Best 22 2011

[loopy_cam]

Love your optimism but you could also say if we had loss to Stkilda and the other top teams we beat who weren't expected to we would've finished last.

Yes but we had already beaten the better teams before we fell away due to a number of reasons. When we were 5-6 at the half way point with Adelaide, Melbourne, West Coast, North, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Carlton, Saints and the Dogs to come most would have backed us to make the eight. Unfortunately that's when we completely fell apart, were divided and wouldn't have been able to beat an amateur side.

Its well known that the buldogs didn't get games into the youngsters 3 or 4 years ago. There scope for improvement was little and the only way they would improve or increase their upside was with young kids who had 3-4 years of games under there belt on a consistent basis.

Three or four years ago they were getting games into guys like Morris, Gilbee, Lake, Griffen, Cooney, Boyd, Cross etc. Guys who are now stars of their side. In 2007 they finished 13th so they had scope for improvement.

I would suggest looking up how many games Headland, Dodd, Thornton, Hayden 2009, Tarrant this year, Crowley, Solomon (please, he retired before this year), Grover this year and Haslbey missed the entire 08 season.

Headland's been injured and would've played more.
Dodd played majority of games in 2009 and was injured this year.
Thornton played majority of games in 2009 before retiring.
Hayden played all games this year so I assume was injured in 2009?
Tarrant was injured this year and otherwise would've been played as he did throughout 2009.
Crowley played the majority of games.
Solomon played the majority of games before retiring. Unless you're suggesting they forced him to retire his retirement has no relevance.
Grover still played most games this year.
Not sure what you mean about Hasleby? He was injured. They didn't play kids before him.

All these players have played, or would've but for injury, the majority of games they were available for. Kids weren't played over them.

Ive also stated that you do need to find a certain degree of balance. FWIW i have Flecther, Mcveigh, Stanton, Watson, Winderlich, Monfries, Hille, Ryder, in the side who offer more than enough experience. The games continuing to lean the way of younger players because of the speed ect. Younger players are becoming very capable of playing in their first year - especially high draft picks (Heppell, Melksham, Colyer, Myers) or mature aged (Howlett, Hibberd). So we will need that balance similar to what you were getting at with kangaroos and other teams.

So all you're saying is don't play Welsh or Williams?

 

[Dunn - Well Done]

Yes but we had already beaten the better teams before we fell away due to a number of reasons. When we were 5-6 at the half way point with Adelaide, Melbourne, West Coast, North, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Carlton, Saints and the Dogs to come most would have backed us to make the eight. Unfortunately that's when we completely fell apart, were divided and wouldn't have been able to beat an amateur side.



Three or four years ago they were getting games into guys like Morris, Gilbee, Lake, Griffen, Cooney, Boyd, Cross etc. Guys who are now stars of their side. In 2007 they finished 13th so they had scope for improvement.


Headland's been injured and would've played more.
Dodd played majority of games in 2009 and was injured this year.
Thornton played majority of games in 2009 before retiring.
Hayden played all games this year so I assume was injured in 2009?
Tarrant was injured this year and otherwise would've been played as he did throughout 2009.
Crowley played the majority of games.
Solomon played the majority of games before retiring. Unless you're suggesting they forced him to retire his retirement has no relevance.
Grover still played most games this year.
Not sure what you mean about Hasleby? He was injured. They didn't play kids before him.
All these players have played, or would've but for injury, the majority of games they were available for. Kids weren't played over them.



So all you're saying is don't play Welsh or Williams?

Nope couldn't beat an amateur side but in round 18 dismantled the team that should have been premiers and drew a grand final.

Seriously your joking right. Maybe look at the facts a little more. All these guys had had many years and games before the 2007 season. All of these guys are 28 or more besides Cooney and Griffen who were the number 1 and 3/4 pick.

