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I always thought Tomlinson struggled to cement his spot because he is tall enough to be a key position o player but he plays more like a half back/half forward, he has really struggled to find a spot at Melb, so might want to move, I doubt see him as an upgrade on Kemp or Gov though, McDonald however is a lot stronger and has shown he can play at both ends, id really like him.
he's close to Corr or hipwood imo, as you say, oversized flankers. Nik Cox another
 
Tiggies won 3 flags by injecting more pace and a game style based on surging the ball forward

Filth did similar and so far won a flag.

Gws smashed us at our best with pace

Crows smashed us last year and also this year in melb with pace and speed of ball movement

I think we’ve taken huge steps to add layers to our game style - we are good with stoppage and turnover scoring.

I think our final tweak is to bring in some real zip into the side.

See how Motlop goes but we may need to keep one eye out for a speedy small and a speedy mid.

The KPD is a certain deficiency we need to fill.
You forgot to mention Sydney running us off our feet earlier this year.

I think getting exposed to pace and fast ball movement would possibly be the only chink in our armour come finals time, and I can't see Pitto assisting much in this area.
Kemp and the other defenders should be fine unless there's an avalanche of quality opposition Fwd.50 entries.
Giants and Swans have now given Voss some warning what to expect.
 
I consider the Tiger’s “dynasty” was predicated on pressure on the ball from midfield to high half forward being manic and precluding the opposition from clean connection to their forwards. They played a very tall backline Rance, Astbury, Grimes, Broad, Vlastuin and others, with a couple of distributing rebounders. Players weren’t necessarily high possession, but blocked and tackled effectively. The constant criticism of Ollie H annoys me. He could certainly be better, but other than Acres, no one else on our list covers the ground “effectively” to break up oppo moves. He can improve, and our match committee needs to allow for his body to develop rather than running him ragged week after week. Voss has too much reliance on some of his role players to cover for offensively leaning stars.

We have the forwards, the stars and the workers (Castagna was no better player than any of our options for example). We have the extraction team and the connectors. We are vulnerable to a combination of manic movement and effective ball movement usually predicated on pace.

The zip you speak of, is more about intent and work rate than personnel. Our midfield is a quandary, all are quality, but defensive intent is low, and a couple go missing a bit when trying to run EFFECTIVELY behind the ball. They are not inclined or educated that way. Hewett is a huge question for mine structurally. I have him behind the other mids offensively, and he is nit a great defensive runner. Where he is priceless is closing down space around the contest. He nullifies more contests than he actually wins, but that in itself can be integral. We need to either deploy Elijah more defensively or drop a forward and allow Hewett a spot. (Thinking Cotts return was premature)

We have a quality defence, BUT they are vulnerable when oppo ball movement isolates some of our defenders. Kemp is nit a genuine KPD, he is better suited to 3rd tall, but the unaccountable McGovern has that spot tied up. Boyd is the “girl with the curl” defensively, great with ball in hand, excellent with a “job”, but gets lost structurally too often. Cowan is developing, and is absolutely worth persevering with, but is not (yet) infallible. I have mixed feelings on the possibility of Marchbank being added. He is a shadow of what he fleetingly showed us and has always promised to be. I am unsure what he will add. For mine, if he comes in, Boyd is the out, not Cowan on recent output. Anyone who thinks Kemp is an option to go out in the modern game is kidding themself. What we should not forget is that Marchy has been playing high, even wing in the twos, while Durdin, Young and Akuei are playing deeper. If Marchy was being considered to replace Kemp, surely he would be working as a key in the twos.

That is the now.

Our biggest priority has to be someone who can play genuine second banana KPD and effectively replace Weitering structurally if necessary. This has to be a draftee and we need the patience to develop that player. We will have our down days relying on Kemp as second KPD, but unless Young turns it around or Lemmey elevates quickly, we have to back it in with a support mechanism for a couple of years.

Looking at viable short term options around the league, I see only two and they are at the same club. If we can free up the list space I would chase Adam Tomlinson as a UFA at season’s end. He is athletic and plays taller than he is. Not getting a permanent gig in front of Lever and May, while they currently favour Tom McDonald (who is also UFA and out of contract and perhaps viable, despite being even older). The two names are simply because they are good enough and could come without draft capital.

Lewis Young remains a great disappointment, he has the skill set and has shown the capability, but for some reason, not the want to grab his career opportunity between his teeth. Contracted to the end of 2026 is concerning if he doesn’t maximise his talents as it limits our ability to develop the future. I loved his recruitment and was full of “I told you sos” when he initially stepped up. WTF Lewy?
Good summary Coona!!

I reckon in the short term, Marchy plays the role of the pure lock down defender - basically, what he did in the VFL match last weekend. Unfortunately, when Weiters went down, we were exposed not having the 2nd banana being able to lock down an opposition tall. Both Kempy and Gov are both good interceptors with natural attacking instincts, but neither are are pure negating tall defenders.

Also, at some stage soon we'll probably need to manage Gov for a week before he blows up, so you'd expect to see either Marchy or Young getting a call up sooner rather than later. We'd also want to get them some game time at senior level before finals as insurance.

And contrary to most opinions, I reckon Lewy Young is a decent back up KPD. I'll admit that he's been disappointing after the impressive start in his first year in the navy, but is as good a back up as most clubs have in their VFL. I thought he was good in the early games this year when Weiters was unavailable, and even a bit stiff to get dropped on his return. Can also play as a back up ruck if our stocks are depleted, like the Freo game last year.

