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AFLW 2024 - Round 8 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Our midfield is struggling ...
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Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Jesus, Hodge hasn't been that bad over the last 12 months? Same with Sewell and Lewis.
Not sure what happened at half time but the Hawks have had a tough first 5 weeks, so I wouldn't be calling them all C/D graders just yet.
Jesus, Hodge hasn't been that bad over the last 12 months? Same with Sewell and Lewis.
Not sure what happened at half time but the Hawks have had a tough first 5 weeks, so I wouldn't be calling them all C/D graders just yet.
Hawker08
Team Captain
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Sewell was on his downward spiral two years ago, I called for him to be traded 2 years ago while he still held currency and in turn copped flack on these boards. He's now a liability in what is a bloody slow midfield thats incapable of winning a clearance. He's the least versatile of all players running through our midfield.
Sewell was on his downward spiral two years ago, I called for him to be traded 2 years ago while he still held currency and in turn copped flack on these boards. He's now a liability in what is a bloody slow midfield thats incapable of winning a clearance. He's the least versatile of all players running through our midfield.
Hawker08
Team Captain
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
What I would say is that form is pretty much completely discounted on bigfooty.
If any player over 27 years old has a below-par month then they are either in steep decline or just flat out gawn.
If you look all over the league there are older, battle hardened midfielders thriving while coming back into form or from injury. Kerr, Hayes, Chapman are three that come to mind.
I would like to see the midfield refreshed but not a complete overhaul. Mitch and Hodge will find form and we will need their hard bodies soon. What I think we can shelve is having guys like Rioli and Franklin who are utter novices at the stoppages starting at the bounce. Frankly they are ****ing hopeless in that situation and we are killed whenever they are there.
I saw flashes from Savage at the stoppages today. Don't know how many clearances he got but a couple of times he looked composed and like he had those instincts. I would give him an extended crack in there at some stage in the next month.
What I would say is that form is pretty much completely discounted on bigfooty.
If any player over 27 years old has a below-par month then they are either in steep decline or just flat out gawn.
If you look all over the league there are older, battle hardened midfielders thriving while coming back into form or from injury. Kerr, Hayes, Chapman are three that come to mind.
I would like to see the midfield refreshed but not a complete overhaul. Mitch and Hodge will find form and we will need their hard bodies soon. What I think we can shelve is having guys like Rioli and Franklin who are utter novices at the stoppages starting at the bounce. Frankly they are ****ing hopeless in that situation and we are killed whenever they are there.
I saw flashes from Savage at the stoppages today. Don't know how many clearances he got but a couple of times he looked composed and like he had those instincts. I would give him an extended crack in there at some stage in the next month.
bugalugs213
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Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
The reality is that Hodge Mitchell, Sewell, Burgoyne, Lewis, Shiels, Ellis etc are very one paced and can no longer be played in te same midfield.
Rather than just give up on one or two of them i think we can take a look at Geelongs rotations last year and take the opportunity to freshen them up with the occasional week off.
Hodge offers a bit down back and Lewis looks good forward so they are probably the ones who could leave the midfield group for longer periods.
One thing i learnt today is that Hale and McCauley can not play in the same team.
The reality is that Hodge Mitchell, Sewell, Burgoyne, Lewis, Shiels, Ellis etc are very one paced and can no longer be played in te same midfield.
Rather than just give up on one or two of them i think we can take a look at Geelongs rotations last year and take the opportunity to freshen them up with the occasional week off.
Hodge offers a bit down back and Lewis looks good forward so they are probably the ones who could leave the midfield group for longer periods.
One thing i learnt today is that Hale and McCauley can not play in the same team.
Paul007
Premiership Player
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Our midfield seem to go well for about the 1st half the game and then they appear to be too stuffed to contribute anything.
Our midfield seem to go well for about the 1st half the game and then they appear to be too stuffed to contribute anything.
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Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
We looked very one paced without Smith and Birch in the team.
We also don't have enough blokes to rotate through the midfield with the teams we are putting on the field.
We looked very one paced without Smith and Birch in the team.
We also don't have enough blokes to rotate through the midfield with the teams we are putting on the field.
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Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Kennedy was better than our entire midfield put together today.
An exageration? Maybe a little ....
BY HIMSELF, he was better than Mitchell, Sewell, Shiels and half a Lewis put together. His disposal today I think would qualify him to give kicking lessons to some of our players, even though I do still think he can burn it more than most.
