Player Watch Max Michalanney - Re-Signed to End of 2026

[MsTopG]

Its the Rankine Dilemma - play him in the midfield and leave a hole in the forward line

Leave MM in the middle and we lose a good defender

I'm happy to see us at least considering it. I think MM will go ok there and people saying he is a bust after 2 runs in there need to calm down

But I do agree with the point that we have others

Surely Pedlar should be in the midfield or Ogilvie should be terminated. Get Ogilvie out and get Pedlar in the team, what has nicks done to him? Wasn't Jones drafted as a mid as well? Ogilvie does a bloody good job of missing picks doesnt he. Anyone remember Gallucci and McAsey? Where is our elite midfield with all the picks we had?

 

[hugecannon]

Nicks has no eye for the game at all. If he wants to make a move like that, throw Nank in the middle and play Max off HB. Way better balance to the setup like that.

Nanks agility and evasion in close could be a massive asset in the midfield.

 

[Pugsley]

We are clutching at straws

We are just clutching.

 

[Barneythecrab]

Think Max into the midfield is a good move - should have trained with the mids pre season first- but he has the assets of a mid. The last thing we need to do is leave a player with his talent playing defense for the remainder of his career. Already did that to an amazing talent in Luke brown

16

Luke Brown

Age

32

Ht

181cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

8.9

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

273.4

4star

D

11.7

3star

K

9.3

4star

HB

2.4

2star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.4

2star

MG

273.4

4star

D

9.0

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

.

 

[StonesThrow]

Good move imo. I called for this early in the year. Finally makes a bold decision. Hopefully he doesn't knee jerk and give up on the idea.

 

[Danger in Texas]

I really don't think he's a midfielder. He's good running at the ball, and with the play unfolding in front of him. Not so much in a stoppage.

Yeah I’m not a huge fan of it

I’d be more down with using him at half back, where he can still use his quality defensive skills (intercepting, sticking with a man when need etc), and giving his time in there to Nank, Dowling and Rachele (edit: and Taylor)

 

[Geoffa32]

Love the guy and thought he played okay in the midfield but it's absolute desperation from Nicks to throw him in there after starring in defense when there are plenty of other options to develop in the middle first

Quite odd to not give Dowling a CBA either.

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Quite odd to not give Dowling a CBA either.

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Didn't give him one the week before either. Mind boggling.

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[GreyCrow]

Didn't give him one the week before either. Mind boggling.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Because Nicks is a vindictive campaigner who is so passive aggressive

 

[jackster83]

Quite odd to not give Dowling a CBA either.

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

He was actually on Amartey at one point.

 

[SellarStardom]

Love the guy and thought he played okay in the midfield but it's absolute desperation from Nicks to throw him in there after starring in defense when there are plenty of other options to develop in the middle first

For all of Nick's stupidity, starting to roll Michelanney through the midfield is actually a good idea. I want to see him do it with Hinge as well. Both good contested players and have size.

BUT, Dowling, Taylor, Rachelle, Berry need to be played in there with Soligo, Dawson and even Schoey (Schoey looks pretty average to be fair at the moment) with the occasional Laird

 

[LoBu]

For all of Nick's stupidity, starting to roll Michelanney through the midfield is actually a good idea. I want to see him do it with Hinge as well. Both good contested players and have size.

BUT, Dowling, Taylor, Rachelle, Berry need to be played in there with Soligo, Dawson and even Schoey (Schoey looks pretty average to be fair at the moment) with the occasional Laird

Berry is never going to be more than B grade, even fresh on the ground didn't offer much against the Sydney young guns

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[jackster83]

Berry is never going to be more than B grade, even fresh on the ground didn't offer much against the Sydney young guns

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He won't even be that level.

Trade or delist.

 

[Carn The Texan]

He was actually on Amartey at one point.

