Key Roles with in the team

[acuguy]

Just thought it would be a good chance to discuss some of the key roles different players will fill in our team this year. Please add any players you feel will have an important role, will be changing roles etc

J.Roe and J.Patfull

I have grouped these two fellas together, their roles in the team are nearly the most important to our structure. Matthews experimented last year with playing these 2 as undersized defenders (by undersized i mean they are not your traditional big chbs) both players showed an amazing ability to shut down their larger and smaller opponents. Both are obvious attendees of the Daniel Merrett academy for punching (previous graduate from the Mal Michael school). Roe and Patfull also provide a fair bit of run and as their confidence grew they attacked more. What i liked most about them was their competitiveness. I dare say Matthews will ask the same of them this year.

D.Bradshaw- His role will be very interesting this year, i am sure the coaching staff will have in their mind playing him forward, it will be tempting to start him back because of the less demanding nature of being a backmen. In the backline Bradshaw won't be making the play, will have to twist and turn less and is more likely to be falling on others than having others fall on him if he was playing forward. Where Bradshaw plays will probably depend on the success of Roe and Patfull. Personally i would like to see him forward and he can take the second key defender and do well, this will take pressure off Brown and Clark


J.Sherman

Last year was a massive speedbump in Sherman's afl playing time but not in his career. He should bounce back stronger and more determined than ever. I see Sherman's role this year as a hard running half back. In this position Sherman will be able to create, find space and break lines with the footy. It will also force him to be defensive when we don't have the footy. Sherman playing a successful role in our backline will help him develop into a gun midfielder in future years.


Hooper- It is his responsibility to set the standard this year in many areas ( i know this seems unfair as a 3rd year player) he is the chase tackle barometer, the back yourself and take your player on barometer and the watch how hard i work barometer. This bloke will never be club captain but he could be an outstanding leader on the field. His traits as a player are unique and if he performs then he will inspire others to greater levels. I believe it is Hoopers role this year to work between the centre line and forward line. His role is to do the 1 percenters and hurt the opposition on the turnaround. It is also the key forwards role to look after Rhan.


Look forward to reading further additions

 

[campbell]

Drummond.... I look forward to Josh getting back to his best. His accurate penetrating kick ins are vital.

 

[greendiesel]

Mitch Clark - Bradshaw could quite probably take til late in the season before he regains confidence in his knee. Mitch Clark . The Team needs you.
Your time is now. Assuming he is fit , he is more than capable of tearing opposition defences apart with his athleticism as our 2nd tall forward.

 

[LIONOFZION]

Mitch Clark - Bradshaw could quite probably take til late in the season before he regains confidence in his knee. Mitch Clark . The Team needs you.
Your time is now. Assuming he is fit , he is more than capable of tearing opposition defences apart with his athleticism as our 2nd tall forward.

I'm praying Mitch's body can hold up - hopefully the NAB Cup matches will give us a good indication - does anyone know if he's bulked up at all? I read somewhere he was following Brownie's lead with Pilates but that doesn't necessarily lead to increased bulk. He might improve his core strength with Pilates but if he's still built like a twig one big hit could cause him a world of hurt.

I'll also be interested to see where Leigh plays Matt Tyler early on - CHB or in the forward line with the Browndog and Bradshaw most likely to miss early matches in the pre-season. Personally I'd like to see him given a crack at CHB although I agree with Acuguy that Patfull did some really good work there in 07.

 

[POBT]

In my opinion, our game relies heavily on the running power of Lappin and Stiller. Those two players provide a pressure valve release in the back half as well as run through the midfield and delivery into the forward line. This is particularly important where the back half includes guys like Patfull, Merrett and Mills who don't provide an offensive threat. You need guys to play that back half role. Luke Power also took this role on last year although I think he is somewhat wasted if he is not directly on ball or playing further forward. The key for us is the ability of Drummond, Macdonald, Begley, as well as the plethora of running mids we have taken in the past few drafts, to step up to provide a running fleet, such as that of West Coast in 05-06 and Geelong last year. That exceptional running capacity is now, at least IMO, as important to modern footy as a good forward set up and quality clearance work.

 

[blynd_freddie]

Drummond.... I look forward to Josh getting back to his best. His accurate penetrating kick ins are vital.

Will be interested to see if Colm shares some of the kick in duties.

 

[campbell]

I am very old fashioned on my outlooks on footy.

Key areas for em which are vital to win each match are the Ruck combo, 1st use of the ball and all that.
FF and little rovers. Making the best of the opportunities available in a split second.
The kick ins, accurate, long penetrating kicks to make the most of the rebound.

So for me its Drummond, Brown, Charman and Hooper are the keys for us this year.

with supporting roles for Power and Black and Bradshaw.

