGrath has been able to do this a bit this season so far, but it's been a while since we had electrifying pace from the back.

 

[jdstorm]

Get well soon Ridley… really need someone who can be trusted to do kick ins

 

[Yoda_]

Wonder if Davey can do a Dan Rioli and transition to half back as another kicker