Ed Curnow's Successor

[blue89]

In a "perfect" world, this should be Ed Curnow's last season or two having just turned 31. Lets face it, he is clearly playing good footy so shouldn't be hanging up the boots any time soon and is the ultimate pro so will give him self every chance to play till he is 40 and we don't really have anyone that has really stepped up to take his position in the team. So, given that we would need a replacement in the near-ish future, what player on the list do you think should be groomed to play that negating mid role while still being able to accumulate the ball.

For me, if he can get his endurance right, JSOS is the best placed person to do so. Is stronger than he looks, has decent size and great game awareness and kept Fyfe honest once or twice and has a pretty natural defensive mindset. Interested to hear who others think can step up to the plate and fill the inevitable void the Ed will create at some point.

 

[Metalcrusher]

In a "perfect" world, this should be Ed Curnow's last season or two having just turned 31. Lets face it, he is clearly playing good footy so shouldn't be hanging up the boots any time soon and is the ultimate pro so will give him self every chance to play till he is 40 and we don't really have anyone that has really stepped up to take his position in the team. So, given that we would need a replacement in the near-ish future, what player on the list do you think should be groomed to play that negating mid role while still being able to accumulate the ball.

For me, if he can get his endurance right, JSOS is the best placed person to do so. Is stronger than he looks, has decent size and great game awareness and kept Fyfe honest once or twice and has a pretty natural defensive mindset. Interested to hear who others think can step up to the plate and fill the inevitable void the Ed will create at some point.

Stocker .. stocker the draft night shocker.

 

[BlueTongue]

Stocky Stocker. Hoping he has some real mongrel about him (team first mongrel, not figjam mongrel), and is prepared to run through Op mids.

 

[Coona Blues]

Novel idea. Won't need a successor. By the time Ed is ready to retire, our side will be dominant, the opposition can chase us!

 

[Jeremias]

 

[cookie monster]

Jack Silvagni

1

Jack Silvagni

Age

26

Ht

194cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

3.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.9

4star

G

0.7

4star

D

5.3

1star

K

4.0

1star

HB

1.3

1star

M

1.7

2star

T

0.7

1star

G

0.7

4star

D

9.2

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

3.0

3star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.8

4star

 

[Arr0w]

Cottrell

 

[Elmer_Judd]

Sam Philp

34

Sam Philp

Age

22

Ht

186cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.0

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.5

3star

D

7.0

1star

K

4.0

1star

HB

3.0

2star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

2star

G

0.5

4star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

4star

G

0.5

3star

for my money. Kid has all the qualities you want in a hard nut mid, who could also play the tagger/enforcer role..m

Would like to think Ed still has a good 3 or so seasons left in him though..

Hoping Teague and the MC give him more games in the seniors this year.

 

[Jabba73]

Setterfield has shown a willingness to tackle hard and run both ways, ready to step up. Let Cripps and Williams, Walsh, Stocker hunt the ball

 

[skadoosh]

 

[BlueJet]

Ideally Curnows successor wouldn't purely be a stopper but someone that can win the ball themselves whilst also able to mind an opponent should they start cutting us up.
Looking to the future, I see Philp, Stocker & even Setters capable of performing this role as each has a proven appetite for the defensive side of the game while being able to win the ball themselves.
Personally, I hope Philp is up to the task as his pace could be an asset through the middle.

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

Philp...

 

[Gethelred]

David Cuningham

28

David Cuningham

Age

27

Ht

183cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.3

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.3

5star

G

0.5

3star

D

12.1

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

5.6

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.1

3star

G

0.4

3star

D

11.8

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

5.6

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

5.6

5star

G

0.4

3star

. Bloke gets someone to lead him to the ball and gets there first.

He'd win a brownlow.

 

[Ash24]

In terms of 'ready made' options, JSOS would be my preference with Setters and even Martin not too far behind.

Looking into the future, if one of Philp or Stocker can put on 5 or so kilos of muscle, they would be just as good too.

 

[Benaly28]

Jsos.


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[Gethelred]

I do not know why people are so insistent to take JSOS away from what he already does well - which is repeat efforts and unselfish play in a general sense - and apply that to him being/becoming a tagger.

He could be a Mundy-esque midfielder, or play second fiddle akin to Duncan at Geelong, laying blocks and taking marks as part of transition, forcing the ball forward and through ugly plays that end up with us having the ball clear without him taking possession. He's precisely the kind of player to break free of the Richmond concentric circles of tacklers, because there's very frequently no clear possession for him to get rushed. He'll go, and go, and go again, and the ball ends up on a flank clear of players. It's haphazard, but it works.

To be a tagger would stop him hunting the ball, and risks him becoming too player focused. I do not see how that's a good/better outcome than allowing him to play midfield, get his 15-20 disposals or so including 5+ tackles at a better than 60% contested rate, and stringing along goal and score assists like candy.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Novel idea. Won't need a successor. By the time Ed is ready to retire, our side will be dominant, the opposition can chase us!

I agree, I think from next year forward we transition to a "our youngest/least experienced midfielder gets matched up as a tagger" like many of the top teams use. Gives a spot in the side to a budding youth, allows them to develop their game and learn from the best. Then we let Walsh, Cripps, Setterfield and Williams go head to head with the oppo.

