Autopsy 2023 Round 15 - GWS Giants vs The Bye, 22-25 June

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Giant Strides said:
That's a 180 degree turn. 360 degrees gets you back to playing forward! ;)

My problem is that it gets us to playing a 4.5 tall defence (Taylor, Buckley, Haynes, HH & 0.5 is Idun). Or we stick Haynes on a wing, which was supposedly the case against Freo (I need to look at the game again to watch his positioning during play.) Neither of those is a great outcome IMHO - it might have worked against a disappointing Freo, but can it work against stronger teams?

From your first sentence, the inference is that HH should replace Haynes as the third defender - better 1-on-1, almost as able an interceptor, and better ball distributor.
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yes, excellent point, it is 180

Haynes was wing like on the weekend IMO. Not quite true wing. I read or heard somewhere they were hoping he'd take intercept marks further up the field, which did happen.

Not sure how they all fit in, which is the conundrum
 
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OK, I'd like to look at the forward line now. Let's have a look at the total personnel situation to start with:

KPFs: Hogan, Himmelberg, Riccardi, Derksen, Cadman, Gruzewski (6)
Small/medium forwards: Greene, Daniels, Bedford, Jones, Peatling, McMullin, Lloyd, Stone, Brown (9)

As always, it's not entirely clearcut. Does AK now see HH more as a KPD than a KPF? Is Stone more of a mid? (For the record, I consider that we drafted him to be a high half forward, so no, not a mid.) Where does Brown sit, after all, he's spent a lot of time in defence?

Losing Jezza Cameron was a massive blow to the GWS forward line, one which we still have not recovered from. We were lucky that we benefited from Hogan's personal situation. I know he cops some flak at times, both about his body holding up, and his kicking yips. However, honestly IMHO, we would not be better without him. His body has actually held up well this year, losing just this last game to a precautionary sit down, which I would have given him anyway to allow him to have a solid chunk of time off in the middle of the season to have a rest, and slowly build up loads again for the back half of the season. He's 17th in total goals, despite missing that game and having a couple of wayward games, so he's not massively starring for us, but certainly solid. He's actually the third best KPF for contested marks, behind Curnow & McKay (how are they not kicking more goals?) and ahead of Walker, Hawkins & the rest, and 5th for marks inside 50.

Himmelberg is definitely limited as a KPF. He's not the pack-crashing marker - despite taking a couple of mark-of-the-year contenders - most of the time. The strength of his work is in his mobility, and being able to create opportunities for others - he's 16th in goal assists, despite now spending a couple of games in defence. Aaron Cadman's career is still in its infancy. You can see a series of "almost" moments: almost marking, almost getting in the right position. It will come with time. Jake Riccardi has had a resurgence since returning to the side in round 10. His first 4 games garnered 2 goals, his last 4 featured 11 goals.

Funnily enough, that's coincided with a resurgence in GWS inside 50 count, and overall scoring on the back of Kingsley's gameplan. Since round 10, GWS are first in the AFL for most points from the forward half. We are also in the top four for most points scored inside-50 differential and forward-half intercepts. Pointing to the dual facts that if you can get the ball into F50 more quickly you're more likely to score, and if you pressure your opposition into turning over the ball in their D50 you can score more.

Greene's obviously our superstar forward, enough said there. Toby Bedford has ratcheted up the pressure since beginning his career with GWS. Since debuting in round 7, he's shot to the top of the averages for tackles inside F50. His goal-scoring is yet to come on. Greene's actually no slouch defensively, overall ranked 17th in total tackles, while Daniels is 12th (despite missing games), so our small forwards are bringing the pressure. Riccardi's tackling stats are actually decent too, so he's doing the required defensive role. Callum Brown has recently gone forward as well, and his speed is an added dimension in both offensive and defensive aspects. Peatling and Lloyd have played several games due to injuries, and despite trying hard, are the weak links for us. In fact, Binga was rated by Champion Data as the 7th best player in the whole league up to round 12, reflecting an excellent balance in kicking goals and defending. Hopefully he's back after the bye and able to slot back into a functioning forward line.

The question probably needs to be asked - what is the best set-up of our forward line? Is it 3 KPFs as we've traditionally run for many years, and continue to do so? Or could we be advantaged by going shorter and faster? We still have Darcy Jones to debut next year, so we could play a forward line of:

Jesse Hogan - Jake Riccardi - Callum Brown - Toby Greene - Brent Daniels - Toby Bedford - Darcy Jones

Brown as that third tall position is interesting. He's got the leap to take marks similar to a tall, but the speed to defend and get ground balls like a small - can we use that to our advantage?