Totally agree that we need to draft a KPD as a priority. We've been trialling Lemmey there at times in the VFL, but he seems more at home up forward. Ideally, if we retain our pick ahead of the Ben Campo bid, we could potentially grab the son of our KC, O'Farrell - or at 'worse' select someone like Mardini later in the draft if we burn our 1st rounder on Ben.

I think poor ol' Nigel's days are numbered though. We really only brought him in through the MSD at a time when all of our key defenders were injured, but can't see both him and Young being on the list next year when spots are so tight.
 

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Weitering plays 4 quarters on Hogan and someone other than Cottrell, who can defend their man, plays and we win the GWS game relatively comfortably.

It doesn't take much to tip the balance frome one side to another, it's a tight competition.

No need to panic. But Cottrell has to go straight out and we need to give Marchbank a few games. It is a bit of an issue that those players who play CHB can't fill in at fullback if needed. Marchbank probably could.

As for Kemp. I think we absolute must give him an opportunity on the wing.
 
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Weitering plays 4 quarters on Hogan and someone other than Cottrell, who can defend their man, plays and we win the GWS game relatively comfortably.

It doesn't tale much to tip the balance frome one side to another, it's a tight competition.

No need to panic. But Cottrell has to go straight out and we need to give Marchbank a few games. It is a bit of an issue that those players who play CHB can't fill I at fullback if needed. Marchbank probably could.

As for Kemp. I think we absolute must give him an opportunity on the wing.
Marchy was rusty as when he came in against swannies. How has he been going in the vfl?
 
that’s not good. Looks like we’ve run out of options for a KPD apart from kemp….assuming no Nigel either.

If we become desperate like we did when weits went down against gws we may have to use Charlie to help out at times ?
Actually break even at centre clearance, and it will be a non issue. Our defense didn’t lose us that game, it was the midfield getting obliterated for 2 quarters
 
Actually break even at centre clearance, and it will be a non issue. Our defense didn’t lose us that game, it was the midfield getting obliterated for 2 quarters
Yes midfield was a big factor (probably main factor) but If hogan marked 2 less in the f50 that would have helped also. Kemp tried hard but a genuine KPD would have made it harder for hogan to mark and maybe score 2 less goals.

I think we need to find a robust genuine second tall defender. Unfortunately, it Doesn’t look like young or Nigel are the answers.
 
In my opinion a fully fit Marchbank gets the nod over Kemp if it's season on the line stuff. I just think he's a more trustworthy competitor.

Love what Kempy brings and I want to see him keep playing games for experience but he needs to build his strength over the off season considerably if he's going to stay as a KPD down back. Marchbank is much harder for opponents to shake off in the contest.
Marchy has played the last 5 games in VFL and also got some rest in the bye. He is fully fit IMO or close to it, but his form hasn't exactly been mounting a case for senior selection. Little to no preseason hasn't helped his cause. I also have my doubts as to whether he'll be forming any part of our plans going forward given the amount of time he spends injured. Therefore it makes more sense to invest that time into Kemp's continued development. JMO.

I do agree with you about Motlop. Really struggling to cover the ground, even around the F50. Looks more to be a conditioning thing rather than anything injury related. Quite often happens with young players who are off their feet for extended periods as they tend to hit the weights.

I hope our MC have learned from the Cerra & Cottrell mistakes and give Martin a couple of weeks in the VFL to find some touch, form and match fitness. Speaking of form, Pitto is looking pretty good. Cunners is edging towards senior selection, but he wouldn't wanna get injured again this year or he'll find himself in the same bucket as Marchbank.
 

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Actually break even at centre clearance, and it will be a non issue. Our defense didn’t lose us that game, it was the midfield getting obliterated for 2 quarters
Exactly, Hogan was great but he kicked the same amount of goals as Harry (funnily enough they were missing Taylor)
Briggs and their midfield smashed us and we couldn’t match their pace from the contest.
Cottrell didn’t look ready but seeing how we were beaten I totally back the coaches decision to play him. I probably rate Cuningham less then anyone but I think he could still play a big role for us this season to try and address some of our weaknesses
 
Marchy was rusty as when he came in against swannies. How has he been going in the vfl?
He is everytime he comes back to the AFL, get AFL games into him and we know he comes good. VFL form is only ok, I feel teams are doing defensive jobs on him, taking him up the ground etc. I don't think he is at full fitness but he should be fit enough and build on it.
 
1 or 2 seasons out of Jeremy McGovern could be one or two premierships. He doesn't even need to play full seasons, we can make top 4 without him. But a finals series could be all it takes for us to win a flag.

I think there is a big chance if we asked we would get.

Get Jeremy McGovern and a young CHB in and while the develop McGovern plays seniors. When McGovern leaves the young guy comes in.

We need a mature ready to go CHB for a two or more seasons. A young guy developing in the background or recruited in the next couple of seasons would be ideal.
 
McGovern would be ok and might be just what we need to get premierships 18 and 19 😉

Wouldn’t give up anything more than a 3rd for him and WCE I doubt need to free cash and let him go, so it would need to be their club doing right by their premiership backman with a thank you and good luck mate scenario.
 
Could yesterday have opened the door to a Mcgovern reunion for a year or two?


Wouldn’t be a bad idea to maybe get Adam Simpson into a coaching role as well if he wants to remain in football, apparently he’s great strength is identifying in game adjustments around stoppages and the use of +1.

Would certainly entertain JGov whilst we are in the window.
 
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No doubt JGov appreciates that he won a flag with Simpson as coach.

Would not be against bringing him across at all... he along with his brother and Weiters in the back line... I get he's not at his best any more but still more than decent if we can get him for a cheap price
 

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