Then if the opposition coach keeps dragging Deledio's opponent deep he's pigeon-holed back there. Waste.
They have tried that and everytime his opponent goes deep they simply switch around to ensure he stays up across the HB line.
He hasn't been as good as he was in the 2nd half of 09 in the midfield, not even close.
Possession wise he hasn't been as good, but I think he has been more influencial since being moved to HB.
Good. His best position is the midfield, he won't learn how to shake tags by hiding him away in the backline. That's what Wallace did, threw him around to try and shake tags and fans hammered him for it. Suddenly now it's an amazing move to throw him back there according to some once DH does it.
If he could handle a tag without a problem then I'd agree with you, but given he has shown time and again that a hard tag renders him useless then, I disagree. As for TW, he would start him on HB, then throw him in the guts, then up forward, then back again. Hardwick gets plaudits, from me at least, for playing him 1 spot and allowing him to settle.
It also takes the tag off Martin and Cotchin who are getting tagged already and they shouldn't have to be in this stage of their development. Deledio should be taking it.
Cotchin and Martin have shown that tags don't have a huge effect on them. The only tagger I've seen shut out either is when Kirk did the job on Cotchin up in Sydney. If they both start to struggle with tagger then we look at something to help them out.
Not as much impact as he has as when constantly playing midfield. He will naturally make a few plays through the midfield off HB but he also has to get back and defend and man his opponent.
Again I disagree, look at how Cotchins disposal effciency has struggled at times when he has a tagger scragging him as he disposes of the ball. Lids would be affected in much the same way and as mentioned he can be effectively closed down when a tagger does pay him close attention.
See Essendon game, it was either the 2nd or 3rd quarter he got moved into the middle when we were getting flogged and suddenly he turned the match, setting up goal after goal. As Bazzar said, he got moved back to the backline and was just okay after that but the match again turned back into Essendon's favour. This is not rocket science.
So Hardwick did like TW used to and shuffled Lids around the board trying to plug holes because we were missing Jackson. This week we should get Foley & Jackson back to add to Cotchin Martin Tuck & Cousins. We have not had that midfield set up once this year and with it in place it again allows us the luxury of Lids coming off half back with pace running 15-20m and then delivering 50-55m into F50. He wouldn't be able to do that when he has a tagger hanging off him.
We're doing well in contested possessions, clearances, etc because Tuck, Jackson, Foley, Cotchin, Martin are all very capable inside midfielders. It's what happens when we get it on the outside and normally the delivery inside the F50 is atrocious. Deledio has the best skills in our whole team, it makes sense to put him in the thick of it where most of the action takes place and where games are won and lost. Not hide him away in the backline, such a waste. Let's hope DH wisens up and plays him in the middle this week when Connors is back.
We're not hiding him away, we're freeing him up, much the same way Hawthorn frees up Hodge, Carlton frees up Gibbs and the Saints free up Goddard. The beauty of lining up across HB is as I said he misses a tag and is close enough to the play that he can still be of service as an outside receiver. As you've said we've got enough ball winners in the middle that I don't see a great need to add Lids into the mix, if anything it makes more sense keeping him out of the guts and using his skills that way.
With Connors coming back, we should have 3 70m players(15-20m run, 50-55m kick) coming off the backline in Lids, Newman & Connors and that type of quick ball movement is one surefire way to beat a rolling zone.