Roast How diabolical is our midfield?

[pjcrows]

I predicted 8/9 wins, with a ceiling of 10. We have been better than my expectations in both W/L and our overall game style (goal scoring). If we win 12+ it's a fair bit better than my expectations.

That doesn't mean our midfield doesn't suck. It needs to be addressed immediately or the ceiling for the next 3 years will be 12 wins.

 

[LoBu]

Blaming our mids for the Essendon game is not entirely fair, I think we were comprehensively outcoached.

Good to see Hollands playing well in the VFL last weekend, 27 and a goal, will be interesting to see if King picks him, and if his best 22 is different to Dews.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I predicted 8/9 wins, with a ceiling of 10. We have been better than my expectations in both W/L and our overall game style (goal scoring). If we win 12+ it's a fair bit better than my expectations.

That doesn't mean our midfield doesn't suck. It needs to be addressed immediately or the ceiling for the next 3 years will be 12 wins.

I predicted preseason we would just miss the finals, but now thinking there is a chance we may sneak in.

Happy we have changed our game style... but disappointed we have not rotated a larger group of regular players though the team to develop depth & keep players fresh.

 

[BRL121]

Berry after a poor start to the season seems to be finding form in the sanfl.

Surely with some players struggling - both old & younger, it's time to bring him back into the side.

Agreed. As an aside, to me he seems a lot leaner this year and it has been mainly his tackling that has suffered.

 

[Cap]

Blaming our mids for the Essendon game is not entirely fair, I think we were comprehensively outcoached.

Good to see Hollands playing well in the VFL last weekend, 27 and a goal, will be interesting to see if King picks him, and if his best 22 is different to Dews.

It's not solely to blame for sure.

But our midfield has been an obvious weakness of ours all season and little appears to have been done to fix it.

We don't appear to focusing development in the area, still relying on Keays, Sloane and Laird when the chips are down and getting the exact same result.

It could well be all the players we thought were going to develop have had bad years (Shoey and Berry), not fit enough (Pedlar , Rachele) and aren't actually going to make it (Hatley and Brown) but the prognosis ain't great at this point

 

[phill5158]

Blaming our mids for the Essendon game is not entirely fair, I think we were comprehensively outcoached.

Good to see Hollands playing well in the VFL last weekend, 27 and a goal, will be interesting to see if King picks him, and if his best 22 is different to Dews.

Hollands has been building well the last month and a bit and seems to be hitting the scoreboard consistently as well. If King doenst see him as best 22 as well then we'll take him.

On SM-S918B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Pugsley]

Hollands has been building well the last month and a bit and seems to be hitting the scoreboard consistently as well. If King doenst see him as best 22 as well then we'll take him.

On SM-S918B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Being a former ruckman, his brain would work a little slower

 

[Hodgy]

Jones is currently our best wingman.

Understand we move him back in games where a defender is injured, but we started him in defence last week because we brought in a midfielder for an injured Butts... rather than bringing in another defender.

My best wings are Hinge and McHenry. Ned struggles to reach game speed in the first half when it’s fast, which is why he makes a great sub coming in when the heat has gone out a bit, but he is actually quite footy smart in drawing players to himself before dishing to overlapping team mates. Hinge is just a gun that we are under utilizing at the moment at half back. He only went there from the wing to accommodate Jones when he came in.

I don’t really get the Jones love at the moment. He is trying hard, and not playing terribly, but him and Scholl on the wings when we are playing a good side just aren’t good enough. Older Daicos was so creative against Jones at the G the other day, and this inability to contain the opposition wings is more the problem than the lack of drive they are generating for us. Martin on the weekend similarl.

I would love to see Sloane and Ned sharing one wing as sub, with probably Soligo starting and Hinge the other. Jones as a small defender and Scholl in the 2s. We simply have to improve our outside mids if we want to go further this year. This would have the added benefit of stopping our coaches putting Sloane in the guts. Pedlar, Rachelle and Schoey for the rest of the year with Dawson and Laird.

 

[LoBu]

It's not solely to blame for sure.

But our midfield has been an obvious weakness of ours all season and little appears to have been done to fix it.

We don't appear to focusing development in the area, still relying on Keays, Sloane and Laird when the chips are down and getting the exact same result.

It could well be all the players we thought were going to develop have had bad years (Shoey and Berry), not fit enough (Pedlar , Rachele) and aren't actually going to make it (Hatley and Brown) but the prognosis ain't great at this point

Agree there, it's the final piece of the puzzle really.

I can't see it coming together in a way where we look like Melbourne, Dogs, Gold Coast in the midfield though. We have to go a different approach.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

My best wings are Hinge and McHenry. Ned struggles to reach game speed in the first half when it’s fast, which is why he makes a great sub coming in when the heat has gone out a bit, but he is actually quite footy smart in drawing players to himself before dishing to overlapping team mates. Hinge is just a gun that we are under utilizing at the moment at half back. He only went there from the wing to accommodate Jones when he came in.

