Best Midfield Combination...

[iameviljez]

Ling:Yes
Corey: Yes
Milburn: He is a defender, couldnt say he adds "depth" to the midfield
Mooney: Is just a hack, and plays ruck very poorly
Enright: He cant even get a game, he played 9 then got dropped
(last year, Moloney): Get over it he's gone
Koulouriotis: Average player who played on the wing
Chapman: Doesnt have the fitness to play a proper midfield role
S Johnson: (just like Chapman)
D Johnson: Is a tagger, he played 17 games and for the whole year had 157 touches
Ablett: Yes, very good player
King: Injury prone ruckman, but is quality when he "gets" in form
Tenace: Quick wingman, didnt play many games, and is scared of doing the hard things at the moment, not a proper midfielder at the moment
Byrnes: He played about 4 games, where he played in the foward line, and i dont think he could be a midfielder, more suited to a foward pocket role, switching to the wing.
Depth.....yeah right.
I think we will just agree to disagree.

Reckon so. Forgot to mention this Kelly bloke as well as Bartel... won't go into the Mooney discussion because he did only have one good season... Milburn spend half of the latter part of the year through the midfield... Enright was injured all this year, played great all last year... Koulouriotis, unproven to most... yeh, agree to disagree]
But that's no fun then is it?!!!
Agree with you on the David Johnson bit though, his main advantage is freeing up Ling.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

I think you might find Fletcher is about six months younger than Black.

Mind you, I'm not in any way arguing that Black is a better player than Fletcher, but Fletcher is still pretty damn good.

Gees, I had no idea... For some reason I had the idea that Fletcher was near the 30 mark.

Maybe I was combining him with Adrian Fletcher

 

[cs61]

west coast for mine. the fact they have beaten brisbane twice at the gabba in past two seasons illustrates their dominance. probably the fatest midfield too.
judd, cousins, kerr, fletcher. they will be so dangerous next year all still young, with stenglien chick helping out in the middle defesively. that would be hard to counter next season.

 

[Bestbird]

West Coast not quite there yet as still get beaten away too often.

 

[Count Zero]

My heart says Port (James, Francou, Burgoyne etc.), but my head says Brisbane. It galls me to say it but the Crows have 3 great midfielders in Ricciuto, McLeod and Edwards. If they didn't have to perform multiple roles on game day, then Adelaide would be much more potent.

 

[Mr Q]

Gees, I had no idea... For some reason I had the idea that Fletcher was near the 30 mark.

Maybe I was combining him with Adrian Fletcher

Yeah, he's 25. Not to worry, we don't really expect non-WA footy followers to know much about our squad. Was recruited onto our rookie list in 1998, and elevated in 1999.

 

[DaveW]

Adelaide get a little bit screwed in this poll by only including four players.

Heard of a bloke called Simon Goodwin?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Adelaide get a little bit screwed in this poll by only including four players.

Heard of a bloke called Simon Goodwin?

Was wondering the same Dave ... perhaps forgotten about after his injury interupted year.

IMO, the Lions midfield is still the best, but the Eagles may take over this mantle soon.

 

[WestCat]

Ling:Yes
Corey: Yes
Milburn: He is a defender, couldnt say he adds "depth" to the midfield
Mooney: Is just a hack, and plays ruck very poorly
Enright: He cant even get a game, he played 9 then got dropped
(last year, Moloney): Get over it he's gone
Koulouriotis: Average player who played on the wing
Chapman: Doesnt have the fitness to play a proper midfield role
S Johnson: (just like Chapman)
D Johnson: Is a tagger, he played 17 games and for the whole year had 157 touches
Ablett: Yes, very good player
King: Injury prone ruckman, but is quality when he "gets" in form
Tenace: Quick wingman, didnt play many games, and is scared of doing the hard things at the moment, not a proper midfielder at the moment
Byrnes: He played about 4 games, where he played in the foward line, and i dont think he could be a midfielder, more suited to a foward pocket role, switching to the wing.
Depth.....yeah right.
I think we will just agree to disagree.

Milburn: Rotated through the midfield with Corey this year, they swapped between the back line and the midfield. Reads the play exceptionally, one of the best at this in the AFL.

Mooney: Played mainly as a ruck rover in the early stages of this year. His aim was to merely provide a contest in the middle and then beat the ruckman with his superior mobility around the ground. Played mainly as a defender late in the year, but has stated his intentions to play on the wing next year.

