Recruiting List Development 2017 - How do we develop our list?

[foj1]

Dylan Clarke is an inside mid- he aint gonna bashed around
we do not really have anyone else
heppell watson goddard and merrett give you no inside oomph and are defensive liabilities against hard runners
geez they were shite today

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Dylan Clarke is an inside mid- he aint gonna bashed around
we do not really have anyone else
heppell watson goddard and merrett give you no inside oomph and are defensive liabilities against hard runners
geez they were shite today

Apart from Watson none of those players are inside ball winners

We need one desperately to complement the likes of Heppel,Merret,Parish etc on the outside.

 

[Kakkle]

We have him.

And refuse to play him at senior level.

CRAIG BIRD.

I needed a laugh, thank you.

 

[BrunoV]

We need more than one.

With Jobe in the team we need two without Jobe it's three and Jobe is hardly best 22 anymore give his total inability to cover the ground.

What I don't like is that neither Parish nor McGrath will be the solution. Merrett is too small too to count. Zaharakis, Fantasia and Tippa too.

Who is the player there that we would throw into the middle and know that he is coming out with the ball?

It's funny we went from being too big and slow to too small.

 

[BrunoV]

Would like a proper key forward, not a pseduo key forward like North Melbourne have developed for ny on a decade.

Give me a Taylor Walker over a Drew Petrie forever

I'd prefer a Drew Petrie, being a notional second tall forward who can play as a deep forward and who is also a proper relief ruckman.

Stewart does more than enough as the third tall (both as a leading player and long target). We just need to get those bottom feeding smalls out of the way.

If we look at the roles of our three talls it should be Hooker that is the second ruck, not Daniher.

 

[foj1]

Our midfield is athletically challenged yet smith jumped all over tbc in the last quarter and helped win them the game

 

[JayDon]

Dustin Martin...star who can do all that and would be excellent for the development of young players.
After Sunday he's on my list.

 

[eDPS]

We need more than one.

With Jobe in the team we need two without Jobe it's three and Jobe is hardly best 22 anymore give his total inability to cover the ground.

What I don't like is that neither Parish nor McGrath will be the solution. Merrett is too small too to count. Zaharakis, Fantasia and Tippa too.

Who is the player there that we would throw into the middle and know that he is coming out with the ball?

It's funny we went from being too big and slow to too small.

Id hope that player would be Laverde and if he was injury free he could have been a good chance of playing in there.

 

[Seb78]

I'd love to see laverde get developed in this area. He is as hard as a cats head and goes at the contest like a bull, uses the ball well and can kick goals.

I would also like to see Orazio as a permanent mid (if fitness permits) when he is in there he is a clear line breaker and always seems to find a target by foot. Begley could be a replacement for him in the forward line as could be jake long or jackson merrett (subject to form)

 

[814305627]

Hi guys
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Has anyone given any thought to ambrose becoming an inside mid? It's something I'd like to see woosha try. Also, as far as this week or in the short term goes. What about Hurley?
Especially given we have so many tall defenders, might be worth a try. I can remember Jono brown going inside a few times during the lions days and causing havoc.
Anyway, just a thought.

 

[ant555]

Dustin Martin.

x 2

One Dusty forward to interchange with the midfield Dusty

 

[Seb78]

Hi guys
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Has anyone given any thought to ambrose becoming an inside mid? It's something I'd like to see woosha try. Also, as far as this week or in the short term goes. What about Hurley?
Especially given we have so many tall defenders, might be worth a try. I can remember Jono brown going inside a few times during the lions days and causing havoc.
Anyway, just a thought.

I can see what you mean about Ambrose but as for Hurley no way. He's too important for us down back. By the way we have already taken one AA defender away from his best position we'd be ******* if we took another away.

 

[Kakkle]

Hi guys
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Has anyone given any thought to ambrose becoming an inside mid? It's something I'd like to see woosha try. Also, as far as this week or in the short term goes. What about Hurley?
Especially given we have so many tall defenders, might be worth a try. I can remember Jono brown going inside a few times during the lions days and causing havoc.
Anyway, just a thought.

You want to trial our best two key defenders as midfielders?

 

[814305627]

I can see what you mean about Ambrose but as for Hurley no way. He's too important for us down back. By the way we have already taken one AA defender away from his best position we'd be ******* if we took another away.

100% agree re Hurley, was more like for a quick burst or even just 1 qtr. I guess if it worked he wouldn't be so badly missed down back..
But I was more meaning ambrose. Have always thought he could do a great job running with say a josh Kennedy type at least and what's to say he couldn't learn from Jobe to take over, not saying he'd be an A grader but just as an option. He's such a flexible player.