Facts on your players mentioned
Drafted - Name - Games before 2007 - Years played of games
2003 Cooney 65 games 3 years
2004(21/22yr old) Morris 41 games 2 years
2000 Cross 70 games 6 years
2001 Lake 77 games 5 years
1999 Gilbee 97 games 6 years
2001 Boyd 68 games 4 years

These guys had played many games before the 2007 season, they were hardly new young kids being given games like you mentioned. It remains over the last 3-4 years that the buldogs didnt get enough games into there young kids or didnt give them the go they deserved. What couldve been had they got games into Higgins, Addison, Grant, Ward, E.Wood, S.Reid, Everitt, J.Hill earlier. All have shown signs that they are capable of being good if not very good players at the highest level. Unfortunatly for the dogs they needed these players to peak in the last 2 years instead of in 2012. They just havnt timed it as well as they couldve.

Exactly my point about those fremantle player. Using solomon and saying he played a big role in the last 2 years shows your ignorance and ability to disregard facts. You proved my point further by stating they missed many games in the last 2 years. How can solomon retiring have no relevance when you stated he played most of the games last year and the year before . The point remains they had to play kids and guys that hadnt played AFL footy before. Ill name a few who are quite successful and have been developed quicker than others.

Hill, Suban, Morabito, Fyfe, Ballantyne, Barlow, Broughton, Mayne, Palmer. Because they threw these guys in the deep end and (Vanberlo, Walters, Roberton) to a certain degree, they are far better for it and everyone is saying how good this team could be in a few more years, let alone how they went this year.

Yes basically im saying id prefer youngsters over the types of Welsh, NLM, Williams, Mcveigh (midfield) - I see these guys as list cloggers and preventing development if selected ahead of Heppell, Hibberd, Myers, Hardingham, Colyer, Melksham

 

[loopy_cam]

Nope couldn't beat an amateur side but in round 18 dismantled the team that should have been premiers and drew a grand final.

Would you not have backed us to beat Adelaide, Melbourne and West Coast before we played the three of them? Do you think we were playing to our potential during this period of losses?

Seriously your joking right. Maybe look at the facts a little more. All these guys had had many years and games before the 2007 season. All of these guys are 28 or more besides Cooney and Griffen who were the number 1 and 3/4 pick.

Facts on your players mentioned
Drafted - Name - Games before 2007 - Years played of games
2003 Cooney 65 games 3 years
2004(21/22yr old) Morris 41 games 2 years
2000 Cross 70 games 6 years
2001 Lake 77 games 5 years
1999 Gilbee 97 games 6 years
2001 Boyd 68 games 4 years

These guys had played many games before the 2007 season, they were hardly new young kids being given games like you mentioned. It remains over the last 3-4 years that the buldogs didnt get enough games into there young kids or didnt give them the go they deserved. What couldve been had they got games into Higgins, Addison, Grant, Ward, E.Wood, S.Reid, Everitt, J.Hill earlier. All have shown signs that they are capable of being good if not very good players at the highest level. Unfortunatly for the dogs they needed these players to peak in the last 2 years instead of in 2012. They just havnt timed it as well as they couldve.

Higgins, Addison, Everitt, Hill have all been given games in every season since they were drafted. Apart from Everitt, they have had a significant amount of games. How did they not give them the go they deserved? Ward, Grant, Reid and Wood were drafted after the 2007 season. Since they've been drafted the club's been in the top four. They have been given games when they deserved them.

The names I used were between 20 and 24 four years ago. Still young players.

Exactly my point about those fremantle player. Using solomon and saying he played a big role in the last 2 years shows your ignorance and ability to disregard facts. You proved my point further by stating they missed many games in the last 2 years. How can solomon retiring have no relevance when you stated he played most of the games last year and the year before . The point remains they had to play kids and guys that hadnt played AFL footy before. Ill name a few who are quite successful and have been developed quicker than others.

Hill, Suban, Morabito, Fyfe, Ballantyne, Barlow, Broughton, Mayne, Palmer. Because they threw these guys in the deep end and (Vanberlo, Walters, Roberton) to a certain degree, they are far better for it and everyone is saying how good this team could be in a few more years, let alone how they went this year.

Solomon retiring has no relevance because he was playing in the seniors every week before he retired. Unless he was forced to retire so that the club could play more youngsters it has no relevance.