Jaysus, my only hope is that these guys have all had food poisoning the last week, something, anything to explain the weakness that was.
Kennedy was better than our entire midfield put together today.
An exageration? Maybe a little ....
BY HIMSELF, he was better than Mitchell, Sewell, Shiels and half a Lewis put together. His disposal today I think would qualify him to give kicking lessons to some of our players, even though I do still think he can burn it more than most.
Jaysus, my only hope is that these guys have all had food poisoning the last week, something, anything to explain the weakness that was.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Our midfield is currently one dimensional and tactically unsound, in my opinion.
I've noticed in a few of our games - glimpses against Collingwood, distinctly against the Weagles - that Hawthorn do not set up in the midfield the same way most quality sides tend to. Hawthorn seem to have a very "first in" mentality, which as a footballing philosophy I'm not opposed to; it suits our strengths and is far from a bad cultural "war cry" to build success around.
However- this leaves us very exposed when we lose the contested ball or the ball is jarred into space. How many times against the Weagles did you see a combination of Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis at the bottom of the pack against a single Eagle? Most quality sides seem to set up with at most three players whose role is to win the contested ball at stoppages - in the Weagles example, Kerr and Priddis - and the rest acting as handball receivers. This is the cornerstone of "run and spread" methodology. The key is to have numbers outside of the contest, not in the contest.
How often did we turn the ball over by hand to guys like Masten, Shuey, Gaff and company by hand from a ball up? The skills aren't bad, the intent isn't bad, it's a matter of structure... If you're outnumbered six to three two yards away from the scrum, of course most of the errant and desperate handballs out of the rough will go to the opposition. We're simply setting up poorly at stoppages.
The troubling issue is that the above method isn't without reason. Look at our midfield crop assuming an empty injury list.
Mitchell - Absolute star inside midfielder.
Sewell - At his best, a gun inside midfielder who can play the run with role.
Lewis- Very good inside midfielder with very smooth skills.
Sheils - Potentially a very good inside midfielder without so much much silk.
Hodge - Absolute star inside and out.
Burgoyne - Very good outside midfielder without much inside prowess.
Smith - Very good outside midfielder.
Savage - Pretty well rounded sort. Good in and out. Great skills.
Young - Very good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Ellis - Good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Cyril - Sublimely skilled HFF who plays high to utilize his run and dance.
Buddy - The best FF I've ever seen. Kicked a few goals on the run against Essendon once that started the silly and masochistic theory that he should play in the middle. Needs to play forward.
The above considered, I think there is a belief among the Hawthorn coaching department that we simply don't have the cattle to set up in any other way. We've got a swarm of gun inside midfielders and a deficiency in gun outside midfielders. We over-hit the scrum because it's our strength, and it's biting us in the arse.
So, how do you correct this in the short term? Savage, Shiels and Lewis- very good contested ball players who you can be pretty confident will beat their direct opponents in any given game but also have pretty good skills [great in the case of Lewis and Savage] - need to be instructed to play two or three yards outside of the scrum and not be the third or fourth tackler in. Suddenly the numbers outside the contest are evened up and we can not only set up the spread with a lot more fluidity when we take possession from a stoppage, but also have the luxury of three very good contested mongrels, in all likelihood, beating their opponents two yards from the contest when we lose the stoppage/the ball is jarred into neutral space. Leave being at the bottom of the pack to Sewell and Mitchell.
Outside of this, we really do need Smith back. Not only will he be great in the aforementioned role but outside pace is a massive problem for the Hawks at the moment and Isaac would make a huge difference. I'd also like to see Hilly given another run next week.
Tl;Dr - Hawthorn are being "out-zoned" at ball ups and throw ins.
As a side note - I'm not a Bigfooty veteran, I don't expect my thoughts to hold much sway with anyone, but some of the alarmist attitudes on this forum are truly perplexing to me. We're playing at about fifty percent of our capacity heading into Round 6. It's a long season and the game is becoming evermore soccer like in that coaches are "managing" their lists far more than ever before. Surely, given our draw, we all expected to start the season poorly?
As I recall, there was a premiership campaign in 2008 where the undisputed best team of the home and away season was beaten in the grand final by a team that hit unbeatable form on the eve of finals. Don't panic, guys. The Buddy/Cyril factor has made the media fap over us and over hype us for a couple of years and this challenging period is just what we need to see what the club is really made of. Personally, I think we'll rise to the challenge and be a big player late in September.
GO HAWKS!
