Armfield Under the Radar?

[1981]

What do we think of Armfield?
Seems to be an underrated player, who has slipped underneath the radar this off season.
I think some people just think he will be phased out, because he is more defensively oriented and the backline seems to be set with him not in it (Bower, Jamison, Watson, Laidler, Duigan, Russell, Yarran), and his lack of natural nous means he is on the outer in terms of a midfield spot in 2011.
But I am not so sure.
He has looked good IMO in the pre season games, though has not had max game time each time he has played.
And he is tough, and a great runner.
What do we nthink of Army?
Is he going to be up against it or is he one that might surprise a lot of people fans and experts?

 

[Stamos]

He won't be phased out at all, he'll just be moved up the ground.
Love the Army.

 

[Blue since 72]

I'm very curious to see how he goes in the midfield/forward this year which is purportedly where he will be playing.

I thought he had become a very good tight checking shut down player on opposition small forwards and was starting to back himself more with some run and carry.

His pace and never give up attitude are his best assets so I'm assuming they want to use that pace in a more attacking role and his fighting instincts to win some more hard ball.

Has shown more than AJ, particularly last year where AJ didn't look as good when he was taken out of the tagging role and would be in the best 22 before him now.

Hope he does well.

 

[1981]

I'm very curious to see how he goes in the midfield/forward this year which is purportedly where he will be playing.

I thought he had become a very good tight checking shut down player on opposition small forwards and was starting to back himself more with some run and carry.

His pace and never give up attitude are his best assets so I'm assuming they want to use that pace in a more attacking role and his fighting instincts to win some more hard ball.

Has shown more than AJ, particularly last year where AJ didn't look as good when he was taken out of the tagging role and would be in the best 22 before him now.

Hope he does well.

AJ made Top Ten CFC B&F last year, which amazes me.
Thought he had gone backwards personally
Maybe the other thing is errors made by Army will hurt us more if they are further away from opposition goal, see the critical error in the Swans final
Similarly they are hiding Walkers errors about as far from the opposition's goal as humanly possible

 

[gbatman]

He always does his job. Can run hard all day. Hard to beat. Defensive game is good. Courage, hardness and physical game is good. Gives plenty of run and carry. He'll play every game this year. AJ will probably miss as he doesn't play well in defence and has weaknesses in the air as well as not being as good of a runner than Armfield.

 

[Blue since 72]

Army is not as bad a kick as alot would suggest. He has certainly pulled off a number of excellent passes by foot onto the tit of a leading forward.

It's more just his miss kicks are generally howlers which obviously attract more comment.

Walks need to stop thinking about mark of the year every time the ball comes his way, it's really starting to shit me. He need's to use his brain and play to his strengths, being pace and aerobic capacity.

If he's going to play HF have a look at Ben Cousins as an example, use the gut running and his pace to win the ground game, not trying get himself on a mark of the week highlight reel all the time.

 

[GordonBlue]

#27 Dennis Armfield

Will definitely play round 1... and it's all in his hands to keep it

 

[OnceWeWereKings]

I would play him this year similar to the role Kieren Jack played at the Swans.

I think he is a similar type player. Good runner, hard, tough, reasonable skills.

Let him run with the oppositions premier midfielder in a 75 / 25 split.

75% negating / defensive role. As his confidence builds get him to work back the other way and try and hurt on the rebound.

Would play him on the skilled ball using midfield types ala Pendlebury / Cooney etc. Would not waste his running ability on the in and under grunts.

Think he would go past Carrots pretty quickly if set a task each week.

 

[1981]

Could be a Sub, come on in last qtr and burn opp with pace ??

 

[fnm_just a man]

I would play him this year similar to the role Kieren Jack played at the Swans.

I think he is a similar type player. Good runner, hard, tough, reasonable skills.

Let him run with the oppositions premier midfielder in a 75 / 25 split.

75% negating / defensive role. As his confidence builds get him to work back the other way and try and hurt on the rebound.