I do know that the club has played youngsters. What I was saying is that they did not just drop all their experienced players. If you have a look at the stats all those players played alot of games over the last two years. Fremantle played these experienced players and then fit the young kids in around them. Just as I have done in my best 22. They didn't drop their older players to gift games to kids.

Yes basically im saying id prefer youngsters over the types of Welsh, NLM, Williams, Mcveigh (midfield) - I see these guys as list cloggers and preventing development if selected ahead of Heppell, Hibberd, Myers, Hardingham, Colyer, Melksham

So really you're just debating the amount of experienced players in the side then? Fletcher, McVeigh and Hille play but Welsh and Williams don't. Is this because you think Welsh and Williams are too old or you just don't rate them? I tend to think it's the latter.

 

[Dunn - Well Done]

Higgins, Addison, Everitt, Hill have all been given games in every season since they were drafted. Apart from Everitt, they have had a significant amount of games. How did they not give them the go they deserved? Ward, Grant, Reid and Wood were drafted after the 2007 season. Since they've been drafted the club's been in the top four. They have been given games when they deserved them.

The names I used were between 20 and 24 four years ago. Still young players.

So really you're just debating the amount of experienced players in the side then? Fletcher, McVeigh and Hille play but Welsh and Williams don't. Is this because you think Welsh and Williams are too old or you just don't rate them? I tend to think it's the latter.

Yeh deserved was the wrong word. Simple fact is if they gave games to these players from the get go on a more consistant basis than they wouldve been better for it and probably won a flag.

With Williams, Welsh i guess its a mixture of both age and that they arnt that good. I cant see Welsh giving all that more to the team than say someone like Melksham and considering hes a lot younger you would think the difference between them is outwayed by needing to get games into some talented young kids.

As ive said balance to a degree is important, although Collingwood just proved winning a flag without any old ploggers.

Same with Williams, id prefer to see Hardingham. If they both play 22 games Williams output will be slightly better but not worth the difference in what experience could be gained by Hardingham and his development.

 

[loopy_cam]

Yeh deserved was the wrong word. Simple fact is if they gave games to these players from the get go on a more consistant basis than they wouldve been better for it and probably won a flag.

So you think they should've played them every single game and dropped guys like Johnson, Akermanis etc.? I would say that if they had done that they would've finished much lower and Eade would've been sacked. I think the dogs have done all they can and still think they will give it a shot next year.

With Williams, Welsh i guess its a mixture of both age and that they arnt that good. I cant see Welsh giving all that more to the team than say someone like Melksham and considering hes a lot younger you would think the difference between them is outwayed by needing to get games into some talented young kids.

As ive said balance to a degree is important, although Collingwood just proved winning a flag without any old ploggers.

Same with Williams, id prefer to see Hardingham. If they both play 22 games Williams output will be slightly better but not worth the difference in what experience could be gained by Hardingham and his development.

Well if Welsh is an 'old plogger' then Collingwood had five of them in their grand final sides. If you say Davey is too old as well they had seven. My side had five or seven depending on age cut-off.

I think Welsh and Williams would add alot more than a Melksham or a Hardingham right now. Enough to justify them keeping their place.

 

[Yoda_]

First of all, quick rewind..

The team:

B: H.Slattery - T.Pears - M.Mcveigh

HB: M.Hibberd - C.Hooker - D.Fletcher

C: B.Stanton - J.Watson - J.Winderlich

HF: A.Monfries - S.Gumbleton - D.Zaharakis

F: A.Davey - M.Hurley - M.Williams

R: D.Hille - B.Howlett - H.Hocking

I/C: (From) L.Jetta - A.Welsh - P.Ryder - (Sub) C.Dempsey

Eme: B.Prismal - J.Melksham - N.Lovett - Murray

Yeah, I have been looking at doing my own but struggle with a few positions. I would probably have something similar to you but would be trying to squeeze in some of Heppell, Coyler and Melky.

One thing I will say is that we are in a position now where the senior blokes will have pressure on them becuase there is a bit of quality in the bendigo boys. That is a very good thing and may translate to a bit more effort next year.

