Alan Didak

[donnie5]

sorry if this has been done before. Who else thinks Didak should be played as HFF 90% of the time? in the midfield he seems to get a lot of his ball in our defensive half and doesnt seem dangerous at all, however when he plays on a HFF he seems to create more for himself and other forwards. Remember he was AA in 2006 on a Half forward, so what do you guys think?

 

[Col Davies]

Not sure we can fit Thomas, Medhurst and Didak all in or around HF.
I like Dids in the middle, he will rack up 25 to 30 super smooth touches every week

 

[smiddaz123]

Completely agree. Leon Davis has far more midfield potential than Didak, Thomas too. Didak is better around goals than both of them. Davis should be eased into the midfield more and more, and Didak should be kept around goals.

I think we need all our midfielders to be adept both with their inside game and their outside game. Didak is pretty much elite at outside, but his inside game in non existent. He'll have a positive effect in the midfield anyhow, but around goals is where he does his best work.

Medhurst/Didak should be permanent forwards.
Thomas and Davis should be getting more midfield time, Thomas in particular.

 

[spartan-magpie]

sorry if this has been done before. Who else thinks Didak should be played as HFF 90% of the time? in the midfield he seems to get a lot of his ball in our defensive half and doesnt seem dangerous at all, however when he plays on a HFF he seems to create more for himself and other forwards. Remember he was AA in 2006 on a Half forward, so what do you guys think?

id like to see dids play 70-30 (mid to hff).. he is pure class and is damaging anywhere on the park with his precise kicking and wonderful decision making... leaving him around the hhf full time imo could be a partial waste of his talents.. ok he will kick goals and maybe set up a couple but in the midfield i think he has the ability to be much more damiging because he will make the play and bring other forwards into the game (such as medders.. was no coincedence that his form dropped when dids was rubbed out) as opposed to waiting for someone to get the ball near him...

but either ways dids is a star... and it wouldnt bother me to see him on a hff its just id prefer him using his magic through the midfield ...

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

Didak is better off splitting time between HFF and wing, IMO, whereas Daisy and Leon should be spending as much time in the midfield as they're good for.

 

[gifted1]

yep needs to be in the forward half, 40+ goals for himself and creating chances for others, davis and thomas to be pushed into the midfield moreso than didak imo

 

[mdc]

I do

 

[itwdandy]

Didak needs to be in the Middle at the 1st bounce... not on the bench not at HFF not on the wing but in the middle all game!! He is the best mid fielder in our team and frankly with his skills would be in the starting 22 in ANY team.... i dont care what anyone says!!

 

[craizy4daisy]

Dids is a champ anywhere and i think since we already have enough half forwards he should play midfield and even if he will only ever be a good outside mid, thats good enough.

 

[gifted1]

a hff who can kick 40+ goals is invaluable, i remember Leigh matthews stating that a gun small forward was better than a good mid because they're hard to find, this was when he was talking about luke power, didaks qualities are better used close to goal, hes a genius, a crafter, a goal kicker, he'll never be a line breaker mid, my personal view is we make better use of didak when he's on the hff.
thomas and leon to the midfield, dick, didak, medhurst, around the goals

 

[rotten pie]

Dids is a gun where ever he plays. I agree he should spend most of his time 70-30 from goal, his creativity and magic as a forward is second to none. If the midfield is falling over switch dids in for a burst. Not sure he has the pace to go all day in midfield, besides we dont need him injured, and if Leon can stand up and thomas beef up we should be fine.

 

[PieLebo87]

Completely agree. Leon Davis has far more midfield potential than Didak, Thomas too. Didak is better around goals than both of them. Davis should be eased into the midfield more and more, and Didak should be kept around goals.

I think we need all our midfielders to be adept both with their inside game and their outside game. Didak is pretty much elite at outside, but his inside game in non existent. He'll have a positive effect in the midfield anyhow, but around goals is where he does his best work.

Medhurst/Didak should be permanent forwards.
Thomas and Davis should be getting more midfield time, Thomas in particular.

Couldn't have put it better myself. Exactly what I think.

 

[Axl the great]

For mine Didak needs to stay forward, He is a near impossible matchup as a forward and when the talls struggle he provides something that can turn a match.
While he does well in the midfeild he is less effective and as a previous poster said gets too many back half possesions.
Pendles, Thomas, Mcarthey, Rounds, Stanley are the future Midfeild brigade for us so we need to give those kids as much time in there as we can.

 

[hellfire]

Completely agree. Leon Davis has far more midfield potential than Didak, Thomas too. Didak is better around goals than both of them. Davis should be eased into the midfield more and more, and Didak should be kept around goals.

I think we need all our midfielders to be adept both with their inside game and their outside game. Didak is pretty much elite at outside, but his inside game in non existent. He'll have a positive effect in the midfield anyhow, but around goals is where he does his best work.

Medhurst/Didak should be permanent forwards.
Thomas and Davis should be getting more midfield time, Thomas in particular.

Yep, agreed.

Dids is a gun in the midfield and should still go in there sometimes for rotation, but most of his time should be spent forward. Thomas and Davis in the midfield, Medhurst always forward.

HF: Didak Cloke Dick
FF: Medhurst Rocca Anthony/Rusling

Love it.

