Shaun Higgins - Just where does he fit in ?

[stefoid]

Cyclops, look to Collingwood for how the game will be played in '11. They were ahead of the curve and got the chocolates, but other teams will be busy emulating them, including us.

That means HEAPS of midfielders rotating through in short stints where they can go flat out for 5 or 6 minutes. Is Pendlebury quick? Swan? Beams? etc, etc... All these guys are medium pacers but they use that pace to its fullest extent for short stints and they use the ball well. Higgins can do that!

And for those mids that have the capability of being dangerous up forward, thats the 4th spot on the bench (5th spot for the pies last year) Higgins can do that!

The pies basically had two more bench spots for midfielders than us last year - one spot for the extra ruckman that they didnt have (they used L.Brown to pinch hit) and one spot for the large number of mids they rested in a forward pocket.

With a three man bench I just cant see us playing a pure ruck next year. No way. Whoever relieves Huddo will have to spend large amounts of time on the ground somewhere else, not hogging a midfielders resting spot on the bench. Someone said at training Roughead was being tested for CHF. what does that tell you?

 

[always right]

Tend to agree with a lot of the points raised by the OP but.......

Higgin's burst of speed is adequate when fully fit but it's his balance and poise that make up for any perceived lack of real pace.

His lack of real pace means that he can't be locked in as a deep leading forward but he will spend time there during a game. Where he is most dangerous is having a freedon to roam between the 25m to 75m arc.

He has the ability to bring others into the game, he's creative and his passing skills are good by hand or foot (although inconsistent on his wrong side).

He hasn't achieved anything yet but a fit and firing Higgins is critical for us to go further this year. Same applies to Cooney and Ward in particular.

One thing I do know....there is no-one else I want with the ball in his hands shooting for goal from within 50m.

 

[Godzilla!]

Oh...come on....Libber and Wallis are kids! If you want to just look at who plays the position as your criterion then why not add Johannissen and Dahlhaus?

Don't be surprised to see Wallis line up for us in round 1. This kid is an absolute gun, and is big enough to play afl. We have known he will be coming to the dogs for years, and has been on a training and diet plan well ahead of any normal draftee.

I'm glad we all agree Higgins is suited to being a forward. Good work team.

 

[TheAnthem]

Seen him down at Barwon Heads at the local beach.

He sure did fit in there...

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Thanks London.... totally agree about both him and gia playing up forward at the same time. I knew I would cop criticism from saying what I said... not sure anyone has disagreed with me in terms of his attributes though.

Yes he has been injured but we can only judge him on what he has done when he was in the team... he played 17 games last year and 20 the year before. I think thats enough to make an assessment.

In 2009 the year everyone is raving about he averaged 21 touches and kicked 31 goals.....playing more as a forward than anything..... That changed to 20 tocuhes and 17 goals last year when he was used higher up the ground.
Like others have said forget the midfield.

Why would we forget the midfield?? You say we can only make an assessment on the games he's played, then post some pretty impressive stats. Are those stats supposed to help your argument?? Because they look pretty good to me. What am I missing?? He's been rotating between midfield and forward and when fit he's been a good player.

He had a debilitating illness that derailed his season last year, he is still only 22 and some people seemingly wanna wrote him off. Shaun Higgins a sub?? May God help the rest of the league if we've got 21 players better than him.

Some of the attributes I see in him are he is good in traffic, is poised, composed and classy. He has also knows where to run and has a good football brain. Sounds like someone who can have a run in the middle to me

Its pretty obvious to most and from what we have seen so far (and for the hope of the team I hope it changes) he has neither the tank or the speed or the defensive side to his game to make a midfielder. Read all these posts... thats all I am saying. Have him as a forward. Thats where he is suited... it allows us to run these other guys that I listed through the midfield.

I read these posts and I haven't seen much to indicate that most people think he's not a midfielder. I've seen a couple of people agree, a couple of people disagree and you posting a lot of times agreeing with yourself. I think its hardly a true representation of the feelings of the Supporter base

I would not want to see higgins in the midfield stopping guys we drafted as midfielders and who play and have attributes as midfielders held back because higgins thinks he is a midfielder.

I'm not sure Higgins decides where he plays If players are good enough to keep him out of the midfield so be it, I think in this day and age with so many rotations there is definitely still a spot for him in the midfield rotation

 

[The Original Swooper]

'Resting' a mid up forward is kind of like a poor mans extended bench. Collingwood apparently made big use of this tactic.