Right now, you could throw XOH into that 7th position - while essentially a mid, he's doing mid-forward time, pressuring and also scoring.

Alternatively, we go back to a standard 3 KPF set-up, and drop the last small. The last game we played HH back and Lachie Keeffe forward. As much as I admire that he's got the most out of himself (notwithstanding his drugs blot), I hope we don't continue with Keeffe. I've said my piece on HH back and the surrounding issues for the backline & midfield, but focussing on the forward line, if HH isn't there then we should throw either Derksen or Gruzewski into a debut. I was happy with giving Cadman an early and extended run as the No 1 draft pick, but he now needs to consolidate what he's learned - in the VFL. Derksen has 24 goals in 11 VFL games, including bags of 5 goals. Gruzewski has 21 goals in 11 games. They've both demonstrated their skill, and deserve to be rewarded. It might also identify someone who'll be a long term KPF for GWS too! If one or both of HH and Riccardi depart at season's end, I'd prefer to have blooded at least one, if not both, of these guys. Derksen has shown an ability in VFL to be the forward-ruck relief, which wouldn't go astray in seeing if that can translate into AFL.

So, in summary. The GWS forward line is a work in progress, and after being maligned since the departure of Jezza, has shown in the last 5 games that if we play a faster midfield game, it isn't that bad, and actually can score a lot of points. There is a question about what is our best set-up in terms of tall/small balance, and also who are our best talls. But I would opine that we have the personnel there: we've just got to test and adjust.

Looking ahead. I've opined vigorously that I would like to keep HH but not at "any price" - it needs to fit within the "team $$ philosophy". I'm also happy to keep Riccardi. I know a few posters would happily move him on, but honestly, talls take some time to develop, and our gameplan the last 3 years didn't do him any favours. In the medium/small category, I actually believe that we have enough. In fact, counting the 9 above, we need to move some on. Peatling has a contract for another year, so he's not going anywhere. Lloyd is the only one out of contact that I'd move on. He's been a tremendous servant of the club, at a cheap contract price, but now might be the time to cut ties. Callum Brown is also out of contract, but if he can continue to show his recent form or develop further, he'd definitely be worthwhile retaining.

I know that some posters have talked about getting an experienced small forward, and others have talked about drafting Wizard Watson. Now, in regards the latter, if we were naturally in a position to draft him (not trading multiple first round picks to get an earlier pick), I would say "absolutely". His skills in the F50 would add to the point scoring prowess of the team. But IMHO we have other priorities, so I would not wish to waste first round picks to draft him. if we ended up with say pick #5 or #6, and he fell to that point, then sure. But I wouldn't trade say #8 and #11 to get pick #3 or #4 in an attempt to get him.

Those are my thoughts - what are yours? How do other GWS fans rate our forward line? I suspect others will have more cutting views of where we are and where they would go, that's fine, what are they and why?
 
Giant Strides said:
OK, I'd like to look at the forward line now. Let's have a look at the total personnel situation to start with:
Click to expand...
Great summary. Quite a few possibilities for as you say it's a work in progress. As always time, form, injuries and comings/goings will tell the tale. Perhaps the 'known unknown' is AK's thinking on finding the balance between results and development. Recently him bringing back Cadman for the Fremantle game (sans Hogan), conversely not using Derksen for a debut and using Keeffe as a back-up ruckman/forward when he originally returned as a KPD. The detailed reasoning may not be immediately apparent to outsiders but the results are certainly apparent; success. I am enjoying watching not just that success but also the molding and evolution of what promises to be a very good team.
 

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Giant Strides said:
OK, I'd like to look at the forward line now. Let's have a look at the total personnel situation to start with:

KPFs: Hogan, Himmelberg, Riccardi, Derksen, Cadman, Gruzewski (6)
Small/medium forwards: Greene, Daniels, Bedford, Jones, Peatling, McMullin, Lloyd, Stone, Brown (9)

As always, it's not entirely clearcut. Does AK now see HH more as a KPD than a KPF? Is Stone more of a mid? (For the record, I consider that we drafted him to be a high half forward, so no, not a mid.) Where does Brown sit, after all, he's spent a lot of time in defence?

