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Mark Johnson

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Darealrath

Darealrath

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts
Jul 6, 2002
12,572
4,502
Melbourne
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Arsenal, Pacers
He's not a midfielder. Can do it well in pinch hits, but it's just not natural to him. He was the best small defender in the league, and gave us more run through the midfield when he played in the back pocket than he does now playing in the midfield.
 
Play him on a back flank and move McPhee into the middle.

MJ is very good at the clearances though, he should rotate with JJ and Solomon through the center square. Those three give us the muscle, we just a couple of other players with class to read the tap, and get the quick handball or kick out of the middle.
 
Originally posted by Darealrath
He's not a midfielder. Can do it well in pinch hits, but it's just not natural to him. He was the best small defender in the league, and gave us more run through the midfield when he played in the back pocket than he does now playing in the midfield.
Click to expand...

I have been saying this for a while too. Our problem is - our midfield is made up of Mark Johnsons - players who aren;t natural midfielders.

Solomon, Rioli, MJ, Hird, McPhee - they play in the middle but they are pinch hitters. Until we get a set of core midfielders and then use them as pinch hitters we will not match it with the big boys.

Also - JJ is just not the star midfielder we thought him to be. Since 2001 he has not been that great midfielder who can change the tide of a match. I am not knocking his endeavour - although his chasing of opponents is lack lustre at times ala when Solly ran past him yesterday in the 3rd quarter I think.


we must invest in the youth - i.e. Watson, Reynolds, Stanton, Dyson etc. they are going to be our core players in a few years.

JJ Solly and MJ are still needed for grunt, but we need guys who can stream out fo the middle and kick goals, or at least deliver well to targets - another weakness of our midfield is the kciking - JJ, MJ, Peverill, Soloman all turn it over with poor kicking.

We will always be competitive with this group, but for us to take the next step, we have to admit - our midfield can;t beat the best, it can beat the rest, but not the best!:(
 

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MJ and Solomon should be in the backline:

FB: Welsh Fletcher Johnson

CHB: Solomon Wellman/Bolton MacPhee

Looks like a pretty strong backline to me. Looks alot stronger and capable with the two rough n*ts down there doesn't it?

Also maybe give NLM a run on the ball to cover MJ.
 
NLM certainly isn't an onballer. We need to give guys like Haynes, Stanton, Dyson, and Winderlich more of a crack.

Watson as well, but should probably wait until he gets his fitness and body right.
 
Originally posted by bomaz
MJ and Solomon should be in the backline:

FB: Welsh Fletcher Johnson

CHB: Solomon Wellman/Bolton MacPhee
Click to expand...

UMMMMMMM excuse ME !!!!

Mark McVeigh ?????


Notches in his belt so far this season include Gary Ablett Jnr, Paul Medhurst, Mark Williams and Aaron Davey...

maybe one reason WHY MJ is in the midfield and can't crack it in defense
 
I'd like to see MJ spend more time across the forward flank, myself.

He looks very dangerous wheneever he goes forward - give us a bit more drive forward of the centre, and he can take a grab, too.
 
Is there room in the back pocket for both of them? Always thought MJ played his best football there; really haven't ever rated him as a midfielder.

McVeigh Fletcher MJohnson
Welsh ... Solomon
Murphy JJohnson McPhee
Hird Lucas Rioli
... Lloyd ...
Allan ... ...

CHB from Bradley, Wellman, Henneman, or Hunt

Midfield/on-ball rotation: Hird, Rioli, Rama, Alvey, Winderlich, Watson, Peverill, Dyson, Stanton, Haynes, Welsh?

Forward pockets from Cupido (when healthy), Lovett-Murray, Haynes, Winderlich, Alvey, Hird (resting), Rama?

Could Welsh be played in the middle?

Could Rama be played as a forward pocket?
 
Agree Agree Agree

MJ is not a mid-fielders after thought. Definitely a better small defender who provides great rebound running out of defence. He would have been a three time all Australian by now had he been left there. I think Solly is a little more naturally a mid-fielder - but I dont think he is ever going to be your classic 20-25 possessions a game player. He is probably worth more to us in a defensive role - especially with Welly on his last legs now. I dont know whether Solly is too keen to play defence though.


McPhee seems to be a natural running mid-fielder with the pace and skills to really star. The truth of it is McPhee seems like he could just about play anywhere (what an incredible pick up he has and will be)

Hirdy is also a fabulous mid-fielder as he reads the ball so well and just gets himself into the right positions - but Hirdy is good for about 30 more games at best.

JJ has been on the decline ever since we introduced this stupid rotation system. JJ was always at his best when playing 4 qtrs on the ball. He needs to be in the game all the time. Take him out of it for a moment and he loses his momentum.


I would like to see JAllan JJ, Hird and McPhee as the starting 4. Rotate Hird and McPhee with the likes of Peverill, Solomon, Haynes. In time you can add Stanton, Dyson, Bullen and Winderlich into that list.