 

[814305627]

You want to trial our best two key defenders as midfielders?

for a short bust here or there!
The odd qtr or game somewhere, If match ups suit.
We've got a lot of flexibility in our side and still have too many tall defenders anyway.
Anzac Day Hurley played on fasolo and played a blinder. But if Francis is there taking hurleys spot. Why can't we throw him in and see how it goes?

 

[Seb78]

100% agree re Hurley, was more like for a quick burst or even just 1 qtr. I guess if it worked he wouldn't be so badly missed down back..
But I was more meaning ambrose. Have always thought he could do a great job running with say a josh Kennedy type at least and what's to say he couldn't learn from Jobe to take over, not saying he'd be an A grader but just as an option. He's such a flexible player.

Laverde?

 

[814305627]

Laverde?

Let's hope he can.
Ive got a lot more confindence in him than langers making it as an inside mid.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Round 12

 

[TheFrenchCut]

I'm not worried about Francis, Laverde and Langford. I rate all three reasonably highly.

But I am a little frustrated with how the club has handled the three of them.

They've switched Langford back and forth between forward and midfield - - spent pre-season as a mid, started the season as a forward - - then dropped him when he started to show improvement in the middle, even if his disposal was a bit off.

Francis, despite slotting in seamlessly as a defender at first in the vfl, then in his afl debut, was effectively Hurleyed up forward because of what have so far been a few flashes. I understand why we'd do that, but at the same time, this has been frustrating because Francis a) clearly doesn't have the tank to create play as a forward, but imo does have the competitiveness to last longer in defence as he's being reactive, and b) Woosha himself has said he sees Francis as a defender.

Laverde's situation has largely been out of the club's hands thanks to injuries last year and this season obviously. But I'm not the only one who was a little to very much miffed by the decision to have him remain up forward, even though he's already got size and has shown midfield qualities we desperately need (pace, strength over the ball).

The thinking seems to be a weird mix of short and long term that doesn't have much coherence about it.

 

[Lore]

I'm not worried about Francis, Laverde and Langford. I rate all three reasonably highly.

But I am a little frustrated with how the club has handled the three of them.

They've switched Langford back and forth between forward and midfield - - spent pre-season as a mid, started the season as a forward - - then dropped him when he started to show improvement in the middle, even if his disposal was a bit off.

Francis, despite slotting in seamlessly as a defender at first in the vfl, then in his afl debut, was effectively Hurleyed up forward because of what have so far been a few flashes. I understand why we'd do that, but at the same time, this has been frustrating because Francis a) clearly doesn't have the tank to create play as a forward, but imo does have the competitiveness to last longer in defence as he's being reactive, and b) Woosha himself has said he sees Francis as a defender.

Laverde's situation has largely been out of the club's hands thanks to injuries last year and this season obviously. But I'm not the only one who was a little to very much miffed by the decision to have him remain up forward, even though he's already got size and has shown midfield qualities we desperately need (pace, strength over the ball).

The thinking seems to be a weird mix of short and long term that doesn't have much coherence about it.

I agree with pretty much everything there. I think Laverde and Langford ultimately end up being mid/forwards as part of the mega-rotation that Killer_Mike alluded to somewhere around here, I think it was 15 players run through the middle at various times in a single game, or something like that? If that's the case then developing them in either role doesn't particularly matter as long as they eventually are serviceable in both parts of the ground at AFL level.

 

[Killer_Mike]

I'm not worried about Francis, Laverde and Langford. I rate all three reasonably highly.

But I am a little frustrated with how the club has handled the three of them.

They've switched Langford back and forth between forward and midfield - - spent pre-season as a mid, started the season as a forward - - then dropped him when he started to show improvement in the middle, even if his disposal was a bit off.

Francis, despite slotting in seamlessly as a defender at first in the vfl, then in his afl debut, was effectively Hurleyed up forward because of what have so far been a few flashes. I understand why we'd do that, but at the same time, this has been frustrating because Francis a) clearly doesn't have the tank to create play as a forward, but imo does have the competitiveness to last longer in defence as he's being reactive, and b) Woosha himself has said he sees Francis as a defender.

Laverde's situation has largely been out of the club's hands thanks to injuries last year and this season obviously. But I'm not the only one who was a little to very much miffed by the decision to have him remain up forward, even though he's already got size and has shown midfield qualities we desperately need (pace, strength over the ball).

The thinking seems to be a weird mix of short and long term that doesn't have much coherence about it.

All valid points I agree.

I guess the only question in regards to Langford and Laverde is one of opportunity.