Losing Jezza Cameron was a massive blow to the GWS forward line, one which we still have not recovered from. We were lucky that we benefited from Hogan's personal situation. I know he cops some flak at times, both about his body holding up, and his kicking yips. However, honestly IMHO, we would not be better without him. His body has actually held up well this year, losing just this last game to a precautionary sit down, which I would have given him anyway to allow him to have a solid chunk of time off in the middle of the season to have a rest, and slowly build up loads again for the back half of the season. He's 17th in total goals, despite missing that game and having a couple of wayward games, so he's not massively starring for us, but certainly solid. He's actually the third best KPF for contested marks, behind Curnow & McKay (how are they not kicking more goals?) and ahead of Walker, Hawkins & the rest, and 5th for marks inside 50.

Himmelberg is definitely limited as a KPF. He's not the pack-crashing marker - despite taking a couple of mark-of-the-year contenders - most of the time. The strength of his work is in his mobility, and being able to create opportunities for others - he's 16th in goal assists, despite now spending a couple of games in defence. Aaron Cadman's career is still in its infancy. You can see a series of "almost" moments: almost marking, almost getting in the right position. It will come with time. Jake Riccardi has had a resurgence since returning to the side in round 10. His first 4 games garnered 2 goals, his last 4 featured 11 goals.

Funnily enough, that's coincided with a resurgence in GWS inside 50 count, and overall scoring on the back of Kingsley's gameplan. Since round 10, GWS are first in the AFL for most points from the forward half. We are also in the top four for most points scored inside-50 differential and forward-half intercepts. Pointing to the dual facts that if you can get the ball into F50 more quickly you're more likely to score, and if you pressure your opposition into turning over the ball in their D50 you can score more.

Greene's obviously our superstar forward, enough said there. Toby Bedford has ratcheted up the pressure since beginning his career with GWS. Since debuting in round 7, he's shot to the top of the averages for tackles inside F50. His goal-scoring is yet to come on. Greene's actually no slouch defensively, overall ranked 17th in total tackles, while Daniels is 12th (despite missing games), so our small forwards are bringing the pressure. Riccardi's tackling stats are actually decent too, so he's doing the required defensive role. Callum Brown has recently gone forward as well, and his speed is an added dimension in both offensive and defensive aspects. Peatling and Lloyd have played several games due to injuries, and despite trying hard, are the weak links for us. In fact, Binga was rated by Champion Data as the 7th best player in the whole league up to round 12, reflecting an excellent balance in kicking goals and defending. Hopefully he's back after the bye and able to slot back into a functioning forward line.

The question probably needs to be asked - what is the best set-up of our forward line? Is it 3 KPFs as we've traditionally run for many years, and continue to do so? Or could we be advantaged by going shorter and faster? We still have Darcy Jones to debut next year, so we could play a forward line of:

Jesse Hogan - Jake Riccardi - Callum Brown - Toby Greene - Brent Daniels - Toby Bedford - Darcy Jones

Brown as that third tall position is interesting. He's got the leap to take marks similar to a tall, but the speed to defend and get ground balls like a small - can we use that to our advantage?

Right now, you could throw XOH into that 7th position - while essentially a mid, he's doing mid-forward time, pressuring and also scoring.

Alternatively, we go back to a standard 3 KPF set-up, and drop the last small. The last game we played HH back and Lachie Keeffe forward. As much as I admire that he's got the most out of himself (notwithstanding his drugs blot), I hope we don't continue with Keeffe. I've said my piece on HH back and the surrounding issues for the backline & midfield, but focussing on the forward line, if HH isn't there then we should throw either Derksen or Gruzewski into a debut. I was happy with giving Cadman an early and extended run as the No 1 draft pick, but he now needs to consolidate what he's learned - in the VFL. Derksen has 24 goals in 11 VFL games, including bags of 5 goals. Gruzewski has 21 goals in 11 games. They've both demonstrated their skill, and deserve to be rewarded. It might also identify someone who'll be a long term KPF for GWS too! If one or both of HH and Riccardi depart at season's end, I'd prefer to have blooded at least one, if not both, of these guys. Derksen has shown an ability in VFL to be the forward-ruck relief, which wouldn't go astray in seeing if that can translate into AFL.

So, in summary. The GWS forward line is a work in progress, and after being maligned since the departure of Jezza, has shown in the last 5 games that if we play a faster midfield game, it isn't that bad, and actually can score a lot of points. There is a question about what is our best set-up in terms of tall/small balance, and also who are our best talls. But I would opine that we have the personnel there: we've just got to test and adjust.

