How many inside mids do we need?

[dominguez]

You'd give Hayden another year Lach? He's done IMO.

 

[Leslie_Chow]

It's looking highly unlikely that we will be getting O'Meara, unless we package Palmer with his compo pick and our first round pick, which I wouldn't be against.
Otherwise there won't be any mids around that would be worth taking over a key position player if the right one is there

 

[Lach72]

You'd give Hayden another year Lach? He's done IMO.

Yep.

I can think of about 6 or so that deserve to go first.
This draft is not deep. We want to be doing the best we can, and I'd rather Roger plays 8-10 games, than some others.

If he's last on the list, it's not a bad thing for next year. I thought he was playing reasonable footy before snapping a leg.

Next year, is a good draft and not compromised. So, if Rhys goes to GWS, unless that pick is used for O'Meara or similar, I'd keep it for next year too.

I wouldn't even be surprised if we took our first 2 picks, upgraded Lower as the 3rd, then took a few rookie talls.

 

[Clay Davis]

Agree with Lach. When Hayden played he looked good, and his injuries this year were impact, not soft tissue.

Quite a few ahead of him to be cut.

 

[Lach72]

It's looking highly unlikely that we will be getting O'Meara, unless we package Palmer with his compo pick and our first round pick, which I wouldn't be against.
Otherwise there won't be any mids around that would be worth taking over a key position player if the right one is there

I'd do all or a combination of Duffield, Johnson and the compo pick, but would like to keep our first round.

If they don't accept it, we keep the compo pick and load up with 2 first rounders next year, which will be good too. At worst that would give us 2 picks in the top 25 or so, depending on when everyone else uses their compo picks and finish positions.

 

[tofushark]

Yep.

I can think of about 6 or so that deserve to go first.
This draft is not deep. We want to be doing the best we can, and I'd rather Roger plays 8-10 games, than some others.

If he's last on the list, it's not a bad thing for next year. I thought he was playing reasonable footy before snapping a leg.

Next year, is a good draft and not compromised. So, if Rhys goes to GWS, unless that pick is used for O'Meara or similar, I'd keep it for next year too.

I wouldn't even be surprised if we took our first 2 picks, upgraded Lower as the 3rd, then took a few rookie talls.

I don't get people saying he is no good. Obviously he is injury prone but he is no hack. In the Sydney game he was really good.

 

[prattsta]

Watch Michie.

If he can stay on the park with that foot injury, he reminds me a lot of Hase but a bit quicker

Michie is still learning how to play as an inside midfielder, it's not something he's great at yet. We really need a player who can get it done starting R1 next season.

De Boer has size, pace and was a ball magnet in the juniors. He projects more like Jones than Judd though. Not classy enough.

Hill, well to be honest I have no idea where Hill is at. He needs to start winning the contested footy, I'd put him in the same boat as Michie in this regard though.

Palmer probably won't be here next season. Even if he is, do we actually see him getting the opportunity to play as a hard running, inside midfielder? He has, sorry, he had most of the tools including the ability to win the ball all over the ground.

Hinkley, has all the physical tools, but he doesn't have the polish, smarts or ball winning ability IMO.

Pitt would be in the same boat as Michie and Hill. Needs development time - maybe we can fast track them all.

Walters is a great stoppage player, but doesn't have the size or athleticism. He certainly hasn't shown the fitness level required.

Agree with Mellington as a HF. He is a natural forward. Not many players can end up with 4 goals from as many possessions. Mellington can.

Suban needs to play as a midfielder, not sure he's the inside type we're looking for though. He does provide us with a different look though, more of a Rich type. He's okay inside - he certainly doesn't take a step back from the contest - but ultimately, he's just better outside.

It'll come down to Ibbotson, Morabito and/or a draft pick from this year having a Palmer like impact. My money would be on Morabito as Ibbotson just doesn't have the right attitude for that type of role.

Hopefully Barlow can get somewhere back to where he was last year in terms of pace. Sure he ran like a duck, but he was actually pretty quick.

As others have said we've got the players available, just need to get the development right.

 

[Lach72]

What about Mark hutchings as a rookie?
Averaging 20 possessions a game. He's been around a bit

 

[dominguez]

Yeah fair enough I guess. Just with our midfield back together Broughton hopefully plays predominantly down back leaving Ibbotson, Duffield, Hayden and Broughton all best suited to the same role.

Won't be disappointed if Roger's retained but personally I think he's finished. Struggles to pick the ball up off the deck now without slowing to a walk.

 

[prattsta]

Agree with Lach. When Hayden played he looked good, and his injuries this year were impact, not soft tissue.

Quite a few ahead of him to be cut.

I think it'll be out of our control. If you were him, would you put your body through another pre-season? I'm not even convinced Grover will stay on for another season.

However it plays out, we should do whatever we can to keep them both at the club in a development/mentoring/coaching capacity next season though. Really great guys, came through the rookie list and got the absolute best out of themselves. Ideal people to have around the club.

