Best/worst midfield 2019

[conrad_437]

Agree with most of those except the top three + way too harsh on English who will likely have a massive breakout year within the next two seasons and I don't particularly rate Bellchambers. Obviously bias comes into play on both sides of the argument, and I do agree that these are two evenly matched midfields however in my humble opinion I believe the Doggies have a higher ceiling. Happy to agree to disagree

 

[Blind Turn]

Agree with most of those except the top three + way too harsh on English who will likely have a massive breakout year within the next two seasons and I don't particularly rate Bellchambers. Obviously bias comes into play on both sides of the argument, and I do agree that these are two evenly matched midfields however in my humble opinion I believe the Doggies have a higher ceiling. Happy to agree to disagree

Bellchambers had his best season for us this year. Consistently performed for us, which was largely due to being injury free. English is far more mobile but he seriously has no clue yet as a ruckman. That’s obvious for everyone to see. Big men take a long time to work it all out and I reckon English eventually will. But for the sake of the immediate future Bellcho is miles ahead simply because week-in-week-out you would expect that he will have the mature body and experienced know-how to thrive.

I agree that bias probably comes into these assessments but I can’t see how you’d think that your best 3 players are better than our best 3. If anything, of those 6 Hunter is the one I’d have a level below the others. Don’t get me wrong though I really rate Hunter but the others are more your inspirational type players.

 

[Lsta062]

No mention of the only midfield containing 2 Brownlow medalists and the best player in the comp?
Interesting...

I actually agree with it. Our midfield is not the top 4 on paper heading into 2019. There is Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and then the support cast. Nankervis is also a great ruckman, but he is not the level of Gawn, Grundy and a fit Naitanui. All in all, it is a midfield than can win us a Premiership, but I don't think it is in contention of being the top midfield in the league.


At a glance, I think there is a strong case to say that Collingwood, Melbourne, Hawthorn, GWS and perhaps West Coast and Western Bulldogs have a better midfield than us now. Geelong are probably on par with us while Essendon are creeping up. That would put us in the 5-9 range in terms of midfield ranking, which I think is fair. What our strength is heading into next year is our ends, because I think our two ends are one of the best in the league. I expect that both departments would be top 4 in the league.

 

[Xhoquelin]

I consider Cripps top tier and Merrett is in the same conversation as Cripps. Semantics.

Rubbish. Cripps Fyfe Martin Danger Mitchell Kelly is the top tier, then at the very least Treloar Higgins Macrae Kennedy Ward Coniglio Oliver Beams Neale Yeo M.Crouch Sidebottom Gaff all ahead of him. To have Merrett top 20 you have him ahead of all of Brayshaw Cunnington Wines Selwood Parker Shiel Duncan Shuey Zorko Pendlebury Sloane B. Crouch Bontempelli Steven Adams T.Kelly Cotchin etc. if I’m being honest Merrett is lucky to be considered a top 30 mid. He’s two tiers below Cripps as well. If he had made solid improvements on his inside game Dons wouldn’t have to pick Myers every week.

 

[Blind Turn]

Rubbish. Cripps Fyfe Martin Danger Mitchell Kelly is the top tier, then at the very least Treloar Higgins Macrae Kennedy Ward Coniglio Oliver Beams Neale Yeo M.Crouch Sidebottom Gaff all ahead of him. To have Merrett top 20 you have him ahead of all of Brayshaw Cunnington Wines Selwood Parker Shiel Duncan Shuey Zorko Pendlebury Sloane B. Crouch Bontempelli Steven Adams T.Kelly Cotchin etc. if I’m being honest Merrett is lucky to be considered a top 30 mid. He’s two tiers below Cripps as well. If he had made solid improvements on his inside game Dons wouldn’t have to pick Myers every week.

You’ve gone a bit early on Cripps being in that lofty company. Get him kicking goals and winning games of footy for his team before you put him up there. And well done on listing all the top tier players for me. I couldn’t have been arsed doing it.

 

[Xhoquelin]

You’ve gone a bit early on Cripps being in that lofty company. Get him kicking goals and winning games of footy for his team before you put him up there. And well done on listing all the top tier players for me. I couldn’t have been arsed doing it.

Cripps simply can’t even afford to leave that centre square in that undersized and inexperienced Carlton midfield. He’s already a good contested mark; if he was on a team with a decent midfield he’d probably rest forward more and kick 20+ goals a year. He’s got that in him.

But that kids determination, on top of his constant improvement is seriously inspiring to watch.

 

[juss]

On paper and when you factor in rucks Collingwood and Melbourne have the best midfields.

 

[Xhoquelin]

I actually agree with it. Our midfield is not the top 4 on paper heading into 2019. There is Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and then the support cast. Nankervis is also a great ruckman, but he is not the level of Gawn, Grundy and a fit Naitanui. All in all, it is a midfield than can win us a Premiership, but I don't think it is in contention of being the top midfield in the league.


