With it already half way through the season, I reckon it is time to take stock and have a look at how we have gone unit by unit, with an eye towards the finals.
Backs: All things considered, our backline has been pretty good, considering only 3 of our back 6 have played every game this year (Lake, Morris & Gilbee). It has been good to see Tommy play more than half of the games played. Hopefully he can play at least another 8 in the last half of the year. Harbrow has been a revelation down back providing some very good run, as well as pressuring ball carriers in the opposition 50. It is his form that is probably holding Timmy Callan out of the side, as well as making hard for Dyl Addison to come back in. Tiller seems to be just doing enough to keep his spot, but you would think when Williams is fit, he will take Tillers spot. Disappointing that Everitt hasn't taken the next step, but hopefully he can maybe put it together in the 2nd half of the year and make a real case for selection. Hargrave remains a key cog and the experience of playing on talls cannot be underestimated. While he is now playing on players better suited to his size, if need be he can play on bigger players. Lake & Morris are just doing what they always do. The growing pains that Lake experienced back when he started are now well worth it seeing the player he has become. He would be very close to being AA this year.
Projected Back 6 for finals (Assuming all players fit and available):
Morris, Lake, Harbrow
Gilbee, Williams, Hargrave
Mids & Rucks: The improvement of Shaun Higgins and the arrival of Liam Picken have had a massive effect on our midfield. Higgins now draws a quality opponent which can free up someone like Cooney or Griffen, whilst Picken can now do a job on a dangerous opponent which frees up Boyd & Cross to throw themselves at the ball. This past week Cooney showed he was close to being back to his Brownlow winning best, with 11 Contested and 22 Uncontested Possessions to go with 5 clearances and a couple of tackles. Griffen is still struggling with consistency, and I think that Rocket is carrying him to see how he works out of this trough. A move to half back flank may be in the works as they try to free him up. Eagles season seemed to turn around during the Geelong game. The hesitancy seems to have vanished and he is now back to playing some very good loose freewheeling football. Callan Ward also seems to have grown a bit since the Geelong game, giving him some real confidence that he can match it with the best. Huddson has been serviceable in the ruck, but his ground work at the bottom of packs and leadership has been exceptional. On the other hand, Minson has done very well in the actual ruck contest, but his other work seems to be lacking.
Projected Midfield for finals (Assuming all players are fit and available)
W: Cross, C: Cooney, W: Higgins
Ru: Huddson, R: Boyd, RR: Picken
Forwards: Much like the backline, we have done well to be the second highest scoring team in the comp, considering our forward line has been unsettled all year with 2 of our main forward targets (Murph & Welsh) missing a considerable amount of time. If Murph can work himself into some form and be a high half forward putting the ball into the forward 50 7-8 times a game we will be going pretty well. The two old men have also played pretty well throughout the year, with Aka just tapering off a little the past couple of weeks. A game or two break to refresh might be in order. Johnno is playing a bit higher up the ground, with Hill playing a little bit deeper. The experience will help Hill in the long run. Gia seems to bob up at just the right time when we need some class. Mitch has struggled but hopefully he can regain a bit of form as the finals approach. It was good to see Jarrad Grant play his first game and hopefully he can play a couple of more games as the season draws to a close.
Projected forward line for finals (Assuming all are fit and available):
Johnson , Murphy, Gia
Aka, Welsh, Hanh
Projected bench for finals (Assuming all are fit and available):
Minson, Eagleton, Ward & Griffen
Depth: Wight, Skipper, Ried all played last year, but have yet to play a game this year. Everitt, Callan & Addison have played only 12 games this year between them. Stack and Grant all both played their first game this year, and Guy O'Keefe has been named as an emergency a couple of times. All can push for a game as the finals approach this year. Out of a team of 22, to have 9 players pushing for a spot is very promising considering we are a game clear in 3rd. I think the game against Geelong has shown some of our lesser lights that they are capable of matching it against the best, especially considering we had Murphy and Hargrave missing for that game.
After this weekend, we only leave Melbourne once for the rest of the year and after round 13 we only play one game away from the Docklands, leaving us in pretty good shape. If we can finish third we will give ourselves another good chance to play off in a preliminary final for a chance to play in a Grand Final again this year.
