Opinion Duncan and Caddy

[geelong_crazy26]

To take the next step and become a genuine premiership contender we need to inject more elite A grade talent into our midfield. We cant keep on relying on Selwood to drag as over the line because it will fail every time September.

We have stack of KP players ,as long as Hawkins and Taylor stay fit we should be strong with our talls but we need another 2 A grade midfielders , the 2 with the best chance in my view are Duncan and Caddy.

so how do you guys think Duncan and Caddy will go in 2015 ? can they push for All Australian selection

Cheers

 

[Claude Balls]

Better change the title if you don't want this thread to me merged with the 2015 Prediction Thread

 

[Moggy]

I think their best footy will be AA level, the question is if they can play consistently at their best.

Duncan is a possibility but 2016 is more likely in my book. Caddy needs at least another season to be a realistic chance.

 

[Daniel McL]

Those 2 would definitely be at the top of the list for our younger guys pushing for AA level!

Hoping he stops tagging & we use Guthrie as a pure midfielder too as I think he could have a breakout year if he does!

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

IF either of them can get to that level, I don't think it will be for at least another 2 years still got a long way to go.

 

[BlitzenTrapper]

I think Duncan will peak to his best in 2016.

But I see Caddy having a break-out season next year and establishing himself as potentially, our next best mid besides Selwood. His improvement last year was massive, and that was including an 8 week injury throughout the middle of the year. If he can keep fit this year I think he will improve dramatically.

 

[you pick one]

They have to climb over a mountain of very very good footballers to get an AA nomination at the moment,but not beyond them long term if the improvement continues,they are already IMO capable of putting in an odd AA quarter or two performance ,stringing them together is the next step.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I think Duncan, Guthrie and Caddy all have the potential to ascend to that level in the very near future, along with another option that I rarely see talked about as a potentially elite midfielder: Motlop. The middle part of Motlop's 2014 campaign showed me pretty conclusively that he could be an AA wingman, though given the make-up of the rest of the squad, it's likely we'll need him across half forward this year. Don't really care where Motlop plays in 2015, as long as he plays a lot and he produces to a similar level that he was when he was firing in 2013 and for the mid-late stages of the H&A season in 2014.

But I think one of the Duncan/Guthrie/Caddy group steps up and becomes a genuine AA-calibre midfielder this year, all of a sudden, the middle of the ground is looking a lot better. As it stands, Selwood and Johnson as a tandem is as good as anything there is in the league on paper, but I still feel both are a little bit more susceptible to taggers than I'd like. There's too many games where one of them will have an absolutely monster game, but the other will get mid teen/low-twenty disposals and have no impact. Both clearly have the ability to kick goals, so if we have another AA midfielder running around, you just stick Selwood or Johnson in the pocket and force the opposition to make a decision whether to follow him. Because if Johnson or Selwood is in the pocket and you have the other in the middle, with Stokes and an AA-level Duncan/Guthrie/Caddy alongside, that's still a pretty damn good first-choice midfield.

Stokes overall had a really good 2014 and up until his substitution against the Suns, he should have just about been leading the B&F, but he is still prone to some of the most inexplicable vanishing acts you've ever seen (unfortunately, he had one in the SF). When Johnson or Selwood is being tagged, you still notice them, how hard they're working (though they often seem a bit too stubborn about staying in the midfield and beating the tagger - especially Johnson), but when Stokes is having a dirty day, you literally forget that he's out there, until you're driving home and wonder 'Where was Stokes today? I barely even saw him.' I really, really like him and when you're looking for why we've been able to finish second and third on the ladder in the past two years, even when many of us were ready to write off our window as contenders, the reinvention of Stokes since the start of 2013 has to be in the top three reasons. It's just that I'd love it if he was the fourth or fifth best midfielder that we had rather than the third (while still keeping up his recent production).

That's half of it. The other part is we need to bat a bit deeper with solid options (not necessarily world beaters) in there. It would be nice if GHS could step his game up a bit and guys like Smedts and Murdoch are options, but we also need 1-3 of that next generation of guys (Hartman, Lang, Jansen, Cockatoo...possibly Thurlow) to become week-in/week-out senior players, similar to GHS last year.

 

[Sttew]

To take the next step and become a genuine premiership contender we need to inject more elite A grade talent into our midfield. We cant keep on relying on Selwood to drag as over the line because it will fail every time September.

We have stack of KP players ,as long as Hawkins and Taylor stay fit we should be strong with our talls but we need another 2 A grade midfielders , the 2 with the best chance in my view are Duncan and Caddy.

so how do you guys think Duncan and Caddy will go in 2015 ? can they push for All Australian selection

Cheers

Yes - anything is possible.

Duncan now has 4 seasons under his belt, and is approaching his prime.

Caddy is a bit behind Mitch, but has shown glimpses of form that could see him become elite.