It was really tough to try and 'squeeze' everyone into our best 22. Would love to have had more of the kids in the team, but the team I went for are proven performers.

In regards to the players you have mentioned, Heppell will probably play HB, before possibly playing through the middle later on, but right now, Hibberd is the proven performer against men, so gets my nod. Colyer adds pace, but who's position does he take? Stanton or Winderlich perhaps as a wingman? or do we play him as a HFF even though we have better options there in Zaharakis and Monfries, Melksham is the smoky from all our young (U/23) midfielders. With a good solid pre season, he could potentially play a lot of senior football this year, if he were to play 18 games this season, that is a huge win for him, and us.

I'm not saying your wrong just suprised I would have thought Daniher would be pushing for games in the seniors next year but you have him 45th picked.

Injury history sees him fall well down the pecking order. In all honesty, I picked the sides (Essendon and Bendigo) and then looked at who I had forgotten and he was one, could not really fit him in at Bendigo except down back, but get the feeling Hirdy will want him playing more forward.

Id be hoping that we can get plenty of games into Colyer, Melksham, Heppell, Myers and Hardingham. Wouldnt mind with a few missing each week, but i suspect 2 will play just about every week. As you said it is hard to fit all these players in and that is the shining light for me, we finally have depth.

The player im really excited about is Zaharakis who i think can go to high levels next year and be a really quality player. Will be a future high possession midfielder who can kick goals.

I agree with this

We need to get games into the young guys who have struggled for game time, so expect to see Jetta, Myers and Brent Prismall get a solid extended run in the seniors before form is taken into account.

Surely he could push one of the Silverlocks out.

After Zaharakis, he is my favorite player..

Can we have two of him

HFF

A touch surprised that you went for such a conservative time.

My team is somewhere back in this thread but I had 5 or 6 differences

from memory had

Hardingham
Heppell
C.Daniher
reimers
nlm

I imagine that the team for Round 1 will be different from our two teams.

As mentioned earlier bud, the guys I picked were the proven performers and the younger guys were the ones who are expected to come on next season.

As far as the guys you mentioned go:

Monfries/M.Williams > Hardingham
Hibberd? > Heppell
Gumbleton > Carlisle > Monfries? Daniher
Davey > Reimers
Hibberd? > NLM

I must admit, NLM is one player I am not sure where he fits into the scheme of things for Essendon. Adds flexibility, sure, but he is not outstanding in any one area, perhaps a tall midfielder again? we did have some success with him this year in that role.

Would love to see your team?

I think Welsh and Williams would add alot more than a Melksham or a Hardingham right now. Enough to justify them keeping their place.

This is exactly the reason why I went for the proven, hardened body of Welsh over Prismal who I had actually had in, instead. Hardingham may be good, but has only showed glimpses of his talent at AFL level, Monfries and Williams are proven quantities at AFL level so thus, get's the nod.

Overall, I am fairly happy with the team, obviously there is always a bolter, so will expect to see some changes to this line up over the Pre Season.

 

[TheDon35]

Based on picking a side most likely to be our best chance of challenging for a premiership in the next 4 - 5 years, not winning as many games as possible this year, i'd make the following changes:

Slattery out, Hibbert to a holding back and Heppel to half back
Howlett out for Melksham
Welsh out for Colyer. Hocking to tag.
Winderlich to pine for Dempsey.
Williams out for Reimers. I'm looking forward to Williams getting his shot but for the sake of picking a side on paper, IMO, there's too many similar types in that forward line - Williams, Hurley, Gumby, Monfries and to a lesser extent Zaka, all lead up fwds.

So that leaves a side of

Hibberd Pears McVeigh

Heppell Hooker Fletch

Dempsey Watson Melksham

Monfies Gumby Zaka

Davey Hurls Reimers

Hille Hocking Stanton

Jetta Ryder Colyer Williams

 

[yaco55]

HFF

Check post 145.

Will include Heppell instead of Melksham.

It is an experimental team and I imagine will change by Round 5.

Importantly includes 7 talls which is when we had the most success.

