Drafting strategy review

[Moti]

Been watching NAB challenge this week and I believe we are in a great position to challenge in the next couple of years.

However.

I have noticed how under paced our midfield will be in a couple of years. Look through our draftees and we have no genuine midfielder with pace under 25. Atley, Mullet and Mc Donald could be, but not sure I would regard them as genuine midfielders right now.

Most other sides have 5 or 6 on their list.

So what happens when Boomer and Wells move on?

I would hope that we forget about big bodied inside midfielders at the next draft and look at only pacy genuine midfielders, even if we don't choose the next best.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Yeah, we need some long term pace around the team.

Cunners, Ziebell, Bastinac, McKenzie, Jacobs and Dumont are not quick. 3 of those look permanent fixtures whilst the jury is out on the other 3.

McDonald, Ately, Mullett and Harper are quick to very quick. 3 of those look permanent fixtures with the jury still out on Harper.

Macmillan, Garner, Wright and Greenwood are middling. The jury is still out on all these blokes to an extent with Macmillan and Wright looking the most likely to have long careers based on output to date and usage by the match committee although that is a bit harsh on Garner.

That's certainly not an overly quick midfield and in fact looks a little slow considering the poor top end speed of the slow guys. I think the OP is correct in that we will need to inject some long term pace into the list in the near future but I think another quality KPP is a priority in the next draft, which is just as well considering the supposed depth in talent.

 

[scooby1279]

this has been the case for a few years we all knew that we lacked pace around the midfield and worse when wells and boomer retire but we continued to draft one paced midfielders and that is why Atley becomes very important in the coming years. Hopefully we can add a few more quicker mids in the future.

 

[King Corey]

Agree. We don't seem to punt on pace too often.

 

[Heaps of fun]

Still can't believe we let Kane Lucas slip through our fingers.

 

[Flawed Genius]

JKH

 

[Saintly31]

I thought Dumont was an odd pick to be honest, considering the state of our list.

Don't get me wrong he might develop to be a good player, just didn't think we needed his type of skills.

I do agree with OP that we need to get more pace in future drafts.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Atley, McDonald, Mullet, Harper, Garner, Turner & Daw.

We have pace to burn.

Hawthorn aren't fast.

 

[the big lebowski]

I agree and i disagree.

Who are all these fast midfielders from the top 4 teams

Hawthorn have part timers in Hill (recently drafted) and Rioli

Geelong have Motlop and part timers in Christesen and Stokes

Freo have Hill

Sydney have a part timer in Jetta

All have hard running mids like we have Swallow and Bastinac (and hopefully eventually Ziebell and Cunnington)

We also have 3 guys that are very quick and have the potential to play midfield down the track in Atley, Mullett and McDonald.

However, i think our focus in the next draft or the one after should be a quick midfielder. We only really need one good one IMO to help balance our onball brigade.

 

[King Corey]

Hawthorn aren't fast.

Isaac Smith, Rioli, Hill, Garlett, Burgoyne, Sicily.

And 4 of those are in their best 22 according to last September.

 

[the big lebowski]

Isaac Smith, Rioli, Hill, Garlett, Burgoyne, Sicily.

And 4 of those are in their best 22 according to last September.

I'll give you Smith - i forgot him.

Burgoyne is not quick anymore, and Garlett and sicily weren't part of their premiership winning team.

 

[scooby1279]

the difference is the hawks have more A class footy players and are complimented with a couple of quick players. Franklins quick and at times played up the ground.

 

[rooboy335]

Individual pace is a bit overrated I think. You can look just as quick if not quicker with fast ball movement, precise skills and numbers spreading and running hard forward which I think is what makes us look quick at times compared to other teams. If I'm to go through off the top of my head really quickly I can't name many more than what the big lebowski named already as quick midfield stars. There probably are lots of really fast players, but I don't think there are that many stars. Maybe you can add Deledio but he was number 1.

Should we have gone for a Gary Rohan or Jetta instead of Cunnington? Hard to say. Should we have gone for a Steven Motlop instead of a Sammy Wright? Yep. But I think those opportunities don't come up as often as we might think. I would have liked to have seen Impey or Lewis Taylor slip to our pick last year but they didn't and I'm not unhappy with Dumont. Just going by some of his training footage and highlights it again shows that if you can creat time and space for yourself and excute with skills you can look faster as a team than what you are individually.