Mitch and Caddy are future captains too, IMHO

 

[Teriyakicat]

Yes - anything is possible.

Duncan now has 4 seasons under his belt, and is approaching his prime.

Caddy is a bit behind Mitch, but has shown glimpses of form that could see him become elite.

Mitch and Caddy are future captains too, IMHO

That would be nice but they can't ALL be captains (them, Selwood, GHS and others who've been nominated here on BF).


.... unless it's at another club..

 

[Sttew]

That would be nice but they can't ALL be captains (them, Selwood, GHS and others who've been nominated here on BF).


.... unless it's at another club..

Duncan, to be followed by Caddy, or vice versa.

 

[Claude Balls]

Yes - anything is possible.

Duncan now has 4 seasons under his belt, and is approaching his prime.

Caddy is a bit behind Mitch, but has shown glimpses of form that could see him become elite.

Mitch and Caddy are future captains too, IMHO

Duncan actually has 5 seasons under his belt, not 4. He's played 100 games with a career average of 19.3 disposals and a 2014 average of 22.8. He also averages a remarkably high 5.8 marks over his career (6.2 in season 2014), which just goes to show how hard he runs. IMO he could well become an A-grader this year.

As for Caddy, he's a fair way behind, on 58 games and with a career average of 15.4 disposals. He, IMO, is the one that will need another full year of development before he can potentially make the step up to becoming an A-grader. I don't think it's beyond him, though. He doesn't have silky skills nor is he the most composed in traffic (which is an important quality for an inside midfielder), but he has several redeeming qualities that I feel could make him extremely effective nonetheless.

To answer the question in the OP, I can see Duncan averaging 25+ touches and 6+ marks, which theoretically could put him into the elite category given he is also a very good user of the ball.

As for Caddy, I would be thrilled if he played every game and averaged 20 touches. It would be a very big step up but I don't think it's beyond him despite the fact he is still relatively inexperienced.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Duncan actually has 5 seasons under his belt, not 4. He's played 100 games with a career average of 19.3 disposals and a 2014 average of 22.8. He also averages a remarkably high 5.8 marks over his career (6.2 in season 2014), which just goes to show how hard he runs. IMO he could well become an A-grader this year.

As for Caddy, he's a fair way behind, on 58 games and with a career average of 15.4 disposals. He, IMO, is the one that will need another full year of development before he can potentially make the step up to becoming an A-grader. I don't think it's beyond him, though. He doesn't have silky skills nor is he the most composed in traffic (which is an important quality for an inside midfielder), but he has several redeeming qualities that I feel could make him extremely effective nonetheless.

To answer the question in the OP, I can see Duncan averaging 25+ touches and 6+ marks, which theoretically could put him into the elite category given he is also a very good user of the ball.

As for Caddy, I would be thrilled if he played every game and averaged 20 touches. It would be a very big step up but I don't think it's beyond him despite the fact he is still relatively inexperienced.

It actually wouldn't be a big step-up for Caddy to average 20+, he did it pretty easily from half-way through last season in his full games once he moved from starvation corner into the middle more or less full-time.

 

[Seeds]

To take the next step and become a genuine premiership contender we need to inject more elite A grade talent into our midfield. We cant keep on relying on Selwood to drag as over the line because it will fail every time September.

We have stack of KP players ,as long as Hawkins and Taylor stay fit we should be strong with our talls but we need another 2 A grade midfielders , the 2 with the best chance in my view are Duncan and Caddy.

so how do you guys think Duncan and Caddy will go in 2015 ? can they push for All Australian selection

Cheers

doesnt Duncan have to become a midfielder first before we talk about him as an elite midfielder? the guy is an outside winger/flanker. Motlop has more likelihood of becoming a midfielder than Duncan.

 

[FredLeDeux]

doesnt Duncan have to become a midfielder first before we talk about him as an elite midfielder? the guy is an outside winger/flanker. Motlop has more likelihood of becoming a midfielder than Duncan.

Correct, describing either Duncan or Motlop as "midfielders" is meaningless, many widely-used positional descriptions have long since failed to keep up with how the game is actually played.

 

[Claude Balls]

It actually wouldn't be a big step-up for Caddy to average 20+, he did it pretty easily from half-way through last season in his full games once he moved from starvation corner into the middle more or less full-time.

Yeah I guess not.

In fact, I was crunching some numbers earlier, relating to the top 6 most prolific midfielders of each of the 4 sides that made the prelims this year, and I realised, when looking at guys like Wines, Polec, Langford, Parker (guys who are doing extremely well relative to the number of games they've played), that I was essentially hoping for mediocrity by nominating 20 touches as a great achievement for a guy going into his 5th season. Well, not mediocrity, but you get the drift. We need some of these guys to exceed our expectations and sooner rather than later.

I'll post those figures later btw.

