Ramify
Cancelled
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
- Posts
- 5,384
- Reaction score
- 7,472
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
It's no secret that Midfields win Premierships.
Since Nicks came on board we seem to have started with our defensive line rebuild, which although still underway I think has been quite a quick,successful process which is seeing us put a fairly competitive, self sufficient line on the park most weeks. Having a potential Captain in Dood as well as experienced heads in Smith, Brown etc back there marshalling the troops has probably made this the line the lowest hanging fruit. Considering Nicks pedigree, this phase in the rebuild is a no brainer.
Next up Nicks seems to have focused on a fwd line re-jig. Hes experimented with various structures, taking the tried,tested and ultimately failed immobile four tall structure that usually relied on winning random long ball aerial contests(which only worked when super talented complimentary smalls where around to mop up or take a screamer) inherited from Pyke and seens to have somewhat settled on a more dynamic 2-3 tall,1-2 marking/mobile midsize fwd rounded out more often than not with 2 defensive and 1 crumbing small. I consider this tinkering of his a big tick going forward as I always hated the Pykes go-to even when it was working well.
Having recruited and afforded early game time to several high end,talented young fwd talents during his tenure, I applaud his willingness to throw caution to the Wind, experiment with structure,play the youth and generally work it around until he finds that winning formula, and as such I only have about 20 or so complaints in regard to the way he's going about his forward line rebuild.
Q: Has he put the cart before the horse by placing so much focus on this line after defence as opposed to prioritising the middle as a first order of business?
A)Obvious answer. Absolutely he has. This is moronic Levels obvious.
Why? Sooo many reasons.
1) Midfields win Premierships Full stop, nuf said. Obvious.
2) Genuine contender Midfield groups are the most complex line.They are the hardest to build with the greatest number of moving parts/permutations, variables and factors to consider when attempting to build a cup winning unit.
Achieving this undoubtedly requires the most time and effort of all 3 lines ,with Fwds 2nd and Defence last(by no means downplaying the importance of this group).
3- The stable of stalwart midfielders he inherited were a big part of the reason we saw a massive drop-off/Collapse in Pykes last 2 seasons. In a nutshell, they just weren't very good way back 3 years ago,and just when you think there may be something salvagable from that group, we go and ship the most talented of the bunch for peanuts*( yeah, yeah bad egg, influence the kids yada. B.S and Wrong. Good Coaches I.e, Harwich,Clarko,Mathews and even young Goodwin have the abilty to Take loose cannon players and turn their naughtiness into onfield superpowers. I don't think Ken or Don Pyke have this gift.)
2-His consistent use of the Flank/pocket as a rotating door through which he bloods newbees regardless of their natural position, where they have been played in the twos or the role they are earmarked to fill in the future is costly to both fwd and midfield line development in more ways than one.
He has effectively taken a very important field role and one of the hardest positions in the game to play and turned it into a gimmicky,token like auditioning space that should just read "Next" on his whiteboard. If you are going to prioritise your fwd line in a rebuild, then you don't subtract one of those 6 positions and re-allocate is as the surrogate midfield work experience role. Especially when the incumbent rarely gets to taste any meaningful midfield minutes and has generally been rotated not only out of the position but the entire teamsheet should the Plodding usuals he aspires to replace fail in doing enough to give the rest of the side a chance to win that game. "Scapegoat central" a possible alternative to "Next" on Nicks whiteboard.
Half forward flank is, in my opinion in the top 3 hardest positions in Footy. To expect any young player to come in and not only win his position, but win it as a HFF straight up or else he's out, is not what I consider a productive,quality learning experience, use of time or utilisation of a position.
Considering the above, I predict this arse about face priority listing of the midfield overhaul as last has cost the overall rebuild 2-3 years of progress and may ultimately become Nicks undoing.
3rd season in and we have only really seen Schoenberg and now Berry granted any meaningful development minutes on ball and even then they are usually bringing up the rear on the CBA and total onball minute lists.
Instead of starting to bond with other age appropriate mids curently found languishing out of position, in the two or worse yet out of position in the twos. Exposure is good for exposures sake but they are only ever surrounded by senior, lowskilled monolithic stalwarts,of whom only Keays is a faintly realistic chance of being around come window time. Laird a chance to make it also, but I can't see us winning much if both Laird and Keays remain as senior Mids.
The reality is that neither will be making up part of any tilting midfield unit we choose to fantasise about us having the ability to construct so at what point does Nicks make the hard call in realising he is wasting valuable time persisting with this midfield selection philosophy????
I suspect any given Premiership winning midfield core has incubated for minimum 3-5 years as a before producing. Unlike our Fwd and Def lines, we have barely broken ground on our future midfield crop.
It isnt ruthless enough to cut Talia and co in defence/attack in order to to usher in the new breed. Nicks has to start making the hard, most important calls that carry the most weight in dictating the destiny/fate of this young list of his.
He's been playing it safe, comfortable up until now, but if he leaves these decisions much longer the good work he's done in defence, attack and overall team culture will amount to nothing as the progress/development made in some areas will be lost,wasted, or just won't coincide with the late progress made in the middle.
All I've whinged about solar is in regard to our young Midfielders lack of exposure.
Let's fast forward and come to a time when we have magically gotten say 50 games into 5-6 young mids and 3-4 of them have aged 20 games together as a core unit. Then come the challenge of
A) training out of them the the bad habits learnt over their journey comming up in a dysfunctional midfield.
B) Leaning the advance midfield craft as individuals and a unit required to win a flag.
C) Put into practice the above over the course of at least another 3 seasons.
