The Backline - What will happen??

[Mofra]

The two highlighted match-ups are where it gets messy. I'd go Talia - Hale and cousin to cousin. Rioli would be far to slippery for Darley.

Darley beat Rioli in the VFL GF last year, granted Rioli was coming back from injury.

I'm more worried by the Roughie-Talia match up. Talia couldn't get a game for us last year and he takes one of the best KPFs in the competition? Concerning.

 

[BRWB]

Darley beat Rioli in the VFL GF last year, granted Rioli was coming back from injury.

I'm more worried by the Roughie-Talia match up. Talia couldn't get a game for us last year and he takes one of the best KPFs in the competition? Concerning.

Maybe we'll have Caleb Daniel, Honey, Hrovat, etc dropping back in defence to help out?

 

[Mofra]

Maybe we'll have Caleb Daniel, Honey, Hrovat, etc dropping back in defence to help out?

Hehe - avoiding opening that can of worms!

 

[doggies ftw]

Maybe we'll have Caleb Daniel, Honey, Hrovat, etc dropping back in defence to help out?

Maybe we'll have one of our many 186cm + mids doing that? Maybe you should give BF a rest for a while until you get the * over it?

 

[the conch]

talia can't run as fast nor kick as well as shaggy though.

shaggy, as laid back as he was, was a firey, fierce soldier...not seeing it with talia.

I remember Hargreaves being the only player - in a demoralised and young Rhodes team - physically flying the flag by getting into fights and refusing to be a walkover. True Doggie

 

[the conch]

So Bev has come from an extremely successful club in Hawthorn who value kicking more than any club in the competition. If we look at some of the players they have rotated through there recently:
Birchall
Burgoyne
Guerra
Lake
Gibson
Suckling
Mitchell (has played a lot across half back)
and of course
Hodge

Currently the only guy in our backline who you could group with this lot is Murphy. Picken is solid and JJ has his moments but they are by no means dead-eye's. The jury is out on Roughead, but there's been little to suggest that we'll see him striding off half-back hitting targets by foot. Wood breaks lines but his technique and disposal is average at best. We know what we get with Morris but has been somewhat exposed since the likes of Lake, Gilbee, and Hargrave left. Talia can't kick, we all know that. Could he be our lock-down defender? Sure, but not until Morris retires and/or he gets some runs on the board. Roberts looks to have the class, but does he have the strength and speed? Fuller? Who knows? Darley, nice kick and potential murph replacement but needs to do a whole lot more before I'm convinced.

So, it seems pretty clear to me that the backline we have now will be vastly revamped under Beveridge. So what will he do?

Firstly I think Murphy will stay there, and will not move forward like many on here are calling for. His experience and ability to create space will be essential in the learning process of the youngsters and he fits the Hawthorn mould, much the same as Burgoyne.
I think Roberts will get a go. His skills look good and he might be able to match up on a third tall forward.
I can see Dale Morris being phased out slowly. Retirement beckons at the end of 2015 as I can't see him fitting in to future plans.
Wood and JJ to stay down there for experience. Wood just needs another year of regular football having played only 65 games since he was recruited in 2007. He showed last year that he can be an offensive weapon out of the backline and we are sadly short in that area. JJ has potential to play the Gilbee sweeper role but needs to show more composure under fire and improvement in the one-one duals.
Darley is Murph-like but may not get a gig unless he adds another string to his bow.
The jury is still out for me with Roughead. As I've said from day one when they tried to turn him into a backman there is a major flaw with this plan. If the opposition goes small what do you do with him? While people see him as a future captain I can see him as someone we may look at trading in the future unless he can really work on his speed and match it with the full forwards such as Kennedy, Riewoldt etc.
Jongy! Almost forgot him. I think he's more suited on a wing where he can run free and he showed in the VFL that he can use his speed to run and kick a goal or two.

