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- #376
Toast Lachie Neale
- Thread starter Wizard
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- Jun 6, 2010
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I can sense the two SA clubs licking their lips already.
Neale is a contested beast, what he lacks in height he makes up for in shortness.
Neale is a contested beast, what he lacks in height he makes up for in shortness.
People say he's not tall, but he's about average for his height.
Lachie is a lot quicker than Haze. He surprised me with his pace when one of our defenders could not keep up with his man so Lachie put on his after burners and forced him into a quick kick. (I think this was in the Hawks game, but I could be wrong. )
Lost_Deputy
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Reminds me of my last dog - a staffy named Boss. About as big a compliment I could give someone
The conversation was referring more to his speed in decision making and with his hands. How he can grab the ball, see an opening and get it out. The sort of stuff Mitchell and Williams were famous for rather than running speed.
I could not split Lachie and Hase for handballing and positioning. Both just natural footballers in knowing where to run to get the ball, Hase very clean both sides, Lachie almost as clean but quicker reflexes.
General play Hase a better kick but obviously a fair bit slower than Lachie. Barlow is just a different beast really - uses his height to get to the handball away at the last minute.
The best thing for us now is that Lachie comes in behind Fyfe, Mundy, Hill, Barlow in terms of players getting earmarked for attention. As our fifth best midfielder he can easily be the difference compared to the oppositions fifth best.
General play Hase a better kick but obviously a fair bit slower than Lachie. Barlow is just a different beast really - uses his height to get to the handball away at the last minute.
The best thing for us now is that Lachie comes in behind Fyfe, Mundy, Hill, Barlow in terms of players getting earmarked for attention. As our fifth best midfielder he can easily be the difference compared to the oppositions fifth best.
I thought he played all 5 games for SA in 2011, or are you talking about something different?
- Banned
- #384
Ok yeah I'll recheck that. I must of made a mistake.
Moo
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Lucky for us as any shorter and his legs may not touch the ground.
The Black Sheep
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Even if they do pick him up/give him extra attention, it then benefits one of the other mids you mentioned
massive lachie fan, but don't undersell haze. He was a pure footballer. Not necessarily the quickest hands but extremely good and the knowledge of where to put the ball. Unfortunately just as he was starting to peak he did his knee, plus the back issues, and really we didn't get the best of him for a prolonged period, despite this he would be one of our best in short history.
Just looking at some premiership sides and the teams with great midfield trios always had quality support like Fletcher/Corey/Lappin etc, Lachie seems to me like he could be better than a mere support act though.
- Apr 4, 2013
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Freo's top five mids in order:
Fyfe
Mundy
Hill (rapidly overtaking Mundy)
Barlow
Neale (on his way to supplanting Barlow).
When Mundy retires, if Crozier can make the leap, or even Sutcliffe from HBF, that's a midfield good unit for the next five years. Average age of Freo's emerging midfield: 22.
Fyfe
Mundy
Hill (rapidly overtaking Mundy)
Barlow
Neale (on his way to supplanting Barlow).
When Mundy retires, if Crozier can make the leap, or even Sutcliffe from HBF, that's a midfield good unit for the next five years. Average age of Freo's emerging midfield: 22.
The Black Sheep
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If Duffy comes on there's a fair chance you can add Michael Walters to that list of mids.
I'd have Barlow as our midfield MVP. Doesn't do a lot of the fancy stuff, but he keeps getting it and doesn't waste it. Every time a pack forms he is at the bottom shoveling the ball out.
Barlow
Fyfe
Mundy/Hill are about on par
Neale gaining fast
Not extrapolating anything further from this, but I wouldn't have expected to see you name Hill so high on such a list. When he's on song, I'd have to agree though.
I'm REALLY enjoying watching Sutty play lately. I'm not 100% sure why, maybe it's the sense of calm from knowing he's going to use the ball well and put it to our advantage almost every time. So clean with his disposal, he shows a lot of poise. Not bad for a pick 71.
I agree and don't forget he was a very good mark for his size!
Neale & Sutcliffe are developing along just nicely.
Creates a bit of confidence we wont dip too far (or may not dip at all) when the obvious retirements start rolling along the next few years.
Creates a bit of confidence we wont dip too far (or may not dip at all) when the obvious retirements start rolling along the next few years.
Yeh I would still have Hase in his prime versus Lachie, I was just comparing Handballing skills. Certainly Hase also had that brilliant overhead mark for his size as another string to his bow and was slightly better with knowing where to place his kicks in particular. But look at where they were drafted and Lachie is a very good player given what we used to get him versus Hase.
Interesting that in the projections for our future midfield neither Sheridan or Morabito get a mention. And for what it is worth, Simpson brings another dimension to our midfield which could make it deadly.
In an ideal world, they'd be pushing out the likes of Suban, ibbo, guys who rotate through the middle occasionally... maaybe guys that are getting a little long in the tooth too like Duffield, Crowley, Mzungu. It's hard to see guys like Sheridan & Mora force out the likes of Fyfe, Barlow, Hill, Mundy, Neale etc. At this stage. To say our midfield depth in the next few years is something to get excited about - would be a massive understatement, IMO.
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There is also a beast called Ballard waiting in the wings and coming along quite nicely down at Peel