Our midfield is currently one dimensional and tactically unsound, in my opinion.
I've noticed in a few of our games - glimpses against Collingwood, distinctly against the Weagles - that Hawthorn do not set up in the midfield the same way most quality sides tend to. Hawthorn seem to have a very "first in" mentality, which as a footballing philosophy I'm not opposed to; it suits our strengths and is far from a bad cultural "war cry" to build success around.
However- this leaves us very exposed when we lose the contested ball or the ball is jarred into space. How many times against the Weagles did you see a combination of Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis at the bottom of the pack against a single Eagle? Most quality sides seem to set up with at most three players whose role is to win the contested ball at stoppages - in the Weagles example, Kerr and Priddis - and the rest acting as handball receivers. This is the cornerstone of "run and spread" methodology. The key is to have numbers outside of the contest, not in the contest.
How often did we turn the ball over by hand to guys like Masten, Shuey, Gaff and company by hand from a ball up? The skills aren't bad, the intent isn't bad, it's a matter of structure... If you're outnumbered six to three two yards away from the scrum, of course most of the errant and desperate handballs out of the rough will go to the opposition. We're simply setting up poorly at stoppages.
The troubling issue is that the above method isn't without reason. Look at our midfield crop assuming an empty injury list.
Mitchell - Absolute star inside midfielder.
Sewell - At his best, a gun inside midfielder who can play the run with role.
Lewis- Very good inside midfielder with very smooth skills.
Sheils - Potentially a very good inside midfielder without so much much silk.
Hodge - Absolute star inside and out.
Burgoyne - Very good outside midfielder without much inside prowess.
Smith - Very good outside midfielder.
Savage - Pretty well rounded sort. Good in and out. Great skills.
Young - Very good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Ellis - Good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Cyril - Sublimely skilled HFF who plays high to utilize his run and dance.
Buddy - The best FF I've ever seen. Kicked a few goals on the run against Essendon once that started the silly and masochistic theory that he should play in the middle. Needs to play forward.
The above considered, I think there is a belief among the Hawthorn coaching department that we simply don't have the cattle to set up in any other way. We've got a swarm of gun inside midfielders and a deficiency in gun outside midfielders. We over-hit the scrum because it's our strength, and it's biting us in the arse.
So, how do you correct this in the short term? Savage, Shiels and Lewis- very good contested ball players who you can be pretty confident will beat their direct opponents in any given game but also have pretty good skills [great in the case of Lewis and Savage] - need to be instructed to play two or three yards outside of the scrum and not be the third or fourth tackler in. Suddenly the numbers outside the contest are evened up and we can not only set up the spread with a lot more fluidity when we take possession from a stoppage, but also have the luxury of three very good contested mongrels, in all likelihood, beating their opponents two yards from the contest when we lose the stoppage/the ball is jarred into neutral space. Leave being at the bottom of the pack to Sewell and Mitchell.
Outside of this, we really do need Smith back. Not only will he be great in the aforementioned role but outside pace is a massive problem for the Hawks at the moment and Isaac would make a huge difference. I'd also like to see Hilly given another run next week.
Tl;Dr - Hawthorn are being "out-zoned" at ball ups and throw ins.
As a side note - I'm not a Bigfooty veteran, I don't expect my thoughts to hold much sway with anyone, but some of the alarmist attitudes on this forum are truly perplexing to me. We're playing at about fifty percent of our capacity heading into Round 6. It's a long season and the game is becoming evermore soccer like in that coaches are "managing" their lists far more than ever before. Surely, given our draw, we all expected to start the season poorly?
As I recall, there was a premiership campaign in 2008 where the undisputed best team of the home and away season was beaten in the grand final by a team that hit unbeatable form on the eve of finals. Don't panic, guys. The Buddy/Cyril factor has made the media fap over us and over hype us for a couple of years and this challenging period is just what we need to see what the club is really made of. Personally, I think we'll rise to the challenge and be a big player late in September.
GO HAWKS!
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
All six of those guys at the top of the list have the potential to play like A Graders. There is a question around pace / spread from the contest but that's why Rioli and Smith are vital to the Hawks.
You guys have got a pretty good six weeks coming up in terms of the draw. Would not be surprised if you won all of them and were knocking on the door of the top 4 heading into the second half of the season.
All six of those guys at the top of the list have the potential to play like A Graders. There is a question around pace / spread from the contest but that's why Rioli and Smith are vital to the Hawks.
