Best centre square starting four?

[Sidebottom2Beams]

Yep, I mean ruckmen wins tap down to your ruck- rover ,centreman or rover and gets a nice clean clearance into the forward 50.Or , your mids shark the hitout and still win the clearance into the forward 50.

Well if you are going by this criteria West Coast and Collingwood would be 1 and 2

Priddis is averaging 12.5 clearances a game at the moment and Pendlebury 11.5 on their own both players are going at over 75% DE. I would say West Coast is the best just by the way Cox and Nic Nat ram the ball down the mids throats.

 

[tazaa]

Our next 4 is probably Thomas, Wellingham, Sidebottom & Beams which isn't too shabby.

Which is why you are top 4. Plenty of quality right there.

Agreed, This is starting to look really even, probably 11-12 teams could make an argument for the top 8.

Its that tight. You could throw a blanket over so many teams.

Il have a go at naming the next four for each side.

COL- Thomas, Sidebottom, Wellingham, Beams. (Toovey, Blair)
CAR- Simpson, Carazzo, Scotland, Robinson. (Lucas, Russel)
GEE- Corey, Chapman, Varcoe, Menzel. (Duncan, Christensen)
HAW- Burgoyne, Shiels, Whitecross, Suckling. (Smith, Savage)
WCE- Selwood, Embley, Rosa, Gaff. (Masten, Selwood)
NTH- Bastinac, Adams, Harper, Greenwood. (Atley, Cunnington)
SYD- Bolton, McVeigh, Hanneberry, Rohan. (Malceski, McGlynn)
ESS- Melksham, Heppel, Hocking, Myers. (Howlett, Lonergan)
FRE- Pavlich, Hill, Crowley, Mzungu. (DeBoer, Ibbotson)
STK- Montagna, Jones, Steven, Armitage. (Ray, Peake)
RIC- Foley, Tuck, Jackson, Conca. (Houli, Nahas)
ADE- Dangerfield, Mackay, Sloane, Reilly. (Douglas, Doughty)
WST- Cross, Higgins, Picken, Howard. (Liberatore, Wallis)
MEL- Grimes, Jones, Howe, McKenzie. (Bennell, Bail)
GCS- Prestia, McKenzie, Matera, Caddy. (Weller, Bennell)
BRI- Adcock, Redden, Banfield, Polkinghorne. (Beams, Stiller)
POR- Gray, Pearce, Rodan, Hartlett. (Wingard, Ebert)
GWS- Kennedy, Greene, Coniglio, Shiel. (Townsend, Smith)

Interesting at how the quality falls away.

 

[dickballsack]

Yep, I mean ruckmen wins tap down to your ruck- rover ,centreman or rover and gets a nice clean clearance into the forward 50.Or , your mids shark the hitout and still win the clearance into the forward 50.

i can't see any other scenario. either win it from your ruckman or from the draw/opposition ruckman.
its why most people pick pies for balance, swan and pendles are 2 of the best readers of the ball and luke ball always starts behind (or at his toes for a throw in) the ruckman to shovel out a handpass or tackle/lock the ball in. mitchell, watson, selwood, (kerr used to, now theyr'e getting selwood to) blues hoped mclean could do it but hasn't worked out, i reckon robinson could be their man.
this player is more important now than ever with modern footy as the better you can slow the opposition down the less chance they have to score. its getting like basketball where quick breaks or turn overs turn into a score 99% of the time.

 

[Scotland]

I reckon our most dangerous centre square combination is Naitanui, Shuey, Kerr, Scott Selwood but it isn't our 'starting' four.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

COL- Thomas, Sidebottom, Wellingham, Beams. (Toovey, Blair)
CAR- Simpson, Carazzo, Scotland, Robinson. (Lucas, Russel)
GEE- Corey, Chapman, Varcoe, Menzel. (Duncan, Christensen)
WCE- Selwood, Embley, Rosa, Gaff. (Masten, Selwood)

Probably the best 4 in this regard, also why they are up there as the best sides.

 

[tazaa]

Probably the best 4 in this regard, also why they are up there as the best sides.

Both our mobs amongst others have a long way to go getting games into our kids. West Coast has done it nicely and as it pains me to say it so as Carlton. Melbourne should have learnt how to tank off these mobs not the Richmond model (tongue, cheek, relax

 

[hawkman]

HAW- Burgoyne, Bateman, Shiels, Suckling. (Smith, Savage)

Missed Hodge who wasn't named originally. Also Whitecross would be in before Bateman and Suckling

 

[Schauermann]

Very unlikely it's even that many tbh, Barlow was injured in Rnd 13 2010 and the games Fyfe had played at that point were not as part of the full-time midfield rotation. We've never seen them as a proper cohesive unit before which is what makes it so exciting.

You are right, of course Fyfe played little in the centre square in 2010, when most of those game were...

 

[jimmy35]

Collingwoods IMO. Then WC.

If you're going to start with the 'next best 4' you probably need to have a ruckman in there and not just mids.

 

[Pessimistic]

Very few hawk posters here.

Prob because our guys are capable, but need to lift.

Ps when did the Carlton centre square ever match hawthorns let alone beat them ?

 

[vjknight]

Collingwoods IMO. Then WC.

If you're going to start with the 'next best 4' you probably need to have a ruckman in there and not just mids.

shhhhh - dont go there.

the quality of the secondary clearly help the rating of the primary. being able to rest frequently and burst more often, because the team gets strong support. IMO swan is beginning the process of leaving the midfield and becoming a forward. sidebottom appears to be next in line, but hopefully wellingham can begin a challenge from this week. beams goes well too.