Looking ahead. I've opined vigorously that I would like to keep HH but not at "any price" - it needs to fit within the "team $$ philosophy". I'm also happy to keep Riccardi. I know a few posters would happily move him on, but honestly, talls take some time to develop, and our gameplan the last 3 years didn't do him any favours. In the medium/small category, I actually believe that we have enough. In fact, counting the 9 above, we need to move some on. Peatling has a contract for another year, so he's not going anywhere. Lloyd is the only one out of contact that I'd move on. He's been a tremendous servant of the club, at a cheap contract price, but now might be the time to cut ties. Callum Brown is also out of contract, but if he can continue to show his recent form or develop further, he'd definitely be worthwhile retaining.

I know that some posters have talked about getting an experienced small forward, and others have talked about drafting Wizard Watson. Now, in regards the latter, if we were naturally in a position to draft him (not trading multiple first round picks to get an earlier pick), I would say "absolutely". His skills in the F50 would add to the point scoring prowess of the team. But IMHO we have other priorities, so I would not wish to waste first round picks to draft him. if we ended up with say pick #5 or #6, and he fell to that point, then sure. But I wouldn't trade say #8 and #11 to get pick #3 or #4 in an attempt to get him.

Those are my thoughts - what are yours? How do other GWS fans rate our forward line? I suspect others will have more cutting views of where we are and where they would go, that's fine, what are they and why?
Click to expand...
Great summary. Enjoying these.

Last year our forward line was in tatters and we struggled to score. Our gamestyle has opened things up well, I can see our forwards looking much better in the second half of the year purely because the mids/backs are firing.
Hogan is the key really. Riccardi being 23 and having done it the hard way also bodes well, with Gruz, Derk and Cadman looking for that third tall spot.
I'm in the HH back team. He's prime Haynes with an offensive game in my mind.
Brown and XO are those huge bottom six players where a defined role has given them new life. You can't deny they both don't deserve to be dropped currently. Both chase and tackle and get to contest after contest. Brown has the pace and agility of a small but is a unit and has a massive kick all of a sudden.

Binga and Bedford ✅✅

I can see it clicking soon. We've been kicking over 100 now....Goals coming from Kelly and other mids as a result as well.

I like the way Cadman competes
 
PaythePerryman said:
Great summary. Enjoying these.

Last year our forward line was in tatters and we struggled to score. Our gamestyle has opened things up well, I can see our forwards looking much better in the second half of the year purely because the mids/backs are firing.
Hogan is the key really. Riccardi being 23 and having done it the hard way also bodes well, with Gruz, Derk and Cadman looking for that third tall spot.
I'm in the HH back team. He's prime Haynes with an offensive game in my mind.
Brown and XO are those huge bottom six players where a defined role has given them new life. You can't deny they both don't deserve to be dropped currently. Both chase and tackle and get to contest after contest. Brown has the pace and agility of a small but is a unit and has a massive kick all of a sudden.

Binga and Bedford ✅✅

I can see it clicking soon. We've been kicking over 100 now....Goals coming from Kelly and other mids as a result as well.

I like the way Cadman competes
Click to expand...
XO has really turned it around and Brown is becoming a solid best 22 option. Amazing stuff considering where they were.
I also like how Cadman competes … he just needs a breakout game with 3-4 marks and goals to build confidence … be it in the ressies or firsts
 
Giant Strides said:
That's fair enough. What would you then do in respect of Nick Haynes?
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He played on the wing last weekend. It's clearly not his favourite role but as a defensive wing he could be very handy. He's not a contested marker though really...more intercept floating infront.
However I think Kingsley is good at defining roles...so I'm sure he will let Haynes use his weapons.
Buckley and Idun's pace allows them to play on talls/smalls effectively too, maybe that helps fit them all in? But that feels too tall.
The short answer is I don't know....but we can't leave that money off the park. He's been really good this year.
 
PaythePerryman said:
He played on the wing last weekend. It's clearly not his favourite role but as a defensive wing he could be very handy. He's not a contested marker though really...more intercept floating infront.
However I think Kingsley is good at defining roles...so I'm sure he will let Haynes use his weapons.
Buckley and Idun's pace allows them to play on talls/smalls effectively too, maybe that helps fit them all in? But that feels too tall.
The short answer is I don't know....but we can't leave that money off the park. He's been really good this year.
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one on one with wingers he'll win a stack more contest marks than he loses. having a marking presence on the wing would be valuable.

