This is how I see our strongest lineup for next season:
Backline:
To be honest, I see our backline as our strength. We have a good mix of defenders capable of playing on both tall and small forwards, including McPharlin as our 'athletic' type defender and Haddrill as our 'old-fashioned' type defender. Not to forget Parker who can play on all types of forwards and never gives his opponent an inch; as well as Hayden, Woods and Grover who will not only shut down a small-medium sized forward, but will also provide great run and drive out of the back half.
Midfield:
Our midfield has a good blend of pace, foot skills and leadership, but we need to find bigger bodied, tougher players who can win the ball in congested stopages. When we are losing the clearances, our midfield rely on the opposition turning the ball over in our backline and then finding space on the wings to receive the ball from our backline. This gameplan comes unstuck when playing against a seasoned side with good foot skills, or on a smaller ground. Hasleby is generally very good in the clearances due to his natural football brain, but allowing him to spend extra time in the weights room (as well increasing his pace off the mark) wouldn't do any harm either as his tackles tend to slip too easily. I really believe another inside, youngish midfielder, not afraid of the physical side of the game with great poise would really assist our midfield. Steven Armstrong fits the bill quite nicely but I get the feeling we'd have to give too much to obtain him.
Carr is good at negating an opposition player, but can also be very damaging in his own right when playing as an outside midfielder, which is a valuable aset to have. Headland will need to step up to another level next season and other players will need to play with the hardness and intensity of Macca, Cook and Bell.
When people tell me we should play Pavlich as a key forward, I tell them to think what our midfield would be like without him. Our current midfield is good enough to match the top sides, but without Pav it would be a completely different story. We'd need Schammer, Browne, Edgecumbe and Webster to establish themselves as quality midfielders before having the ability to play Pav as a key forward without disrupting our midfield structure.
Forward Line:
Lets be honest here, our forward line has really underperformed this season. Croad has only played one or two great games at CHF this season (Sydney, round 17) and Longmuir's impact at FF has been restricted due to his knee injury, a poor set shot routine which MUST be rectified and a lack of upper-body strength to outmuscle larger opponents.
With Croad not playing in our last couple of games, we tried Simmonds as a key forward, which did work to an extent. The only problem is, we won't be able to play him there permanently because we need him to assist Sandilands' development in the ruck. I believe next season is the year to play Polak as a permanent CHF. With some extra sessions in the weights room and doing 100% of the pre-season running schedule now that he is a third year player, next season will be his year. He played very well at CHF in the second half of Friday night's EF, and once he gains more confidence with his set shot kicking, he should be able to perform on a consistent basis.
Despite being patchy in the early half of the season, Medhurst has had a relatively good year but needs to pass the ball to team mates in a better position more often. I know he is in the top ten in the league for goal assists, but he often blazes away instead of passing to a team mate, with his refusal to pass to Polak in the last quarter of Friday night's EF being a prime example. He leads to from the pocket which is good, as it gives Longmuir space in the corridor and allowes Polak to contest the ball further up the ground at CHF.
Farmer HAS had some good games for us this year (as outlined in the other thread), but he is still capable of a better output. As long as a 55 metre chain is tied from his ankle to the goal post next season, there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to kick more than 45 - 50 goals, provided he plays every game.
Unfortunately, I doubt whether the future of Croad, Koops or Walker remains with Freo. Croad and Koops have really underperformed this year and whilst Walker has played some good games, if we could trade two of them in a deal for a quality midfielder to assist us in the stoppages as well as some picks, we would jump at that deal IMO.
Your thoughts?
Code:
FB: Grover Haddrill Parker
HB: Woods McPharlin Hayden
C: Headland Hasleby Carr
HF: McManus Polak Farmer
FF: Medhurst J.Longmuir Simmonds
R: Sandilands Pavlich Bell
I: Schammer Cook Webster Croad
E: T.Longmuir Walker KoopsBackline:
To be honest, I see our backline as our strength. We have a good mix of defenders capable of playing on both tall and small forwards, including McPharlin as our 'athletic' type defender and Haddrill as our 'old-fashioned' type defender. Not to forget Parker who can play on all types of forwards and never gives his opponent an inch; as well as Hayden, Woods and Grover who will not only shut down a small-medium sized forward, but will also provide great run and drive out of the back half.
Midfield:
Our midfield has a good blend of pace, foot skills and leadership, but we need to find bigger bodied, tougher players who can win the ball in congested stopages. When we are losing the clearances, our midfield rely on the opposition turning the ball over in our backline and then finding space on the wings to receive the ball from our backline. This gameplan comes unstuck when playing against a seasoned side with good foot skills, or on a smaller ground. Hasleby is generally very good in the clearances due to his natural football brain, but allowing him to spend extra time in the weights room (as well increasing his pace off the mark) wouldn't do any harm either as his tackles tend to slip too easily. I really believe another inside, youngish midfielder, not afraid of the physical side of the game with great poise would really assist our midfield. Steven Armstrong fits the bill quite nicely but I get the feeling we'd have to give too much to obtain him.
Carr is good at negating an opposition player, but can also be very damaging in his own right when playing as an outside midfielder, which is a valuable aset to have. Headland will need to step up to another level next season and other players will need to play with the hardness and intensity of Macca, Cook and Bell.
When people tell me we should play Pavlich as a key forward, I tell them to think what our midfield would be like without him. Our current midfield is good enough to match the top sides, but without Pav it would be a completely different story. We'd need Schammer, Browne, Edgecumbe and Webster to establish themselves as quality midfielders before having the ability to play Pav as a key forward without disrupting our midfield structure.
Forward Line:
Lets be honest here, our forward line has really underperformed this season. Croad has only played one or two great games at CHF this season (Sydney, round 17) and Longmuir's impact at FF has been restricted due to his knee injury, a poor set shot routine which MUST be rectified and a lack of upper-body strength to outmuscle larger opponents.
With Croad not playing in our last couple of games, we tried Simmonds as a key forward, which did work to an extent. The only problem is, we won't be able to play him there permanently because we need him to assist Sandilands' development in the ruck. I believe next season is the year to play Polak as a permanent CHF. With some extra sessions in the weights room and doing 100% of the pre-season running schedule now that he is a third year player, next season will be his year. He played very well at CHF in the second half of Friday night's EF, and once he gains more confidence with his set shot kicking, he should be able to perform on a consistent basis.
Despite being patchy in the early half of the season, Medhurst has had a relatively good year but needs to pass the ball to team mates in a better position more often. I know he is in the top ten in the league for goal assists, but he often blazes away instead of passing to a team mate, with his refusal to pass to Polak in the last quarter of Friday night's EF being a prime example. He leads to from the pocket which is good, as it gives Longmuir space in the corridor and allowes Polak to contest the ball further up the ground at CHF.
Farmer HAS had some good games for us this year (as outlined in the other thread), but he is still capable of a better output. As long as a 55 metre chain is tied from his ankle to the goal post next season, there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to kick more than 45 - 50 goals, provided he plays every game.
Unfortunately, I doubt whether the future of Croad, Koops or Walker remains with Freo. Croad and Koops have really underperformed this year and whilst Walker has played some good games, if we could trade two of them in a deal for a quality midfielder to assist us in the stoppages as well as some picks, we would jump at that deal IMO.
Your thoughts?