 

[pantskyle]

Midfield depth is where we fall down compared to the other top teams but you have to admit that starting 4 is hawt.

Kennedy clearance machine. Goodes a freak. Jack can runs both ways. Mumford one of the better ruckman in the league. Good balance.

Who do you have to replace Goodes when he retires in 10 years?

 

[Slattery_20]

Over a longer period it's the Pies - until Jolly falls over, anyway. I don't feel their depth is improving.

Off the form of the first 2 weeks (premature evaluation time!) it's got to be either Nicnat/Priddis/Shuey/Selwood, or Ryder/Stanton/Watson/probably Zaharakis.

I'd expect our midfield to get a little stronger in the immediate future with Hocking back, but I'd expect all of NicNat, Shuey, Selwood to improve - which is why they are just about my flag tip.

The major difference being Weagles have Kerr/Cox/Gaff outside that lineup, we've got Howlett/Zaha/Hille - a fair gap in quality.

 

[Slattery_20]

Who do you have to replace Goodes when he retires in 10 years?

They'll be as screwed as we will be in 2016 when Fletcher goes - his eldest won't be available until the 2018 season.
Got to ask where the forward planning is.

 

[tazaa]

Missed Hodge who wasn't named originally. Also Whitecross would be in before Bateman and Suckling

I thought Id get shot down by putting Hodgey in as he plays off hb. But il update.

 

[MC_9]

I thought Id get shot down by putting Hodgey in as he plays off hb. But il update.

Would have certainly spent more time in the middle then half back over the last couple of years.

Hawks Starting Four:

Bailey, Mitchell, Hodge, Sewell

Second Four:

Lewis, Burgouyne, Shiels, Whitecross (with the likes of Rioli, Savage and Smith rotating through there occasionally).

 

[tazaa]

Collingwoods IMO. Then WC.

If you're going to start with the 'next best 4' you probably need to have a ruckman in there and not just mids.

Fixed.

 

[MC_9]

I think that pretty much all the teams have a weakness in the their starting four midfield, usually either the Ruck or 4th Mid.

I think Collingwood probably have the best, as they have the least obvious weakness of all the top teams. The best four midfields would have to be Collingwood, Geelong, Carlton and Hawthorn. No surprises as to why they are all top four fancies.

 

[tazaa]

Second four including ruck.

COL- Wood, Thomas, Sidebottom, Wellingham.
CAR- Warnock, Simpson, Carazzo, Scotland.
GEE- Stephenson, Corey, Chapman, Varcoe.
HAW- Hale, Lewis, Burgoyne, Shiels.
WCE- Naitanui, Selwood, Embley, Rosa.
NTH- McIntosh, Bastinac, Adams, Harper.
SYD- Seaby, Bolton, McVeigh, Hanneberry.
ESS- Ryder, Melksham, Heppel, Hocking.
FRE- Clarke, Pavlich, Hill, Crowley.
STK-Stanley, Montagna, Jones, Steven.
RIC- Graham, Foley, Tuck, Jackson.
ADE- McKernan, Dangerfield, Mackay, Sloane.
WST- Cordy, Cross, Higgins, Picken.
MEL- Gawn, Grimes, Jones, Howe.
GCS- Fraser, Prestia, McKenzie, Caddy.
BRI- Hudson, Adcock, Redden, Banfield.
POR- Stewart, Gray, Pearce, Rodan.
GWS- Brogan, Kennedy, Greene, Coniglio.

 

[coryne]

I will probably be shot down, but by the end of the year I wouldn't be against our centre square set-up (at least on occasions) setting up as Warnock, Judd, Murphy, Kreuzer. Warnock is easily our best tap ruckman (although not at useful around the ground as Kreuzer/Hampson), Murphy and Judd are elite mids who can play both inside and outside, while Kreuzer is a beast who is good below his knees, has good hands, footy smarts and his aggression at the ball and contest makes him a huge asset.


Kreuzer has been described as an inside mid who grew an extra 10 cm, and if we really do want to try playing all 3 ruckmen in the same side then I could see him playing as a clearance player

 

[Slattery_20]

Second four including ruck.

ESS- Ryder, Melksham, Heppel, Hocking.

I'm gunna be *that* guy and fix it for you.
Ryder & Hocking are in our starting 4.

1) Ryder/Watson/Stanton/Hocking
2) Hille/Melksham/Howlett/Zaharakis.

Heppell, so far, is not quite strong enough to play a lot in the clinches although his vision & hands suggest he'll be quite good when he does get there.

If anything, we're dead-flat even after that first group.
All of Melksham, Howlett, Zaharakis, Myers, Heppell can do a bit in there, but none are really standouts.
Yet.

 

[Jentleman Geff]

11 actually, I think...

Fyfe, Barlow, Mundy and Sandilands have never played in the centre square together. When Barlow was playing in 2010 Fyfe had just started and was playing wing and half forward flank.

It will be intriguing to see how that combo goes.

 

[wce4premiership]

Not sure if this is purely clearance work or best centre square four overall. If it was just the centre bounce then what you'd be looking for is clearance specialists without taking into account their outside game.

Priddis/kerr/nicnat/shuey is dangerous here, but as for overalls I'd rate collingwood and geelong higher.

Richmonds 4 will be dangerous in time, they have all the right tools.

As for the eagles Second 4

Cox/s.selwood/masten/gaff

Embley doesn't do the whole centre square thing. Rosa would be more likely.

 

[SloppyJoe]

Gold Coast's is the best, because they have GAJ

But in all seriousness, Collingwood.

 

[exile]

Freo when they can get their midfield together without injuries.

Collingwood at the moment though. Even better when Witts starts playing I reckon...