My issue, he wont be able to run with loads of opponents and his entries inside 50 are unlikely to be quality.
He had a great impact on the wing against Freo, if we could lock that in every week I'd take it. I not sure that is realistic.
Mind you, when they pushed Toby forward, thought it was ridiculous to have an inside mid ball magnet with a suspect kick play forward. Turned out that he is pretty handy in there.
 
GWS Goose said:
one on one with wingers he'll win a stack more contest marks than he loses. having a marking presence on the wing would be valuable.

My issue, he wont be able to run with loads of opponents and his entries inside 50 are unlikely to be quality.
He had a great impact on the wing against Freo, if we could lock that in every week I'd take it. I not sure that is realistic.
Mind you, when they pushed Toby forward, thought it was ridiculous to have an inside mid ball magnet with a suspect kick play forward. Turned out that he is pretty handy in there.
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Yeah that was my thinking too. Tomlinson used to do well outsizing and marking players on the wing.
The tank will be the issue. But if he is conservative rather than being offensively bent then I think he's an interesting prospect.
I would happily see Buckley on the wing but he's just so good 1on1 that we can't give up that Taylor/Buckley one-two punch.
See now I'm convincing myself that Himmel goes forward.

Here's my real predicament.
Would I pay 700k for a 3rd tall....no
Would I pay 700k for an AA level intercepting and rebounding defender. Yes.

I guess the value he hold at other clubs ends up being higher because we have Haynes (and Leek).

I'm honestly more interested in the Ash contract ATM as I think we really need to get that done before he explodes. In this system his game style and running will be immense.
 
Forward line is improving very well, now kicking over 100ppg!

Quick ball movement and pressure the key elements to that. I’ve enjoyed this aspect of our game more than anything else. Remember when we never laid tackles inside 50 or scored off turnovers?

The speedsters have been sensational and they match the game plan with elite tackling pressure and ability to score from turnover:
Daniels
Bedford
Brown

This is the future , the way the game is being played. Frothing to see what Darcey Jones can do next year!!


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Talking about the bye, every team has lost coming off a bye. Dees continued that trend last night. Hoping Kingers can fire up the boys leading next weekend.
Some hope that Clay Oliver will not get up for next week. Thought Viney was in trouble with a shoulder, but played the game out. Would’ve given us a massive advantage of both of them were outs. Also Fritsch got off a dangerous tackle, was very lucky too.
At least the game isn’t at the mcg, where we have a terrible history


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Last edited:
Powkid said:
Forward line is improving very well, now kicking over 100ppg!

Quick ball movement and pressure the key elements to that. I’ve enjoyed this aspect of our game more than anything else. Remember when we never laid tackles inside 50 or scored off turnovers?

The speedsters have been sensational and they match the game plan with elite tackling pressure and ability to score from turnover:
Daniels
Bedford
Brown

This is the future , the way the game is being played. Frothing to see what Darcey Jones can do next year!!


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
Click to expand...
I agree

What if Darcy is the best of the lot?!
 
Powkid said:
Talking about the bye, every team has lost coming off a bye. Dees continued that trend last night. Hoping Kingers can fire up the boys leading next weekend.
Some hope that Clay Oliver will not get up for next week. Thought Viney was in trouble with a shoulder, but played the game out. Would’ve given us a massive advantage of both of them were outs. Also Fritsch got off a dangerous tackle, was very lucky too.
At least the game isn’t at the mcg, where we have a terrible history


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Click to expand...
Melb look like they are stuggling to score. Oliver is such an important player for them. If he is out again (doesn’t seem likely) we can take it up to them in contested ball

I still think if we get the game on our terms we can kick more points than they can.
 

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Danny88 said:
Melb look like they are stuggling to score. Oliver is such an important player for them. If he is out again (doesn’t seem likely) we can take it up to them in contested ball

I still think if we get the game on our terms we can kick more points than they can.
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Agreed. Watching them lately scoring seems to be an issue. We could keep it close and just get more opportunities.
I rate the team we have on the park. Oliver will probably be back but I back our Mids against most teams
 
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Let's have a look at the midfield.

Green, Coniglio, Kelly, Callaghan, Perryman, Ward, O'Halloran, Rowston, Angwin, Wehr, Gilbee. (11) If you include Whitfield, it's 12.