 

[hellfire]

For mine Didak needs to stay forward, He is a near impossible matchup as a forward and when the talls struggle he provides something that can turn a match.
While he does well in the midfeild he is less effective and as a previous poster said gets too many back half possesions.
Pendles, Thomas, Mcarthey, Rounds, Stanley are the future Midfeild brigade for us so we need to give those kids as much time in there as we can.

+ Swan, Sidebottom, Beams, Wellingham, Clarke.

 

[shawthing09]

As I have said to death and Smiddaz has summed up perfectly.

Davis and Thomas offer more dash for outside mids and are more effective in that role because of their ability to break the lines. Didak doesn't offer enough as an outside or inside mid to really warrant him playing their unless we are desperate.

As a midfielder this year he got much more of the ball but was far less damaging. I'd take Didak kicking and setting up goals with his class and smarts over Didak getting a lot of soft linking touches.

 

[Kirby]

Yep, I'm in the camp who want him to play half forward where he is most damaging. I'm fine with him having a midfield run occasionally but want him predominantly forward for the hurt factor.

 

[CENTERMAN]

If it wasn't for our average midfield stocks i would have Davis forward most of the time as well. Rocca, Cloke, Didak, Medders and Davis (one spot left).
Daisy would make a good line breaker off half back and avoid being hunted for now. Shaw to middle.
Back to Didak. If he plays on ball too much he enters the "puffing brigade" and will be caught up in the rotation dept. Can't afford a 40goal and 40 assist player sitting on the pine. We need to stick to our strengths, not apply band aids. The forward line should be beefed up to the max and not compromised.
Dids forward for me...

 

[Optimax]

Yep, I'm in the camp who want him to play half forward where he is most damaging. I'm fine with him having a midfield run occasionally but want him predominantly forward for the hurt factor.

Yep im in this camp too

Play him as a HFF, he'll kick 30-40 goals, set up about that many as well

 

[MarkT]

We have forward options – particularly small/mid. Compared to the best of the contenders we are lacking in the midfield and our delivery forward leaves a bit to be desired. For mine that means Didak has to play predominantly in the midfield.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

What Mark said. They will all rotate anyway (Didak, Swan, Thomas, Corrie and Pendlebury in particular, who are all goalkickers) so we'll hardly even notice whether he's playing in the midfield or forward. As long as he's on the ball or forward of it, and spends the minimum time chiping across half back, he'll be af maximum value to the club.

 

[Soul_Pie]

We have forward options – particularly small/mid. Compared to the best of the contenders we are lacking in the midfield and our delivery forward leaves a bit to be desired. For mine that means Didak has to play predominantly in the midfield.

That's a fair point, and I would definitely agree that we need that class of disposal in the midfield, our delivery into our forwardline from the middle was terrible at times. However, Didak is not a true midfielder, in my view, or a long term solution to our midfield problems. He's not quick enough to be an outside mid and he's not hard enough at the ball to be inside. He does, however, have remarkable creativity and an incredible flair for the game, which means he could potentially be played anywhere on the ground. I feel he is most damaging when playing on the Half forward flank, setting up opportunities for goal and just generally using his creativity and skills to great effect. If we can eventually sort out our midfield woes I think he should be played at the HFF permanently, perhaps with license to roam up the wing if we're being beaten in the centre.

 

[Ramere]

That's a fair point, and I would definitely agree that we need that class of disposal in the midfield, our delivery into our forwardline from the middle was terrible at times. However, Didak is not a true midfielder, in my view, or a long term solution to our midfield problems. He's not quick enough to be an outside mid and he's not hard enough at the ball to be inside. He does, however, have remarkable creativity and an incredible flair for the game, which means he could potentially be played anywhere on the ground. I feel he is most damaging when playing on the Half forward flank, setting up opportunities for goal and just generally using his creativity and skills to great effect. If we can eventually sort out our midfield woes I think he should be played at the HFF permanently, perhaps with license to roam up the wing if we're being beaten in the centre.

I agree with MarkT, we need Dids quality disposal coming out of the middle.

You could be describing Pendles there Soul Pie. Most would describe him as a quality mid & he doesn't have the creativity Dids brings to the table.

 

[Soul_Pie]

I agree with MarkT, we need Dids quality disposal coming out of the middle.

You could be describing Pendles there Soul Pie. Most would describe him as a quality mid & he doesn't have the creativity Dids brings to the table.

Actually, Pendles is quite fast when he wants to be, it's just that he rarely puts his foot down, and I'm not sure why that is. In any case, Pendlebury is far better at moving through traffic than Didak, and in my view he is already harder at the ball than him as well. Perhaps my summation of what makes a good midfielder was a little bit simplistic, but I still don't think Didak has the necessary attributes to really excel there.

 

[shawthing09]

MarkT's arguement would make sense if Didak was close to as good of a midfielder as he is a foward but his not. When Didak is in the midfield he doesn't contribute greatly to either us getting first hands on the ball, or offer any run and carry his a glorified link player like a Scotland.

The area our midfield lacks the most is in hardened clearance winners Didak doesn't add to that. Our midfield lacks pace and Didak is one of the players who contributes to that. In the short to medium term Sidebottom is likely to be able to play that link role and has an excellent kick which is really the main strength of Didak the midfielder. His also likely to be better in the clearance / ball winning department.

As for our midfield I think it will improve steadily over the next couple of years as guys like McCarthy,Sidebottom and Thomas take more of a role along side Swan, Pendles and Davis who are all better midfielders then Didak. In that sense Didak will no longer be needed as a midfielder for long period of time.