The On Ballers... Without Bucks

[Frederlick]

What is the go? Without Buckley just about every on baller/follower has genuinely stepped up to the plate. Was it the best thing that could have happened? Have some of these players been riding on his coat tails, or caught in his shadow? What does it mean, and will Collingwood have to pay the price of inexperience eventually? Lots of questions I know, but it seems this was the catalyst to unleash some real talent, and warrants some discussion.

 

[Bay Pie]

It shows sometimes that the club knows where it is heading. I cannot recall reading a post on Bigffoty before the ND wanting us to draft anything other then some midfielders. We go on to draft talls as the powers that be perhaps new we had a good mix of midfielders. In saying that if Gibbs, Boak or Selwood were available at 8, I'm sure we would have taken them.

Little did we all know that we have very handy depth and mix in the midfield department. We still don't have the absolute quality like Kerr, Judd or the Burgoynes but we do have a very even spread of consistent talent at the moment ranging from, Burnsy and Tarks killing it, right down to Pendles showing us why we drafted him at 5 instead of some others who appeared to be ranked higher.

Don't forget Dids is still finding his feet and is probably 4 to 5 weeks away from his 20-25 deadly possession games.

 

[Jabso]

The plod squad midfield and their roles used to be:
O'Bree (he was an outside linkman)
Burns (in and under ball winner/all rounder/clearance)
Lockyer (outside linkman and tagger at times)
Licuria (tagger/inside mid/linkman/clearances)
Woewodin (outside mid)
Holland (tagger/all rounder)
Buckley (all rounder/clearances)
Scotland (outside mid/burst player off the bench)
Lonie (winger at times)

now the last 4 may not be total plodders, but that was pretty much our midfield in 02/03, along with Scotland at times (although he used to and still does stop the play a fair bit). Now it was very good at it's best. Lockyer wasn't playing midfield much but he was still rotated through there. Other players who played a fair bit was Steinfort and McGough.

Now our midfield, dispite only 1 of those leaving has transformed. Our rotations include:

O'Bree (almost purely inside mid/clearances)
Johnson (outside mid/linkman/ball carrier)
Burns (all rounder/clearance/burst player)
Lockyer (outside mid but has improved his inside work incredibly)
Thomas (all rounder/burst player)
Pendlebury (outside mid/inside mid)
Swan (this year inside mid but is an allrounder)
Davis (burst player/clearence)
R.Shaw (wing/ball carrier/tagger)
Toovey (tagger)

Haven't played much in the middle this year but can/will play a role
Lonie (winger/tagger/outside mid)
Holland (tagger/all rounder/linkman)
Licuria (tagger/inside mid) - almost finished, spending time forward this year anyway
H.Shaw (all rounder)

O'Bree and Burns are the only real plodders of this squad and don't get found out due to Burns' footy smarts and O'Bree becoming a purely inside mid. Lica would have to come back and play a tagging role to be of any value. Lockyer has become a dynamic player and has shaken off the plodder tag.

Basically some of the major changes to our midfield the past years have been the injection of Thomas and Pendles, Lockyer transforming, Swan coming out of nowhere, O'Bree being our #1 insider and not having to carry the ball or finish and basically just more players to rotate through there.

 

[Bay Pie]

The plod squad midfield and their roles used to be:
O'Bree (he was an outside linkman)
Burns (in and under ball winner/all rounder/clearance)
Lockyer (outside linkman and tagger at times)
Licuria (tagger/inside mid/linkman/clearances)
Woewodin (outside mid)
Holland (tagger/all rounder)
Buckley (all rounder/clearances)
Scotland (outside mid/burst player off the bench)
Lonie (winger at times)

now the last 4 may not be total plodders, but that was pretty much our midfield in 02/03, along with Scotland at times (although he used to and still does stop the play a fair bit). Now it was very good at it's best. Lockyer wasn't playing midfield much but he was still rotated through there. Other players who played a fair bit was Steinfort and McGough.

Now our midfield, dispite only 1 of those leaving has transformed. Our rotations include:

O'Bree (almost purely inside mid/clearances)
Johnson (outside mid/linkman/ball carrier)
Burns (all rounder/clearance/burst player)
Lockyer (outside mid but has improved his inside work incredibly)
Thomas (all rounder/burst player)
Pendlebury (outside mid/inside mid)
Swan (this year inside mid but is an allrounder)
Davis (burst player/clearence)
R.Shaw (wing/ball carrier/tagger)
Toovey (tagger)

Haven't played much in the middle this year but can/will play a role
Lonie (winger/tagger/outside mid)
Holland (tagger/all rounder/linkman)
Licuria (tagger/inside mid) - almost finished, spending time forward this year anyway
H.Shaw (all rounder)

O'Bree and Burns are the only real plodders of this squad and don't get found out due to Burns' footy smarts and O'Bree becoming a purely inside mid. Lica would have to come back and play a tagging role to be of any value. Lockyer has become a dynamic player and has shaken off the plodder tag.

Basically some of the major changes to our midfield the past years have been the injection of Thomas and Pendles, Lockyer transforming, Swan coming out of nowhere, O'Bree being our #1 insider and not having to carry the ball or finish and basically just more players to rotate through there.

Excellent summation.

 

[Frederlick]

Excellent summation.

I liked it too. Sure your not a club forward scout Jabso?

 

[Jabso]

Where the hell did the term "forward scout" come from all of a sudden? It seems to be the new footy buzz word. What the hell is a forward scout I thought it was an opposition analyst.

 

[magpies42]

all i know is that johnson is having a poor season this year!

 

[Coin_Toss]

Could do with a Cooney-type mid. Someone with the ability to get the ball and then kick it 50+ metres up field without having to break stride. Chris Judd is the hottest property on the market but we won't get him. Having said that, if we can recruit/trade well this year, and the youngsters can take the next step, I'm genuinely confident about next year but Burns may have retired then as well as Licuria and Buckley, which could set us back another year... hopefully not!

 

[Frederlick]

Where the hell did the term "forward scout" come from all of a sudden? It seems to be the new footy buzz word. What the hell is a forward scout I thought it was an opposition analyst.

I think they are a bit more than an oppo analyst. They do any jobs needed, ie, in WA they might do some recruiting, oppo analyst or draft work as required by the club, or am I wrong on this one? I think they have emerged in recent years with the advent of the national comp, draft, etc.