Centre Square

[Finnishpie]

Who will be our first choice for the centre square? Will it be a mix of youth and experience? Is it worth rotating Pendlebury and Swan out of there to the wing to give Thomas, Adams, Williams, Kennedy, Freeman and others a run in there? I'm assuming Greenwood will be a mainstay. So my choice would be

One of Witts/Grundy
One of Pendlebury/Swan
Greenwood
One of Adams/Thomas

 

[THATSGOLD]

Who will be our first choice for the centre square? Will it be a mix of youth and experience? Is it worth rotating Pendlebury and Swan out of there to the wing to give Thomas, Adams, Williams, Kennedy, Freeman and others a run in there? I'm assuming Greenwood will be a mainstay. So my choice would be

One of Witts/Grundy
One of Pendlebury/Swan
Greenwood
One of Adams/Thomas

There isn't a first choice. They will rotate about 12 of them.

 

[ThisIsJake]

All I'm confident of is that both Greenwood and Adams will be in there more than anyone else.

Pendles/Swan just behind them.

I hope that Grundy and BenKen get a fair crack at it also.

 

[mike123]

Taylor Adams and Levi Greenwood should get the most time. Pendlebury should get less time then last year so he can use his skills on the outside more. And Swan should get more midfield time than last year.

Sidebottom will get a bit of centre square time but play as a forward/winger most of the time.

Nathan Freeman will also get plenty of centre square time.

As much as I don't like Jarryd Blair he's probably going to be a walk up start so he'll get some time.

And Jamie Elliott should spend time there as well but we still need him close to goals.

Maybe something like this. Adds up to 300% because there are three midfield spots not counting rucks.

Levi Greenwood - 70%
Taylor Adams - 65%
Scott Pendlebury - 55%
Dane Swan - 50%
Nathan Freeman - 40%
Jarryd Blair - 10%
Steele Sidebottom - 5%
Jamie Elliott - 5%

 

[speedytiger]

There isn't a first choice. They will rotate about 12 of them.

Ok put it this way. 1 minute to go, 3 points down, ball up in centre square. Who is the 4 you want in there?

 

[donkeyballs]

Ok put it this way. 1 minute to go, 3 points down, ball up in centre square. Who is the 4 you want in there?

In that scenario:
Swan, pendles, greenwood, grundy

 

[jmac70]

Taylor Adams and Levi Greenwood should get the most time. Pendlebury should get less time then last year so he can use his skills on the outside more. And Swan should get more midfield time than last year.

Sidebottom will get a bit of centre square time but play as a forward/winger most of the time.

Nathan Freeman will also get plenty of centre square time.

As much as I don't like Jarryd Blair he's probably going to be a walk up start so he'll get some time.

And Jamie Elliott should spend time there as well but we still need him close to goals.

Maybe something like this. Adds up to 300% because there are three midfield spots not counting rucks.

Levi Greenwood - 70%
Taylor Adams - 65%
Scott Pendlebury - 55%
Dane Swan - 50%
Nathan Freeman - 40%
Jarryd Blair - 10%
Steele Sidebottom - 5%
Jamie Elliott - 5%

You forgot Caff.

 

[Fuzzy Happy Poo]

I think swanny will spend most of his time in the forward line and contest in the forward line ball ups and throw ins
and grundy greenwood pendles and adams for the centre bounces

 

[iGNITER]

R - Grundy/Witts
Rover - Pendlebury
RR - Adams
C - Greenwood

 

[THATSGOLD]

Ok put it this way. 1 minute to go, 3 points down, ball up in centre square. Who is the 4 you want in there?

Depends who has spent less time on the ground. The fittest and the most in form.
We don't have a set midfield going in to 2015.

 

[Rusty22]

i dont know, but it will be better than last year.

 

[mike123]

You forgot Caff.

One, he's injured.

Two, I don't rate him.