Rotate Laycock with Allan (Hille has to be given a run in the 2's)
 
Originally posted by Napier_Street
Agree Agree Agree

MJ is not a mid-fielders after thought. Definitely a better small defender who provides great rebound running out of defence. He would have been a three time all Australian by now had he been left there. I think Solly is a little more naturally a mid-fielder - but I dont think he is ever going to be your classic 20-25 possessions a game player. He is probably worth more to us in a defensive role - especially with Welly on his last legs now. I dont know whether Solly is too keen to play defence though.


McPhee seems to be a natural running mid-fielder with the pace and skills to really star. The truth of it is McPhee seems like he could just about play anywhere (what an incredible pick up he has and will be)

Hirdy is also a fabulous mid-fielder as he reads the ball so well and just gets himself into the right positions - but Hirdy is good for about 30 more games at best.

JJ has been on the decline ever since we introduced this stupid rotation system. JJ was always at his best when playing 4 qtrs on the ball. He needs to be in the game all the time. Take him out of it for a moment and he loses his momentum.


I would like to see JAllan JJ, Hird and McPhee as the starting 4. Rotate Hird and McPhee with the likes of Peverill, Solomon, Haynes. In time you can add Stanton, Dyson, Bullen and Winderlich into that list.

Rotate Laycock with Allan (Hille has to be given a run in the 2's)
Click to expand...

Agree with you on all counts, but I think we'd still get good value from MJ through the midfield rotation. He gives us plenty of muscle at the clearances.

It depends if McVeigh signs up for next year, I think. If he is goes, then I think we may see MJ return to the back pocket.
 
McVeigh will probably want to go to Sydney. Thus, the likely trade would be McVeigh for O'Keefe. Might be worth it to try McVeigh up forward like at the beginnig of his career. Further, when he played on the ball against the Lions, Aker towelled him up.

MJ is a better back pocket than Mcveigh, just look at when MJ played back there.
 

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Obviously with McVeigh and Welsh the small defenders, we should consider MJ in the forward line, or pushing Rama to the forward line.

We shouldn't be playing the kids like Stanton, Dyson and Winderlich in the forward line. Play them tagging or in the midfield. Leave the forward line to the older heads. Love to get Smokey further forward too.
 
MJ should play as a midfielder, him and solomon add a lot of grunt around stopages. Pace is the most overrated attribute unless you are as slow as joe misiti. When we play well our ball movement is so quick it doesnt matter how quick or slow we are, because it looks quicker. Although I don't see Rama as a back man. He needs to be moved up the ground where we can use his penetrating kick. Also Haynes should definatley be thrown into the mix to play a role in the centre because he is getting better and better.
 
Originally posted by jivey
thats easy swap rama and MJ, swap mcphee and solomon.

fixed
Click to expand...

I wouldn't perminantly swap McPhee and Solly. Rotate the two. You'll then get the best of both worlds. Solly seems to start most matches with a flurry when played in the middle, but slows down as the game wears on. McPhee is the opposite. The guy has a motor on him. I'd go for playing Solly 1st half and drop him back to half-back in the 2nd half with McPhee moving into the middle. All this of course is dependent on how they are performing on their respective opponents.

Rama for MJ i agree with!!
 
Our defence has been bad this year, mainly due to the lack of a CHB and fletch out of form/injured, and due to our midfield putting huge amounts of pressure on them. I think we need to go back to our strongest possible defence lineup, and experiment with the young players and midfield rotations (we can't do much worse there we may as well mix it up a bit and see what others are capable of. and rioli is a strong runner, good skills if we move McPhee up the ground he can play HBF, and rotate through the midfield.
therefore
MJ Fletcher Welsh
Solly Lucas Rioli

depending on matchups, Lucas was in career best form at CHB, very close to AA - we need someone who can hold the Browns and Tredrea's as time and time again they tear us a new one due to great delivery from their midfield and a weak player on them (bolton is good but just not strong enough) This will be certainly fine for telstra dome, but on the MCG we need a CHF to provide a target, either we throw Bradley/Laycock into the mix there or we play Lucas there and rely on Henneman at CHB.

The midfield needs Rama and McPhee on the wings (And bolton to rotate through) and Haynes and Hird to rotate on ball/forward.

McPhee JJ Rama
R: Allan Hird Peverill

Forwards: Hird/Haynes rotate Bolton/McVeigh rotate and throw Laycock or Bradley in there on the telstra dome, with Henneman on the bench to give options there (ie Laycock into ruch, Henneman to CHB and Lucas to CHF) when Allan rests etc.

Haynes Laycock Bolton
McVeigh Lloyd Murphy
Bench: Henneman, Stanton, Winderlich, Richards
 

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Re: Re: Mark Johnson

Originally posted by M29
Yet he's still persisted with as one.

Amazing.
Click to expand...

sheedy and his coaching staff must be f****d or somethin to keep persisting and persisting with hille, henneman and playing mark johnson in the midifled.
 

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