Preview Mark Neeld's 'Gaps'

[Demon 16]

There is definitely holes or deficiencies within our list, i believe that the three points i raised are of similar importance to the player roles we currently lack.

In that if Neeld can improve in the three area's proposed then the whole playing group and importantly the areas we lack structure in should improve, reducing the gaps ect

Mentor to be honest with you, I reckon the 3 issues you raised are far more important than the 'holes' in our playing list.

If Neeld can get those items right, the rest will follow.

 

[redleather]

Neeld will be ultimately responsible for these areas for sure.

Player types are important too though - and he can only deal with the playing personel handed to him.

You find out more or less what player types you need after introducing structure, mentality and gameplan. its the players that do not have the ability or the mental capacity that gets found out - which you would then get rid of and replace if they are not playing their part in the coaches system.

also, can anyone tell me why we keep persisting with Cale Morton. He got found out a couple of times this year where he shirked and avoided making a contest when he needed to. He has the Cam Bruce frame to play that tall midfielder, yet decision making and general interest lacks a little. Trade bait for mine. give up him and the unfortunate Warnock for an earlier pick perhaps. thoughts.

 

[00Stinger]

Bennell is going to be a gun, his run and carry is sex, good kick and good hands, bit of muscle and he'll be sweet

Geez, how many players does that sound like over the years. For years I have been hearing our players being described in the same way. Once he puts on some muscle he will be a gun and 90% of the time they have never bulked up.

also, can anyone tell me why we keep persisting with Cale Morton. He got found out a couple of times this year where he shirked and avoided making a contest when he needed to. He has the Cam Bruce frame to play that tall midfielder, yet decision making and general interest lacks a little. Trade bait for mine. give up him and the unfortunate Warnock for an earlier pick perhaps. thoughts.

Pick 4, 4 years ago. First 2 seasons were great, next 2 poor. We would lose too much if we traded him now, so he gets another year to prove his worth.

 

[Theseventhhamster]

Yep Morton's still around because of the talent/trade value discrepancy. I'm starting to get the feeling that some tough love and hopefully a move back to the forward line will reignite Davey's career too.

 

[Jordie_tackles]

You find out more or less what player types you need after introducing structure, mentality and gameplan. its the players that do not have the ability or the mental capacity that gets found out - which you would then get rid of and replace if they are not playing their part in the coaches system.

also, can anyone tell me why we keep persisting with Cale Morton. He got found out a couple of times this year where he shirked and avoided making a contest when he needed to. He has the Cam Bruce frame to play that tall midfielder, yet decision making and general interest lacks a little. Trade bait for mine. give up him and the unfortunate Warnock for an earlier pick perhaps. thoughts.

This seems funny, your listed as supporting Hawthron? any reason

The reasons for Morton are stated below, has alot of natural talents just needs to figure it out haha

 

[Stabby McGee]

This seems funny, your listed as supporting Hawthron? any reason

The reasons for Morton are stated below, has alot of natural talents just needs to figure it out haha

Morton started out looking like he would play 200 easily. Then - not unlike the team itself - he ground to a halt. He got injured, then he got thrown around into a bunch of different roles and he forgot to eat for 24 months.

A bit of stability, some good coaching and a hamburger with the lot will see him right.

 

[Petterd4Brownlow]

For me.

B: MacDonald Frawley Garland
HB: Tapscott Rivers Grimes
C: Blease Trengove Jones
HF: Howe Sylvia Petterd
F: Green Watts Davey
R: Jamar Moloney Mckenzie
Int:
- 2nd Ruck: Martin
- Spare mid/tagger: Bail
- Utility: Morton
Sub: Nicholson



All these blokes in their prime and its our best possible list. However Mortons scared of the seagulls flying round, and Strauss will take Nichos spot when he gets fit. Sylvia is a gun at CHF, talls cant match his speed and smalls cant match his strength, he will rotate threw the midfield of course, when the rucks swap and shit like that.

 

[stickman11]

Morton started out looking like he would play 200 easily. Then - not unlike the team itself - he ground to a halt. He got injured, then he got thrown around into a bunch of different roles and he forgot to eat for 24 months.