Out of left field I'd like to suggest 2 names. The first is Hunter. When I look at him I see a lot of similarities between him and Guerra. Small left footer's with good evasive skills and a neat left foot. I think Hunter's set shot kicking leaves a fair bit to be desired, but his kicking to a man is right up there.
The second is Redpath. Has the speed and agression of a full-back and is a neat kick. Would need to prove himself while under fire though. Also he may only get to play there when Boyd is playing at full-forward.

So, this is my Beveridge Backline, which most likely won't come to fruition but I had fun thinking about it. I'm thinking of round 20 2015. As I mentioned above I think Morris will be phased out and Picken may spend more time in the midfield to add some grunt and body size to give our young mids a break.

Backs: Hunter Redpath Roughead
Half Backs: Murphy Roberts Wood
Int: Johannisen/Darley

Could Redpath play full back role?
Brian Lake started as a fwd

 

[Libba39]

Could Redpath play full back role?
Brian Lake started as a fwd

If you read to the bottom of my post I have named him at full back.

 

[TempleKelvington]

Darley beat Rioli in the VFL GF last year, granted Rioli was coming back from injury.

I'm more worried by the Roughie-Talia match up. Talia couldn't get a game for us last year and he takes one of the best KPFs in the competition? Concerning.

To be fair not many can beat him.

 

[TempleKelvington]

It exciting for me to be frank. I can't wait to see if Talia and Roberts get their shot. My only knock on Talia is his kicking. But otherwise he's very capable over head, he's big, he's pretty quick. Roberts has more class but Talia is more of a brute defender.

I see them working with Roughy and Morris and match ups determine the line up. We will learn a lot about them next year and we'll see. I expect Cordy and Hamling to play parts too. I'm not confident that we can hold good forward lines, but I'm also not writing them off. This is their time now to show us.

I can't wait. WCE first up offers a good test.

 

[GreatSouthWest]

We're all excited Frank

 

[fronkalicious]

I remember Hargreaves being the only player - in a demoralised and young Rhodes team - physically flying the flag by getting into fights and refusing to be a walkover. True Doggie

So much right about this post, but so much wrong at the same time.

 

[Mofra]

It exciting for me to be frank. I can't wait to see if Talia and Roberts get their shot. My only knock on Talia is his kicking. But otherwise he's very capable over head, he's big, he's pretty quick. Roberts has more class but Talia is more of a brute defender.

Talia's kicking has improved, I'm worried about his actual stopping ability. Hopefully that can be rectified as he seems smart enough o get to the fall of the ball at VFL level most times which isn't easy to learn.
Roberts has everything except pace, even in his first year his body positioning under a high ball was excellent. He is coming off surgery through so that may impact him (as well as injury issues).

Can we play Roberts & Roughy in the same team if Roughy is a KPD? They do have similar traits (although Roberts is a beautiful kick and Roughy is a better contested mark and provides more as a forward target).

 

[TempleKelvington]

Talia's kicking has improved, I'm worried about his actual stopping ability. Hopefully that can be rectified as he seems smart enough o get to the fall of the ball at VFL level most times which isn't easy to learn.
Roberts has everything except pace, even in his first year his body positioning under a high ball was excellent. He is coming off surgery through so that may impact him (as well as injury issues).

Can we play Roberts & Roughy in the same team if Roughy is a KPD? They do have similar traits (although Roberts is a beautiful kick and Roughy is a better contested mark and provides more as a forward target).

It's possible they compliment each other. Both could play forward or back and therefore where they play depends on match ups. Talia's kicking while poor is not a big issue provided he does not try to get to funky. I think he's got with it especially just the basic kicks and is better at giving it off to better options rather than trying to do too much.

There are so many doubts on these guys I know, but we'll find out this year that is for sure.

 

[Dav1d]

could Roberts perhaps play a similar role to what Scott Welsh did, swung between the forward and backline?

hopefully to try and create mismatches in our forward line

 

[the conch]

So much right about this post, but so much wrong at the same time.

Didn't express myself well ... hurry, etc.