Of all the strange moments last night this was one of the strangest

 

[MsTopG]

Berry is never going to be more than B grade, even fresh on the ground didn't offer much against the Sydney young guns

On SM-S928B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Needs to be moved end of year. No point wasting more games on him. Dowling, Taylor, Pedlar must be prioritised.

 

[BRL121]

Love the guy and thought he played okay in the midfield but it's absolute desperation from Nicks to throw him in there after starring in defense when there are plenty of other options to develop in the middle first

I really don't get the comments on here. I see the move as simply being a tagging job on Warner, rather than developing a midfielder. He did that role pretty well. End of story. No desperation there.

We criticise Nicks for not trying things, then for trying things!

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I really don't get the comments on here. I see the move as simply being a tagging job on Warner, rather than developing a midfielder. He did that role pretty well. End of story. No desperation there.

We criticise Nicks for not trying things, then for trying things!

He'll try anything short of giving young midfielders midfield time

 

[FR0GGY]

I really don't get the comments on here. I see the move as simply being a tagging job on Warner, rather than developing a midfielder. He did that role pretty well. End of story. No desperation there.

We criticise Nicks for not trying things, then for trying things!

And last week?

 

[BACCS]

I’m not sure how people aren’t seeing the midfielder qualities here.

1. First full time game as a midfielder he quells the most dangerous mid in the comp - this is coming off only training here for a week
2. Does not struggle to find the ball and has obvious offensive weapons (16 disposals and 2 clearances while tagging)
3. His height means he can get under a high ball like a Dawson and take a mark
4. Strong leadership qualities and is already directing traffic onfield
5. We already have another good intercept defender in Worrell and someone else that can play tall or small in Hinge (if required)
6. Much easier to draft another defender of his type than a mid of this size

Just like Dawson was a waste of talent in defense, so is Max

 

[fuic08]

I've got no worries with him playing some mid time.

To people saying it's robbing our defence, who cares? The season is done, it should be about development not wins.

 

[Peter Doherty]

If he's just going to tag then I'd prefer him in defence.

 

[Danger in Texas]

If he's just going to tag then I'd prefer him in defence.

Yeah I’d prefer him to be more Luke Ryan than Finn Maginness

 

[Jarman3]

I really don't mind using Max as an occasional pinch-hitter in the midfield. I still see his spot as being down back, but it's good trying guys in there like this just to see if it works so we know if it's a club we can pull out of the bag when needed.

 

[cmndstab]

I’m not sure how people aren’t seeing the midfielder qualities here.

1. First full time game as a midfielder he quells the most dangerous mid in the comp - this is coming off only training here for a week
2. Does not struggle to find the ball and has obvious offensive weapons (16 disposals and 2 clearances while tagging)
3. His height means he can get under a high ball like a Dawson and take a mark
4. Strong leadership qualities and is already directing traffic onfield
5. We already have another good intercept defender in Worrell and someone else that can play tall or small in Hinge (if required)
6. Much easier to draft another defender of his type than a mid of this size

Just like Dawson was a waste of talent in defense, so is Max

The difference is that Dawson is an attacking weapon in the midfield. You want to find ways to get the ball in his hands because he'll do something good with it. Max (admitteldy early days) seems to be primarily useful as a tagger. That's fine if we're planning on running with a tagger, but again, it's not hard to find a tagger if that's what we want.

I don't see him as being a very useful player in a contest with ball in hand. Maybe he will prove me wrong, but I don't think he has a good sense of who is around him, whether he has time to find an option or has to just jam it on the boot, etc. Down back, he does, but not in a stoppage situation.

It's not actually that easy to find Michalanney's type down back, someone who can lock down on a player, tall or small, and provide offence the other way. He's essentially the only player of that type we have at the moment. Worrell is more of a loose defender, or in a pinch, a KPD (I wouldn't trust him on a small) and Hinge is not a lockdown defender.

 

[Scorpus]

Max is too highly skilled to be a tagger. Tagging is for effort grunts with no skills.