 

[BlueTongue]

In a "perfect" world, this should be Ed Curnow's last season or two having just turned 31. Lets face it, he is clearly playing good footy so shouldn't be hanging up the boots any time soon and is the ultimate pro so will give him self every chance to play till he is 40 and we don't really have anyone that has really stepped up to take his position in the team. So, given that we would need a replacement in the near-ish future, what player on the list do you think should be groomed to play that negating mid role while still being able to accumulate the ball.

Someone mentioned in another thread recently that Paddy Dow should be given a Tagger's role, as he is a good ball winner, but also so he focuses on the OP and doesn't have time to over-think it.

This is a great idea and I think he should be doing this in 2021, whilst Ed still has a few years left, and can be set free to win the ball and not worry about negating the OP.

 

[Milshouse]

I think it could be a good role for stocker early on, but his endurance has question marks so not sure if it would suit, but run with role for a young mid has been done successfully with other teams, i think it was clarke from essendon maybe who did a great job on cripps last season, so it can work, but ed is one of the best in the business at being an offensive tagger, i got a lot of respect for ed

 

[spry]

I think Jsos is the only one who will have the strength base as well as the endurance to play the Ed role in time for that transition.

the others will lack in either department methinks to be a like for like replacement.

there is always the option that our midfield goes a different direction if we phase Ed out. But having a good stopper is always needed as an option.

 

[Gethelred]

I think Jsos is the only one who will have the strength base as well as the endurance to play the Ed role in time for that transition.

the others will lack in either department methinks to be a like for like replacement.

there is always the option that our midfield goes a different direction if we phase Ed out. But having a good stopper is always needed as an option.

If we go with Jack - and I'm against it in general - I suggest something a little different. Instead of trying to tag out the opposition's best player - the general theory - get Jack big and strong, and pit him against the opposition's prime mover, the person who wins their clearances and their hard ball. Essentially, deprive them of their Cripps, and have Jack sharking their taps.

We're a clearance side, so anything which robs opposition of their own clearances is going to just add a dimension to our game as it currently stands. It means that the opposition cannot win the ball against us as often as they normally would, which works for our time in possession game which is another of our key indicators. And it means that, instead of needing a different type of tagger to tag out the difference between Danger, GAbblett, Whitfield, Kelly etc you're just developing a player to tag one; Cripps, Priddis, Pendlebury, Cunnington, the big inside mid. Sure, you've got hybrid players (Treloar, Bontempelli, Danger) but by and large those players hurt you with what they can do outside, once the ball is already supplied to them; you force them inside to compete where you're already strong in order to give them supply, and you've already taken an opposition's plan A away from them.

 

[spry]

If we go with Jack - and I'm against it in general - I suggest something a little different. Instead of trying to tag out the opposition's best player - the general theory - get Jack big and strong, and pit him against the opposition's prime mover, the person who wins their clearances and their hard ball. Essentially, deprive them of their Cripps, and have Jack sharking their taps.

We're a clearance side, so anything which robs opposition of their own clearances is going to just add a dimension to our game as it currently stands. It means that the opposition cannot win the ball against us as often as they normally would, which works for our time in possession game which is another of our key indicators. And it means that, instead of needing a different type of tagger to tag out the difference between Danger, GAbblett, Whitfield, Kelly etc you're just developing a player to tag one; Cripps, Priddis, Pendlebury, Cunnington, the big inside mid. Sure, you've got hybrid players (Treloar, Bontempelli, Danger) but by and large those players hurt you with what they can do outside, once the ball is already supplied to them; you force them inside to compete where you're already strong in order to give them supply, and you've already taken an opposition's plan A away from them.

Great post,

hopefully by then we have more dynamic players on the outside to shovel it out to.
Williams, Martin, Cunners a few years older, Dow, O’Brien etc.

 

[Sin City]

It looks to me like Teague and Russell expect everyone to share the load with defensive running and to have high level endurance. Ed hasn’t been doing as much tagging since Teague took over and we’ve normally had a four man on ball rotation. I’d say when Ed goes that Walsh will join Cripps, Setterfield and Williams in a full time on ball role and guys like Philp, LOB, Cottrell and Ramsay will be in the running for a wing role.

 

[skadoosh]

Question - Ed is pretty much cornered into the hard tagger's role. But does he play as a tagger every game, or were there games where he was advised to play loose?

Similarly, for the other teams in the comp, do they play a tagger each week?

I'd think as our midfield unit grows as a whole (and I expect the midfield to make a huge step in 2021), the need for a tagger diminishes as there's a spread of players you can rely on the win the ball out of the middle, rather than even needing to consider a defensive mindset (a la tagger) at all.

 

[Gethelred]

Question - Ed is pretty much cornered into the hard tagger's role. But does he play as a tagger every game, or were there games where he was advised to play loose?

Similarly, for the other teams in the comp, do they play a tagger each week?

I'd think as our midfield unit grows as a whole (and I expect the midfield to make a huge step in 2021), the need for a tagger diminishes as there's a spread of players you can rely on the win the ball out of the middle, rather than even needing to consider a defensive mindset (a la tagger) at all.

I tend towards agreeing with this, albeit with the exception of players like Cuningham, who need the tag to get lead to the ball.

We're already pretty bloody strong around the ball, even before getting Williams in or before any of the next tier start contributing. If Dow, Stocker, SPS, Philp, Ramsay, Carroll become full time AFL mids, we're getting into surplus territory; there's 5-6 players who could play as pure inside mids in that list, and all except Dow could play outside. With Cripps, Setterfield, we really don't need a tagger to work over the opposition's best player unless the other parts - outside the stoppage - aren't translating our clearance/contested ball dominance into scoring.