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Prediction Michael Barlow

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lunacy said:
No I said it's NOT a best of highlights. It's purely all from 1 game, so there are going to be a few rushed kicks or ineffective possessions.
Very harsh critique. None of our midfielders (apart from Sloane), produced anything like that standard in 1 game this year.
And as a delisted FA I'm on board. It's not like he's in his 30's, and he can also do a run-with/cooler role well.
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If he's only gonna play one blinder like that against Port for us, I don't care how much it costs us to get him.:D
 

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I wouldn't be aginst the idea of getting him on a 2-3 year deal at reasonable money. He gives us something a bit different to what we have. A big body around the contest, very good running ability and good defensive side to the game. The the ideal fit but I think he in terms of on field, he would provide us with a heck of a lot more over the next couple of years than Thompson.
 
Stiffy_18 said:
I wouldn't be aginst the idea of getting him on a 2-3 year deal at reasonable money. He gives us something a bit different to what we have. A big body around the contest, very good running ability and good defensive side to the game. The the ideal fit but I think he in terms of on field, he would provide us with a heck of a lot more over the next couple of years than Thompson.
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IF by recruiting Barlow it allows us to take best available in the draft at #13 .......then yes take Barlow, but IMO year on year contracts, no 3 year contract
 
Don Muraco said:
nobody knows what he looks like
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Perhaps we'll get confused and offer the wrong brother a three year contract. Would be about on par with the rest of the our off-season thus far.
Ed Barlow.jpeg
Ed Barlow of the NTFL's Southern Districts and formerly of the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs
 
We need Barlow. Last year we had bugger all injuries and we let team wins gloss over poor individual performance. If either Sloane/Crouches get a 4-8week injury during the year I don't want to be calling on Thompson, he's been a great servant of the club but he's too slow and getting slower.
 
Stiffy_18 said:
I wouldn't be aginst the idea of getting him on a 2-3 year deal at reasonable money. He gives us something a bit different to what we have. A big body around the contest, very good running ability and good defensive side to the game. The the ideal fit but I think he in terms of on field, he would provide us with a heck of a lot more over the next couple of years than Thompson.
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3 years? Jesus. Great he has a bigger body but we have enough midfielders who handball and are not great kicks.

We've got players in our SANFL that need to play. We need to change the dynamic of our midfield to provide more run and pace not make it slower.

Thommo shouldn't be playing full stop.
 
Lynch Mob said:
We need Barlow. Last year we had bugger all injuries and we let team wins gloss over poor individual performance. If either Sloane/Crouches get a 4-8week injury during the year I don't want to be calling on Thompson, he's been a great servant of the club but he's too slow and getting slower.
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How about calling on CEY, Wigg, Atkins (into the middle), Douglas (there's a shock, actually play him in the middle), Smith, Hampton, Menzel and Milera.

We are not going to be contenders in 2017 with our midfield unless we get "organic" improvement from these players, not from adding another slow player. But with that improvement in 2017 we can give it a shake in 2018. Besides there a few decent contracts sitting in the SANFL taking cap space which would be a waste.
 

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Elite Crow said:
How about calling on CEY, Wigg, Atkins (into the middle), Douglas (there's a shock, actually play him in the middle), Smith, Hampton, Menzel and Milera.

We are not going to be contenders in 2017 with our midfield unless we get "organic" improvement from these players, not from adding another slow player. But with that improvement in 2017 we can give it a shake in 2018. Besides there a few decent contracts sitting in the SANFL taking cap space which would be a waste.
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I agree, but we missed an opportunity to do that this year, with no injuries to force our hand we didn't have the balls to bring in a Wigg or CEY. My point is if we don't have a golden run with injuries this year all we have is inexperienced mids. Barlow is no jet but he's not slow. Thommo on the other hand...
 
I would give Barlow a 2-year deal with the Crows. Have him essentially take over Thommos role from this year. Then in 2018, when Thommo has retired to pretty much take over leading the SANFL midfield. Reckon we need an experienced mid in the SANFL midfield if we are going to get some young mids this draft. Having a big player in the midfield protecting their younger bodies and playing 2nd/3rd fiddle is probably what they need, and replicates their role when they transition to the AFL side.
 
Stiffy_18 said:
I wouldn't be aginst the idea of getting him on a 2-3 year deal at reasonable money. He gives us something a bit different to what we have. A big body around the contest, very good running ability and good defensive side to the game. The the ideal fit but I think he in terms of on field, he would provide us with a heck of a lot more over the next couple of years than Thompson.
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I've been a bit 50-50 on Barlow thus far, but at present I'm probably leaning towards yes. He's not the ideal pick up, but given our failure to pick up a Gibbs/Rockliff type to bolster our inside midfielder stocks, I think he's probably our best bet. I'd prefer someone with more pace and class, but I keep coming back to the fact that at times during the year and especially in the Sydney final, our midfield just got beat up on.