You guys have got a pretty good six weeks coming up in terms of the draw. Would not be surprised if you won all of them and were knocking on the door of the top 4 heading into the second half of the season.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
One thing i find really frustrating - and it's been talked about plenty of times before - is the inability of our midfielders to kick goals. Granted Lewy has stepped up in this area this season, but Sewell has now played 150 games and kicked something like 22 goals total. That's a rough average of three goals a season. Not good enough. Today I think he pinged for goal three times - you can almost always count on him missing at critical times.
Mitch too needs to kick more goals.
One thing i find really frustrating - and it's been talked about plenty of times before - is the inability of our midfielders to kick goals. Granted Lewy has stepped up in this area this season, but Sewell has now played 150 games and kicked something like 22 goals total. That's a rough average of three goals a season. Not good enough. Today I think he pinged for goal three times - you can almost always count on him missing at critical times.
Mitch too needs to kick more goals.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
We seem to match like for like in the midfield. Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis is a common combination. All can win the footy but none can break away from the contest if they do win it. Our spread is based around winning the ball at half back. We need to change this to the centre bounce. Give Savage or Whitecross a chance in the centre square. Give ourselves more options. Very pedestrian (pace wise) midfield at the minute.
We seem to match like for like in the midfield. Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis is a common combination. All can win the footy but none can break away from the contest if they do win it. Our spread is based around winning the ball at half back. We need to change this to the centre bounce. Give Savage or Whitecross a chance in the centre square. Give ourselves more options. Very pedestrian (pace wise) midfield at the minute.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Summed up my point far more concisely than I could.
Great post!
Summed up my point far more concisely than I could.
Great post!
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Brilliant analysis and sound sentiments re the state of our season. Very disappointed with today, but it's a marathon etc. etc.
Our midfield is currently one dimensional and tactically unsound, in my opinion.
I've noticed in a few of our games - glimpses against Collingwood, distinctly against the Weagles - that Hawthorn do not set up in the midfield the same way most quality sides tend to. Hawthorn seem to have a very "first in" mentality, which as a footballing philosophy I'm not opposed to; it suits our strengths and is far from a bad cultural "war cry" to build success around.
However- this leaves us very exposed when we lose the contested ball or the ball is jarred into space. How many times against the Weagles did you see a combination of Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis at the bottom of the pack against a single Eagle? Most quality sides seem to set up with at most three players whose role is to win the contested ball at stoppages - in the Weagles example, Kerr and Priddis - and the rest acting as handball receivers. This is the cornerstone of "run and spread" methodology. The key is to have numbers outside of the contest, not in the contest.
How often did we turn the ball over by hand to guys like Masten, Shuey, Gaff and company by hand from a ball up? The skills aren't bad, the intent isn't bad, it's a matter of structure... If you're outnumbered six to three two yards away from the scrum, of course most of the errant and desperate handballs out of the rough will go to the opposition. We're simply setting up poorly at stoppages.
The troubling issue is that the above method isn't without reason. Look at our midfield crop assuming an empty injury list.
Mitchell - Absolute star inside midfielder.
Sewell - At his best, a gun inside midfielder who can play the run with role.
Lewis- Very good inside midfielder with very smooth skills.
Sheils - Potentially a very good inside midfielder without so much much silk.
Hodge - Absolute star inside and out.
Burgoyne - Very good outside midfielder without much inside prowess.
Smith - Very good outside midfielder.
Savage - Pretty well rounded sort. Good in and out. Great skills.
Young - Very good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Ellis - Good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Cyril - Sublimely skilled HFF who plays high to utilize his run and dance.
Buddy - The best FF I've ever seen. Kicked a few goals on the run against Essendon once that started the silly and masochistic theory that he should play in the middle. Needs to play forward.
The above considered, I think there is a belief among the Hawthorn coaching department that we simply don't have the cattle to set up in any other way. We've got a swarm of gun inside midfielders and a deficiency in gun outside midfielders. We over-hit the scrum because it's our strength, and it's biting us in the arse.
So, how do you correct this in the short term? Savage, Shiels and Lewis- very good contested ball players who you can be pretty confident will beat their direct opponents in any given game but also have pretty good skills [great in the case of Lewis and Savage] - need to be instructed to play two or three yards outside of the scrum and not be the third or fourth tackler in. Suddenly the numbers outside the contest are evened up and we can not only set up the spread with a lot more fluidity when we take possession from a stoppage, but also have the luxury of three very good contested mongrels, in all likelihood, beating their opponents two yards from the contest when we lose the stoppage/the ball is jarred into neutral space. Leave being at the bottom of the pack to Sewell and Mitchell.