So, I've included Wehr in the midfield as I believe the club sees him as a winger. For the same reason, I've included the rookie Gilbee here. Angwin too, for me, is a purely outside player. Whitfield could be playing wing, so I've included him here as a "possible".

Overall, I'd opine that we are 1 to 3 midfielders short of what we should have. (I've discussed my "rule of 7" before; once extra rucks are accounted for, I think we should have 13 or 14 mids.)

The first string midfield is clearly very strong. Green, Coniglio and Kelly or Perryman, with Callaghan developing nicely on one wing, and in AK's seemingly preferred set-up Wehr on the other (or Kelly, if Pez is used purely inside). Pez or Ward and O'Halloran on the bench.

The pure stats are really good for our mids. Green is 3rd & Cogs 5th for disposals; Kelly is 3rd for effective disposals, and as per Champion Data, is a top 10 player.



Callaghan is developing nicely on one wing; we've been using Angwin on one wing since Wehr was clipped early in the season, but pushed Kelly out for the last game (where he kicked 3 goals and got 30-odd possessions), but could probably benefit from another strong winger. Ward is having a solid year, and O'Halloran has had a breakout season, kicking goals and performing his role nicely.

As we perfect AK's gameplan, I can see this midfield coming to the fore, as foreshadowed by the fact that our I50s and scoring rate have uptempo'd since round 10.

So, not much wrong with our midfield. I think - and hope - that we give Ward a one-year contract, and hope that we can keep XOH. This draft would present an opportunity to build a little more depth. Strangely enough, it's not a great midfield draft, but there will be some decent options at the picks we have. Colby McKercher is a great inside/outside option, but might go before our pick. Ryley Sanders might be another option - an inside mid with a bit of zip - but carries the risk of being a Tasmanian who might be a risk to leave in 4 years. Darcy Wilson might be a good option - could start as a winger and potentially develop into an inside/outside mid. I do think we need to be careful not to have too many purely outside players (Angwin, Wehr & Gilbee are those IMHO).

The ruck situation has been discussed a lot recently. Briggs looks like he could be the guy we've been searching for since Mummy retired the first time - hopefully we sign him up for a few more years. Flynn has split opinions, but personally I would re-sign him as a solid backup, and part ways with Preuss, who's been very disappointing. Of course, Flynn might want to leave for greater opportunity, although I'm not convinced any other club offers any better opportunity than GWS does, given that Briggs is quite junior himself. I'm happy to go to the draft for a developing ruck - not the couple of guys touted inside the first round, but someone like SA's Taylor Goad (205 cm) seems a great mix of size and skill.

So, midfield is looking good - provided we don't have too many injuries. We do need to build depth, which also allows for a graceful changeover in a few years when Cogs and Kelly start dropping off. Not yet though - they are still at the pointy end of capable mids!
 
Giant Strides said:
Let's have a look at the midfield.

Green, Coniglio, Kelly, Callaghan, Perryman, Ward, O'Halloran, Rowston, Angwin, Wehr, Gilbee. (11) If you include Whitfield, it's 12.

So, I've included Wehr in the midfield as I believe the club sees him as a winger. For the same reason, I've included the rookie Gilbee here. Angwin too, for me, is a purely outside player. Whitfield could be playing wing, so I've included him here as a "possible".

Overall, I'd opine that we are 1 to 3 midfielders short of what we should have. (I've discussed my "rule of 7" before; once extra rucks are accounted for, I think we should have 13 or 14 mids.)

The first string midfield is clearly very strong. Green, Coniglio and Kelly or Perryman, with Callaghan developing nicely on one wing, and in AK's seemingly preferred set-up Wehr on the other (or Kelly, if Pez is used purely inside). Pez or Ward and O'Halloran on the bench.

The pure stats are really good for our mids. Green is 3rd & Cogs 5th for disposals; Kelly is 3rd for effective disposals, and as per Champion Data, is a top 10 player.



Callaghan is developing nicely on one wing; we've been using Angwin on one wing since Wehr was clipped early in the season, but pushed Kelly out for the last game (where he kicked 3 goals and got 30-odd possessions), but could probably benefit from another strong winger. Ward is having a solid year, and O'Halloran has had a breakout season, kicking goals and performing his role nicely.

As we perfect AK's gameplan, I can see this midfield coming to the fore, as foreshadowed by the fact that our I50s and scoring rate have uptempo'd since round 10.