 

[choco123]

yeh i also think that are kick ins are crucial. when we were playing badly last yr we found it extremely hard to break the opposition's zone defence at our kick ins and struggled to clear the defensive area. hopefully this will be alleviated this yr by drummond having an injury-free season.

 

[Warwick]

Agree wholehartedly with Brown, Drummond, Charman, and Hooper being the keys for us this year. So happy Hooper turned down Richmond because he has become vital to our team. Those that think he only plays, or is restricted as a small forward have obviously seen very few of our games last year (i.e. the majority of BigFooty) or know little about football.

A lot of improvement will also depend on whether we find another game-breaker in the middle. One or two of Proud, Sheldon, Hawksley, Schmidt, and Begley have to really stand up.

Disagree with Roe providing a lot of run from of back half though. I expect that was why he was dropped during the year - he took an age to get rid of the ball sometimes, even with his half forwards working hard leading up the ground (something that desperately needs improvement as well). To his credit, he did work on this when he returned to the side.

 

[Warwick]

yeh i also think that are kick ins are crucial. when we were playing badly last yr we found it extremely hard to break the opposition's zone defence at our kick ins and struggled to clear the defensive area. hopefully this will be alleviated this yr by drummond having an injury-free season.

We were easily the worst team in the league in this regard.

How often did the opposition get another shot at bloody goal immediately after they kicked a point? Drummond should help out in this department, but we have to work a lot harder to provide that second option after the initial kick-in finds a target.

When we were going through that rough patch in the middle of the year, the only way we could get it past the 50 metre arc was when our opponents kicked a goal.

 

[Snuka]

Spot on about being shocking at the kick ins. I think we can probably say the last couple of years that has been a real weakness.

Also would add Notting to that list. One of the most common sights in our wins and good periods of play last year was Tim Notting running through the centre of the ground. When the Lions were playing well, they owned the corridor. Looked to be something that the coaches really worked on last year and Tim played a crucial role in that.

 

[acuguy]

Agree wholehartedly with Brown, Drummond, Charman, and Hooper being the keys for us this year. So happy Hooper turned down Richmond because he has become vital to our team. Those that think he only plays, or is restricted as a small forward have obviously seen very few of our games last year (i.e. the majority of BigFooty) or know little about football.

A lot of improvement will also depend on whether we find another game-breaker in the middle. One or two of Proud, Sheldon, Hawksley, Schmidt, and Begley have to really stand up.

Disagree with Roe providing a lot of run from of back half though. I expect that was why he was dropped during the year - he took an age to get rid of the ball sometimes, even with his half forwards working hard leading up the ground (something that desperately needs improvement as well). To his credit, he did work on this when he returned to the side.

After going over my post on Roe and Patfull i think i overstated their attacking skills in particular Patfull. I think when Roe returned to the team he showed more attacking skills, i think these 2 blokes could really back themselves more this year and become offensive and not only defensive. I rate Roe very highly though.

 

[campbell]

I am really looking forward to watching Roe this season. He was a total surprise, and is now a vital part of our backline. IMO.

 

[Warwick]

Vital part of the backline? No.

Potential? Yes.

 

[campbell]

Vital part of the backline? No.

Potential? Yes.

IMO he is vital as is Drummond.

 

[Warwick]

IMO he is vital as is Drummond.

In what role exactly?

He doesn't play on the 2 big main forwards, he doesn't provide a lot of run from the back, and he is not versatile enough to play up forward or through the middle.

Definition of a stock-standard 3rd tall for mine. Sure, he is in the best team for now and will have an important role when we play a team like St Kilda or Essendon, but his position will come under threat from the emerging talls - Mills, Henderson, Collier, Tyler. Name a genuine 3rd tall defender (i.e. not a man who plays loose) from another team who is vital to their success?

He has potential and I think he can provide a valuable role, but we are certainly well-stocked in his position.

Drummond provides something we don't have, but miss desperately when he is missing. Pin-point tracer-bullet-like precision from the back and the ability to run "through the lines".

 

[acuguy]

I think Roe is a vital part of our backline, he can play and has played on key forwards. He is a fantastic spoiler and often leaves his man to be the third player up in the contest. Roe continues to grow in confidence, in the past he has made judgement errors that have caught him out and allowed his opponent to get away. He attacks the ball ferociously, is a long accurate kick on most occasions and can carry the ball. I think you undervalue you him Warwick, this is good because by the end of the season you may have a new favourite player. ha

Drummond kicks over lines, he doesn't run lines, the difference is someone like Notting will carry the ball with speed for 20metres and kick 60. This obviously catches the opposition out. Drummond lopes for 20 with the footy and then kicks over a line. He lacks pace to catch the opposition out of position when he is carrying the footy. He relies on his kicking the ball over lines to hurt the opposition.