Thoughts?
Backs: All things considered, our backline has been pretty good, considering only 3 of our back 6 have played every game this year (Lake, Morris & Gilbee). It has been good to see Tommy play more than half of the games played. Hopefully he can play at least another 8 in the last half of the year. Harbrow has been a revelation down back providing some very good run, as well as pressuring ball carriers in the opposition 50. It is his form that is probably holding Timmy Callan out of the side, as well as making hard for Dyl Addison to come back in. Tiller seems to be just doing enough to keep his spot, but you would think when Williams is fit, he will take Tillers spot. Disappointing that Everitt hasn't taken the next step, but hopefully he can maybe put it together in the 2nd half of the year and make a real case for selection. Hargrave remains a key cog and the experience of playing on talls cannot be underestimated. While he is now playing on players better suited to his size, if need be he can play on bigger players. Lake & Morris are just doing what they always do. The growing pains that Lake experienced back when he started are now well worth it seeing the player he has become. He would be very close to being AA this year.
Projected Back 6 for finals (Assuming all players fit and available):
Morris, Lake, Harbrow
Gilbee, Williams, Hargrave
Mids & Rucks: The improvement of Shaun Higgins and the arrival of Liam Picken have had a massive effect on our midfield. Higgins now draws a quality opponent which can free up someone like Cooney or Griffen, whilst Picken can now do a job on a dangerous opponent which frees up Boyd & Cross to throw themselves at the ball. This past week Cooney showed he was close to being back to his Brownlow winning best, with 11 Contested and 22 Uncontested Possessions to go with 5 clearances and a couple of tackles. Griffen is still struggling with consistency, and I think that Rocket is carrying him to see how he works out of this trough. A move to half back flank may be in the works as they try to free him up. Eagles season seemed to turn around during the Geelong game. The hesitancy seems to have vanished and he is now back to playing some very good loose freewheeling football. Callan Ward also seems to have grown a bit since the Geelong game, giving him some real confidence that he can match it with the best. Huddson has been serviceable in the ruck, but his ground work at the bottom of packs and leadership has been exceptional. On the other hand, Minson has done very well in the actual ruck contest, but his other work seems to be lacking.
Projected Midfield for finals (Assuming all players are fit and available)
W: Cross, C: Cooney, W: Higgins
Ru: Huddson, R: Boyd, RR: Picken
Forwards: Much like the backline, we have done well to be the second highest scoring team in the comp, considering our forward line has been unsettled all year with 2 of our main forward targets (Murph & Welsh) missing a considerable amount of time. If Murph can work himself into some form and be a high half forward putting the ball into the forward 50 7-8 times a game we will be going pretty well. The two old men have also played pretty well throughout the year, with Aka just tapering off a little the past couple of weeks. A game or two break to refresh might be in order. Johnno is playing a bit higher up the ground, with Hill playing a little bit deeper. The experience will help Hill in the long run. Gia seems to bob up at just the right time when we need some class. Mitch has struggled but hopefully he can regain a bit of form as the finals approach. It was good to see Jarrad Grant play his first game and hopefully he can play a couple of more games as the season draws to a close.
Projected forward line for finals (Assuming all are fit and available):
Johnson , Murphy, Gia
Aka, Welsh, Hanh
Projected bench for finals (Assuming all are fit and available):
Minson, Eagleton, Ward & Griffen
Depth: Wight, Skipper, Ried all played last year, but have yet to play a game this year. Everitt, Callan & Addison have played only 12 games this year between them. Stack and Grant all both played their first game this year, and Guy O'Keefe has been named as an emergency a couple of times. All can push for a game as the finals approach this year. Out of a team of 22, to have 9 players pushing for a spot is very promising considering we are a game clear in 3rd. I think the game against Geelong has shown some of our lesser lights that they are capable of matching it against the best, especially considering we had Murphy and Hargrave missing for that game.
After this weekend, we only leave Melbourne once for the rest of the year and after round 13 we only play one game away from the Docklands, leaving us in pretty good shape. If we can finish third we will give ourselves another good chance to play off in a preliminary final for a chance to play in a Grand Final again this year.
Thoughts?
)...this is the best stretch I can remember us having. Period.
