Progressive Aggresion
Team Captain
- Jan 30, 2022
- 557
- 1,508
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
We missed the window (At least this year) with Ratugolea, an addition which I personally think was essential for our chances next year.
We lack a crucial amount of height to utilize for 1v1 contests in the defence, and a lack of consistency from our current stocks means that some taller players from up the ground (The two mentioned in this thread title) may need to start some early off season 1v1 defence practise to pick up on the slack of our current stocks.
Despite having a decently ranked defence (5th ranked for points against) our key defender stocks were clearly a sore spot in 2022.
- McKenzie once again needed to battle through injury and was in and out of the 22 as a result. At least last year he was still able to find form, even after a delayed start. Unlike this year where he could never get the wheels spinning. With that said, he's also getting older and his recent injury history could limit his playing days, as well as his reliability.
- Allir also battled through injury setbacks like McKenzie, but due to a certain senior coach sharting his pants, we ended up making the stupid call to hang Allir out dry in 1v1 contests in spite of his clear injury. And it goes without saying, but Allir is NOT a key 1v1 player, he is a Jake Lever type interceptor and breaks off of the weakest forwards to achieve this. Solving our key defender headache should involve Allir returning to his 2021 self and letting him do what he does best.
- Tom Clurey looked like a 200 game worthy player only a few years ago, but Jesus Christ his form drop off in the last 2 seasons has made him look like the wish.com version of Alipate Carlile. Too slow and short to even make a minor amount of impact anymore. He needs a seriously busy off season if he's any hope of lasting on our list beyond 2023.
- Tom Jonas is one of the most physical players on our team, but has never had the height to lock down a permanent key defensive position. Even his physicality can be questioned though, as he gets older and doesn't have the speed to suit our fast rebound structure. Not to mention he will likely lose the captaincy fore 2023 (At least he should)
I simply don't trust this crop to keep up with the Camerons or Hawkins, and if we can't find any bigger bodies to prevent clutch contested marks in crucial finals matches (Tom Lynch in 2020) than we will once again walk into a new season unprepared to account for the man on man forwards scattered throughout the comp.
Think about the difference that a Toby Nankervis type player can create for our structure.
We lack a crucial amount of height to utilize for 1v1 contests in the defence, and a lack of consistency from our current stocks means that some taller players from up the ground (The two mentioned in this thread title) may need to start some early off season 1v1 defence practise to pick up on the slack of our current stocks.
Despite having a decently ranked defence (5th ranked for points against) our key defender stocks were clearly a sore spot in 2022.
- McKenzie once again needed to battle through injury and was in and out of the 22 as a result. At least last year he was still able to find form, even after a delayed start. Unlike this year where he could never get the wheels spinning. With that said, he's also getting older and his recent injury history could limit his playing days, as well as his reliability.
- Allir also battled through injury setbacks like McKenzie, but due to a certain senior coach sharting his pants, we ended up making the stupid call to hang Allir out dry in 1v1 contests in spite of his clear injury. And it goes without saying, but Allir is NOT a key 1v1 player, he is a Jake Lever type interceptor and breaks off of the weakest forwards to achieve this. Solving our key defender headache should involve Allir returning to his 2021 self and letting him do what he does best.
- Tom Clurey looked like a 200 game worthy player only a few years ago, but Jesus Christ his form drop off in the last 2 seasons has made him look like the wish.com version of Alipate Carlile. Too slow and short to even make a minor amount of impact anymore. He needs a seriously busy off season if he's any hope of lasting on our list beyond 2023.
- Tom Jonas is one of the most physical players on our team, but has never had the height to lock down a permanent key defensive position. Even his physicality can be questioned though, as he gets older and doesn't have the speed to suit our fast rebound structure. Not to mention he will likely lose the captaincy fore 2023 (At least he should)
I simply don't trust this crop to keep up with the Camerons or Hawkins, and if we can't find any bigger bodies to prevent clutch contested marks in crucial finals matches (Tom Lynch in 2020) than we will once again walk into a new season unprepared to account for the man on man forwards scattered throughout the comp.
Think about the difference that a Toby Nankervis type player can create for our structure.