Would play him on the skilled ball using midfield types ala Pendlebury / Cooney etc. Would not waste his running ability on the in and under grunts.

Think he would go past Carrots pretty quickly if set a task each week.

Both have Rugby backgrounds too.....Jack is a gun. Would love Army to reach that level.

 

[dumb]

honestly a bit sad that he wanted to move to the midfield. i watched the games where he tore danyle pearce and shannon byrnes to pieces. maybe he'll slot right in, but i'm concerned that he'll diddle himself out of a spot in the team by wanting in the midfield when he was fairly safe in a spot as a back pocket type.

as for the sub... i guess you can't really have everything covered unless you're someone like adam goodes or kouta... but these types if they're important at all should already be part of the 21 instead of locked away. i favor younger midfielders personally. someone you need on the ground as a last resort rather than subbing out an uninjured player for impact. henderson or thornton would have to swing if that was the case. in any case players might start rotating a little more over the ground (forward pocket, olden days of resting rover stuff) rather than through the bench.

 

[IheartCarrots]

Interesting we'd think for an Armfield to be contemplated as a sub.

My thinking must be skewed because I see a "White" type being the ideal SUB.
Someone that can slot into a forward or defensive role.

I am happy to stand corrected, but why would we want a mid/stopper?

Versatility. If you are going for a sub purely to cover injury, you wouldn't play White. If you play say a Davies or a Laidler you can cover every position on the ground with a bit of shuffling. If Gibbs goes down and Whites our sub, you'd be forced to play Russell or Walker through the middle instead of at their respective ends. With a medium height HBF/Mid who can play as a 3rd tall, you've got the ability to cover any individual injury in the team.

 

[Marc Shmurf 3]

Huge fan of Army, thought id get that in first but...

He couldn't get near it when playing both on the ball and in the forward line in both praccy matches that I watched. Needs to have a simple but important role given to him, (which he has done well in the past in the back line and tagging).

He along with Gibbs have been a big worry for mine in the pre season form wise. I guess it may take some time getting used to a new role, but from this point on we don't have that time to let something explore.

 

[The Toad]

I have been a very big critic of Army in the past. BUT I am willing to eat a very large slice of humble pie. He has improved a shit load over the last couple of years and no one can argue about his effort EVERY week. If he can inprove his disposal a bit more, he will be a very important player for us in the future.

 

[OnceWeWereKings]

Both have Rugby backgrounds too.....Jack is a gun. Would love Army to reach that level.

Not many would have picked Jack to have a break-out year like he had.
Remember watching him in his first year thinking he was something of a novelty pick by the Swans. Similar to the rugby boys picked up this year.
Turned it around big time. Played as a defensive tagger now looks like he could pick up a tag himself.
It's players like Armfield and the improvement that they show who will determine how far we improve this year.
Our mid-tier players are vital to our progression. It's amazing how many so-so players from previous years look like stars when their team is up and about.
Collingwood are the perfect example, a stack of good to average players ( Maxwell, Blair, Dawes, Reid, etc. ) mixed with a few outright guns ( Didak, Swan, Pendelbury ) playing a great team orientated game plan.

Their improvement come from their mid-ranged players, their guns produced at a similar level to previous years.

Hopefully ours will too. Army needs to be one of them.

 

[chaser1]

Hope he does well, all i can see at the moment is a shut down role in the midfield/forward role. Has improved heaps BUT for mine is not skillfull enough to be an out and out creator. Can improve on this, but how long i dont know.

 

[MileHigh]

I say Armfield needs to grow his hair long again. Its a beautiful thing when he was running at full tilt with that and his hair is at horizontals due to the break neck speed hes at. Like something out of the 80's. More long hair I say.

 

[Dramoth]

Army moving into the midfield is going to be an awesome move for him. They will start giving him the tagging roles on the oppositions second best mid to start off with and as he becomes more confident in his abilities to negate them and hurt them going the other way, you will see him step up to taking the #1 opposition mid and really start ripping them a new one.