 

[Yezeha]

If we're going to play a tagger, Marley Williams, I think will spend a bit of time at the centre bounces. He is a hard nut and he wouldn't be a bad contested ball winner.

 

[FIGJAM]

My take is that you want a ruck, two blue collar mids (one a hard nut ball winner and one a tight checking player) and a classy link player.

Witts / Adams / Greenwood and Pendles fit this bill as #1 preference based upon historical form (and some projection) as of Round 1.

 

[THATSGOLD]

Basically once the ball is bounced it becomes a congested pack of 24 odd players. You need more than 4 guys.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I'd like to see Langdon have a crack or at least of a wing

 

[jmac70]

One, he's injured.

Two, I don't rate him.

3: He won't be injured for the whole season
4: The club rates him

 

[didaksrightfoot]

My top 4: Witts / Pendles / Greenwood / Adams

- Even when fit, I think Swan will be better utilised playing off the ball more, probably as a half forward... will get midfield time, but I don't think it should be his primary role next year.
- I do see a spot for playing (a healthy) Caff as a tagger in some games - there are certain players that are susceptible to a hard tag, and he has shown that he can be very effective in this role. But the benifit of having Greenwood is that we now have a much more 2-way midfield without needing a tagger all the time. Could be a spot for Caff to get some games as a defensive forward (in place of Blair) and alternating between that and a tagger based on need.
- Obviously there would then be another 6-8 guys who would be rotated through, and its up to a few of those guys (outside of Sidey) to start stepping up above the rest.

 

[mattys123]

Ruck; Witts over Grundy quite easily, Witts' last 4-5 games of 2014 were AFL class a ruckman, while Brodie really struggled in 2014.

The rest;

Pendles; Picks himself
Greenwood; Just a pure hard nut who will enjoy the shot he will be given at Collingwood.
Broomhead; We need some pace in that midfield, whether it be Broomy or Freeman we can't start with Pendles, Greenwood and Adams, it's way too slow.

Having said that to win a flag now, or even to be competitive at senior level you need a midfield of 8-9 deep to rotate through at any given time during a match.

Swan, Freeman, Adams, Thomas, Sidey, Kennedy, De Goey, Williams and Elliott all could be part of that depth in 2015 and beyond.

 

[Old Spice]

I want to see a quality ball winner, a sweeper and a burst player to complement whoever is ruck.

So I'd like to see combinations of say Pendles, Adams and Kennedy OR Swan, Greenwood and Freeman OR some other combination including Varcoe and Elliot.

 

[Finnishpie]

There isn't a first choice. They will rotate about 12 of them.

There will be about 8-10 of them over the course of a game, but when the game is on the line, there's often a first choice. What's more, there will be some who end up a lot in the centre square and some who just go through once or twice during a game. I like Mike123's breakdown.

 

[Robroy22]

If he's fit...(and to look at him he's looking far slimmer) then Swanny is a soda to play back in the guts. He's a natural ball magnet and he still has the speed to burst forward. I don't see the need for Caff in the centre square at all any more, unless there's 4-5 injuries to midfielders ahead of him. Let Caff play the "defensive forward" that Goldy and JB have played for the past few years. Having Greenwood and Adams (or Thomas) means we don't have the problem with defensive running from our midfield anymore. So my starting 4 would be Witts, Adams, Greenwood, Pendles with Swanny and a cast of thousands giving them all rests and rotations.

 

[THATSGOLD]

There will be about 8-10 of them over the course of a game, but when the game is on the line, there's often a first choice. What's more, there will be some who end up a lot in the centre square and some who just go through once or twice during a game. I like Mike123's breakdown.

They are rotated that often there really isn't a first choice mid group. They all spend around equal amount of time in there 8-10 players.

 

[THATSGOLD]

How much of a loss is Beams? Be honest.

 

[jmac70]

How much of a loss is Beams? Be honest.

He is a massive loss. Hopefully Greenwood and improvement from other mids such as Adams will help to cover him. If Swan gets back to being close to his best it will also help.