 

[Warwick]

I think you undervalue you him Warwick, this is good because by the end of the season you may have a new favourite player. ha

I don't know what the "favourite player" bit means, but I don't undervalue him.

He has a role, he plays that role. He is, and should be in the 22 come March. I just don't consider the role he plays is extremely vital to our backline structure. Merrett or Drummond on the otherhand...

 

[T Rick]

I think Roe is a vital part of our backline, he can play and has played on key forwards. He is a fantastic spoiler and often leaves his man to be the third player up in the contest. Roe continues to grow in confidence, in the past he has made judgement errors that have caught him out and allowed his opponent to get away. He attacks the ball ferociously, is a long accurate kick on most occasions and can carry the ball. I think you undervalue you him Warwick, this is good because by the end of the season you may have a new favourite player. ha

Drummond kicks over lines, he doesn't run lines, the difference is someone like Notting will carry the ball with speed for 20metres and kick 60. This obviously catches the opposition out. Drummond lopes for 20 with the footy and then kicks over a line. He lacks pace to catch the opposition out of position when he is carrying the footy. He relies on his kicking the ball over lines to hurt the opposition.

I use to think Roe was a bit soft... I don't know, like sometimes i thought he hesitated a bit... We'll see though, he can go hard when he wants.

 

[acuguy]

I don't know what the "favourite player" bit means, but I don't undervalue him.

He has a role, he plays that role. He is, and should be in the 22 come March. I just don't consider the role he plays is extremely vital to our backline structure. Merrett or Drummond on the otherhand...

Sometimes a player will start the season as someone we think does a job and then he shows he can do more, hence by the end of season he becomes one of your favourites eg. D.Merrett, J.Macdonald everyone's new favourites ha

Fairley, there were many occasions last year where Roe put his head over the ball and went through hard, you may also notice that he is a fantastic tackler. I hope it continues for our sake.

 

[The-Spanner]

As committed a player as Roe is, he still needs to broaden his skill base, or he'll only be a fringe player, especially as Drummond, Patfull, and company continue to impress.

 

[POBT]

I believe that Roe suffered from an identity problem in 2007. In 2006, he was 95% a pure stopper, whose only job was to stop his opponent. This he did beyond all expectations. In 2007, whether by design or otherwise, he seemed to try and play more attacking football. In the first half of the year, I thought that he failed in that his disposal and decision making were poor....he seemed paralysed by the options up field. When he returned to the side, I thought that he worked out a good balance. He seemed a lot less pressured with the pill in hand coming from back half and did some good work on opponents too. It was similar to some of the roles that Poss played in 2006 when he spent time at half back.

But I agree with Warwick that he while he is in our back 6 configuration, he falls (IMO) behind Merrett, Drummond, Patfull and JMac (if he plays back) in order of importance to our side. Put it this way, if Roe was missing from a game, we could replace or do without him, IMO. If Merrett or Drummo were unavailable, our side would be much weakened and it is hard to see where a replacement would come from.

The promise for Roe is that he would appear to have all of the tools to play the modern day key position role in the back half. He has the engine and athleticism to play on all but the really big guys, he would seem to have an attacking nature which is integral to modern footy, his foot disposal is passable and his decision making much improved. More importantly, he's got a bit of magic waiting to come out, IMO. If he can develop into the full package, he might well become a highly regarded defender.

 

[acuguy]

Roe is obviously a player that many people have differing views on. I thought he was outstanding when he returned and initially awfully unlucky to be dropped. I think his fellow backline partners would love having Roe in the trenches with them. He does alot of unheralded spoiling and supporting body work to help out his team mates. I rate him behind D.Merrett as our second most important backline player (defensively). It will be interesting to see how he performs this year.

 

[campbell]

The players that do those 1% in the team are very very important.

Some people can't see that, or hold no relevance to it.


I remember when people used to bag Ashcroft for being no good, yet his 1% were crucial in that backline.

 

[Grimreepah]

IMO:

Ruck - I don't think it is any coincidence that the team's fortunes seemed to mirror the form of Jamie Charman last year. When he is firing the midfield tends to follow suit. I think it is too early to expect Leuenberger to carry the ruck, so an in form Charman for the whole year will be vital.

CHF - 2007 showed how important a roaming centre half forward is to the structure of a forward line. Even Mills, who's attacking skills are quite limited, can make a big difference. I can see any of Mills, Clark, Tyler and Henderson playing this role and if one of them can stand up it would add such potency to our forward line.

Hooper - is the x-factor in the side. His upside is enormous. If he can replicate the form he reached late in 2007 over the whole year he will provide constant headaches for the opposition.