At a glance, I think there is a strong case to say that Collingwood, Melbourne, Hawthorn, GWS and perhaps West Coast and Western Bulldogs have a better midfield than us now. Geelong are probably on par with us while Essendon are creeping up. That would put us in the 5-9 range in terms of midfield ranking, which I think is fair. What our strength is heading into next year is our ends, because I think our two ends are one of the best in the league. I expect that both departments would be top 4 in the league.

Hawthorns mids are getting seriously overrated here. Scully getting dealt for pick 53 suggests he won’t be at his best until finals for the Hawks, they didn’t add another inside presence so as it stand their third best inside mid is still Shiels.

Give me Richmond mids over Hawthorns every day of the week. Someone mentioned that an organically grown and developed midfield outperforms superstar mid groups on paper, and Richmond is organically grown. Prestia comes up big when it matters anyway; can you really say JOM>Prestia right now? I think not.

 

[Xhoquelin]

On paper and when you factor in rucks Collingwood and Melbourne have the best midfields.

I honestly don’t even think Grundy is a better fit for that Pies midfield than a Paddy Ryder or Nic Nat. He’s a superstar but I think he’d win a Brownlow at the Hawks or a team where he could make even more use of his ground level capabilities. I think that guy could seriously average 25 touches, 40 hitouts, 5 tackles, 2 contested marks and a goal a game for a team like Hawthorn or Essendon or Carlton who don’t have those stacked midfields. At the Pies he’s just got too much quality around him, Sier is barely a top 10 mid for them and that kid is a fking jet.

Pies fans will hate me saying this but I’d love to see what Grundy could do in a team with a less stacked midfield. Maybe in a few years after Pendles Sidearse Wells Beams retire then we could see Grundy truly reach his peak, and he has the potential to be the best player in the competition IMO

 

[donnie5]

I honestly don’t even think Grundy is a better fit for that Pies midfield than a Paddy Ryder or Nic Nat. He’s a superstar but I think he’d win a Brownlow at the Hawks or a team where he could make even more use of his ground level capabilities. I think that guy could seriously average 25 touches, 40 hitouts, 5 tackles, 2 contested marks and a goal a game for a team like Hawthorn or Essendon or Carlton who don’t have those stacked midfields. At the Pies he’s just got too much quality around him, Sier is barely a top 10 mid for them and that kid is a fking jet.

Pies fans will hate me saying this but I’d love to see what Grundy could do in a team with a less stacked midfield. Maybe in a few years after Pendles Sidearse Wells Beams retire then we could see Grundy truly reach his peak, and he has the potential to be the best player in the competition IMO

Grundy’s averages this year really aren’t far off that already.

Disposals: 20.2
Clearances: 5.2
Marks: 3.5
Tackles: 5.2
Goals: 0.3 (could be much better)
Goal assists: 0.3
Hitouts: 39.9

I’m sure his stats would be much better in the back half of the year too on average.

 

[Blind Turn]

Cripps simply can’t even afford to leave that centre square in that undersized and inexperienced Carlton midfield. He’s already a good contested mark; if he was on a team with a decent midfield he’d probably rest forward more and kick 20+ goals a year. He’s got that in him.

But that kids determination, on top of his constant improvement is seriously inspiring to watch.

The point I’m trying to make is that most teams have a top tier player who the opposition most wants to stop the influence of. Gold Coast might be the only team not to have one. It just so happens that Essendon has 2 now with Shiel arriving. I’m not limiting ‘top tier’ to the handful of superstars like Ablett and Fyfe. Neale, Beams, Shuey, Wines, for example, are all top tier players and so too is Merrett, without a doubt. Some teams have more than one. Collingwood probably have 4 in Pendles, Treloar, Beams and Sidebum which is why their midfield is scary. Players like Brayshaw and Adams are not at that level though.

And to say Merrett is 2 levels below Cripps tells me you haven’t watched him closely or you’re having a cheap potshot.

 

[Blue1980]

Merrett a level below Cripps happy?

Mind you on exposed form curnow and Murphy 2 levels below Cripps is as close as we currently we got him on our list

 

[Footy 1st]

Collingwood 1st
Richmond 2nd
GWS 3rd
WC 4th
Geelong 5th
Essendon 6th
Hawthorn 7th
Sydney 8th
Adelaide 9th
Melbourn 10th
Pt Adelaide 11th
Nth Melbourne 12th
Brisbane 13th
W.Bulldogs 14th
Fremantle 15th
Carlton 16th
St.Kilda 17th
Gold Coast 18th

 

[Teeko]

Rubbish. Cripps Fyfe Martin Danger Mitchell Kelly is the top tier, then at the very least Treloar Higgins Macrae Kennedy Ward Coniglio Oliver Beams Neale Yeo M.Crouch Sidebottom Gaff all ahead of him. To have Merrett top 20 you have him ahead of all of Brayshaw Cunnington Wines Selwood Parker Shiel Duncan Shuey Zorko Pendlebury Sloane B. Crouch Bontempelli Steven Adams T.Kelly Cotchin etc. if I’m being honest Merrett is lucky to be considered a top 30 mid. He’s two tiers below Cripps as well. If he had made solid improvements on his inside game Dons wouldn’t have to pick Myers every week.

