Core midfield going forward.

[Shaneprice97]

Pendlebury and Beams are no brainers, Sidebottom can play on-ball but is better suited on the wing/Half forward/Half back.

Adams i think is also a no brainer, who else is there? Swan isnt as damaging as he used to be and Ball has another season max.

 

[mike123]

M: Steele Sidebottom, Taylor Adams, Paul Seedsman

HF: Tim Broomhead,
F: Jarrod Witts

R: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams

I/C: Nathan Freeman

 

[mattys123]

Midfield's win games of football, pretty simple really, win more than 50% of the ball at contests and the odds are you will win most games.

It's a slight miracle that even with one of the worst midfields in the AFL this year (in just about every statistical category) we aren't a bottom 4 side.

We need to improve the depth of the midfield more than any other area IMO.

Guaranteed future mids;

Pendles, Beams, Adams

Maybe;

Sidebottom (better as a flanker), Kennedy (may be better as a small forward), Freeman, Broomhead, Elliott, Williams, Langdon, Seedsman, Thomas, Martin

You probably need a group of 8-10 players rotating through the middle to be a premiership contender, so we are 5-7 players off at the moment, or at least will be come round 1 next. Assume that at least two of that "maybe" list take the leap to AFL level mids soon then we only need to another 2-3 players to the midfield grouping.

I'd target a Tom Mitchell from the Swans reserves, or another GWS midfielder (Devon Smith?) if we can.

 

[Baird]

M: Steele Sidebottom, Taylor Adams, Paul Seedsman

HF: Tim Broomhead,
F: Jarrod Witts

R: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams

I/C: Nathan Freeman

+Ben Kennedy

 

[rustyg70]

Need a dominant ruckman so our mids have a chance of getting first use of the ball.
It was no surprise that when Jolly was rucking in 2010 out mids were destroying nearly every side in the comp.
Now a days, our mids have to try and rove off the opposition ruckmen just to get a clean clearance.
Give Pendles, Beams, Ball, Swan and co the opportunity to rove to Sandilands or Nic Nat and watch our clearances go through the roof.

 

[pieman85]

Need a dominant ruckman so our mids have a chance of getting first use of the ball.
It was no surprise that when Jolly was rucking in 2010 out mids were destroying nearly every side in the comp.
Now a days, our mids have to try and rove off the opposition ruckmen just to get a clean clearance.
Give Pendles, Beams, Ball, Swan and co the opportunity to rove to Sandilands or Nic Nat and watch our clearances go through the roof.

We have two future dominant ruckmen already in grundy and witts, in the next 2 to 3 years we will have the most dominant ruck duo in the game, if anything we need another ben hudson to tide us over as insurance if injury hits either of grundy or witts, but its very important we continue to put games into both of them and develop both there games up forward also

 

[ksardog]

Any chance in a few years time we can see jonathon marsh on a wing? At the moment he is developing his game down back and learning but he can be a real weapon if he can hav his talent refined and get more poise with the ball.

6 ft 4 wingman with elte speed and power dont grow on trees. Throw in freeman as well and theres your midfield speed we hav been crying out for

 

[boxy99]

Midfield's win games of football, pretty simple really, win more than 50% of the ball at contests and the odds are you will win most games.

It's a slight miracle that even with one of the worst midfields in the AFL this year (in just about every statistical category) we aren't a bottom 4 side.

We need to improve the depth of the midfield more than any other area IMO.

Guaranteed future mids;

Pendles, Beams, Adams

Maybe;

Sidebottom (better as a flanker), Kennedy (may be better as a small forward), Freeman, Broomhead, Elliott, Williams, Langdon, Seedsman, Thomas, Martin

You probably need a group of 8-10 players rotating through the middle to be a premiership contender, so we are 5-7 players off at the moment, or at least will be come round 1 next. Assume that at least two of that "maybe" list take the leap to AFL level mids soon then we only need to another 2-3 players to the midfield grouping.

I'd target a Tom Mitchell from the Swans reserves, or another GWS midfielder (Devon Smith?) if we can.

Spot on we are a much better team we play sidebottem on a forward flank! He can be dangerous around goal! He's got a great football brain but he's kicking let's him down!

 

[Mateyman]

Spot on we are a much better team we play sidebottem on a forward flank! He can be dangerous around goal! He's got a great football brain but he's kicking let's him down!

But at the same time love his creativity and choice of option around the HFF.

 

[Pendles!]

Pendlebury, Beams, Adams, Broomhead, Freeman, Thomas and Kennedy could turn into a pretty formidable midfield group. You could have karnezis in there somewhere and Langdon or shaz too. Id have sidebottom on the wing who could be the best winger in the game.

I just think we need a couple more with genuine size to them but there's enough talent there.

 

[Frankie23]

Again it's a common occurrence, we have the talent there (Beams, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Adams, Swan) yet we are one of the worst performing midfields in the league. More worrying is that we've declined under Scotty Burns' tutelage...

Anyway the talent is there, so with some proper support I believe we can quickly turn it around.

2015:
C: Seedsman - Beams - Broomhead
Foll: Grundy - Pendlebury - Adams
Rotations: Swan (spend more time up forward) Kennedy - Sidebottom - Freeman (in bursts), from here we lack real depth, need to recruit...

The good thing is, you look at that midfield, and the age profile, you would think that would be our midfield in the foreseeable future (2017/2018) if they all develop properly. Add Scharenberg, Langdon and whoever else we recruit.

Still of the opinion we need 2 big bodied 185-190cm, powerful midfielders to complement the class of Broomhead, Seedsman, Pendlebury, Sidey etc. Need them sooner rather than later..