A bit of stability, some good coaching and a hamburger with the lot will see him right.

With the right programs, I believe we will see a better development of the like of Morton, Bennell and Jetta. Not sure on Maric but perhaps just lacked a good coach.

I know that many of Collingwoods younger players have high praise for Neelds knowledge and skills as a coach.

 

[Gazza_11]

Can I just point out that only 7 of the players on our list (Green, Rivers, Davey, Jamar, Sylvia, Moloney and Joel MacDonald) have been playing AFL since before 2006?

That's only 7 players with more than 6 years of playing experience.

4 players debuted in 2006 (excluding Warnock) - 6 years.
4 players debuted in 2007 - 5 years
5 players debuted in 2008 - 4 years
8 players debuted in 2009 - 3 years
4 players debuted in 2010 - 2 years
8 players debuted in 2011 - 1 year of
5 players are yet to debut (not including 2011 draftees)

So in terms of experience that's:

40 players with 1+ years
32 players with 2+ years
28 players with 3+ years
20 players with 4+ years
15 players with 5+ years
11 players with 6+ years
07 players with 7+ years

Obviously some players go a few years without playing a game and some will only play a few games in their debut year. But still quite remarkably unexperienced. I wonder how other the teams in the top 11 compare.

Those brackets of 4+ and 5+ years are personally the players that I feel should be matured or have achieved 'best 22' status to be considered succesful. To have less than 22 who have even been playing since then shows how tough we are doing it with a young list. Give us another 2-3 years and this club will be hitting its straps for a long time. Lucky Mark Neeld.

 

[Captain Jack]

Good post Gazza, now if we can only land Jaegar O'Meara we'll be set.

 

[Gazza_11]

Good post Gazza, now if we can only land Jaegar O'Meara we'll be set.

I'm probably not going to live that down, am I?

 

[Captain Jack]

I'm probably not going to live that down, am I?

Not for a long time, no

I just couldn't resist.

 

[Gazza_11]

Haha fair game

 

[chestbrah]

Working with the AFL interactive stuff atm and Nicholson (sp?) was in today for 2 hours. Asked him about Neeld, he described him as a 'fitness nazi', and said that 'the blokes that slack off are going to have to lift their game or they will be out'. He also mentioned that when Neeld arrived the first thing he did was rip up all the players current off-season fitness plans, and replace them with new ones, the difference between the two was massive apparently.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Love that!

I questioned our fitness during the year to tell you the truth.

 

[demons64]

For me.

B: MacDonald Frawley Garland
HB: Tapscott Rivers Grimes
C: Blease Trengove Jones
HF: Howe Sylvia Petterd
F: Green Watts Davey
R: Jamar Moloney Mckenzie
Int:
- 2nd Ruck: Martin
- Spare mid/tagger: Bail
- Utility: Morton
Sub: Nicholson



All these blokes in their prime and its our best possible list. However Mortons scared of the seagulls flying round, and Strauss will take Nichos spot when he gets fit. Sylvia is a gun at CHF, talls cant match his speed and smalls cant match his strength, he will rotate threw the midfield of course, when the rucks swap and shit like that.

No room for Jurrah..?? Interesting...

 

[lose]

That makes a lot of sense about the off season training going on what the players have been tweeting.. exactly what we need too pull a few into line..

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Working with the AFL interactive stuff atm and Nicholson (sp?) was in today for 2 hours. Asked him about Neeld, he described him as a 'fitness nazi', and said that 'the blokes that slack off are going to have to lift their game or they will be out'. He also mentioned that when Neeld arrived the first thing he did was rip up all the players current off-season fitness plans, and replace them with new ones, the difference between the two was massive apparently.

Interesting insight.

I recall James Hird did something similar with the Bombers this time last year. Got them on massive fitness programs over the summer. We then saw the Bombers come out and look like world beaters early on this season, before falling back to the pack. Still they had a pretty good year.

Wouldn't surprise me if we saw something similar happen to us next year.

 

[Captain Jack]

the Bombers come out and look like world beaters early on this season, before falling back to the pack. Still they had a pretty good year.

This is pretty standard Essendon. But you do have a point.

