The best midfield

[master bate]

It's hard to say 'best', but it's a race in 3 for mine.

In terms of 2 way running West Coast and Collingwood are pretty hard to beat. Eg- The Prelim V Melb, West Coast lead the tackle count 59 - 35, a week later West Coast pull in 72 tackles and Collingwood rack up a massive 104!

Geelong still the best 'wow' factor. Ablett, Dangerfield, Selwood, Duncan.

I can see how people have the Bullies 'sexy football' midfield up there, and the Coniglio/Kelly 1-2 punch at the Giants is outstanding.

Richmond rounds out the top 6 for mine on the back of Dusty Martin. He's such a dominant player.

1. West Coast
2. Collingwood
3. Geelong
4. GWS
5. Bullies
6. Richmond

The Dogs are an interesting option, a lot of teams would love to have Bont, Macrae, Libba, Dunkley and McLean rotating through centre square and Hunter and probably Bailey Smith on a wing but their lack of ruckman has to knock them down a fair way I would've thought. Until Tim English matures (which could be this season) I think they have to slide outside the top 6.

 

[Virgin Dog]

Bris: Zorko,Neale,Rayner

I feel like Lyons would be above Rayner for now. Zorko, Neale, Lyons is definitely a better group than Mitchell, O'Meara, Shiels anyway

 

[Virgin Dog]

The Dogs are an interesting option, a lot of teams would love to have Bont, Macrae, Libba, Dunkley and McLean rotating through centre square and Hunter and probably Bailey Smith on a wing but their lack of ruckman has to knock them down a fair way I would've thought. Until Tim English matures (which could be this season) I think they have to slide outside the top 6.

Yeah as it stands, I believe our midfield was ranked 8th by CD (if you put any stock into their analysis) due to the lack of ruckman. We're arguably top 4 for actual midfielder group, then bottom 4 for rucks, which drags it down

 

[Juddernaut08]

I didn't say we were. I was just stating that we are quite underrated in our first string midfield (when you add our ruckman in as well who is top 6 in the comp for reliability in my opinion).

You're saying your top 3 is good, but your midfield isn't rated highly as a whole because lack of depth.

I'm telling you your midfield isn't rated low due to lack of depth only. It's due to a below average top 3.

Your top 3 isn't underrated. It's just not rated highly.

 

[bungalow_bill]

I feel like Lyons would be above Rayner for now. Zorko, Neale, Lyons is definitely a better group than Mitchell, O'Meara, Shiels anyway

Probably think Lyons will be a cert for round 1. But Rayner in a year or two will have a Martin like impact in the middle and up forward

 

[Kommbat]

Think you are underrating Essendon a little bit.

We haven't got a gun ruck but we have a better ruck then GWS, Geelong and Western Bulldogs, so that gives us a leg up on those sides.

Zach Merrett
Dyson Heppell
Dylan Shiel
David Zaharakis
Devon Smith


Depth with
Andy McGrath
Darcy Parish
David Myers
Josh Begley

haha thats pretty laughable, Dawson Simpson is far better than Tom Bellchambers

 

[Virgin Dog]

haha thats pretty laughable, Dawson Simpson is far better than Tom Bellchambers

Hey now, can't agree that we all have garbage rucks?

 

[Blackhawk42]

You're saying your top 3 is good, but your midfield isn't rated highly as a whole because lack of depth.

I'm telling you your midfield isn't rated low due to lack of depth only. It's due to a below average top 3.

Your top 3 isn't underrated. It's just not rated highly.

My argument is that it isn't below average with that top 3. Hence saying it's underrated, because I'm aware how people view the Hawks engine room.
As I stated, a Brownlow medalist, a 3 time premiership player and a bloke who at his best is probably better than the first two. Keep in mind this was a top 4 finishing midfield last season.
I'm not biased enough to think we are better than Collingwood, West Coast, Richmond etc, but I'd have our 3 boys easily around that 9th mark which would be enough to pass as average.
This year we're going to struggle and shouldn't be in the conversation though.

 

[schmuttt]

It's hard to say 'best', but it's a race in 3 for mine.

In terms of 2 way running West Coast and Collingwood are pretty hard to beat. Eg- The Prelim V Melb, West Coast lead the tackle count 59 - 35, a week later West Coast pull in 72 tackles and Collingwood rack up a massive 104!

Geelong still the best 'wow' factor. Ablett, Dangerfield, Selwood, Duncan.