 

[TradeDraft]

I'd target a Tom Mitchell from the Swans reserves, or another GWS midfielder (Devon Smith?) if we can

How would we get them with Most Likely no 1st Round Pick?

 

[Trickster]

Still of the opinion we need 2 big bodied 185-190cm, powerful midfielders to complement the class of Broomhead, Seedsman, Pendlebury, Sidey etc. Need them sooner rather than later..

I agree we do need bigger bodies in the middle. The list management is a little poor when you consider how many small guys we have. Probably a fair correlation with why we lose contested ball. We no longer bat deep in the midfield.

 

[PieBeast]

We need a big size mid that's prepared to work both ways and take up Caff's spot.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

Seedsman too vanilla to be in an AFL midfield just yet. Would much rather Marley in there, doesn't get beaten one on one and has a good habit of breaking through the lines. The only question mark would be disposal, but I think he'll have it covered with experience. He's not a bad kick as people make him out to be (yes I saw Brisbane game!)

 

[THATSGOLD]

We need an absolute jet of mid to replace Dane Swan.

We need a big experienced inside mid to shoulder the load.

We need a big game player like Dale Thomas.

We need someone like Alan Didak who could go in the middle and collect 30 with elite foot skill and kick running goals.

Like Mattys123 said you need about 8-10 mids to rotate through.

We have two good mids in their prime. Pendlebury and Beams. We have Adams for next season BUT its not enough. Its time to recruit some GUN mids.

 

[mike123]

Any chance in a few years time we can see jonathon marsh on a wing? At the moment he is developing his game down back and learning but he can be a real weapon if he can hav his talent refined and get more poise with the ball.

6 ft 4 wingman with elte speed and power dont grow on trees. Throw in freeman as well and theres your midfield speed we hav been crying out for

I would rather Seedsman on the wing. He isn't as tall as Marsh but still pretty tall and a much better kick. Marsh might be faster but I think Seedsman takes on the game more and has better evasion skills.

 

[Axl the great]

I would try and bring in a mix of old and young mid's next year just to add depth, what it does is add real competition for spots and allows our young mid's time to develop so we have that real depth where we not only have 8 or 10 going through the middle, but 8 or 10 that can be really effective.

Mine are Pendlebury, Beams, Sidebottom, Thomas, Dwyer, Swan, Ball and Adams. Looks very very thin doesn't it?
Now, players we should look at bringing in need to bolster this area, rather than bringing in generic half back flankers who spend most of the year in and out of the team which we have done over the last few years.

IF we want cheapies and depth after the cull this year it should not be hard to bring in 2 or 3 quality players to bolster the middle.
3 guys i would be seriously looking at are Tommy Mitchell (might cost a little bit) Brad Sewell (if he gets fit he is still quality and a really hard edged player) and Ryan O'Keefe (seriously good player, yes he will be 33 but tell me he would not benefit our team for one year maybe even 2)

There is 3 players that add that depth and most important, can take pressure of Beams Swan and Pendles because they are players that if you ignore, can be really damaging in their own right.

 

[SwanBet]

2015 Starting Midfield Group.
C: S.Sidebottom, S.Pendlebury, T.Broomhead
R: B.Grundy, D.Beams, B.Macaffer
With T.Adams, N.Freeman, D.Swan and B.Kennedy/J.Thomas also running through the midfield rotation.

I am personally more inclined to play Macaffer on outside ball getters like A.Gaff, S.Johnson, I.Smith, S.Hill and those players when possible. I think he has been terrific since taking on the tagging role, however i want us to be more aggressive in the midfield next year.

From 2010-2012 When we were a real powerhouse, we didn't tag. I know the game has changed and our side has changed, but we still have A-Grade Midfielders who i would back to win the clearances and the ball around the ground. Adding to this point; Adams, Freeman, Kennedy and co may struggle to develop into the A-Grade Midfielders they have the potential to be because they can't get the minutes they need due to Macaffer playing in the middle a majority of the time.

I also think Swan should go back to playing on Ball more in 2015. If he remains injury free over preseason, i would love to see him get his chance back in the midfield, where he belongs. Because his explosiveness and ability to find the ball is needed in there.

 

[PartPremiers10]

Again it's a common occurrence, we have the talent there (Beams, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Adams, Swan) yet we are one of the worst performing midfields in the league. More worrying is that we've declined under Scotty Burns' tutelage...

Anyway the talent is there, so with some proper support I believe we can quickly turn it around.

Gotta say mate I love your sense of humour. Wish I could be that optimistic about my team

 

[BEEG]

Starting 3 should be Beams Pendles and Adams

Wing should be Sidebottom and Broomhead

 

[domin8tors]

I think that Adams is a must especially on the assumption that Ball retires. I think one of Pendles or Beams as the senior midfield needs to be in there. and then someone with dash in Kennedy / Broomhead / Freeman. and a combination of those float through. I'd like to see Swan play more high half forward.

 

[Collingwoodity]

Are we missing somethign the coaching panel sees. Most of these posts are spot on but our players are played out of position.

 

[No SPIN]

Interesting that Bucks recently mentioned playing Marley in the Midfield once he has the engine - great move as he has the necessary grunt.
Sinclair would then fit back into small fwd defender.
JT really needs to also find some form, his absence has been telling and we need him in top form in 2015.

 

[Markfs]

I agree we do need bigger bodies in the middle. The list management is a little poor when you consider how many small guys we have. Probably a fair correlation with why we lose contested ball. We no longer bat deep in the midfield.

I agree. I was posting on this forum before the premiership saying that we had too many hobbits. People loved Blair at the time, and I always liked his attitude but he is height challenged. Guys like Kennedy etc are just not my idea of a modern midfielder. It looks like with the recruiting of Freeman and others like Marsh, there might be some changes so that we can get some power athletes into the team.