 

[Dunn - Well Done]

So you think they should've played them every single game and dropped guys like Johnson, Akermanis etc.? I would say that if they had done that they would've finished much lower and Eade would've been sacked. I think the dogs have done all they can and still think they will give it a shot next year.



Well if Welsh is an 'old plogger' then Collingwood had five of them in their grand final sides. If you say Davey is too old as well they had seven. My side had five or seven depending on age cut-off.

I think Welsh and Williams would add alot more than a Melksham or a Hardingham right now. Enough to justify them keeping their place.

Well didnt Hahn, BJ, Aker, Eagleton play pivotal roles for the club this year. See if they started playing young guys instead of these guys they may have finish a little lower (may) a few years a go. But in 2010 they would've been right up there for a true premiership chance. Although finishing second is good - no one remembers who came 2nd.

I never said anything about Davey, thanks for putting words into my mouth. Welsh, Williams, Mcveigh (midfield), NLM are things i dont want to see in the essendon side next year.

Can you please name those 5 old ploggers?? Anyhow as mentioned im happy to play a few of those old ploggers (Fletcher, Hille, Mcveigh (back)

 

[yaco55]

DWD

I agree with your argument.

Doggies didn't get enough games into their young players between 2007 and 2010.

Probably doesn't matter because the Doggies will have a new coach in 2011.

 

[smooth mover]

First of all, quick rewind..

The team:

B: H.Slattery - T.Pears - M.Mcveigh

HB: M.Hibberd - C.Hooker - D.Fletcher

C: B.Stanton - J.Watson - J.Winderlich

HF: A.Monfries - S.Gumbleton - D.Zaharakis

F: A.Davey - M.Hurley - M.Williams

R: D.Hille - B.Howlett - H.Hocking

I/C: (From) L.Jetta - A.Welsh - P.Ryder - (Sub) C.Dempsey

Eme: B.Prismal - J.Melksham - N.Lovett - Murray






I'd agree with 98% of ur side HFF the only thing i'd possibly change is taking out 1 of the midfielders (either howlett or hocking as watson is clearly our best), all the midfielders mentioned are reguarded as inside mid's & every team needs that 1 hard running recieving mid which would suit either of the wingers u had? Therefor i'd take out the 1 mid (bench or sub?), move 1 of the wingers in (most likely stants) & put a melk's, demps, priz or colyer (whoever in best form) on the wing??

 

[Yoda_]

First of all, quick rewind..

The team:

B: H.Slattery - T.Pears - M.Mcveigh

HB: M.Hibberd - C.Hooker - D.Fletcher

C: B.Stanton - J.Watson - J.Winderlich

HF: A.Monfries - S.Gumbleton - D.Zaharakis

F: A.Davey - M.Hurley - M.Williams

R: D.Hille - B.Howlett - H.Hocking

I/C: (From) L.Jetta - A.Welsh - P.Ryder - (Sub) C.Dempsey

Eme: B.Prismal - J.Melksham - N.Lovett - Murray

I'd agree with 98% of ur side HFF the only thing i'd possibly change is taking out 1 of the midfielders (either howlett or hocking as watson is clearly our best), all the midfielders mentioned are reguarded as inside mid's & every team needs that 1 hard running recieving mid which would suit either of the wingers u had? Therefor i'd take out the 1 mid (bench or sub?), move 1 of the wingers in (most likely stants) & put a melk's, demps, priz or colyer (whoever in best form) on the wing??

I thought this might get brought up..

On the three guys you mentioned, Watson is not going any where, but harsh to drop young Hocking who finished second in our B&F this year and showed some real dare and toughness at the ball, whilst Hocking is a tough nut who I dare say is not going anywhere after averaging the most tackles per game of any Essendon player this year.

The only player I could think of that we could potentially drop is Welsh off the bench, but he is a tagger.

I have Stanton and Winderlich on the wings as ball carriers, whilst Jetta and Zaharakis could also play part time roles as ball carriers for us, Dempsey is the wildcard also as my substitute.

