The Gov
McLovin' it
- Jun 16, 2015
- 364
- 1,101
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Honestly think our biggest flaw/missing piece is that contested mid, the one who would actually rather the ball bouncing around legs and winning it that way than receiving a clean hitout or handball. The ground ball gets player. Someone who will probably not be our best looking player but get it in the hands of Shuey/Kelly more than they were getting it this year.
In 2018 it was Redden, really lifted and finished 2nd in the BnF and was fantastic in finals, big reason we lept up IMO. That was the best year we'll get out of him, can't see him hitting those heights again. These days would rather him functioning as that 5th mid who kind of tags but is a bit too good for his position, leave him alone at your peril etc.
Looking at midfield compositions (obviously play different styles but reckon Richmond really have the balance right)
Martin > Yeo - Explosive beast type
Shuey - Cotchin - Inside/Outside Pure mid, leader
Kelly - Edwards - Classy mid, can win a contest but you'd rather them delivering it into the 50, can play across half forward if need be
Gaff > McIntosh - winger type, rarely plays a bad game but not really explosive
Sheed - Lambert - icing on top type mid who can kick a sneaky goal
Current Redden > Graham - general mid who can sort of fill a role as needed and play defensive
2018 Rioli - Bolton - scary forward/mid who can get thrown into the centre to really scare teams
Ryan >>>>> Pickett - more of a forward who doesn't really do centre bounces but gets the ball around the ground, Ryan can do a million things Pickett can't though
We need to sort out the Rioli one, get a replacement forward in or get him back (unlikely/impossible next year)
But the main one for me is Prestia - ???
It's not Redden anymore, or at least if it is he's not doing it to the level we need, and it's not the last mid we've been putting in there (Ainsworth, O'Neill, Brander) as we've been playing those guys mostly off a wing in weird space guarding roles.
Our balance in there has been off. Not saying we have to play their game style but worth looking at their player composition, they always look so balanced/versatile in there and I don't think it's a coincidence everything clicked for them the year they landed Prestia. Martin aside he's the one I'd most want to be unavailable when we play the Tigers.
We look too silky and not grunty enough as a unit, too much icing on top and not enough cake. Yeo can't do it all, Martin looks better with Prestia taking up some of the grunt work in there. Naitanui is obviously a billion times better than Nank but think we get guilty of playing to him too much and relying on him winning a superb hitout every time, would rather that just be the bonus of having an elite ruck rather than the entire crux of our gameplan, and inevitably we lose momentum when our backup ruck goes in there.
This is basically just an extremely long winded way of saying I'd take Constable. Or at least identify a player we want to be our Prestia. If it's Ainsworth (contested ball apparently being his strength), then play him like that, cause we haven't been. (I don't reckon it is Ainsworth btw). If it's another player let's go after them. It's been Redden at the moment but again don't think that's something he can bring enough anymore, but still think he can offer a lot as a less crucial cog.
Since the Priddis/Selwood days I reckon as fans we've been stuck in the mindset of pace pace pace, kicking skills kicking skills kicking skills as being the thing we always need, but looking at those lineups don't think we actually concede too much in that department.
There's no options we can realistically afford that can be that player and also have Prestias lack of weaknesses (he's not slow and has decent footskills), but there's players out there that can at least offer his strengths. Jed Anderson would be my #1 but Constable would be good and would also have a look at Blakely for this reason, we'd lament his footskills, we'd probably get annoyed as fans but unlike Freo who have a million of him and no Kelly/Shueys, we actually have a role we'd need him to fill.
We're a missing link off I reckon and think it's doable to get someone to play it.
In 2018 it was Redden, really lifted and finished 2nd in the BnF and was fantastic in finals, big reason we lept up IMO. That was the best year we'll get out of him, can't see him hitting those heights again. These days would rather him functioning as that 5th mid who kind of tags but is a bit too good for his position, leave him alone at your peril etc.
Looking at midfield compositions (obviously play different styles but reckon Richmond really have the balance right)
Martin > Yeo - Explosive beast type
Shuey - Cotchin - Inside/Outside Pure mid, leader
Kelly - Edwards - Classy mid, can win a contest but you'd rather them delivering it into the 50, can play across half forward if need be
Gaff > McIntosh - winger type, rarely plays a bad game but not really explosive
Sheed - Lambert - icing on top type mid who can kick a sneaky goal
Current Redden > Graham - general mid who can sort of fill a role as needed and play defensive
2018 Rioli - Bolton - scary forward/mid who can get thrown into the centre to really scare teams
Ryan >>>>> Pickett - more of a forward who doesn't really do centre bounces but gets the ball around the ground, Ryan can do a million things Pickett can't though
We need to sort out the Rioli one, get a replacement forward in or get him back (unlikely/impossible next year)
But the main one for me is Prestia - ???
It's not Redden anymore, or at least if it is he's not doing it to the level we need, and it's not the last mid we've been putting in there (Ainsworth, O'Neill, Brander) as we've been playing those guys mostly off a wing in weird space guarding roles.
Our balance in there has been off. Not saying we have to play their game style but worth looking at their player composition, they always look so balanced/versatile in there and I don't think it's a coincidence everything clicked for them the year they landed Prestia. Martin aside he's the one I'd most want to be unavailable when we play the Tigers.
We look too silky and not grunty enough as a unit, too much icing on top and not enough cake. Yeo can't do it all, Martin looks better with Prestia taking up some of the grunt work in there. Naitanui is obviously a billion times better than Nank but think we get guilty of playing to him too much and relying on him winning a superb hitout every time, would rather that just be the bonus of having an elite ruck rather than the entire crux of our gameplan, and inevitably we lose momentum when our backup ruck goes in there.
This is basically just an extremely long winded way of saying I'd take Constable. Or at least identify a player we want to be our Prestia. If it's Ainsworth (contested ball apparently being his strength), then play him like that, cause we haven't been. (I don't reckon it is Ainsworth btw). If it's another player let's go after them. It's been Redden at the moment but again don't think that's something he can bring enough anymore, but still think he can offer a lot as a less crucial cog.
Since the Priddis/Selwood days I reckon as fans we've been stuck in the mindset of pace pace pace, kicking skills kicking skills kicking skills as being the thing we always need, but looking at those lineups don't think we actually concede too much in that department.
There's no options we can realistically afford that can be that player and also have Prestias lack of weaknesses (he's not slow and has decent footskills), but there's players out there that can at least offer his strengths. Jed Anderson would be my #1 but Constable would be good and would also have a look at Blakely for this reason, we'd lament his footskills, we'd probably get annoyed as fans but unlike Freo who have a million of him and no Kelly/Shueys, we actually have a role we'd need him to fill.
We're a missing link off I reckon and think it's doable to get someone to play it.
