Deledio - Playing midfield again?

[TigerTime88]

Has there been any indication from the club this week that Deledio will play midfield again. That was probably one of the best games I have seen him play and was one of the major reasons I thought we were competitive. Wondering if Hardwick or Deledio have mentioned something this week. Our midfield looks so much better with him in it:

Cotchin (cops tag), Deledio, Foley, Martin, Jackson, Grigg

With Cotchin copping the tag it is a no brainer I would think. Just wait until Foley fires up again.

 

[turtle27]

Put him on Hodge or Mitchell

 

[TigerTime88]

Would like to see him go toe to toe with Hodge who is underdone and would be exposed by Deledios pace.

 

[Roachy8]

 

[turtle27]

Would like to see him go toe to toe with Hodge who is underdone and would be exposed by Deledios pace.

Might be a chance to see Lids up forward for a good stretch if they play Hodge at HBF.

 

[Calcium Man]

Lids said yesterday in his media conference that he doesn't mind where he plays it's up to Dimma who hadn't given much indication of where yet.

 

[Greggy]

During his interview on "on the couch" Mike sheehan told him he should play Deledio in the middle for the rest of the year, and Dimma kind of just laughed at him and gave no opinion, this suggests to me he still sees him as a halfback utility type.

 

[Lamp]

That doesn't sound like very damning evidence Greggy, surely he'd respond that way regardless of his plans.

 

[Greggy]

That doesn't sound like very damning evidence Greggy, surely he'd respond that way regardless of his plans.

Nah it was pretty vague, but he's been asked that question a lot lately and had the same response, so i'm kind of going on that. I'd like him to go in the middle regardless of match-ups, good players shouldn't have to be challenged each week to get up and perform.

 

[delediofan3]

I think we'll see Lids down back a little more this week as we are exposed by the absence of Mcguane, Moore and Rance. Hopefully we get Thursfield to step up.

 

[Lamp]

Nah it was pretty vague, but he's been asked that question a lot lately and had the same response, so i'm kind of going on that. I'd like him to go in the middle regardless of match-ups, good players shouldn't have to be challenged each week to get up and perform.

Fair enough. I tend to like him in the middle as well but he's versatile enough to be more than capable of playing varying roles any given week. He shares so many attributes with Goddard, and we all know how damaging Goddard is in a variety of positions.

And Deledio just towelled him up.

 

[telsor]

OK, crazy left field idea...

Play Lids on Buddy this week.

Sure, he's giving away a fair bit of size (8cm), but buddy doesn't really 'play tall' anyway, relying more on his speed and agility. Lids would also kill him going the other way.

 

[TOOs_Finest]

OK, crazy left field idea...

Play Lids on Buddy this week.

Sure, he's giving away a fair bit of size (8cm), but buddy doesn't really 'play tall' anyway, relying more on his speed and agility. Lids would also kill him going the other way.

I have tinkered with this idea in my mind, even mentioned it in another thread somewhere.

The first thought that pops into my head is the Lids on Henderson move last year, against the Blooze. The problem then was that the ball was coming in to their forward line at a million miles an hour. So we cannot let that happen and then waste Lids on Buddy, he'll get r*ped.

 

[folester41]

play lids on burgoyne this week, ive got a feeling he is going to kill us.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Play him in the middle head to head with Burgoyne and make him accountable the other way

 

[dothebowdenshuffle]

Play him in the middle head to head with Burgoyne and make him accountable the other way

Initially I too thought of Hodge as his ideal match-up, but he is quite underdone and not likely to be so damaging. Burgoyne would represent a much stiffer challenge for Deledio.

I gather the reason he laughs off the advice of the Sheahan's of the world is that their solutions are often a bit too simplistic and short-term.

The impression I am getting with Dimma is that he is taking the time - started last year and still has another year or two to go - to teach our whole team (not just Lids) how to defend. And that's not an overnight concept. There are so many different aspects depending on the variations of numbers of players in the vicinity (both sides) and how far away the the ball is and in what part of the ground it's in. Last year Deledio had to learn to play 3rd tall down back, a role he struggled with at times, but other times was excellent in. I can recall Nathan Fyfe from Fremantle outmarking Lids in a 1-on-1 in just his first game and he's 2cm shorter. Eventually I think he'll become a bit like Goddard in that he can be can be moved all over the field within the context of any one game if need be and be damaging offensively as well as accountable defensively. He's not too far away from being at that level - prob another season or so, maybe bit less.

 

[barracoutta]

last weeks game between the hawks and dees is a good indicator that we probably have no choice of having him down back again. dees struggled to get it out of there defensive half in the third quater and the way richmond have tried to work the ball out of our defensive half of late i dont really think we have any choice but to have his penetrating kicks and vision to help get it out.