Enright: Spend most of last season injured and played nearly every game that he was fit. Proved valuable in the finals with his hardness and marking around the ground as well as his cool head when in a tight situation.

Koulariotis: Didn’t get much of a chance this year, but took it when it was given to him. Is a classy and pacy winger with a direct style of play, get the ball, run with it and kick long to the forward line. Will prove more useful next year with the addition with Ottens, and will replace Moloney. Was a 1st round draft pick and has shown why.

Chapman: Played as a forward this year, but has been purely a midfielder in the past. Hard at the ball and a fantastic tackler. Can play in the middle if required.

S.Johnson: Missed his entire preseason and first half of regular season. Played as a roaming forward, was frequently seen in the middle or even the backline.

D.Johnson: Is a tough as nails tagger. Did some great jobs this year such as the one on Akermanis in the Cat’s upset win at Skilled Stadium. He’s as courageous as they come.

Tenace is one of Geelong’s two brightest midfield prospects, the other being Callan. Thes two will amaze many with their skills and use of the ball, it shard to believe these two have played less than 15 games each.

Byrnes: I don’t actually remember Byrnes playing in the forward line this year as he played mainly in the middle in his few games. He’s a quick midget with a fantastic kick for goal, and loves to lay a hard tackle.

These guys along with Kelly, Bartel, Ablett, Ling, Wojcinski, Riccardi and Corey give the Cats 16 quality players (not including Mooney) to play in the midfield. If that’s not depth, what is??

 

[jod23]

This is just a silly comparison; Judd get's compared to perhaps the worst member of that midfield despite the fact that he would beat anyone in it head-to-head, Embley isn't really a midfielder, more of a wing/flanker, and you've left out Tyson Stenglein.

A more realistic comparison would be:

Cousins vs. Voss
Judd vs. Akermanis
Fletcher vs. Black
Stenglein vs. Lappin
Kerr vs. Power

Embley is a midfielder and one of our absolute best. He can play other positions obviously but we use him through the middle much more than anywhere else.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

Embley is a midfielder and one of our absolute best. He can play other positions obviously but we use him through the middle much more than anywhere else.

That may be, but I'd presume that you'd consider Stenglein to be both a better midfielder, and likely to spend more time in the midfield than Andrew Embley...

 

[MarkT]

Brisbane v WCE?

Brisbane can line up 5 or 5 matchups in the midfeild that would see them win them all - subject to the fitness of Voss. WCE have a good midfield but Brisbane's is a fair bit better. That's no disgrace, they are possibly the best ever. Any of Brisbane's top 4 would walk into any midfield and be the best at the club or very very close to it. Power isn't half bad at number 5. brisbane's top 5 midfielders would ALL get a game at any club, WCE included. If WCE's top midfielders went to Brisbane I suspect only Judd and Cousins would get a game in a full side.

 

[Mead]

That may be, but I'd presume that you'd consider Stenglein to be both a better midfielder, and likely to spend more time in the midfield than Andrew Embley...

No actually I don't think so- over the last couple of years, Embley has averaged more disposals, kicked more than twice as many goals and taken more marks than Stenglein. He's a lot quicker and has considerably better skills. That says midfielder to me, and judging by the way we've used him in recent times, I think Worsfold agrees.

I think that they'll play pretty similar roles- Embley is a tall attacking wingman who will push forward off his man, Stenglein is a tall defensive midfielder, who I think we'll use as an extra defender a lot.

 

[Mead]

Brisbane v WCE?

Brisbane can line up 5 or 5 matchups in the midfeild that would see them win them all - subject to the fitness of Voss. WCE have a good midfield but Brisbane's is a fair bit better. That's no disgrace, they are possibly the best ever. Any of Brisbane's top 4 would walk into any midfield and be the best at the club or very very close to it. Power isn't half bad at number 5. brisbane's top 5 midfielders would ALL get a game at any club, WCE included. If WCE's top midfielders went to Brisbane I suspect only Judd and Cousins would get a game in a full side.

I know 'we beat team X' arguments are a bit difficult to sustain, but the question remains- if Brisbane's midfield is a bit better than West Coasts, why do we consistently beat them whenever we take them on?

 

[iameviljez]

That's a bit like that saying that because we beat Brisbane, we're a better team. You're not yet, but you seem to have the wood on them.

