Collingwod:Midfield

[brandonthegimp]

Well if we land Luke Ball with pick 30 we are gonna have one of the top 3 midfields in the leauge+We could also have 3 groups of Midfield.

1st group
D.Jolly
S.Pendlebury
D.Swan
L.Ball

2nd Group
J.Fraser
L.Davis
A.Didak
T.Lockyer

3rd Group
C.Wood
D.Thomas
S.O.Bree
]D.Beams

And you could also throw in: S.Sidebottom,S.Wellingham,J.McCarthy,B.Dick,B.Johnson.

Thats all i can name for Midfield and i reckon that has to be one of the best in the leauge.

 

[Optimax]

Settle we dont have ball yet

 

[brandonthegimp]

Thats y it says if we get Ball

 

[collingwill]

the strengh of our midfeild is its variety IMO, i wouldnt rate it as good as some though.

 

[twaters]

Yep, Jolly and a mature extractor eg Ball at 30 or Harris later would give us a harder presence at stoppages.

However, of the players you've listed, outside of Didak and Davis, none would scare an opposition for speed to catch them on the rebound or run and carry (except for Wellers when on song perhaps). Not saying all they others are slow, just more manageable with normal man on man or zone coverage. So just tag tighter on Didak/Davis and our mid 'magic' comes back to the field.

We still need speed. If we get a mature extractor, then great. But to be an elite midfield will need outside speed and ball carry as well. Hopefully recruiting the more stolid extractor does not deny us recruiting some speedy type somewhere in this years drafts.

Also we may need to enhance Barham, Blight, Rounds, and even Reed - these guys have serious toe to muck up opposition setups. If one or two step up through the year, then I'd agree we have a mid to be reckoned with.

 

[chop_me]

the strengh of our midfeild is its variety IMO, i wouldnt rate it as good as some though.

i agree, if we do land Luke Ball .. that would give us the midfield with the most depth and consistency across the board....

but we still don't have the best set of front-line midfielders

 

[BEEG]

The real positive i think is if we land Ball

Is that we can play one of Didak or Davis in the forward line

That will be a massive get for us having one of them causing havoc in the forward line

 

[jimmy_clement#8]

To continue this carnival of 'make pretend', 'if get Ball', the addition of him and Jolly to the team would be fantastic.

Some of our worst losses, even our worst patches of football during '08, were down to clearances.

Jolly and Ball will go a long way to negatine one of our worst negatives last year.

All we would then need do is to rectify that June-onwards forward line and we may just be ok.

 

[collingwill]

To continue this carnival of 'make pretend', 'if get Ball', the addition of him and Jolly to the team would be fantastic.

Some of our worst losses, even our worst patches of football during '08, were down to clearances.

Jolly and Ball will go a long way to negatine one of our worst negatives last year.

All we would then need do is to rectify that June-onwards forward line and we may just be ok.[/quote]

i agree our forward line struggled towards the end, but thats probably because we were playing against much better defensive teams, add to that we were flogged in clearances and inside 50s against the top teams, so in theory our forward should function better against the top teams if we "fix" our clearance and inside 50 rate.

 

[hellfire]

The combination that excites me the most is this [if we get Ball]:

Jolly, Pendlebury, Ball, Thomas.

Thomas adds some pace and flair, Pendlebury with the class and polish [and can win the ball], Ball with the grunt and extraction... Jolly with 50 hitouts.

Expect Thomas to kick around 20 goals from the midfield next year.

 

[Frankie23]

I like the grouping theory, I would make them more even though, as they could be realistic rotations.

Group 1
Jolly
Ball
Beams
Davis

Group 2
Wood
Swan
Thomas
O'Bree

Group 3
Fraser
Didak
Pendlebury
Sidebottom

Any of those rotations through the middle and I would be confident against any midfield!

 

[magpies42]

mods can we delete this thread, i am starting to get superstitious, we never land anybody. we shouldnt be counting our chickens before they hatch

 

[Tranquilli37]

the strengh of our midfeild is its variety IMO, i wouldnt rate it as good as some though.

Same as our forward line. Lots of combinations and variety. No massive names, but can be just as effective.

 

[Soul_Pie]

I certainly hope we get Ball, our midfield will just look so much more well rounded if we have a top clearance winner to go with a quality tap ruckman, it would be the final piece in the midfield puzzle.

 

[Zahki]

For what it's worth, I don't think we'll get Luke Ball. It'll be fantastic if we did, both for him and the club, but at pick 30? It's reall,y really hard to see Essendon passing him up, and you can never count out any other club, Brisbane with Voss especially. Remember at the start of trade week when he said? "We're not interested in Fevola?"

 

[Football God]

I like the grouping theory, I would make them more even though, as they could be realistic rotations.

Group 1
Jolly
Ball
Beams
Davis

Group 2
Wood
Swan
Thomas
O'Bree

Group 3
Fraser
Didak
Pendlebury
Sidebottom

Any of those rotations through the middle and I would be confident against any midfield!

agree with that except i would swap pendles with david, since pendles is a genuine midfielder and davis could play more up forward more IF we get get ball