Bigman’s Training Reports

[Kane McGoodwin]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

 

[cleanhands]

What I'm saying is the only wrong answer here is trying to give Rankine a bit-part midfield rotation whilst trying to keep him primarily as a forward. He's too important for that.

Well that and one of Rankine/Rachele/Pedlar has to stay as a permanent forward in the mid-to-long term, without us spending even more significant capital on small forwards.

I don’t have an issue with the mix, I think the talent is there to balance out

 

[Jeffcrowe]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

This is best method

I’d also add Soligo at some point when he makes it off the wing

 

[Danger in Texas]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

Given Dawson is the classy type of mid, I don’t mind going with a small amount of Laird/Crouch/Dawson combos per game

The main thing to keep in mind would be not to combo Crouch and Laird too much, which is hard given they each don’t have a second position

 

[Danger in Texas]

This is best method

I’d also add Soligo at some point when he makes it off the wing

Hoping that Soligo can be one of our clear top 3 mids eventually, one he develops more strength. Mainly given how strong his smarts and ball use are

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Hoping that Soligo can be one of our clear top 3 mids eventually, one he develops more strength. Mainly given how strong his smarts and ball use are

And if he can keep developing that sideways movement he started to show last year

 

[conVINCEd]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

This is the way I think about it too.

Although I also want Soligo in there as well.

Good dilemma to have.

 

[Gtowncrow]

If our midfield cranks it up another gear, then the scoring opportunities will remain thereabouts.
We can afford for Tex to give less output, providing at least 1-2 other forwards to boost their scoring capacity.

I would also like to see our forwards improve their goal kicking accuracy, particularly in close matches.

Tex is still playing CHF!! With time, this gets harder and he will be better suited at FF. Question is though, is TT or Fog going to fill the CHF position?

 

[cmndstab]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

In principle this sounds good.

In practice, there isn't really anywhere else for Laird and Crouch to play other than midfield, and I don't see Dawson moving out of there too often either. So this will only happen when one of them is on the bench.

 

[Torpedro]

In principle this sounds good.

In practice, there isn't really anywhere else for Laird and Crouch to play other than midfield, and I don't see Dawson moving out of there too often either. So this will only happen when one of them is on the bench.

I know the Crouch on a wing experiment of a couple years back was pretty ugly. But if Crouch has truly changed his game to suit our current attacking and fast game style, I reckon he could rest on the wing for short periods with success

 

[spenze]

I know the Crouch on a wing experiment of a couple years back was pretty ugly. But if Crouch has truly changed his game to suit our current attacking and fast game style, I reckon he could rest on the wing for short periods with success

Matt is a contested beast, he does that well and when he came back in he did a really good job playing to his strengths and trying to minimise the opposition exploiting his weaknesses.

I have no qualms with them giving him another contract but the issue of him and Laird playing in the guts will be something that opposition coaches will try and exploit like they did when we had Crouch X2 and Sloane in at CBAs. At least Lairdy can chase which will minimise this to an extent and when the grounds are wetter we should be fine but I still think having two inside mids without pace can be a liability.

Which brings us to where to rest Crouch...it can't be on a wing, it exploits his biggest weakness (pace around the ground). If you were the opposition and Crouch was on one wing, you'd hold the ball one side in your defense until you isolated him and your wingman the other side and then switch, it'd give you passage into your F50 every time with a kick in there likely under no pressure.

If Crouch is resting, it is on the bench, there is no other position for him in modern footy, we can't put him in a forward pocket, they have to create pressure in that role and the only pressure Matt will create outside of inside mid is on his own team mates to chase the guys he can't.

 

[Big Dub]

At the end of the day, footy is about kicking more goals than the opposition.

For an offensive player like Rankine, where he should play primarily rests on whether he creates more goals (ie goals + goal assists) playing midfield or forward.

Opposition goal prevention isn't really his main role, but he still needs to break even in clearances with his opponent and have reasonable tackles/ pressure acts.

This will obviously be a more important requirement if he's in the middle of the ground, given the opposition will convert more the closer they are to their own goals. But I've seen nothing yet to suggest this will be a weakness.

 

[Scorpus]

I know the Crouch on a wing experiment of a couple years back was pretty ugly. But if Crouch has truly changed his game to suit our current attacking and fast game style, I reckon he could rest on the wing for short periods with success

Absolutely not

 

[skittlebrew]

I know the Crouch on a wing experiment of a couple years back was pretty ugly. But if Crouch has truly changed his game to suit our current attacking and fast game style, I reckon he could rest on the wing for short periods with success

How many good wingers are plodding crabs? His skill set is he can get his hands on the ball in the guts, it's that or nothing.