I don’t really get the Jones love at the moment. He is trying hard, and not playing terribly, but him and Scholl on the wings when we are playing a good side just aren’t good enough. Older Daicos was so creative against Jones at the G the other day, and this inability to contain the opposition wings is more the problem than the lack of drive they are generating for us. Martin on the weekend similarl.

I would love to see Sloane and Ned sharing one wing as sub, with probably Soligo starting and Hinge the other. Jones as a small defender and Scholl in the 2s. We simply have to improve our outside mids if we want to go further this year. This would have the added benefit of stopping our coaches putting Sloane in the guts. Pedlar, Rachelle and Schoey for the rest of the year with Dawson and Laird.

I don't know what you are watching if you rate Hinge, McHenry & Sloane as better wingmen than Jones.

The vibe of things?

Hinge has been playing mainly in defence, though granted I wouldn't mind him being used more on a wing... but not sure we can lose him from defence if Butts is still out.

McHenry has looked ok on a wing, but mainly as a sub as opposed to full games. Certainly better than as a small forward.

Sloane has been very mixed & if you were being honest you would know he has struggled to keep up with opponent in many games as doesn't have the leg speed anymore. He was terrible last week.

Jones has easily been our best performing wingman this year.

 

[Hodgy]

I don't know what you are watching if you rate Hinge, McHenry & Sloane as better wingmen than Jones.

The vibe of things?

Hinge has been playing mainly in defence, though granted I wouldn't mind him being used more on a wing... but not sure we can lose him from defence if Butts is still out.

McHenry has looked ok on a wing, but mainly as a sub as opposed to full games. Certainly better than as a small forward.

Sloane has been very mixed & if you were being honest you would know he has struggled to keep up with opponent in many games as doesn't have the leg speed anymore. He was terrible last week.

Jones has easily been our best performing wingman this year.

I personally wouldn’t be playing Sloane, but since they are certainly going to then I think he is much better on the wing than taking up an inside mid spot at the expense of our young mids. That’s why I suggested I would like to see Sloane and McHenry alternating as sub but coming on in the second half of games when the pace has come off. They both could contribute really well for the last third of a game there.

Hinge has indeed been playing in defense, but only because they brought Scholl and Jones in after 3 or 4 games, and they both can only really play wing. Hinge spent all pre season there and the first few games and I thought looked really good. Certainly several steps above Jones, and at least 10 steps above Scholl.

I would play Soligo on the other wing because I believe his upside is much higher than Jones, and he has been struggling to impact games for the last month. Playing outside might well get him more involved. If you go back over the last 2 months and have an honest look at how Jones’s opponents have done I think you would be less buoyant on him.

Simple fact is that we have 2 AA standard mids in Dawson and Laird, and yet have been getting slaughtered in the midfield in most away games, so you need to look at who that has been Because of. Soligo, Rachelle and Keays have been well down, but the wings have been worse. We had less than 20 inside 50s to half time on the weekend, you can’t win games with that output.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I personally wouldn’t be playing Sloane, but since they are certainly going to then I think he is much better on the wing than taking up an inside mid spot at the expense of our young mids. That’s why I suggested I would like to see Sloane and McHenry alternating as sub but coming on in the second half of games when the pace has come off. They both could contribute really well for the last third of a game there.

Hinge has indeed been playing in defense, but only because they brought Scholl and Jones in after 3 or 4 games, and they both can only really play wing. Hinge spent all pre season there and the first few games and I thought looked really good. Certainly several steps above Jones, and at least 10 steps above Scholl.

I would play Soligo on the other wing because I believe his upside is much higher than Jones, and he has been struggling to impact games for the last month. Playing outside might well get him more involved. If you go back over the last 2 months and have an honest look at how Jones’s opponents have done I think you would be less buoyant on him.

Simple fact is that we have 2 AA standard mids in Dawson and Laird, and yet have been getting slaughtered in the midfield in most away games, so you need to look at who that has been Because of. Soligo, Rachelle and Keays have been well down, but the wings have been worse. We had less than 20 inside 50s to half time on the weekend, you can’t win games with that output.

I mentioned about a month ago I would like to see Jones, Soligo & Hinge as our 3 main wingmen, but they can also be part of the inside midfielder rotations too.

A line-up like...

B: Michalanney, Butts, Murray
HB: Nankervis, Worrell, Milera
C: Jones, Dawson, Hinge
HF: Pedlar, Walker, Rachele
F: Rankine, Fogarty, McAdam
R: O'Brien, Schoenberg, Laird
I: Smith, Berry, Soligo, Thilthorpe
Sub: McHenry

 

[adelaidecrows]

I mentioned about a month ago I would like to see Jones, Soligo & Hinge as our 3 main wingmen, but they can also be part of the inside midfielder rotations too.

A line-up like...

B: Michalanney, Butts, Murray
HB: Nankervis, Worrell, Milera
C: Jones, Dawson, Hinge
HF: Pedlar, Walker, Rachele
F: Rankine, Fogarty, McAdam
R: O'Brien, Schoenberg, Laird
I: Smith, Berry, Soligo, Thilthorpe
Sub: McHenry

Schoenberg and McHenry should be in the Sanfl.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Schoenberg and McHenry should be in the Sanfl.