Outside of this, we really do need Smith back. Not only will he be great in the aforementioned role but outside pace is a massive problem for the Hawks at the moment and Isaac would make a huge difference. I'd also like to see Hilly given another run next week.
Tl;Dr - Hawthorn are being "out-zoned" at ball ups and throw ins.
As a side note - I'm not a Bigfooty veteran, I don't expect my thoughts to hold much sway with anyone, but some of the alarmist attitudes on this forum are truly perplexing to me. We're playing at about fifty percent of our capacity heading into Round 6. It's a long season and the game is becoming evermore soccer like in that coaches are "managing" their lists far more than ever before. Surely, given our draw, we all expected to start the season poorly?
As I recall, there was a premiership campaign in 2008 where the undisputed best team of the home and away season was beaten in the grand final by a team that hit unbeatable form on the eve of finals. Don't panic, guys. The Buddy/Cyril factor has made the media fap over us and over hype us for a couple of years and this challenging period is just what we need to see what the club is really made of. Personally, I think we'll rise to the challenge and be a big player late in September.
GO HAWKS!
Brilliant analysis and sound sentiments re the state of our season. Very disappointed with today, but it's a marathon etc. etc.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Not sure if anyone saw in the last.....Sewell 30 metres out infront of goal and he only managed to kick it into the goalsquare.....what the hell was that.
Not sure if anyone saw in the last.....Sewell 30 metres out infront of goal and he only managed to kick it into the goalsquare.....what the hell was that.
- Oct 17, 2011
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Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
To be fair Sewell has played as a defensive midfielder/tagged for most of that time.
grizzlym
Premium Platinum
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Good post.
Our midfield is currently one dimensional and tactically unsound, in my opinion.
I've noticed in a few of our games - glimpses against Collingwood, distinctly against the Weagles - that Hawthorn do not set up in the midfield the same way most quality sides tend to. Hawthorn seem to have a very "first in" mentality, which as a footballing philosophy I'm not opposed to; it suits our strengths and is far from a bad cultural "war cry" to build success around.
However- this leaves us very exposed when we lose the contested ball or the ball is jarred into space. How many times against the Weagles did you see a combination of Mitchell, Sewell and Lewis at the bottom of the pack against a single Eagle? Most quality sides seem to set up with at most three players whose role is to win the contested ball at stoppages - in the Weagles example, Kerr and Priddis - and the rest acting as handball receivers. This is the cornerstone of "run and spread" methodology. The key is to have numbers outside of the contest, not in the contest.
How often did we turn the ball over by hand to guys like Masten, Shuey, Gaff and company by hand from a ball up? The skills aren't bad, the intent isn't bad, it's a matter of structure... If you're outnumbered six to three two yards away from the scrum, of course most of the errant and desperate handballs out of the rough will go to the opposition. We're simply setting up poorly at stoppages.
The troubling issue is that the above method isn't without reason. Look at our midfield crop assuming an empty injury list.
Mitchell - Absolute star inside midfielder.
Sewell - At his best, a gun inside midfielder who can play the run with role.
Lewis- Very good inside midfielder with very smooth skills.
Sheils - Potentially a very good inside midfielder without so much much silk.
Hodge - Absolute star inside and out.
Burgoyne - Very good outside midfielder without much inside prowess.
Smith - Very good outside midfielder.
Savage - Pretty well rounded sort. Good in and out. Great skills.
Young - Very good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Ellis - Good outside midfielder who won't get back to his best.
Cyril - Sublimely skilled HFF who plays high to utilize his run and dance.
Buddy - The best FF I've ever seen. Kicked a few goals on the run against Essendon once that started the silly and masochistic theory that he should play in the middle. Needs to play forward.
The above considered, I think there is a belief among the Hawthorn coaching department that we simply don't have the cattle to set up in any other way. We've got a swarm of gun inside midfielders and a deficiency in gun outside midfielders. We over-hit the scrum because it's our strength, and it's biting us in the arse.
So, how do you correct this in the short term? Savage, Shiels and Lewis- very good contested ball players who you can be pretty confident will beat their direct opponents in any given game but also have pretty good skills [great in the case of Lewis and Savage] - need to be instructed to play two or three yards outside of the scrum and not be the third or fourth tackler in. Suddenly the numbers outside the contest are evened up and we can not only set up the spread with a lot more fluidity when we take possession from a stoppage, but also have the luxury of three very good contested mongrels, in all likelihood, beating their opponents two yards from the contest when we lose the stoppage/the ball is jarred into neutral space. Leave being at the bottom of the pack to Sewell and Mitchell.