I can see how people have the Bullies 'sexy football' midfield up there, and the Coniglio/Kelly 1-2 punch at the Giants is outstanding.

Richmond rounds out the top 6 for mine on the back of Dusty Martin. He's such a dominant player.

1. West Coast
2. Collingwood
3. Geelong
4. GWS
5. Bullies
6. Richmond

Collingwood is the only midfield better than Melbourne right now.

 

[Juddernaut08]

My argument is that it isn't below average with that top 3. Hence saying it's underrated, because I'm aware how people view the Hawks engine room.
As I stated, a Brownlow medalist, a 3 time premiership player and a bloke who at his best is probably better than the first two. Keep in mind this was a top 4 finishing midfield last season.
I'm not biased enough to think we are better than Collingwood, West Coast, Richmond etc, but I'd have our 3 boys easily around that 9th mark which would be enough to pass as average.
This year we're going to struggle and shouldn't be in the conversation though.

Yeah 9th is probably fair enough. I'd have you anywhere from 9-15.

Aside from Carlton, Gold Coast and St Kilda - whose top 3 mids would your 3 boys be "easily" be better than?

 

[Hannabal]

Collingwood is the only midfield better than Melbourne right now.

The bloke having Geelong's midfield at 3 is baffling to say the least.

The last game they played was a pretty important one and they were literally bashed up.

 

[adammania9]

1. Collingwood
2. West Coast
3. Melbourne
4. Richmond
5. GWS Giants
6. Adelaide
7. North Melbourne
8. Essendon

This is remarkably close to mine and a lot of people's ladder prediction ahead of this season. Shows how much of this game really is played on midfield terms and how games are usually won and lost in the middle.

I've looked long and hard to find out what actually went wrong for Geelong in the middle last year - every single player seemed to have a great year individually and players like Dangerfield, Ablett and Kelly presented All-Australian-level form for much of the year yet they seemed to be beaten in the middle most weeks and they were one of the league's worst sides for contested possessions and clearances. I actually don't understand why their midfield didn't perform better as a unit when every single individual seemed to post very good seasons.

 

[Milanista28]

haha thats pretty laughable, Dawson Simpson is far better than Tom Bellchambers

Lmao

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

1. Collingwood
2. West Coast
3. Melbourne
4. Richmond
5. GWS Giants
6. Adelaide
7. North Melbourne
8. Essendon

This is remarkably close to mine and a lot of people's ladder prediction ahead of this season. Shows how much of this game really is played on midfield terms and how games are usually won and lost in the middle.

I've looked long and hard to find out what actually went wrong for Geelong in the middle last year - every single player seemed to have a great year individually and players like Dangerfield, Ablett and Kelly presented All-Australian-level form for much of the year yet they seemed to be beaten in the middle most weeks and they were one of the league's worst sides for contested possessions and clearances. I actually don't understand why their midfield didn't perform better as a unit when every single individual seemed to post very good seasons.

I would have our midfield above the Tigers and West Coast. Not the team necessarily but the midfield.

 

[bungalow_bill]

GWS midfield being underrated IMO. Kelly,Coniglio,Taranto just for starters. Their top end is top 2 IMO - other being Dees

 

[WilloTree]

I would have our midfield above the Tigers and West Coast. Not the team necessarily but the midfield.

Yeah, I've got you above the Tigers.

I just think West Coast can shut you down really well, have the mature bodies not to get shoved around and spread exceptional well. It's a pretty lethal combination. Made the Dees look second rate in the Prelim, and they're pretty handy themselves.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

I group them in 3 lots(no particular order in their respective groupings)

Coll
Dees

GWS
Rich
WCE

Dogs
Ess
Crows
Geel
North

Lol wot?

 

[Blackhawk42]

Yeah 9th is probably fair enough. I'd have you anywhere from 9-15.

Aside from Carlton, Gold Coast and St Kilda - whose top 3 mids would your 3 boys be "easily" be better than?