As you say,Langford was played as a forward in pre-season then once the season proper started he played the forward role with short stints in midfield. I think it's fair to say that the club had their hands tied on that one because the returning players were seasoned midfielders and based on past performances required to be played as midfielders. I actually think the way the handled it was as good as could be expected in the circumstances. He was given short bursts in their to see if he could demand the role which he couldn't due to a lack of experience so they sent him back to the VFL where they knew he was going to get plenty of opportunity as a mid. I read somewhere a while ago that this was decided by both Langers and the coaching panel. His one return game was a bit mystifying but I guess we are yet to fully determine what has actually happened yet. Seems strange that he would be named as an emergency when we only had the bye a few weeks ago and he clearly needs to continue to be played. Maybe it was a matchup issue? I'm not sure.

Laverde is pretty straight forward I believe. He's just come back from injury so getting up to speed in the forwardline seems logical. I like you, hope that he's played as a mid for the remainder of the year in the VFL. I'm not sure their is role for him in the current forwardline at senior level so it would be great if he's played as a mid/wing when they feel he has more km's in the legs.

Francis I personally believe people need to just cool off a little on. He's under a pretty big microscope so anything he does is heavily scrutinized. Somebody came on here a month or so ago and mentioned that Francis had improved his GPS results by as much as 30%. That's a significant amount in a short amount of time considering he's had niggling injuries throughout his time at the club. In the games I have watched at VFL level he definitely looks to be moving better and I don't see him doubled over gasping for air like I have in the past. The way I see it, is he's 19 and even if it takes him another 3 years he will still only be 22 which is not old. I'm very confident that the natural talent he has is good enough to be a very good player but he's just going to require patience.

 

[ezard15]

Stanton, Howlett, Hocking, Mitch Brown and Jackson Merrett all gone next year?

Any of these worth keeping? I suppose Mitch Brown if anyone but with Francis and Ridley coming along and Ambrose and Dea both contracted......

 

[Capt Hindsight]

Stanton, Howlett, Hocking, Mitch Brown and Jackson Merrett all gone next year?

It all depends how many players the club wants to bring in via the draft and free agency.
100% not playing next year are Bird, Hocking, Stanton, Eades (Rookie list).
Watson and Kelly are highly likely retirements.
So that is already 5 senior spots and a rookie spot. This would a light cull.
Jackson Merrett, Alex Morgan, Jake Long (Rookie list) are delisted if the club needs the extra list spots.
That would then be 7 senior spots and 2 rookie spots. This would be a moderate cull.
Howlett (mid depth), Mitch Brown (Key back depth) and Shaun McKernan (Rookie list) (Ruck/key fwd depth) would then probably hold their spots. However if the club wanted a big cleanout they would let them go.
This would be 9 senior spots and 3 rookie spots. The heaviest cull option.

 

[blitzer]

Stanton, Howlett, Hocking, Mitch Brown and Jackson Merrett all gone next year?

Any of these worth keeping? I suppose Mitch Brown if anyone but with Francis and Ridley coming along and Ambrose and Dea both contracted......

I'd keep Mitch Brown for sure. Handy depth both down back or even up forward in a pinch. Still unclear if he is behind Hartley as well. He was playing ahead of him earlier in the year.
I'd probably keep Howlett as a useful depth midfielder/small forward. When he plays at AFL level does his role.

The other 3 delisted/retired.

 

[BrunoV]

Why wouldn't we want to chase finals ?

I dont think that I am the only person who doesn't trust the Langfords or Laverdes or the lazy Francis of the world. I want us to win games of footy now.

Next year, sure these guys will be slightly better but without Watson et al chances are we may not actually be better. Why can't we jag a 6 - 8 spot and give it a crack, our record against the top teams with exception to Crows is actually very good. Look at the dogs last year, who knows what can happen if we make the finals

If I was the coach, i would be selecting the best team for now. We have this group together for maybe one, may be two seasons at most before we have guys like Watson Kelly, Goddard, Stanton, Hocking, Howlett etc hang up the boots. Throw the kitchen sink at it...

There is too much focus on simply making the finals. Who gives a shit about limping into September and getting pounded? Now, I am not saying that we will get pounded if we make the finals, far from it, but what is important is playing multiple meaningful finals campaigns. You don't become the Dogs of 2016 by default just because you're an unfancied participant in finals.

"Chasing finals" is making short term decisions at the expense of the long-term which common sense repeatedly demonstrates are decisions for almost no tangible benefit. Last night is a perfect example.

Is anyone going to say that Langford would not have been capable of matching Bird's contribution? While it is pretty clear that the most fans are incapable of closely watching the game of a cult hero forward, to understand that there is more to being a good forward than kicking two cheap goals, are we going to say that Begley was incapable of playing that role?

What happens if we make the finals and there are injuries and it is Begley and Langford who are next in line and who have been playing VFL the whole time? We're 'excited about the opportunity to play them' of course.