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Draftee
I was reading one of the previous posts about what made the Essendon side of 2000 great. Clearly the sting of losing the 1999 prelim had a massive part to play in it. This aside though, if you look at some of the other drivers, people don't often consider the run and strength of the Essendon back line as a big factor.
The mix of run/carry and physical prescence of Sean Wellman, Mark Johnson, Damien Hardwick, Fletch, Solly (at his peak) and Rama over the year had a big part to play in making our midfield look much better than it actually was. Consider the 2000 premiership midfield (J Johnson, J Hird, J Blumfield, J Misiti, M Long, C Heffernan). Possibly only Hird and Long would be classed as A graders with Misiti and JJ being on the fringe in that year. The others would be B and C graders at best. It was the strength, speed and carry of our backline which covered some of the weaknesses of the midfield group. This in turn allowed the midfield fleet to work forward and give lots of opportunities to our wonderful forward line that year (Hird, Lloyd, Lucas, Bewick, Barnard, Carracella, Mercuri).
I think the two biggest player losses this club has faced since then were the trading of Damien Hardwick and the retirement of Sean Wellman. Players have tried to fill the void left by Wellman, McPhee did it for a season and a half, Welsh played a Hardwick like role for a year... but there has never been genuine replacements for these players. I think this factor has exposed our mediocre midfield over these years as much as anything.
For years now our half back line has been stagnant. When we are playing poorly you can see that our play is stop/start with very few running in numbers for eachother. Players such as Fletcher have limited options coming out of defence because of the lack of appropriate personnel who are capable of consistently run and carrying. The lack of physical prescence in the back half has also been a factor, with the Essendon defence no longer being feared as it once was. This was a big reason why the Gorillas have always dominated against us since 2000 (Rocca brothers, Brown etc.)
So What?
In terms of recruiting I think we need to focus as much on the half back line as the midfield. If you look at the teams at the top of the ladder, they generally have a well settled back 6 with a good blend of pace, disciplined ball carriers who create options for their team mates and stronger players with a physical prescence.
At the moment I fear that none of the back 6 who would be picked in our top 18 at present have the capacity to be premiership players in 2010 with the exception of Paddy Ryder.
Fletcher: will be retired
Mal Michael: will be retired
Mark Johnson: lost his pace / will be retired
Andrew Welsh: does not provide options often enough, lacks pace
Mark McVeigh: lacks pace (although pick of the back 6)
Adam McPhee: has never been the same player since OP problems
Paddy Ryder: Q whether he will remain at CHB as his body develops, or move to ruck
Although I agree we need to try our best to get the best midfielder (someone quick who can break the lines, is evasive and has good skills), following this I think we should pay due consideration to focussing on what the makeup of the 2010 back 6 will be and then recruiting and grooming players to fill these positions.
The mix of run/carry and physical prescence of Sean Wellman, Mark Johnson, Damien Hardwick, Fletch, Solly (at his peak) and Rama over the year had a big part to play in making our midfield look much better than it actually was. Consider the 2000 premiership midfield (J Johnson, J Hird, J Blumfield, J Misiti, M Long, C Heffernan). Possibly only Hird and Long would be classed as A graders with Misiti and JJ being on the fringe in that year. The others would be B and C graders at best. It was the strength, speed and carry of our backline which covered some of the weaknesses of the midfield group. This in turn allowed the midfield fleet to work forward and give lots of opportunities to our wonderful forward line that year (Hird, Lloyd, Lucas, Bewick, Barnard, Carracella, Mercuri).
I think the two biggest player losses this club has faced since then were the trading of Damien Hardwick and the retirement of Sean Wellman. Players have tried to fill the void left by Wellman, McPhee did it for a season and a half, Welsh played a Hardwick like role for a year... but there has never been genuine replacements for these players. I think this factor has exposed our mediocre midfield over these years as much as anything.
For years now our half back line has been stagnant. When we are playing poorly you can see that our play is stop/start with very few running in numbers for eachother. Players such as Fletcher have limited options coming out of defence because of the lack of appropriate personnel who are capable of consistently run and carrying. The lack of physical prescence in the back half has also been a factor, with the Essendon defence no longer being feared as it once was. This was a big reason why the Gorillas have always dominated against us since 2000 (Rocca brothers, Brown etc.)
So What?
In terms of recruiting I think we need to focus as much on the half back line as the midfield. If you look at the teams at the top of the ladder, they generally have a well settled back 6 with a good blend of pace, disciplined ball carriers who create options for their team mates and stronger players with a physical prescence.
At the moment I fear that none of the back 6 who would be picked in our top 18 at present have the capacity to be premiership players in 2010 with the exception of Paddy Ryder.
Fletcher: will be retired
Mal Michael: will be retired
Mark Johnson: lost his pace / will be retired
Andrew Welsh: does not provide options often enough, lacks pace
Mark McVeigh: lacks pace (although pick of the back 6)
Adam McPhee: has never been the same player since OP problems
Paddy Ryder: Q whether he will remain at CHB as his body develops, or move to ruck
Although I agree we need to try our best to get the best midfielder (someone quick who can break the lines, is evasive and has good skills), following this I think we should pay due consideration to focussing on what the makeup of the 2010 back 6 will be and then recruiting and grooming players to fill these positions.