'Easily' was probably the wrong word to use, more so 'I would consider' us to be stronger on a whole than Brisbane (now without Beams), Port Adelaide, Fremantle (now without Neale), Sydney (controversial, but Parker and Heeny aren't pure mids despite their talent. When they had Mitchell and a fit Hanners alongside Kennedy they were hard to top). I'd have Hawthorn, North Melbourne, GWS (now without Shiel), just above those aforementioned teams and St.Kilda, Carlton and Gold Coast IF the top 3 at every club were playing to their ultimate strengths and abilities.
However, there is a big chance most of the clubs i'd have the Hawks midfield higher than can discover a new star or two to fill the holes left by ageing or departed stars. Aside from Worpel taking his game to another level I really don't see how we could have a better ranked midfield than maybe Gold Coast and 1 or two others come years end. For us to have any success we are going to have to rely on a massive team effort all over the field, because it won't happen swiftly from the stoppages.

 

[Scotland]

If you play that prelim 10 times complete midfield domination to us probably only happens once. Remarkably Melbourne actually won the inside 50s for the day...

Melbourne shat the bed because outside Jordan Lewis their team had collectively played about 4 finals prior to September 2018. Their bubble burst after a good run in the EF and SF. We probably would've flogged Hawthorn too who were faltering after finishing 4th and then having to travel.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Yeah, I've got you above the Tigers.

I just think West Coast can shut you down really well, have the mature bodies not to get shoved around and spread exceptional well. It's a pretty lethal combination. Made the Dees look second rate in the Prelim, and they're pretty handy themselves.

They cut us up at Spotless by controlling posession between the arcs.. Just superior skill. It was a more dominant win than the scoreboard showed as I watched it. Optus was a more even contest.

They turn the ball over in defence a lot and if they can transition effectively you ain't beating them.

I rate their defence more than their midfield as being the instigator though.


I think the issue is our strength is the contested ball that area and they denied us the contest where we wanted it.

To beat West Coast we would have to zone better and force them to a contest along the wings in the centre of the ground. We weren't good enough to do that last year.

 

[footyfan1978]

Melbourne shat the bed because outside Jordan Lewis their team had collectively played about 4 finals prior to September 2018..

Jordan Lewis shat the bed for all of them. He set that shit show in motion.

 

[Juddernaut08]

'Easily' was probably the wrong word to use, more so 'I would consider' us to be stronger on a whole than Brisbane (now without Beams), Port Adelaide, Fremantle (now without Neale), Sydney (controversial, but Parker and Heeny aren't pure mids despite their talent. When they had Mitchell and a fit Hanners alongside Kennedy they were hard to top). I'd have Hawthorn, North Melbourne, GWS (now without Shiel), just above those aforementioned teams and St.Kilda, Carlton and Gold Coast IF the top 3 at every club were playing to their ultimate strengths and abilities.
However, there is a big chance most of the clubs i'd have the Hawks midfield higher than can discover a new star or two to fill the holes left by ageing or departed stars. Aside from Worpel taking his game to another level I really don't see how we could have a better ranked midfield than maybe Gold Coast and 1 or two others come years end. For us to have any success we are going to have to rely on a massive team effort all over the field, because it won't happen swiftly from the stoppages.

Yeah most of those are arguable.

Can't agree with GWS though.

Kelly, Coniglio and a VFL mid would be a better top 3 than the hawks trio. Such is the greatness of the first two.

As it stands, they have guys like Ward or Taranto who can step in just nicely. They're up there with the best!

 

[WilloTree]

Jordan Lewis shat the bed for all of them. He set that shit show in motion.

Yeah, the game was a train-wreck from start to finish.

 

[tony__montana]

Lol wot?

North have a decent engine room

 

[bungalow_bill]

'Easily' was probably the wrong word to use, more so 'I would consider' us to be stronger on a whole than Brisbane (now without Beams), Port Adelaide, Fremantle (now without Neale), Sydney (controversial, but Parker and Heeny aren't pure mids despite their talent. When they had Mitchell and a fit Hanners alongside Kennedy they were hard to top). I'd have Hawthorn, North Melbourne, GWS (now without Shiel), just above those aforementioned teams and St.Kilda, Carlton and Gold Coast IF the top 3 at every club were playing to their ultimate strengths and abilities.
However, there is a big chance most of the clubs i'd have the Hawks midfield higher than can discover a new star or two to fill the holes left by ageing or departed stars. Aside from Worpel taking his game to another level I really don't see how we could have a better ranked midfield than maybe Gold Coast and 1 or two others come years end. For us to have any success we are going to have to rely on a massive team effort all over the field, because it won't happen swiftly from the stoppages.

Lions lost Beams but added Neale and Lyons. Beams is a great player on song but can be a turn over merchant and a one way runner.