- Apr 26, 2016
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- AFL Club
- Sydney
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- #151
One thing I am hopeful about in regards to 2025 is the prospect of us FINALLY having a stopper in the midfield in Callum Mills. The criticism of our midfield has been our inability to win the ball, but that is only half the issue. The other half is our inability to curb opposition midfielders from doing maximum damage against us.
Too often this year, particularly in first quarters, we let midfielders go on rampages against us where we'd struggle to contain them and we'd then have to spend the next three quarters trying to reel in the damage they caused in just one big quarter.
Round 3 vs Richmond - Tim Taranto has 10 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 4 vs West Coast - Elliot Yeo has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 11 vs Western Bulldogs - Ed Richards has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 16 vs Fremantle - Caleb Serong has 10 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 20 vs Western Bulldogs - Adam Treloar has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 23 vs Essendon - Dylan Shiel has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Qualifying Final vs GWS - Tom Green has 12 disposals in the first quarter.
That's seven first quarters where we let an opposition midfielder have 10+ touches, and we lost 6 of those quarters by an average of 14 points. If I'd bumped down the criteria a fraction to a midfielder having 9+ touches in the first quarter, then BOTH Lachie Neale & Hugh McCluggage in the grand final would've made the cut, along with many others over the course of the season.
Just can't keep happening. We need a genuine shutdown player who can go into the mids and nullify an opponent. Jordon is one, but he tends to take the outside players and flankers more than the contested inside players. So it has to be Mills.
Too often this year, particularly in first quarters, we let midfielders go on rampages against us where we'd struggle to contain them and we'd then have to spend the next three quarters trying to reel in the damage they caused in just one big quarter.
Round 3 vs Richmond - Tim Taranto has 10 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 4 vs West Coast - Elliot Yeo has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 11 vs Western Bulldogs - Ed Richards has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 16 vs Fremantle - Caleb Serong has 10 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 20 vs Western Bulldogs - Adam Treloar has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Round 23 vs Essendon - Dylan Shiel has 11 disposals in the first quarter.
Qualifying Final vs GWS - Tom Green has 12 disposals in the first quarter.
That's seven first quarters where we let an opposition midfielder have 10+ touches, and we lost 6 of those quarters by an average of 14 points. If I'd bumped down the criteria a fraction to a midfielder having 9+ touches in the first quarter, then BOTH Lachie Neale & Hugh McCluggage in the grand final would've made the cut, along with many others over the course of the season.
Just can't keep happening. We need a genuine shutdown player who can go into the mids and nullify an opponent. Jordon is one, but he tends to take the outside players and flankers more than the contested inside players. So it has to be Mills.