 

[Roachy8]

last weeks game between the hawks and dees is a good indicator that we probably have no choice of having him down back again. dees struggled to get it out of there defensive half in the third quater and the way richmond have tried to work the ball out of our defensive half of late i dont really think we have any choice but to have his penetrating kicks and vision to help get it out.

Tis true... we struggled against The Hawks' 'forward press' in our praccy match and The Dees drowned in it last week (Hawks had a record number of inside 50's IIR) so we do need to counter this effectively or we will get smashed on the scoreboard simply due to the weight of supply to their forwards...

However!

As the self-appointed president of the "Play Deledio in the Midfield" movement I would not play him in our defence apart from the usual, 'midfielder drops back to the half-back line to help out' role.

I see no point in Lids being the 'release' 16 meter kick deep into the back pocket target.
(I hate this manoeuvre... don't really understand what it gains as at least with the ball in the defensive goal square you have both sides of the field equally available but once you jam into your back pocket, you either go long down the line anyway, which you could have done with the help of the goal square, or kick across goal which is extremely dangerous... anyway, that's just me I guess!)

IMO, part of the reason we were more effective in getting the ball past the centre and into our forward 50 last Friday was that Lids and a few others of our more attacking mid's were thereabouts when we cleared the ball out of our deep backline & we 'broke some lines' around high half-back or the centre line.

Seriously, I would start Deledio in the centre (or the wing) and have him pick-up however The Hawks send to him... be it Mitchell or Hodge or Burgoyne or whoever... have them worry about keeping him under control & give him the free licence to do as much damage offensively as he can.

IMO, we do best and look the most dangerous when we are trying to kick as many goals as we can rather than trying to limit the carnage going the other way.

Just do it Tigers!

 

[Greggy]

Ok... well another wasted night in defence, the gap between his best and worst seems like 7 days. The call has come out from Paul Roos to play Deledio in the middle with stints at half forward, this is his opinion from On The Couch, "He needs to start kicking goals". "I just don't like him playing across half back, that's the way Terry Wallace taught him how to play a little bit, that's how he won 2 B&F's, that's how that sort of style of footy was pronounced to him, he's free'd up. His ability to win the contested ball is there, he's just not able to do it often enough, i'd love to see him now go back into the midfield, maybe tag the best players in the competition, go to half forward, come up the ground, run forward and kick goals, I think it's time for Deledios role to change a bit", Roos said.

I agree, seems obvious why try and win the game from defence when you can win it from the middle?

 

[rc_richmondfc]

we dont want him being a tagger tho
good midfielders dont tag

 

[Greggy]

we dont want him being a tagger tho
good midfielders dont tag

Taggings just a word, the truth is he has to be accountable for his opponent when he's in the middle. Ling "tags" and still has an offensive impact on the game. Would you call his role on Goddard tagging? If it was then he played arguably his most impactful game for our club.

 

[SHIGHT BLOKE]

we dont want him being a tagger tho
good midfielders dont tag

Shane Crawford tagged to learn, hone his craft.

Scott West tagged for a while

Bryce Gibbs & Marc Murphy are others

Luke Power

Sam Mitchell

Good players can and do tag, however, I agree that we can't afford for him to be a tagger primarily. Deledio tagged in the 2nd half of 2008 and and his contested posessions went through the roof and he won the B&F!

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

If we can develop another rebounding defender or two I'd enjoy seeing our centre line of lids Cotchin Newman , with Martin and foley as the starting followers . All have the potential to be game winners by the later half of the year ?

 

[Roachy8]

Ok... well another wasted night in defence, the gap between his best and worst seems like 7 days. The call has come out from Paul Roos to play Deledio in the middle with stints at half forward, this is his opinion from On The Couch, "He needs to start kicking goals". "I just don't like him playing across half back, that's the way Terry Wallace taught him how to play a little bit, that's how he won 2 B&F's, that's how that sort of style of footy was pronounced to him, he's free'd up. His ability to win the contested ball is there, he's just not able to do it often enough, i'd love to see him now go back into the midfield, maybe tag the best players in the competition, go to half forward, come up the ground, run forward and kick goals, I think it's time for Deledios role to change a bit", Roos said.

I agree, seems obvious why try and win the game from defence when you can win it from the middle?

I've always thought Paul Roos was a very cany coach and an educated football 'thinker'... this just proves it!

 

[smasha]

I've always thought Paul Roos was a very cany coach and an educated football 'thinker'... this just proves it!

What's the bet ,Carlton throw a huge cheque book at him?

I'd love him at Tigerland.


Soon as he got the job at Sydney,you knew they were going to win a flag.

Just a real footy brain.

Then again,it would be interesting to see what he could do with a list not as good as Sydneys.

Dimma has 1 over him so far with last years win.