 

[Seeds]

Correct, describing either Duncan or Motlop as "midfielders" is meaningless, many widely-used positional descriptions have long since failed to keep up with how the game is actually played.

Duncan and Motlop are great at what they do but they aren't the ones in battling to win the clearance duels which is our main problem in the middle half of the ground.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Sorry to change the subject...
But I find this sort of thing a bit of a worry wrt Duncan:

http://perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/ea...ers-player-raids/story-fniv64vs-1227188147495

Duncan is maturing into his leadership, as well as into an A-grade player. We certainly don't want to lose him.

Would he go home to WA if offered a big enough carrot?

I think we need to get the 2009 draftees all up and running, to provide him with something to keep him at the Cattery. I don't think he'd leave his mates.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

Sorry to change the subject...
But I find this sort of thing a bit of a worry wrt Duncan:

http://perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/ea...ers-player-raids/story-fniv64vs-1227188147495

Duncan is maturing into his leadership, as well as into an A-grade player. We certainly don't want to lose him.

Would he go home to WA if offered a big enough carrot?

I think we need to get the 2009 draftees all up and running, to provide him with something to keep him at the Cattery. I don't think he'd leave his mates.

He just signed a contract until end 2018, far too early to start worrying Teriyacat

 

[Teriyakicat]

He just signed a contract until end 2018, far too early to start worrying Teriyacat

Thanks for reminding me, Alkanphel So I will put off worrying about him until 2017.....
And there's Kersten- he'd be a more immediate worry

 

[Sttew]

Sorry to change the subject...
But I find this sort of thing a bit of a worry wrt Duncan:

http://perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/ea...ers-player-raids/story-fniv64vs-1227188147495

Duncan is maturing into his leadership, as well as into an A-grade player. We certainly don't want to lose him.

Would he go home to WA if offered a big enough carrot?

I think we need to get the 2009 draftees all up and running, to provide him with something to keep him at the Cattery. I don't think he'd leave his mates.

I read that article and wondered why all of a sudden there would be raids. Regardless, Gold Coast would be the club with most to lose.

If its possible Dangerfield is yearning to return to Geelong / Surf Coast, I guess its possible Mitch D might want to go home to WA.

 

[dazbroncos]

Thanks for reminding me, Alkanphel So I will put off worrying about him until 2017.....
And there's Kersten- he'd be a more immediate worry

Mitch is under contract till end of 2018. If he gets the mother of all offers from WA, they must trade for him. And it will cost. He has indicated he loves it in Geelong so i d say that is as safe as you can be in today's footy.

Kersten a much greater concern. He needs a clean year to prove his worth and show more development which i feel he can do but yes, Id expect should he do well the offers to come thick and fast.

GO Catters

 

[Teriyakicat]

Mitch is under contract till end of 2018. If he gets the mother of all offers from WA, they must trade for him. And it will cost. He has indicated he loves it in Geelong so i d say that is as safe as you can be in today's footy.

Kersten a much greater concern. He needs a clean year to prove his worth and show more development which i feel he can do but yes, Id expect should he do well the offers to come thick and fast.

GO Catters

Comments like this are a worry:

'One football operations boss said contracts would not be a barrier after last season.

“You don’t worry about contracts, they mean nothing anymore,” he said.

That was evidenced at last year’s unsavoury trade period when a host of players still in contract switched clubs.'

Firstly, I think the GFC has to make our club a more attractive place for our players to play at, than an opposition club would be.
Secondly, I think the AFL needs to clamp down contracted player movements by perhaps penalising the player plus their destination club- eg. if the player really wants to go to another club, maybe they'd be willing to accept a 10-game ban from playing. If the destination club really wants that player, perhaps they'd be willing to surrender their second round draft pick in addition to whatever they're trading to get their man.

 

[Bobby_]

I don't think it's beyond him, though. He doesn't have silky skills nor is he the most composed in traffic (which is an important quality for an inside midfielder), but he has several redeeming qualities that I feel could make him extremely effective nonetheless.

Caddy's very underrated on this board. It has a lot to do with his draft hype being a former no.10 pick and all, people expect superstar status immediately.
I think he's the only midfielder on our list who can use both sides of the body. In fact, his left foot is almost better than his preferred foot.

His overhead marking is exceptional. Better than Duncan and that's saying a lot as Duncan is above average in that department. Both boys can pluck the ball amongst a pack of players while Caddy has the one-on-one marking prowess which typifies that of a key forward as opposed to a midfielder.

 

[GFrost]

His overhead marking is exceptional. Better than Duncan and that's saying a lot as Duncan is above average in that department. Both boys can pluck the ball amongst a pack of players while Caddy has the one-on-one marking prowess which typifies that of a key forward as opposed to a midfielder.

He reminds me of Bartel in this regard. Tough, hard but knows how to kick a goal (including clutch goals) and good overhead too.