Outside of this, we really do need Smith back. Not only will he be great in the aforementioned role but outside pace is a massive problem for the Hawks at the moment and Isaac would make a huge difference. I'd also like to see Hilly given another run next week.
Tl;Dr - Hawthorn are being "out-zoned" at ball ups and throw ins.
As a side note - I'm not a Bigfooty veteran, I don't expect my thoughts to hold much sway with anyone, but some of the alarmist attitudes on this forum are truly perplexing to me. We're playing at about fifty percent of our capacity heading into Round 6. It's a long season and the game is becoming evermore soccer like in that coaches are "managing" their lists far more than ever before. Surely, given our draw, we all expected to start the season poorly?
As I recall, there was a premiership campaign in 2008 where the undisputed best team of the home and away season was beaten in the grand final by a team that hit unbeatable form on the eve of finals. Don't panic, guys. The Buddy/Cyril factor has made the media fap over us and over hype us for a couple of years and this challenging period is just what we need to see what the club is really made of. Personally, I think we'll rise to the challenge and be a big player late in September.
GO HAWKS!
Good post.
I think the midfield was smashed today, but there wont be that many problems over the year. Mitchell was well held today and he is the driving force. But he very rarely plays 2 bad ones in a row. Add to that Hodge should be fitter for the run and hopefully for you guys, he will soon be able to play more time in the midfield.
My question is about Rioli. Why doesn't it work with him in the midfield? Lack of tank? Lack of midfield awareness? Lack of clearance ability?
It just defies logic that a guy as talented as that can't find the footy further up the field. He is the missing piece to that midfield with Smith and Birchall also set to return to provide run through the middle.
I would be more concerned about the defence if Gibson gets seriously injured. They looked lost back there without him.
Also, I think a Hale/Roughead ruck combo is much better for you guys. No need to have the extra ruck. Roughead will lose a fair few taps, but he will make up for it on the ground with his follow up work.
My question is about Rioli. Why doesn't it work with him in the midfield? Lack of tank? Lack of midfield awareness? Lack of clearance ability?
It just defies logic that a guy as talented as that can't find the footy further up the field. He is the missing piece to that midfield with Smith and Birchall also set to return to provide run through the middle.
I would be more concerned about the defence if Gibson gets seriously injured. They looked lost back there without him.
Also, I think a Hale/Roughead ruck combo is much better for you guys. No need to have the extra ruck. Roughead will lose a fair few taps, but he will make up for it on the ground with his follow up work.
Re: Our midfield is embarrassing ...
Most teams only play max two pure inside mids. We play 4+. And most of ther other teams are far more mobile (eg compare Kerr to Sewell) and have a lot more endurance (Mitch vs swan)
Our issue, which we've had for some time, is that our best mids are all slow, have average endurance and are primarily inside ball winners. Our balance has been stuffed for years and we have sort of got away with while our senior mids have been in form - but now theyre on the decline. Sewell is on the decline, hodge and burgs can't play as full time mids anymore and the physical toll of years in the midfield is catching up to Mitch. We don't have a young midfield anymore - out of the contenders we'd prob be the oldest group.
What concerns me is we have no depth or options to fix this in the forseeable future. None of our hbs or small fwds are potential mids and the only name that comes up in box hill reports is Schneider which is more of the same. Our midfield is in a deep hole. We have to somehow work with what we got and make it work.
Most teams only play max two pure inside mids. We play 4+. And most of ther other teams are far more mobile (eg compare Kerr to Sewell) and have a lot more endurance (Mitch vs swan)
Our issue, which we've had for some time, is that our best mids are all slow, have average endurance and are primarily inside ball winners. Our balance has been stuffed for years and we have sort of got away with while our senior mids have been in form - but now theyre on the decline. Sewell is on the decline, hodge and burgs can't play as full time mids anymore and the physical toll of years in the midfield is catching up to Mitch. We don't have a young midfield anymore - out of the contenders we'd prob be the oldest group.
What concerns me is we have no depth or options to fix this in the forseeable future. None of our hbs or small fwds are potential mids and the only name that comes up in box hill reports is Schneider which is more of the same. Our midfield is in a deep hole. We have to somehow work with what we got and make it work.
