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Nunez
Premium Platinum
Rayner's improvement has come I think due to our forward line structure being shuffled slightly.
Since we have added Morris, we now have a more genuine third tall that means Rayner doesn't have to play deep really at all. We then have added Ah Chee, who can play as that mid sized defensive forward that is strong overhead and can cover a medium intercepting player (think Vlastuin) in check. Finally we have added Lohmann who has built his game on pure ground level defensive intensity. This has left Rayner completely free to roam from FF to Midfield as he sees he can impact, knowing he's got a structure around him that will cover his offensive gameplay. Couple that with his tackle breaking ability from congestion and he is opening the game up for us in the forward half.
I think Rayner is playing more of the McCarthy role from previous years, but is having a bigger effect from congestion due to his much bigger size.
That's a good comparison for part of the picture. The difference I see is when he's up the ground, he plays that ball winning HFF/mid role. When he goes forward, he's basically got the strength and marking ability to play as a key forward. If the other keys are already there or there's a stoppage, he reverts back to that powerful ball winning forward/mid.
It's seldom the case a player has the attributes to do all of the HFF/CHF/FF stuff Cam does. If he can keep this run of form going, it'll go a long way to helping us make the GF.