We are flipping so far from it.
Have at it.
Since Nicks came on board we seem to have started with our defensive line rebuild, which although still underway I think has been quite a quick,successful process which is seeing us put a fairly competitive, self sufficient line on the park most weeks. Having a potential Captain in Dood as well as experienced heads in Smith, Brown etc back there marshalling the troops has probably made this the line the lowest hanging fruit. Considering Nicks pedigree, this phase in the rebuild is a no brainer.
Next up Nicks seems to have focused on a fwd line re-jig. Hes experimented with various structures, taking the tried,tested and ultimately failed immobile four tall structure that usually relied on winning random long ball aerial contests(which only worked when super talented complimentary smalls where around to mop up or take a screamer) inherited from Pyke and seens to have somewhat settled on a more dynamic 2-3 tall,1-2 marking/mobile midsize fwd rounded out more often than not with 2 defensive and 1 crumbing small. I consider this tinkering of his a big tick going forward as I always hated the Pykes go-to even when it was working well.
Having recruited and afforded early game time to several high end,talented young fwd talents during his tenure, I applaud his willingness to throw caution to the Wind, experiment with structure,play the youth and generally work it around until he finds that winning formula, and as such I only have about 20 or so complaints in regard to the way he's going about his forward line rebuild.
Q: Has he put the cart before the horse by placing so much focus on this line after defence as opposed to prioritising the middle as a first order of business?
A)Obvious answer. Absolutely he has. This is moronic Levels obvious.
Why? Sooo many reasons.
1) Midfields win Premierships Full stop, nuf said. Obvious.
2) Genuine contender Midfield groups are the most complex line.They are the hardest to build with the greatest number of moving parts/permutations, variables and factors to consider when attempting to build a cup winning unit.
Achieving this undoubtedly requires the most time and effort of all 3 lines ,with Fwds 2nd and Defence last(by no means downplaying the importance of this group).
3- The stable of stalwart midfielders he inherited were a big part of the reason we saw a massive drop-off/Collapse in Pykes last 2 seasons. In a nutshell, they just weren't very good way back 3 years ago,and just when you think there may be something salvagable from that group, we go and ship the most talented of the bunch for peanuts*( yeah, yeah bad egg, influence the kids yada. B.S and Wrong. Good Coaches I.e, Harwich,Clarko,Mathews and even young Goodwin have the abilty to Take loose cannon players and turn their naughtiness into onfield superpowers. I don't think Ken or Don Pyke have this gift.)
2-His consistent use of the Flank/pocket as a rotating door through which he bloods newbees regardless of their natural position, where they have been played in the twos or the role they are earmarked to fill in the future is costly to both fwd and midfield line development in more ways than one.
He has effectively taken a very important field role and one of the hardest positions in the game to play and turned it into a gimmicky,token like auditioning space that should just read "Next" on his whiteboard. If you are going to prioritise your fwd line in a rebuild, then you don't subtract one of those 6 positions and re-allocate is as the surrogate midfield work experience role. Especially when the incumbent rarely gets to taste any meaningful midfield minutes and has generally been rotated not only out of the position but the entire teamsheet should the Plodding usuals he aspires to replace fail in doing enough to give the rest of the side a chance to win that game. "Scapegoat central" a possible alternative to "Next" on Nicks whiteboard.
Half forward flank is, in my opinion in the top 3 hardest positions in Footy. To expect any young player to come in and not only win his position, but win it as a HFF straight up or else he's out, is not what I consider a productive,quality learning experience, use of time or utilisation of a position.
Considering the above, I predict this arse about face priority listing of the midfield overhaul as last has cost the overall rebuild 2-3 years of progress and may ultimately become Nicks undoing.
3rd season in and we have only really seen Schoenberg and now Berry granted any meaningful development minutes on ball and even then they are usually bringing up the rear on the CBA and total onball minute lists.
Instead of starting to bond with other age appropriate mids curently found languishing out of position, in the two or worse yet out of position in the twos. Exposure is good for exposures sake but they are only ever surrounded by senior, lowskilled monolithic stalwarts,of whom only Keays is a faintly realistic chance of being around come window time. Laird a chance to make it also, but I can't see us winning much if both Laird and Keays remain as senior Mids.
The reality is that neither will be making up part of any tilting midfield unit we choose to fantasise about us having the ability to construct so at what point does Nicks make the hard call in realising he is wasting valuable time persisting with this midfield selection philosophy????
I suspect any given Premiership winning midfield core has incubated for minimum 3-5 years as a before producing. Unlike our Fwd and Def lines, we have barely broken ground on our future midfield crop.
It isnt ruthless enough to cut Talia and co in defence/attack in order to to usher in the new breed. Nicks has to start making the hard, most important calls that carry the most weight in dictating the destiny/fate of this young list of his.
He's been playing it safe, comfortable up until now, but if he leaves these decisions much longer the good work he's done in defence, attack and overall team culture will amount to nothing as the progress/development made in some areas will be lost,wasted, or just won't coincide with the late progress made in the middle.
All I've whinged about solar is in regard to our young Midfielders lack of exposure.
Let's fast forward and come to a time when we have magically gotten say 50 games into 5-6 young mids and 3-4 of them have aged 20 games together as a core unit. Then come the challenge of
A) training out of them the the bad habits learnt over their journey comming up in a dysfunctional midfield.
B) Leaning the advance midfield craft as individuals and a unit required to win a flag.
C) Put into practice the above over the course of at least another 3 seasons.
We are flipping so far from it.
Have at it.