We have a lot of pure mids who will only be midfield or benched, but higgins is one of the midfielders who will spend a bit less time in the midfield but is capable of rotating through the forward line. He has the smarts, hands and kicking skills to make it work.

I think we might see Guido, Cooney, Higgins and maybe some of the new chums all playing tag team through both midfield and forward line.

I think cooney is ultimately more dangerous when fresh so he can use his burst more, so rotating him forward a bit more often would be a good move. Help him shake the inevitable hard tag too.

Bingo.

Have said it from day one. We have depth in mids, Higgins can and should be a almost permanent forward. I do see the value in cameos as a mid, but keep them as that, cameos, when a specific change up in the mid is needed/planned.

hooroo.........

 

[Jack Harkaway]

Don't be surprised to see Wallis line up for us in round 1. This kid is an absolute gun, and is big enough to play afl. We have known he will be coming to the dogs for years, and has been on a training and diet plan well ahead of any normal draftee.

I'm glad we all agree Higgins is suited to being a forward. Good work team.

Yep I agree, I have seen enough of Mitch to know he's capable of playing a lot of AFL this year, but the context of my comment was him being ahead of Higgins when the kid has not played a game. I also know Higgins's best spot is forward, but my point was that he's a more than capable midfielder and must be rated higher at this stage. Let's not put too much expectation on the first year guys, instead we should be looking to guys who have been in the system a couple of years. Anything from Mitch or Tom or any of the first year guys is a total bonus.

 

[Jack Harkaway]

Bingo.

Have said it from day one. We have depth in mids, Higgins can and should be a almost permanent forward. I do see the value in cameos as a mid, but keep them as that, cameos, when a specific change up in the mid is needed/planned.

hooroo.........

yes....and it's why I think we will have 2 rucks. Because we have enough players who can rotate through the forward line from the midfield and vice versa. I call it the lost art. Because of high rotations players don't rest forward much now, they come off. The way i see it is that Gia can play mostly forward but can go on ball to relieve say Boyd, who in turn can be replaced by say Hill in the forward line. Cooney and Griff can rotate with Higgins/Veszpremi and so on. Allowing 2 rucks. I just can't see how teams will cope with just one ruck. I realise that the 2nd ruck will need to be able to go forward to rest up say Hall when required. Any of Roughead, Minson and Cordy are capable of doing that role.

The trick is having midfielders than can impact going forward and vice versa. I reckon we are well placed for that.

 

[Gus]

[YOUTUBE]fGDikDaVy1w[/YOUTUBE]

This (low quality but decent highlights) video shows him as a finisher, playing as a half forward or forward pocket.

Reckon that is where he should play, at least until he proves he has the tank for midfield work.

 

[boydsno1]

Hahahah thats my very first video ever. They made me remove the audio so i just had to choose one of the one's youtube had which was a shame. Ruined the vid.

 

[jeemak]

For those of you hoping Higgins doesn't get played in the middle and is a permanent forward, I fear you're in for a lot of disappointment.

If I look at our list and think of the potential midfielders the opposition would be genuinely concerned about because of their creative nous then I think of Cooney, Griffen and Higgins. Gia has his moments as well, but doesn't enjoy as much time in there as he is capable of, and would be genuinely seen as a forward.

The guy is 22 years old, and has had injury and illness riddle his career to this point. If he can maintain some fitness over the next two years and get consistent games into himself I think we will all see a lot of improvement in his overall game. He has exceptional hands, exceptional decision making ability, is creative with the football and knows how to finish off the teams work. Improvement in aerobic capacity after a couple more pre-seasons will see him capable of matching it with most midfielders.

He isn't overly quick, and in the modern game where teams launch a great deal of attack from the half back line through quick movement he is most likely to be exposed for this if playing forward.

So, you can hope he plays up forward permanently or predominantly. But I can't see it happening. The game has changed to the point where only a select few players (particularly forward of centre) have the luxury of being one dimensional and not expected to chip in around other areas of the ground.

 

[Gus]

Hahahah thats my very first video ever. They made me remove the audio so i just had to choose one of the one's youtube had which was a shame. Ruined the vid.

Your other vids didn't get so squeezed up either.