sr36
Hall of Famer
That's the big issue, he can't spend 8 years developing in another role to be ready to play midfield like some players do. He's got no other position.
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Player Watch Finlay Macrae
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I would be wanting to see Sullivan at AFL level before making this claim. There's always the chance Sullivan will be another player who excels at VFL level but can't make it in the seniors. His lack of height at 180cm may tell against him and at 26 what we see early on is likely to be all we'll get from him. Having said that, I would have them swapping places this week so a comparison can be made. I don't think Macrae did enough to earn a block of games.
I hope Macrae gets to play against Hawthorn. In and out of the side doesn't help anyone work out where he sits in the pecking order.
Fair enough. Give him one more game and for that matter Sullivan one more in the VFL to back up his game yesterday. Macrae is unlikely to make the difference between a win and a loss.
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I recall Titch being dropped regularly to work on things and played as a half forward under horse in his early days and being made to earn it
We can’t hope to succeed playing 2 v 3 midfielders in the centre square. We simply can’t have anyone in there not carrying their fair share of the load. Doing so places too big a burden on the other two and makes us too easy to shut-down. We can’t have L-platers or passengers in the middle if we’re hoping to go deep into finals.
The role that Fin is seeking to play puts him head to head with the likes of Petracca, Oliver, Cripps, Neale, The Bont, Rowell, Anderson, Dangerfield, Serong, Dusty, Tom Green, Coniglio, Heeney, Warner, Z Merrett, Butters, Horne-Francis, Wardlaw, etc, etc. It’s a tough gig but he needs to be able to come into the team and genuinely match it with those guys, otherwise he’s just a liability.
Thursday night’s game showed that he’s unfortunately miles off that level. Does anyone in here really think that another game or two is going to see him magically bridge that gap? Let’s see what else we’ve got in the cupboard, starting with Sullivan.
(Of those currently on our list, my highest hopes are for Allan and DiMattia. But the real answer may lie in a Free Agent recruit.)
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The role that Fin is seeking to play puts him head to head with the likes of Petracca, Oliver, Cripps, Neale, The Bont, Rowell, Anderson, Dangerfield, Serong, Dusty, Tom Green, Coniglio, Heeney, Warner, Z Merrett, Butters, Horne-Francis, Wardlaw, etc, etc. It’s a tough gig but he needs to be able to come into the team and genuinely match it with those guys, otherwise he’s just a liability.
Thursday night’s game showed that he’s unfortunately miles off that level. Does anyone in here really think that another game or two is going to see him magically bridge that gap? Let’s see what else we’ve got in the cupboard, starting with Sullivan.
(Of those currently on our list, my highest hopes are for Allan and DiMattia. But the real answer may lie in a Free Agent recruit.)
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For the role he plays he doesn’t lack height. Lachie Neale 178cm, Tom Mitchell 182cm, Taylor Adams 180cm, Jack Viney 178cm. I’d argue Finlay’s extra height 188cm hinders more than anything as it’s just means he’s further away from the ground balls.
From Mitchell’s 3rd season onwards he’s only had two seasons where he played fewer than 20 games (19 & 17) and averaged mid-20’s for possessions and about 6 tackles.
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I kind of feel the same watching Allan play as an inside mid in the VFL. His height makes him appear a little awkward. Though you get the feeling that his body type would be better suited to a wing, he doesn't play well when moved there. You're probably quite right about Sullivan. He looked small to me out on the ground but maybe for an inside mid that's not necessarily a negative.
The Royal Sampler
Floreat Pica, Bitch!
His first “very good” game was in round 3 against Richmond and Tom Lynch, his second senior match for us.
Where were these howls of protest and derision during his impressive preseason?
He’s not lost any traits that were turning heads at the time.
That’s why he needs continuity and a 4-6 game stretch in the seniors to build confidence and regain that form.
Macrae has been at the club since he was drafted so he is hardly an unknown quantity. He is also a single position player, whereas Frampton has been used to plug holes in several positions. I don't think their situations are comparable.
Johnson's pre-season was said to have been impressive too, but look at him now! Pre-season form is not a reliable indicator of performance given the pressure is off, the senior players are not training or playing at full pace and the intra club competition is not as fierce. If Fin plays poorly again this week, I'd suggest a 4-6 week block is way off the mark.
sr36
Hall of Famer
And when he was dropped in the first few years because they had inside mids coming out of their ears, hed gotten good numbers in the AFL and went to the lower level and had 40 regularly - 61 in one game.
We can’t afford to carry anyone. We are 1/3 in our flag defence.
If he had another poor game against hawks, we keep playing him?
Disagree here spinnny. Development is a bonus to our flag defence.
I would.
It’s in our best interest because once he breaks through, then we’ve found a player and importantly he’s learnt an important lesson that the club had belief.
One player in 4-6 games is not going to torpedo our prospects for a flag defense.
So I don’t agree it’s a huge risk.
It literally almost did against Brisbane. Anyways, we disagree I’ll leave it at that
It’s totally different. Centre square is the engine room. The most important part of the ground/team. Simply can’t have passengers in there or kids with training wheels.
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You’re kidding, right?
About twenty years ago Carlton won the pre-season comp (NAB Cup) which actually came with a trophy and then went on to claim the wooden spoon in the real thing. It was glorious!
Pre-season form of teams and individual players counts for stuff-all.
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The Royal Sampler
Floreat Pica, Bitch!
Because he’d been considered an almost meme-worthy spud at Port, and hadn’t gotten a sustained run in defence at Adelaide. Hence everyone assumed he was s**t and it’s hard to change people’s minds once they’re made up.
sr36
Hall of Famer
That's my view too.
Rather than being hard done by, I think he's being looked after. 4th year guy not in our best team, we've just extended him for a 5th year and have rotated a bloke each of the last 3 weeks to give him a bit of game time at the top level.