He has pace to burn and his delivery by foot has definitely improved, but the thing that has really struck me is the improvement in his decision making towards the end of last season... yes he made a couple of bad choices, but 90% of the decisions he made paid off and really killed the opposition.

As well as that, with Watson kicking in with that massive left boot of his, this move by the club would be able to ensure that we drive over the top of any opposition flood and zone defence and with Judd and/or Army as second receivers from the kick in, we would be breaking lines at speed and leaving our forwards with one on one situations against their direct opponents in a wide open forward line.

If we can perfect our ball movement at pace out of the defensive line again, we could see the end of the zone and flood defences because teams would have to become accountable about our speed out of defence.

 

[true_blue_69]

My daughter & I have been on the Army train since he first arrived at this wonderful club. His first family day appearance & we were hooked.
She was the first to have his number on her Carlton jumper (even confirmed by his dad at Etihad stadium when he saw her & thanked her for it).
Have followed Army through his first playing days with the Ants & still through till current. We have noticed a massive improvement in him however. he is still learning & still states himself he has a lot more to improve on.

Will always love this guy from the West

 

[Sin City]

Could be a Sub, come on in last qtr and burn opp with pace ??

I never even considered it but that could be a pretty good move

 

[Iremember95]

I never even considered it but that could be a pretty good move

As much as I love the thought, I very much query the notion the sub is a 'fresh legs' phenomenon.
I just don't think it will work that way.
too many players get injured, and too often gameplans fall into chaos and things change.
The sub will rarely, if ever, be used as a late game fresh legs concept

 

[bluekidjoe]

As well as that, with Watson kicking in with that massive left boot of his, this move by the club would be able to ensure that we drive over the top of any opposition flood and zone defence and with Judd and/or Army as second receivers from the kick in, we would be breaking lines at speed and leaving our forwards with one on one situations against their direct opponents in a wide open forward line.

If we can perfect our ball movement at pace out of the defensive line again, we could see the end of the zone and flood defences because teams would have to become accountable about our speed out of defence.

^ Love this. You're spot on. Add Yarran to that list too in terms of pace out of defence.

With a little more experience we'll become that well oiled unit.
A plan like this, drilled to perfection, with the skill and pace of our blokes, it won't be long before we're setting the benchmarks

 

[Dramoth]

^ Love this. You're spot on. Add Yarran to that list too in terms of pace out of defence.

With a little more experience we'll become that well oiled unit.
A plan like this, drilled to perfection, with the skill and pace of our blokes, it won't be long before we're setting the benchmarks

I think that Yazz along with Russell and Bower will be first receivers out of defence along with the new boys in Duigan and Laidler. It will be these guys that Watson is spotting up from the kickout and they will then break and move the ball at speed through the tailend of the oppositions defensive flood before hitting up guys like Judd and Army and Simmo in the midfield who will then take off at speed before dishing off either to the one on ones we generate on the forward line or to the other mids in Murphy and Gibbs who will either be taking their long shots at goal or working the ball into the forward line where they can hit a forward standing on their own.

Since 1970, the Carlton game plan has always been about speed and our movement of the ball at all costs. Over the last 5 years, we have slowly been building up a team that will bring back the exciting movement back into our game... when any of those guys get the ball, we are suddenly on the edge of seats expecting things to happen and they usually do.

I am looking forward to next Thursday at 8am GMT when I am on holidays and I can watch our first match.

 

[blue gunslinger]

I say Armfield needs to grow his hair long again. Its a beautiful thing when he was running at full tilt with that and his hair is at horizontals due to the break neck speed hes at. Like something out of the 80's. More long hair I say.

porno mo still on the go
great bloke and is club's pest
heart of a lion

 

[jonoman89]

Will be great to inject his pace into the middle where it can be harnessed best.

Still queries over his decision making however. I don't think his kicking is all that bad, he just needs to kick to the right targets.

And to think his draft pick were just a set of steak knives with Juddy