So, not much wrong with our midfield. I think - and hope - that we give Ward a one-year contract, and hope that we can keep XOH. This draft would present an opportunity to build a little more depth. Strangely enough, it's not a great midfield draft, but there will be some decent options at the picks we have. Colby McKercher is a great inside/outside option, but might go before our pick. Ryley Sanders might be another option - an inside mid with a bit of zip - but carries the risk of being a Tasmanian who might be a risk to leave in 4 years. Darcy Wilson might be a good option - could start as a winger and potentially develop into an inside/outside mid. I do think we need to be careful not to have too many purely outside players (Angwin, Wehr & Gilbee are those IMHO).

The ruck situation has been discussed a lot recently. Briggs looks like he could be the guy we've been searching for since Mummy retired the first time - hopefully we sign him up for a few more years. Flynn has split opinions, but personally I would re-sign him as a solid backup, and part ways with Preuss, who's been very disappointing. Of course, Flynn might want to leave for greater opportunity, although I'm not convinced any other club offers any better opportunity than GWS does, given that Briggs is quite junior himself. I'm happy to go to the draft for a developing ruck - not the couple of guys touted inside the first round, but someone like SA's Taylor Goad (205 cm) seems a great mix of size and skill.

So, midfield is looking good - provided we don't have too many injuries. We do need to build depth, which also allows for a graceful changeover in a few years when Cogs and Kelly start dropping off. Not yet though - they are still at the pointy end of capable mids!
Click to expand...

A midfielder with genuine burst speed is what we need.
 
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  • #42
Giant Pete said:
A midfielder with genuine burst speed is what we need.
Click to expand...
I'm with you on wanting that (which I think has been reiterated year after year on BF!), but I'm not sure there's too many of those in this draft. It actually seems to be a bit light on for highly-skilled mids this year.

And also, that's a nuanced requirement - we need a high level of skills/ability as well as speed, so it's always a balance.

Colby McKercher probably best meets your desired skillset & zip. Downside is that he's Tasmanian and may go before our pick assuming #6 to #10 (or may drift if other teams are concerned about the new team). From SMH/Age: Lockyer’s take: “Colby has a terrific turn of speed and agility – he gets the ball and bursts away. He’s also one of those players who somehow keeps finding the ball, so he’s a pretty exciting prospect.”

Darcy Wilson might fit your bill, but he's more outside than a contested ball winner at this stage. If we can bring Callaghan inside, Wilson might fit the bill to take his wing spot, or just take the opposite wing. From SMH/Age: Wilson oozes class and excitement and is blessed with a wonderful mix of speed and endurance. Does his best work with Sherrin in hand, and his marking is also a strength, but he needs to improve his contest work, which was a consistent comment from talent scouts. Lockyer’s take: “Darcy Wilson’s gut running, ability to cover the ground, and break lines when he has the ball is excellent. He’s a good ball-user, really damaging, and is certainly one to watch over the next little period.”

Of course Nick Watson has boundless zip, but the question would be whether he can use that in the midfield at AFL level, or will he be limited to the small forward role. He also likely goes in the top 4. From SMH/Age: Lockyer’s take: “Your eyes get drawn to him, and he is very exciting to watch. He has an unbelievable turn of speed, really good agility, and is really powerful. He’s got a really exciting array of skills by hand and foot, and he’s pencilled in at the moment as a high half-forward, which is a really difficult role to play.”

The highly-rated Harley Reid on the other hand doesn't have that speed - he uses other skills such as stepping, fends etc.

The last guy to highlight is Vic Country's Harry Demattia. I don't have SMH/Age comments - i.e. he isn't rated in the top 14 kids - but he does appear to be one who does have that burst of speed with an inside game. You can check out his game for VC versus SA (albeit, VC lost!) on noobermensch's thread in the draft forum (check his burst around the 2 min mark of that video). If the Tigers' pick drifts into the teens, he might be one worthwhile to consider.
 
If we were to get another player like Watson you could rotate him and Daniels into that midfield burst role. We've seen Daniels get injected in there before for some flair.
Callaghan spending more time getting some inside ball over the last few weeks, when you see him line up on his opponent on the wing he is always towering over them. He's going to be an absolute unit.
I agree that our 'future mid' group should be
Callaghan, Green, ????

Is anyone else just completely pumped that Briggs has developed this way? I legit did not see this coming at all. It's exciting.
 
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