 

[Demon 16]

Don't mind the idea of mentally toughening up our group, but hopefully the fitness program is smart - not just hard.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

I would have identified 3 areas moer than listing positions;

• A big bodied/strong marking key forward
• More run and carry from defense
• A small forward/goalsneak

we may well unearth a couple of these roles from the current list as they develop, but if we can address these 3 issues, our list would be looking very balanced in my opinion.

Agree we need a big forward, hopefully one or both of Watts/Cook can fill this breach but I think we need a big lump of a kid to chuck down there, from what I've seen/heard of Watts/Cook they will be the more agile types rather than the bullocking types. Though Neitz was pretty skinny when he started and he turned into a bit of a monster. I would probably put Martin/Jamar up forward on a rotational basis until we can get a genuine big bodied forward down there. Both can contest, mark and create play and more importantly give us a get out target when we are struggling to find an option.

I think our run and carry probably isn't to bad, assuming Blease is able to come on. We may need one more player here as depth but I think we have this role covered somewhat for now.

We definitely need the crumbing goalsneak, I wonder whether Davey could go back there to fill the role he revolutionised? Probably not because his hammy's have restricted his explosive pace but he probably still has enough to be a weapon down there until we can get someone else. The only problem is without the hulking full forward to crumb off he is left to win his own ball or play a lead up forward which isn't his specialty. Similarly with Jurrah and Petterd who can both be used as crumbers despite their size. I wouldn't hold my breath for Maric & Wonna.

Additionally I also reckon we need another big defensive player. Frawley is a gun, Garland can play tall/small but is too skinny to take on the likes of Cloke. Rivers is good in the Maxwell "floating defender" type role but not big enough to take on the big forwards or resting ruckman. We need someone with size and strength to plug a hole here I think - maybe Tom McDonald? He showed something in his first couple of games but it's way tooe arly to say whether he will make it or not. Looked promising though.

I also think we need to beef up our midfield. We have a few good players there but we need another gun or two to lift us into the territory where we can challenge for a flag. Cats have Bartel, Selwood, Kelly, Ling, Enright, Corey etc Pies have Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball, Swan Hawks have Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Sewell, Rioli. We have Trengove & Sylvia with the ability to be those A-grade midfielders. Sylvia's been around a while though and unless he rips a season apart next year can't see him being that consistently good midfielder. We also have guys like Gysberts, McKezie, Grimes, Jones & Tapscott who could lift to become guns but who haven't shown enough yet consistently enough to say it with any real confidence. Obviously we hope Viney will come in and blitz it here but we need to be smart with our drafting to try and land another gun midfielder with a pick in the 10-20 region over the next couple of drafts.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

I think you boys will be very pleased with my virtual trade week exploits.

I'm quite the list manager... even if I say so myself.

 

[Captain Jack]

Ahmed Saad anyone? He won the sprint test at the Combine yesterday, good be a good option as a small forward - that's where he's been playing for the Bullants. No idea where in the draft he might go but I reckon he looks a better option than what we have already. He's about 23.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Without knowing much about him would only want to draft a player like that if we delisted one of either Maric or Wonna. Unsure about their respective contract situations however if Wonna was delisted would like to see him get a run on the rookie list for another chance but think it is too risky to keep him on the senior list. We need players who can play through the midfield so unless he can do that as well I wouldn't want to pick him up unless it was at the expense of a similar player on our list.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Without knowing much about him would only want to draft a player like that if we delisted one of either Maric or Wonna. Unsure about their respective contract situations however if Wonna was delisted would like to see him get a run on the rookie list for another chance but think it is too risky to keep him on the senior list. We need players who can play through the midfield so unless he can do that as well I wouldn't want to pick him up unless it was at the expense of a similar player on our list.

I think this will be a big possibility. I don't think the club will want to part with him after a terrible year personally for him, and I don't think Wona will want to leave his close mates in Jurrah and Davey.

However, from a clubs point of view, we can't take the risk that he will leave mid season again. So placing him on the rookie list is a great way of keeping him at the club and freeing up a spot on the senior list to draft someone like a Saad. Can definitely see this happening. But we do run the risk of another club picking up Wona if we delist him(with the intention of picking him up in the rookie draft).