How much of him have you even watched?Merretts inside game is already good. He has a very balanced game. His six tackles per game (2018 season) would rank him 2nd at Melbourne. His 4.32 clearances per game would rank him 3rd at Melbourne. He would be 4th for contested possessions there too. And he had concussion issues and struggled for form at times early last season. Yeah its true that Melbourne has more inside mids and so the numbers will be spread more evenly. But it still shows Merrett is more than capable on the inside.

 

[Brezsa]

How much of him have you even watched?Merretts inside game is already good. He has a very balanced game. His six tackles per game (2018 season) would rank him 2nd at Melbourne. His 4.32 clearances per game would rank him 3rd at Melbourne. He would be 4th for contested possessions there too. And he had concussion issues and struggled for form at times early last season. Yeah its true that Melbourne has more inside mids and so the numbers will be spread more evenly. But it still shows Merrett is more than capable on the inside.

Wait so he would be, 2nd, 3rd & 4th at Melbourne in important midfield categories, so not even in their best 2 overall and you still think he is top tier? Despite just arguing against yourself?

That’s hilarious

 

[DopeMaster]

Collingwood supporter here but this is definately the best on paper: Grundy, Pendles, Beams, Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Sier, Phillips

DeGoey will also rotate through the midfield more frequently I suspect. After seeing what he did on Queens Birthday that a pretty scary proposition...

 

[HairyO]

Collingwood 1st
Richmond 2nd
GWS 3rd
WC 4th
Geelong 5th
Essendon 6th
Hawthorn 7th
Sydney 8th
Adelaide 9th
Melbourn 10th
Pt Adelaide 11th
Nth Melbourne 12th
Brisbane 13th
W.Bulldogs 14th
Fremantle 15th
Carlton 16th
St.Kilda 17th
Gold Coast 18th

Putting Melbourne below Hawthorn is going to ruffle some feathers.

GWS is better than Richmond. And Geelong 5th? Very generous.

WC mids were average before Mitchell got to them so we shall see how much Hawthorn improves over summer.

 

[KermitJagger]

DeGoey will also rotate through the midfield more frequently I suspect. After seeing what he did on Queens Birthday that a pretty scary proposition...

DeGoey and Beams rotating mid/fwd is frightening.

 

[KermitJagger]

Putting Melbourne below Hawthorn is going to ruffle some feathers.

GWS is better than Richmond. And Geelong 5th? Very generous.

WC mids were average before Mitchell got to them so we shall see how much Hawthorn improves over summer.

I think West Coast's midfield was actually held back by Priddis playing, and eventually Mitchell coming in and playing too. Don't get me wrong, I totally respect Priddis work rate and his tackling, but the amount of times he'd get the ball and shoot off a handball behind the player running forward or scrub a kick to complete disadvantage was unbelievable.

 

[HairyO]

I think West Coast's midfield was actually held back by Priddis playing, and eventually Mitchell coming in and playing too. Don't get me wrong, I totally respect Priddis work rate and his tackling, but the amount of times he'd get the ball and shoot off a handball behind the player running forward or scrub a kick to complete disadvantage was unbelievable.

The Mitchell reference was more in terms of his coaching rather than playing.

 

[KermitJagger]

The Mitchell reference was more in terms of his coaching rather than playing.

I know, I'm just saying maybe Mitchell's coaching was overstated because the effect of clearing out the deadwood made most of the difference. Yeo, Gaff, Shuey was never a bad core of midfielders.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Collingwood have the best midfield and ours is probably middle of the road but we didn't win the flag via the midfield.

I don't agree with posters saying our midfield is underrated, I think it's about right. Yeo, Gaff, Shuey and Naitanui are the only ones remotely close to the top echelon of the competition and our finals sides only had two of each.

Flag was won with a high kicking, high marking, precise possession style of play, not through midfield dominance. We often lost the clearance and tackle counts.

I agree Collingwood were clearly the best last year and start on top position next year. I think their best has been great for a couple if years but they finally delivered consistently. Their love of the contest and will to win the fight for the ball is outstanding.

The Demons have obvious potential for improvement and to me are the biggest threat.

A number if other teams could still be the best performers depending in how well drilled they are and intangibles like how they gel together and continuity week to week.

West Coast were the best team last year and there's a tendency to rate the best in every aspect of the game. They dont need to be though, but I believe you have to have no real weakness. Many were predicting your midfield to be weak and they stood up, so I think it's fair to say they were underrated.

 

[Ambrosia]

Don't see how you can argue Merrett isn't a top tier midfielder unless your top tier is only 4-5 absolute elites eg Martin, Fyfe, Dangerfield types .

2017 All Australian and finished off 2018 with similar form.

 

[Suma Magic]

I wouldn’t have Merrett in the top 15 mids. Maybe he wouldn’t be in the top 20. Not sure what tier that makes him.

 

[tenderwarrior]

Collingwood supporter here but this is definately the best on paper: Grundy, Pendles, Beams, Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Sier, Phillips

You had me at Collingswood