I think after Wells and Harvey, if we draft one midfield speedster we should be alright for pace with what we currently have on our list. I think our most pressing need for the next draft would be a big KPD followed by that speedy fwd/mid.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Isaac Smith, Rioli, Hill, Garlett, Burgoyne, Sicily.

And 4 of those are in their best 22 according to last September.

Smith & Hill... Burgoyne is no quicker than Swallow. Garlett & Sicily well I'm sure we'll see them soon enough.

They have lost Buddy who made them a bit quicker.

One thing we have is pace through our spine.

Black, Daw, Scooter, Cam Delaney, Wood etc are all above average speed for their height.

It is why I'm so adamant about having damaging outside weapons to compensate for our one paced meat grinder.

Atley, Harper, Garner, Mullet & McDonald become crucial, they must develop into players... Thanfully I think they all will.

 

[Artaxx]

The only people in footy who think North is slow are North supporters!

 

[GarnerSmash]

The only people in footy who think North is slow are North supporters!

Agree to an extent.

We are quick off the half back line and will continue to be so. We are quick when in space but all teams are. However we have two blokes in the middle with genuine pace and they are Boomer and Wellsy who are 143 and 29 respectively. When they go their pace and their creativity will be missed. Harper is one who could step up and pushing Atley to the mids is another option, but there are no guarantees that either will work. It's been a while since we drafted a super quick creative type and I reckon we are due to add one to the mix.

 

[Artaxx]

Agree to an extent.

We are quick off the half back line and will continue to be so. We are quick when in space but all teams are. However we have two blokes in the middle with genuine pace and they are Boomer and Wellsy who are 143 and 29 respectively. When they go their pace and their creativity will be missed. Harper is one who could step up and pushing Atley to the mids is another option, but there are no guarantees that either will work. It's been a while since we drafted a super quick creative type and I reckon we are due to add one to the mix.

Fair enough.
Are there many super quick mids we've passed over? Seems like something you'd get your hands on early in a draft.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Fair enough.
Are there many super quick mids we've passed over? Seems like something you can only get your hands on early in a draft.

Well, there's the Dumont over Jay Kennedy-Harris call last year and I'm sure there are others each and every year, but I'm not too fussed about what has passed. It's moreso about what we do from here that I think needs to be addressed in relation to list balance when looking 5 years down the track.

 

[Artaxx]

Well, there's the Dumont over Jay Kennedy-Harris call last year and I'm sure there are others each and every year, but I'm not too fussed about what has passed. It's moreso about what we do from here that I think needs to be addressed in relation to list balance when looking 5 years down the track.

Probly fair to say the jury's still out on Dumont vs the kid from Melbourne?

 

[Moti]

There is a difference between pacy and fast, that is why I made the pacy remark. U don't need absolute speed but Sydney have a pacy midfield without any real speedsters. We have a few underpaced players so we need an extra pacy player or two to provide the defensive running when the game opens up as well as offensive.

Also, our pace is on the fringes , not in the middle with our U25 group. Bursting out of the centre is difficult if u have less pace than the players around you.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Probly fair to say the jury's still out on Dumont vs the kid from Melbourne?

Oh, indeed, and this isn't a question of if we made the wrong call based on talent. It is about drafting to address needs in relation to list balance.

 

[GarnerSmash]

There is a difference between pacy and fast, that is why I made the pacy remark. U don't need absolute speed but Sydney have a pacy midfield without any real speedsters. We have a few underpaced players so we need an extra pacy player or two to provide the defensive running when the game opens up as well as offensive.

Also, our pace is on the fringes , not in the middle with our U25 group. Bursting out of the centre is difficult if u have less pace than the players around you.

This kinda makes it imperative that the likes of Atley and Harper can eventually play roles in the midfield, not necessarily full time, but at least rotate through there to add that extra dimension when needed. We will need a mix of players capable of doing that.

 

[year of the roo]

Why are we planning for Wells' retirement in this thread?

His replacement may well not have hit puberty yet.

 

[hilly]

Enough with the JKH love. FFS.

 

[year of the roo]

Also, how quick is Turner? Given we are mentioning the likes of Garlett and Sicily, young Kanye should probably get a mention too...