 

[Clay Davis]

I think it'll be out of our control. If you were him, would you put your body through another pre-season? I'm not even convinced Grover will stay on for another season.

I agree with you - I meant more from the point of view that the club should move him on.

 

[dominguez]

I think it'll be out of our control. If you were him, would you put your body through another pre-season? I'm not even convinced Grover will stay on for another season.

Do they have many options outside of footy? I can't recall ever reading about either of them studying and Roger in particular is fairly introverted which gives them both 150,000-200,000 reasons to go through another pre-season.

 

[prattsta]

Do they have many options outside of footy? I can't recall ever reading about either of them studying and Roger in particular is fairly introverted which gives them both 150,000-200,000 reasons to go through another pre-season.

No idea, I'm sure they've done something though. They could probably get 100-150k in a coaching/development role I would've thought.

 

[sumavich]

I think we've already got a kamakazi inside mid in DeBoer. We're just not using him properly.

Need very good hands to be an inside mid. He doesn't have them.
His skills are nowhere near as good as people on here would lead you to believe.

 

[Nickos66]

Mora/Fyfe would be the next to step up in the middle you'd hope. The ship has sailed on expecting Palmer to play a vital role in the middle, even if he stays. What about someone like Hutchings or Blackwell? Anybody think they could improve us much in the bottom of packs?

 

[estibador]

Need very good hands to be an inside mid. He doesn't have them.
His skills are nowhere near as good as people on here would lead you to believe.

Well most people think his skills range from barely passable to deplorable, so he's in trouble if they're nowhere near that.

But when most people think skills they think kicking, I actually think his ball handling and handballing is very clean under pressure. Plus he's one of the few in our team with that innate desire to put his head over the ball and force it moving our way.

 

[free at last]

Well most people think his skills range from barely passable to deplorable, so he's in trouble if they're nowhere near that.

But when most people think skills they think kicking, I actually think his ball handling and handballing is very clean under pressure. Plus he's one of the few in our team with that innate desire to put his head over the ball and force it moving our way.

Absolutely love the way de boer plays footy. To me he hasn't displayed enough signs to become our topline extractor, apart from his courage & tackling.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

lower has magnificent hands and could develop into a handy extractor. we do need one more, though.

 

[Righteo]

Need very good hands to be an inside mid. He doesn't have them.
His skills are nowhere near as good as people on here would lead you to believe.

His footskills were always in question, and this year he has improved massively in that area where he will now consistently hit targets 35-40 metres away no worries. He still has difficulty with his set shots but he's a fast learner and I'm confident he will overcome this in time.

His hands though have always been good, almost Michael Barlow-esque in his vision and quickness of the release. What are you smoking?

I'd be looking at two of Palmer/De boer/Lower as full-time inside mids next year, problem is most of them have been avaliable to do so this year but Harves hasn't exactly given them a chance

Barlow and Mundy are class inside players, as is Sandilands, so if 2 of the above come on next year we will definitely have the ball-winning ability of a top side IMO.

 

[free at last]

Can you guys envisage suban becoming one of our inside mid/extractors?
Loves the rugged going,good talker & motivator ,only drawback,explosive pace & tank?

I can't see suban becoming our number one small forward minder.

 

[sabre_ac]

Barlow coming back from a season ending injury and Mundy injured for long period of the time.

I don't think we're desperate for them just yet, theres enough talent in those two to suggest we almost have it covered. I'd like to see us recruit one but I don't think we need to buy one.

 

[wehavethepassion]

I agree. We need a skilful inside midfielder who is hard at the ball and can break a few packs. A De boer type with a lot more class.

Mundy has the class and is very good inside but does not have the hardness to intimidate at a contest.

Barlow has class and smarts but not the pace to break away from a pack.

We need an inside mid who will take the game by the scruff of the neck and take everyone else along with him.

That why we need to have hill, mora nd fyfe along side these two.

also we need our own version of "rowan jones ' who provides the blocks for hill,mora, fyfe

 

[Ysaye]

I disagree that Barlow doesn't have the speed - even based on his last few games this year he seems to still have the speed over the first five meters to get free to be able to kick or handball. A fit Mundy and Barlow are all we need to get it going in the middle.

also we don't need a blocking specialist (we have one anyway in McPhee) we just need our players to help out when it is their turn. Quick ball movement will help this anyway.

 

[Freomaniac]

Potientially I reckon Morabito is the guy were looking for. He might be that piece in the puzzle we need to get back in the 8.

Sadly hes recovering from his knee injury. hes 191cm and 97kg.

I said in Another thread if we do gets picks like 14 and 33 and 51, Use pick 14 for that midfielder, pick 33 for a key defender and pick 51 for another Walters type player As we got walters at pick 53 in the 2008 draft.

 

[Freomaniac]

I know this might sound a bit strange, But do we need and "Enforcer" type midfielder in the team? Im refering to a Solomon or a Damien Hardwick or a Byron Pickett that imtimidates opposition players but at the same time protects the kids?