Schoenberg was good when he came on last week & came in on a block of solid sanfl form. He deserves a decent block of games.

McHenry as been our best impact sub.

 

[Hodgy]

I mentioned about a month ago I would like to see Jones, Soligo & Hinge as our 3 main wingmen, but they can also be part of the inside midfielder rotations too.

A line-up like...

B: Michalanney, Butts, Murray
HB: Nankervis, Worrell, Milera
C: Jones, Dawson, Hinge
HF: Pedlar, Walker, Rachele
F: Rankine, Fogarty, McAdam
R: O'Brien, Schoenberg, Laird
I: Smith, Berry, Soligo, Thilthorpe
Sub: McHenry

I like that team a lot.

 

[adelaidecrows]

Schoenberg was good when he came on last week & came in on a block of solid sanfl form. He deserves a decent block of games.

McHenry as been our best impact sub.

That maybe true but neither of them are best 22 players in a good team. We couldnt trade them for a bag of peanuts to Collingwood or Port Adelaide. They are not AFL quality players long term. We complain about our midfield then keep arguing about selecting the same mediocrity. because the Sanfl form rules the roost. Like the literal definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is exactly whats happening with Nicks selection policy.

 

[adelaidecrows]

I like that team a lot.

for what? a non finals team? thats 100% what youd get. Thats what you are getting now.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Looks good on paper but...top team GCS vs 18th team on the VFL ladder Frankston 144 - 37 who along with the also AFL unaligned Northern Bullants are the easybeats of the competition.

Would you not trade for Hollands full-stop, or just saying you wouldn't give up a high draft pick for him?

Perhaps he needs a change in scenery...

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

for what? a non finals team? thats 100% what youd get. Thats what you are getting now.

Feel free to name your team.

Imo, we need to get more games into younger players who are performing in the sanfl like Nankervis, Schoenberg & Berry... to see whether they have what it takes at AFL level.

 

[ABAB]

That maybe true but neither of them are best 22 players in a good team. We couldnt trade them for a bag of peanuts to Collingwood or Port Adelaide. They are not AFL quality players long term. We complain about our midfield then keep arguing about selecting the same mediocrity. because the Sanfl form rules the roost. Like the literal definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is exactly whats happening with Nicks selection policy.

You don't think he displayed AFL quality with his clean and creative ball use early in his career?

 

[adelaidecrows]

Feel free to name your team.

Imo, we need to get more games into younger players who are performing in the sanfl like Nankervis, Schoenberg & Berry... to see whether they have what it takes at AFL level.

I'd drop McHenry and keep Sholl, and Schoenberg for Cook. Sholl has far better output and is way more dangerous as a player in open field then McHenry.

 

[WeeBlake]

I mentioned about a month ago I would like to see Jones, Soligo & Hinge as our 3 main wingmen, but they can also be part of the inside midfielder rotations too.

A line-up like...

B: Michalanney, Butts, Murray
HB: Nankervis, Worrell, Milera
C: Jones, Dawson, Hinge
HF: Pedlar, Walker, Rachele
F: Rankine, Fogarty, McAdam
R: O'Brien, Schoenberg, Laird
I: Smith, Berry, Soligo, Thilthorpe
Sub: McHenry

That’s a good rebuilding lineup

 

[Hodgy]

That maybe true but neither of them are best 22 players in a good team. We couldnt trade them for a bag of peanuts to Collingwood or Port Adelaide. They are not AFL quality players long term. We complain about our midfield then keep arguing about selecting the same mediocrity. because the Sanfl form rules the roost. Like the literal definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is exactly whats happening with Nicks selection policy.

Well I disagree. Both Port and Collingwood would be very happy getting the output from their sub that McHenry has produced for us. And their 5th or 6th midfielders, William Drew, Dylan Williams, Nathan Murphy or Bianco say, are definately not miles ahead of Schoenberg. His defensive running is definately a work on but his offensive game is definately AFL standard, and I think has most of those guys covered.

 

[adelaidecrows]

You don't think he displayed AFL quality with his clean and creative ball use early in his career?

Schoenberg?

His output is literally the lowest when comparing to every other mid in the competition. Which suggests surely he doesnt have what it takes. Great Sanfl player no question.

 

[WeeBlake]

Well I disagree. Both Port and Collingwood would be very happy getting the output from their sub that McHenry has produced for us. And their 5th or 6th midfielders, William Drew, Dylan Williams, Nathan Murphy or Bianco say, are definately not miles ahead of Schoenberg. His defensive running is definately a work on but his offensive game is definately AFL standard, and I think has most of those guys covered.

He had three or so weeks killing it in the SANFL, then a hard tag, then a quarter as sub in the AFL where he played really well. He has shown really good signs previously. He’s still inexperienced. I don’t get why ppl are so against him.