As you mentioned, I would love to have got young Colyer in their the most, but feel that he may be fighting with Jetta for that run and carry midfield spot with Winderlich and Stanton taking the top 2 of these spots.

 

[yaco55]

Happy to see that nearly all the selected teams have 7 talls.

We were most balanced ( and successful ) with this combination.

 

[loopy_cam]

Well didnt Hahn, BJ, Aker, Eagleton play pivotal roles for the club this year. See if they started playing young guys instead of these guys they may have finish a little lower (may) a few years a go. But in 2010 they would've been right up there for a true premiership chance. Although finishing second is good - no one remembers who came 2nd.

They did play their youngsters. Every year after their first each one of them, apart from Everitt, got 10+ games (IIRC, looked it up earlier).

I never said anything about Davey, thanks for putting words into my mouth. Welsh, Williams, Mcveigh (midfield), NLM are things i dont want to see in the essendon side next year.

Apologies, the other guy mentioned Davey and I thought it was you.

Can you please name those 5 old ploggers?? Anyhow as mentioned im happy to play a few of those old ploggers (Fletcher, Hille, Mcveigh (back)

Players equal to or older than Welsh are Maxwell, Didak, Brown, Jolly and Johnson. Davis also counts if it's for the first one as well. Next year they also add Tarrant and Krakoeur(if he plays).

 

[Bombers36]

Pears Hurley H.Slat
Fletch Hooker Winders
Stants Hocking Jetta
Zaka Gumby M.Williams
Davey Ryder Colyer

Hille Watson Melksham

Bench: Howlett Spike Monfries
SUB: Dempsey

Had a few goes at this now but am starting to like the idea of Hurley staying down back and Ryder as our F.Foward.
Pears can play out of a back pocket as hes missed a bit of footy and it will give him time to find his feet again, Hurley & Hooker can Hold down the key defensive posts with Fletch back there to chop out.
H.Slat and Spike can handle the small defender position with aplomb, and Winderlich can give plenty of grunt our of the back half.
Stants and Jetta on the wings as they are both good outside mids, Hocking to provide hardness in the guts with Watson, and Melksham as our rover switching with Colyer.
Zaka & M.Williams very smart footballers ideal on the HF flanks, Gumby and Paddy as our talls up forward, with Davey and Colyer mopping up the crumbs
Howlett, Spike & Monfires all provide good back up off the bench - one defender, one on baller and one forward.
Like the idea of Dempsey as our SUB who is versatile and could come on and have a big impact.

 

[Slattery_20]

I think they'll really make sure with Willo, make him earn it the hard way. Hopefully the same goes for Dempsey & Reimers too.

If that means NLM, Welsh etc get games early, so be it. Happened last year; and we were actually going OK.
It's when they got hurt, and the selection pressure disappeared that the soft efforts & inconsistency crept in.
If they're good enough, they'll earn it.

 

[hank31]

Naming a best 22 at the moment is almost impossible, its so hard without taking things into account such as big pre seasons, impressive preseason match performances, injury and general fitness.
B: McVeigh Pears Fletcher

HB: Stanton Hooker Hocking

C: Melksham Watson Colyer

HF: Monfries Gumbleton Winderlich

F: Davey Hurley Hille

R: Ryder Jetta Prismall

I/C: Zaharakis Myers Heppell

Sub: Reimers/Dempsey.

Emergency: Howlett NLM Welsh

All in all there are a couple of very unlucky players, this side is one though I would like to see us go with, as i think it contains the most natural, undeveloped talent on our list with a couple of senior guys to top it all off.

Found howlett to be particularly unlucky, along with Slattery and Welsh, but i think that the future lies in a side along the lines of what I posted, with the interchange being first change mids!

