Conolly on headland....

[sabre_ac]

At Brisbane it seems he was told to run forward at every possibility hence becoming an extremely dangerous midfielder.
Capable of kicking long and accurately into the forward line while being a constant target.
The question is will conolly play him in a similar way, taking into account our midfield isnt as strong as brisbanes. Or will he play a more conventional role, or even out of the forward line.

My opinion is Conolly hopefully learnt from the farmer experiement and will not mess with proven theories or positions. Headland must be given free reign, he must be instructed to run forward regardlesss of if it looks like were going to win the ball or not.
Our in and under sqaud is the best going around the combination of Haselby,Bell and Cook are unrivaled so getting our hands on the ball first is no problem. Our problem has always been where do we go from there, headland it seems is the key.
Simmonds is also and exceptional tap ruckman.

What are other peoples thoughts on this?

 

[Kenny_01]

Firstly, we don't have the best in and under squad in the AFL. Brisbane and Port's are easily better than ours, and it's no suprise they finished 1st and 2nd on the ladder. There would be a few other sides better than us in that department at the moment.

If Headland ran forward whenever possible, his opponent would kill us. He has to be smart when doing so... ie. when he thinks we will win the ball. You can't just always keep running forward like the Bulldogs did last year. You have to run forward when in position like what Brisbane and Port do so effectively.

Connolly will know how to play him, don't worry about that.

 

[back pocket]

Originally posted by Kenny_01
Firstly, we don't have the best in and under squad in the AFL. Brisbane and Port's are easily better than ours, and it's no suprise they finished 1st and 2nd on the ladder. There would be a few other sides better than us in that department at the moment.

If Headland ran forward whenever possible, his opponent would kill us. He has to be smart when doing so... ie. when he thinks we will win the ball. You can't just always keep running forward like the Bulldogs did last year. You have to run forward when in position like what Brisbane and Port do so effectively.

Connolly will know how to play him, don't worry about that.

I think you underestimate our midfield, although it may not be the best going around, it's not the worst either. Getting the ball has never been a problem, but finishing off has, and I would hope Headland plays the same role he did at Brisbane, to fill a hole we've had for a while. Headland's opponent would be wise to stay on him. He'll improve our side, but he is not the key to our success, Haselby is the most damaging midfielder we have, and watch out if he improves a bit more this season.

 

[sabre_ac]

Originally posted by Kenny_01
Firstly, we don't have the best in and under squad in the AFL. Brisbane and Port's are easily better than ours, and it's no suprise they finished 1st and 2nd on the ladder. There would be a few other sides better than us in that department at the moment.

No I am talking bottom of the pack players with the ability to dish it out.I am not talking finishing skills or breaking hte lines, these are where port and the lions are dominant.
As far as bottom of the pack and getting our hands on the ball first haselby,cook and Bell are THE best.
One look at Haselby and Bells stats for the year show how good they are in this department.

 

[Kenny_01]

Originally posted by back pocket
I think you underestimate our midfield, although it may not be the best going around, it's not the worst either. Getting the ball has never been a problem, but finishing off has, and I would hope Headland plays the same role he did at Brisbane, to fill a hole we've had for a while. Headland's opponent would be wise to stay on him. He'll improve our side, but he is not the key to our success, Haselby is the most damaging midfielder we have, and watch out if he improves a bit more this season.

I don't underestimate our midfield. I didn't say it was the worst. It's mid-range. Our in and under players are NOT the best in the league and that is a fact. We were ranked 16th in clearances in 2002... if we had the best in and under players and a good tap ruckman, we would have been a lot higher. Let's not let our hearts get in the way of facts here. Hasleby is great at getting first hands on the ball, Bell and Cook are OK, but after that... it gets a bit thin. Headland will help here as well because he is hard at the ball. Our midfield lacks defensive pressure. We were 14th in tackles even though we had Cookie who was leading the AFL in tackles near the end of the season. When we do clear the ball from the centre, we normally go backwards first. We were 13th in getting the ball into 50. Our midfield needs a lot of work, but we will be OK.

Don't get me wrong, I like our midfield and it will definitely be better this season, but whether you like it or not, it was our weakness last season. Headland will definitely help and hopefully younger players like Haines and Schammer can step up. I am really hoping Schammer matures into a good player because he is exactly what we need and will work perfectly with Hasleby and Headland.

 

[Kenny_01]

Originally posted by sabre_ac
No I am talking bottom of the pack players with the ability to dish it out.I am not talking finishing skills or breaking hte lines, these are where port and the lions are dominant.
As far as bottom of the pack and getting our hands on the ball first haselby,cook and Bell are THE best.
One look at Haselby and Bells stats for the year show how good they are in this department.

Read above post.

 

[masai]

Our in and under players have done a fine job, but as Kenny says, they do go backwards before attacking.

Headland will fit in very well by being a class player in the midfield. In the first case he will probably take the oppositions best tagger and this will allow the players who were formerly strongly tagged, to be more attacking. In the second case he may have not used all his talents at Brissie, serving an apprenticeship under their strong midfield, thus he is just waiting to explode with his new role.

Connolly has said that he will be played around the midfield - half forward area, I'm happy with that.

In relation to Schammer, he looks and sounds really good, but let's not expect too much of him this year. Any brilliance from him this year should be viewed as a bonus.

I thing that the arrival of Headland and his influence on the midfield group is that he may soak up some of the pressure and allow the disposal skills of players like Cook to improve as they will have a little less pressure. Ironically looking at some tapes from last season, Cook can dispose of the ball very well when BALANCED.

 

[skilts]

From his games with Brisbane it appeared to me that Headland could be of benefit in any role.

However, his racing forward, in anticipation of his team mates winning the contest may not work as well at Freo, because his team mates may not win those contests as often. Could be shag-on-a-rock time if he's left forward of the ball with no involvement in the contest.

The only real flaw I see in his game is the same one I detected in Corey McKernan in 1996. He tries to kick the ball too hard, thus causing the ball to occasionally slew off the side of the boot. The adrenalin seems to get to him at times and he tries too hard. It may be a problem he can overcome with experience. McKernan couldn't manage it. Headland might, because he was much more relaxed and confident last season, and it showed. He still has that potential to improve.

You guys must have been stoked about his outing with the Aboriginal team. B.O.G. and no injuries.