With Danger gone, Thommo became our only real true "big bodied beast" of a midfielder and he seemed to struggle to deliver this when most needed. Sloane, Crouch x2 and Lyons are all really good contested players, but they're on the smaller side for inside mids and the Crouches are still young and developing. We've since gone ahead and traded out Lyons as well.

When I look at our best 22, I think we've actually got a lot of really good outside running types who are ready to go, these include Smith, Seedsman, Atkins, Milera and Hampton. I think if we can get a quality core of 4 inside midfielders working the ball out effectively to these players, then we'll do really well. As much as I like and have high hopes for Greenwood, as well as our potential 1st rounder, I think we need someone to tie us over for a year or 2. Our window is now, yet our midfield is anything but in its prime, I think Barlow could just help tie our midfield over untill we can develop an extra player or 2. It may only be half a season, but I think relieving the pressure is important.
 

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pjcrows said:
Because we should be exposing our younger players.
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There's exposing younger players and there's relying upon them to hold up a key midfield position in a side that's essentially in a premiership window. I'd be bringing in Barlow, with the hope that he would be quickly pushed out of his position by either Greenwood, or whomever we pick in the 1st round. Our midfield let us down in key moments during 2016, largely because we were bullied out of it. Barlow matches it physically with almost any other midfielder in the comp, something none of our other midfielders can do at present.
 
James_37 said:
There's exposing younger players and there's relying upon them to hold up a key midfield position in a side that's essentially in a premiership window. I'd be bringing in Barlow, with the hope that he would be quickly pushed out of his position by either Greenwood, or whomever we pick in the 1st round. Our midfield let us down in key moments during 2016, largely because we were bullied out of it. Barlow matches it physically with almost any other midfielder in the comp, something none of our other midfielders can do at present.
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The question is ...if Thommo regresses further and say a Brad Crouch gets another injury ......then we are exposed

In these circumstances is Barlow an acceptable insurance policy in the mold of a Luke Lowden?
 
James_37 said:
There's exposing younger players and there's relying upon them to hold up a key midfield position in a side that's essentially in a premiership window. I'd be bringing in Barlow, with the hope that he would be quickly pushed out of his position by either Greenwood, or whomever we pick in the 1st round. Our midfield let us down in key moments during 2016, largely because we were bullied out of it. Barlow matches it physically with almost any other midfielder in the comp, something none of our other midfielders can do at present.
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It'll be Podsiadly all over again.

We aren't winning a flag next year. Play the young guys NOW. And go after elite FA next year. Barlow is a pointless stopgap.
 
pjcrows said:
Because we should be exposing our younger players.
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I'm all for exposing the younger players, but young players rarely come in and hold their spot for the season, unless your Melbourne and then you might make them captain to boot. Without a Lyons replacement we are not just exposing the young players, we are banking our season on them.
 
Lynch Mob said:
I'm all for exposing the younger players, but young players rarely come in and hold their spot for the season, unless your Melbourne and then you might make them captain to boot. Without a Lyons replacement we are not just exposing the young players, we are banking our season on them.
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We don't have the midfield to win a Premiership next year. Nowhere near it. We failed to land Gibbs and lost Lyons.

We need to start building a midfield that will contend. "Organic growth" is fine, if you actually provide genuine opportunities for growth.

People suggest that bringing in Barlow keeps us in the hunt. I see it the other way around - bringing in Barlow means we're basically surrendering. It indicates that list management has made the decision that our current midfield isn't up to it and signing someone like Barlow stems the bleeding. I say, how the hell can a judgement be made on our untried midfielders when they aren't selected?
 
pjcrows said:
We don't have the midfield to win a Premiership next year. Nowhere near it. We failed to land Gibbs and lost Lyons.

We need to start building a midfield that will contend. "Organic growth" is fine, if you actually provide genuine opportunities for growth.

People suggest that bringing in Barlow keeps us in the hunt. I see it the other way around - bringing in Barlow means we're basically surrendering. It indicates that list management has made the decision that our current midfield isn't up to it and signing someone like Barlow stems the bleeding. I say, how the hell can a judgement be made on our untried midfielders when they aren't selected?
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What's Gibbs got to do with it? He's not a game breaking match winner. I was not a Lyons fan last season, yet most games he would get his 20+ pos and a goal. I believe CEY covers Lyons and hopefully surpasses him given a consistent run. Barlow was part of the 2015 dockers midfield that beat most.
Brouch is no certainty to be injury free, Thommo is finished, Lyons is gone. Douglas and Mackay can't offer any more than what we've already seen. Wigg, Reilly, Millera are our future but they need solid support.
 

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