 

[LukeParkerno1]

B: McVeigh Pears Fletcher
HB: Hardrinham Hooker Stanton
C: Heppell Melksham Colyer
HF: Howlett, Carlile, Reimers
F: Davey Williams Gumbleton (pushing up)
R: Ryder Jetta Watson
Int: Hille, Myers, Monfries Sub: Dempsey
Em:Ross, Hocking, Zaharakis

 

[WWSD]

B H.Slattery T.Pears D.Fletcher
HB C.Dempsey C.Hooker H.Hocking
C D.Zaharakis B.Stanton J.Winderlich
HF A.Monfries M.Hurley A.Davey
F K.Hardingham S.Gumbleton M.Williams
R D.Hille J.Watson B.Prismall

INT R.Dyson P.Ryder A.Welsh M.McVeigh

EMG J.Neagle S.Lonergan N.L.Murray

 

[hank31]

B: McVeigh Pears Fletcher
HB: Hardrinham Hooker Stanton
C: Heppell Melksham Colyer
F: Davey Williams Gumbleton (pushing up)
R: Ryder Jetta Monfries
Int: Hille, Myers, Hocking, Reimers Sub: Dempsey
Em:Howlett, Ross, Zaharakis

No Watson?

Zaharakis doesnt make it?

 

[The House]

Interested to get feedback as to why HFFo7 and Bombers36 (and anyone else) has decided to move Fletcher to the half back line at this stage of his career?

i know he's been very durable type, but i would have thought moving him up the ground would certainly mean more running, which means at his age a very real increased likelyhood of injury.

Also he has shown year after year he is most effective playing deep and coming accross to help out the other kp defenders when deep. His cleaning up and poise on the last line of defense is to me possibly his greatest asset too.

if i was coaching against us, and Fletcher lined up on a half back line, personally i would play a young, fit runner on him, and instruct him to run up and back between the archs until Fletcher was fatigued, then start pushing quickly into the 50 and try to catch him on the drop.

Much more valuable on the last line of defense for mine (in fact almost essential from where i sit), but as i said, keen to hear reasoning from you two and others.......

 

[LukeParkerno1]

No Watson?

Zaharakis doesnt make it?

Fixed Watson, my mistake there. I am not going to change Zakarakis, needs to show he can play a full time role in the centre.

 

[hank31]

Fixed Watson, my mistake there. I am not going to change Zakarakis, needs to show he can play a full time role in the centre.

Personally i think that he has only had one game where he was being played as a pure mid and that was against collingwood when he hurt his knee in the first qtr.. until then he was ripping it up, 10 touches or so in the first!

 

[Bombers36]

Interested to get feedback as to why HFFo7 and Bombers36 (and anyone else) has decided to move Fletcher to the half back line at this stage of his career?

i know he's been very durable type, but i would have thought moving him up the ground would certainly mean more running, which means at his age a very real increased likelyhood of injury.

Also he has shown year after year he is most effective playing deep and coming accross to help out the other kp defenders when deep. His cleaning up and poise on the last line of defense is to me possibly his greatest asset too.

if i was coaching against us, and Fletcher lined up on a half back line, personally i would play a young, fit runner on him, and instruct him to run up and back between the archs until Fletcher was fatigued, then start pushing quickly into the 50 and try to catch him on the drop.

Much more valuable on the last line of defense for mine (in fact almost essential from where i sit), but as i said, keen to hear reasoning from you two and others.......

Very valid question and reasoning The House. Fletch is great on the last line of defence and 'potentially' could be exposed for pace/endurance on a half back flank. I simply named him there so he can play a loose man in defence type of role, and use his long raking kicks to pump the ball directly into our forward 50.
If an opposition coach were to name a young pacey type on Fletch then Fletch is smart enough to use his height, reach and long kicks to our advantage, and some of our other backman can keep that pacey forward in check. It's really about the back 6 as a unit, and if they can work cohesively as a unit then potential flaws or weaknesses in individuals games, (and all players have them), will be less exposed.
I just feel we have enough depth back there with Pears, Hurley & Hooker to allow Fletch a bit of freedom and a more attacking defensive role - if you know what I mean.....

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Personally i think that he has only had one game where he was being played as a pure mid and that was against collingwood when he hurt his knee in the first qtr.. until then he was ripping it up, 10 touches or so in the first!

Yep, but as I said I want him to show it for a whole game, I see better options on the HFF line, so he needs to cut it as a midfielder!