Let's use some basic foresight here...

 

[Golumless]

Given Dawson is the classy type of mid, I don’t mind going with a small amount of Laird/Crouch/Dawson combos per game

The main thing to keep in mind would be not to combo Crouch and Laird too much, which is hard given they each don’t have a second position

I disagree. If you use Laird and Crouch, you have to expect for a large quantity of the time they'll be paired up. They are our two best contested mids after all, and the game for us is to nullify the inside midfield. It may be that Crouch drops to 60% gametime to accomodate a fourth mid though.

However, the key is to find a fourth big eater of midfield minutes. Soligo can eat 20-30% of time as a relief inside mid as we can use him on a wing.

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

It is the major reason why you don't hybridise though. Rankine is too valuable and it's better to have your more valuable players in one position. Hybridisation is more for your mid-tier players - a good candidate at the moment would be Rachele.

There are lots of star players who have played hybrid roles

 

[Jeffcrowe]

I know the Crouch on a wing experiment of a couple years back was pretty ugly. But if Crouch has truly changed his game to suit our current attacking and fast game style, I reckon he could rest on the wing for short periods with success

No thanks

I think we found right way to get best out of him for the team at end of last year

That’s low TOG but all inside midfield

Basically bench to midfield back to bench and so on

He can dominate games late being on the fresh side and his work feeding Dawson is very effective

 

[Jeffcrowe]

How many good wingers are plodding crabs? His skill set is he can get his hands on the ball in the guts, it's that or nothing.

Let's use some basic foresight here...

Yep , he has some strengths so let’s use them and don’t try and accomodate him otherwise

65-70% TOG inside mid works until it doesn’t

 

[BunjiMac]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

I understand why you might say this, but I think Pedlet has more flexibility than that as he has speed and power.

You could easily play Dawson, Pedlar, Rankine.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I understand why you might say this, but I think Pedlet has more flexibility than that as he has speed and power.

You could easily play Dawson, Pedlar, Rankine.

Hence I said roughl rule of thumb.

It is more about the minute breakup for each of the 2 groups of players.

Ensuring we are getting development midfield time into the next generation.

 

[dylan123]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

Whilst I agree with this, I can't figure out why Dawson/Laird/Crouch don't work well.

Dawson is the inside/outside big bodied midfielder with a killer disposal. Laird is quick, can tackle and racks it up and Crouch is in the guts dish it out.

In theory that should be the perfect combo yet it's when we lose the 50/50 contest that we seem to get burned.

 

[cleanhands]

Whilst I agree with this, I can't figure out why Dawson/Laird/Crouch don't work well.

Dawson is the inside/outside big bodied midfielder with a killer disposal. Laird is quick, can tackle and racks it up and Crouch is in the guts dish it out.

In theory that should be the perfect combo yet it's when we lose the 50/50 contest that we seem to get burned.

Maybe ego’s get in the way and no one wants to play the lesser role ……… just a thought

 

[Floating Doughnut]

The midfield is maturing and becoming more flexible with Rankine , Pedlar and Rach. ( posted elsewhere ) “Laird said in a recent podcast that the last 8 or 9 games Dawson was tagged quite a few times including by Swallow and Mills, Dawson being strong in both positions was able to drag tags back or forward, he expects Daws to get more of the same this year. We do play I think the highest stoppage rate footy so I hope Laird can go at that 119.6.”

 

[cleanhands]

The midfield is maturing and becoming more flexible with Rankine , Pedlar and Rach. ( posted elsewhere ) “Laird said in a recent podcast that the last 8 or 9 games Dawson was tagged quite a few times including by Swallow and Mills, Dawson being strong in both positions was able to drag tags back or forward, he expects Daws to get more of the same this year. We do play I think the highest stoppage rate footy so I hope Laird can go at that 119.6.”

Pushing forward he would be a difficult match up for tagger given his overhead qualities

 

[whattagun07]

I'm still sticking to this rough rule of thumb...

2 of Dawson, Laird & Crouch in the midfield at once.

1 of Rankine, Rachele & Pedlar in the midfield at once.

Can mix up minutes depending on how each are going on the day.

Or as i like to say

If it's Daws, Laird and Crouch....we're in for an 'ouch'...
If it's Daws, Crouch and Rankine....oppo is in for a spankin'...

now...