 

[Sherrinator]

The lions are definitely the best. I did however really like the eagles midfield in the game played against the lions at subiaco earlier this year. I believe brisbane will stay the best for a few years to come, and maybe more. they have very good midfield coaching and have young players coming up the ranks.

 

[Milkman]

Brisbane obviously have the superior foward and back line. So the fact that we still manage to beat them so consistently, would suggest that we must have the better midfield.

 

[Mead]

That's a bit like that saying that because we beat Brisbane, we're a better team. You're not yet, but you seem to have the wood on them.

Winning 4 of the last 5 against them does seem to indicate a bit more than just having the wood on them or catching them on a bad day- there isn't another team in the competition who can compete with that record against them.

Personally I think the reason we keep beating them (since it'd be laughable to argue that our kpp can compete with theirs at this stage), is down to our midfield being better than theirs- at least at a certain type of game.

When we play them, Brisbane use their characteristically very aggressive, hard running and hard tackling, quick ball movement gameplan that shreds most opposition, but that plays into our hands- perhaps as a result of playing at Subiaco every second week, we play that style of game better than any team in the competition- the midfield group we have are quicker, have comparable skills and are just as capable of running out games as Brisbane.

When games are slowed down, or in less than ideal conditions, our midfield struggles to have a similar impact-mainly because we lacked the stoppers like Copeland or Hart who make a big difference in congested games- Matthews used that to very good effect early in the year at subiaco- after half time he flooded in a way which is totally alien to the Lions, but we struggled to handle it, to the point where we only scraped across the line courtesy of Judd playing out of his skin. Will be interesting to see if + Stenglein for us, and - Hart for them makes a difference in that regard.

But yeah, basically I agree with Kenny- on a flat hard track, West Coast's midfield are better than Brisbane's, in slower games we'd struggle against them.

 

[MickZu]

Brisbane obviously have the superior foward and back line. So the fact that we still manage to beat them so consistently, would suggest that we must have the better midfield.

Well if that makes you feel good and the eagles not making the gf anytime soon will be shadowed by "we beat the lions so we have a better midfield" mentality. Should keep you happy for years to come.

 

[Milkman]

Well if that makes you feel good and the eagles not making the gf anytime soon will be shadowed by "we beat the lions so we are better" mentality. Should keep you happy for years to come.

When did I say we were better?

I said we have the better midfield. And how did you come to the conclusion that i'm content with that?

 

[MickZu]

When did I say we were better?

I said we have the better midfield. And how did you come to the conclusion that i'm content with that?

OK, my post has been edited.
But you guys (WC supporters) do seem to go on about it !!

 

[LongBomb]

Ling, Corey, Milburn, Mooney, Enright, (last year, Moloney), Koulouriotis, Chapman, S Johnson, D Johnson, Ablett, King, Tenace and Byrnes all spent time on the ball this year.
Doing ok I think, for depth.

Also add Kelly and Riccardi

 

[Shibby_Dons]

Best midfield belongs to west coast not far behind would have to be fremantle and lions

 

[Mr Q]

That's a bit like that saying that because we beat Brisbane, we're a better team. You're not yet, but you seem to have the wood on them.

Well every team has some other team they can't beat. Look at Port's record against North for instance.

When you reliably beat teams that are apparently better than you every time you meet them, it usually means that there is something in the makeup of your side that stuffs up the opposition. Mead pretty well summed it up I reckon - Brisbane just don't expect to meet any opponents that can run hard all day with them through the midfield. Its because there are 14 clubs that can't.

Whether or not our midfield is better than Brisbanes is somewhat moot. What we can do is take Brisbane on at their own game and beat them - in a way other clubs can't. What Brisbane can do better than us is control what sort of game is played. The Lions have a preferred style of game, and they have the ability to make it that game. We have the same preferred style, but don't yet have the ability to make games played the way we want to.

I'd guess that its because when other clubs slow the game down on Brisbane they have the strength and the experienced quality talls to stop the opponent rolling over them, then wear them down and hit them with the runners in the midfield. We can't do that yet.

 

[jod23]

That may be, but I'd presume that you'd consider Stenglein to be both a better midfielder, and likely to spend more time in the midfield than Andrew Embley...

Then you presumed wrong. I believe Embley to be a better midfielder and they will both spend most of their time in the midfield.