Opinion Midfield Blues - From the Top to the Bottom

[Keyza]

I generally agree. Bringing McLean into the side is a no brainer considering our injury list and the fact he's our best VFL player. Not to mention the fact that opposition teams are flooding the stoppages and the inclusion of larger bodies is now vital if we want to beat this tactic.

Let’s be honest though. We're going nowhere if we're relying on McLean to improve our clearances. In my opinion he's not a good enough extractor to make for his lack of pace. He lacks explosiveness around the stoppages that most great ball winners have. We simply need him in the team with Carrazzo and Murphy injured.

At the start of year you look at our midfield, and you have to look where the improvement will come from to keep our midfield on top. Three to four names would have sprung out as likely improves. Ellard, Curnow, Lucas and
Tuohy. 8 rounds into the season and it looks as though too much was expected of these guys. Ellard and Curnow are brave but small (same players as last year), Lucas is nowhere near playing full time midfield as he can't hold tackles (he'll take a bit more time, but I think he'll get there) and Tuohy can't find enough footy.
I also believe we completed a preseason heavily focused on fitness and speed, as opposed to raw strength. Three weeks running in desert heat. The coaching staff though will never come out and admit this, so I don't really have any other evidence to back this claim up.



Final minor point. Leading up to the GWS game we (Judd? Ratten?) mentioned resting players not just in that match but throughout the year to give players a lift going into finals. We even referred to Geelong who used the tactic last year. WTF!!!!! Round 6 and we're talking about resting players when we're not even close to assuring a top four spot. Geelong had the luxury of resting players because they were basically assured of a top 2 spot, and Brad Scott knew he had a shit load of aging superstars in that lineup. I believe in the idea in principal but don't come out in round 6 with that cocky bullshit. It's come back to bite.

Agree totally with you final point. The arrogance we showed by coming out before the season had even started saying we will copy Geelong and rest players during the season. We are not Geelong and so far off being a top side its not funny. We dont have a good enough list or enough depth to do this, this is obvious now.
One thing is for sure there will be no resting of players as we have to win games to try to make the finals.
If our poor form continues we will be resting the whole team in September.

 

[Bordi]

Im not sure if this point has been mentioned, but im not sure we hit the stoppage at enough speed and 'on the go'

Often I can see many of our midfielders (Judd, murphy included) standing under the ruckman looking for the drop.. All this does is allows the tagger to apply enough of a hold to keep them out of the contest, and even if they do manage to get a hold of the ball, its quite easy for the tagger to lay the tackle and lock it in.

I say hit it at speed, which will allow better blocking and if it is Judd on the end of it there will b no stopping him coming out the other end. This will also suit our game plan and midfield spread alot better imo.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Im not sure if this point has been mentioned, but im not sure we hit the stoppage at enough speed and 'on the go'

Often I can see many of our midfielders (Judd, murphy included) standing under the ruckman looking for the drop.. All this does is allows the tagger to apply enough of a hold to keep them out of the contest, and even if they do manage to get a hold of the ball, its quite easy for the tagger to lay the tackle and lock it in.

I say hit it at speed, which will allow better blocking and if it is Judd on the end of it there will b no stopping him coming out the other end. This will also suit our game plan and midfield spread alot better imo.

I would say how about the blokes getting scragged and held at every stoppage do some blocking for others to gain possession or attack the contest at pace.....

Maybe Judd, Murphy, Simpson and co can turn the tables, and implement some strategy to turn negative situations into positive ones.

 

[opinionsansfact]

Im not sure if this point has been mentioned, but im not sure we hit the stoppage at enough speed and 'on the go'

Often I can see many of our midfielders (Judd, murphy included) standing under the ruckman looking for the drop.. All this does is allows the tagger to apply enough of a hold to keep them out of the contest, and even if they do manage to get a hold of the ball, its quite easy for the tagger to lay the tackle and lock it in.

I say hit it at speed, which will allow better blocking and if it is Judd on the end of it there will b no stopping him coming out the other end. This will also suit our game plan and midfield spread alot better imo.

Don't need to teach judd & murphy the fundamentals. Taggers block their run and hang off them, that's why they don't hit the footy at full pace.
Curnow's the one who could benefit from moving his feet a bit

 

[Bordi]

Don't need to teach judd & murphy the fundamentals. Taggers block their run and hang off them, that's why they don't hit the footy at full pace.
Curnow's the one who could benefit from moving his feet a bit

Oh i am not attempting to teach anything (they are both superstars), just something iv noticed recently and i reckon its something they have changed.. I also think the umpires may be abit more inclined to pay the frees if the holding is happening further away from the pack as it would be a lot more obvious (not that they shouldnt already know).

In addition it will set the spread up a lil better so that if we dont win the clearance our mids arnt caught deep inside the pack everytime which can often lead to a fast breakaway from the opposition.

 

[Blue Dangerfield]

Im not sure if this point has been mentioned, but im not sure we hit the stoppage at enough speed and 'on the go'

Often I can see many of our midfielders (Judd, murphy included) standing under the ruckman looking for the drop.. All this does is allows the tagger to apply enough of a hold to keep them out of the contest, and even if they do manage to get a hold of the ball, its quite easy for the tagger to lay the tackle and lock it in.

I say hit it at speed, which will allow better blocking and if it is Judd on the end of it there will b no stopping him coming out the other end. This will also suit our game plan and midfield spread alot better imo.

Maybe not every stoppage, but i'd like for our better users to start a little further away from the ruck. ellard, mclean and robbo need to be the guys at the foot of the ruck to win the hard ball. Thats why carrazzo was so good he won the ball and then allowd murph and judd to find the ball on the move.

If judd is getting collard, start him on a wing so he can move to the contest and use his pace and smarts to get clear.

 

[Sublime]

Maybe not every stoppage, but i'd like for our better users to start a little further away from the ruck. ellard, mclean and robbo need to be the guys at the foot of the ruck to win the hard ball. Thats why carrazzo was so good he won the ball and then allowd murph and judd to find the ball on the move.

If judd is getting collard, start him on a wing so he can move to the contest and use his pace and smarts to get clear.

Unfortunately there is hardly a such thing as a winger anymore. There is pretty much 2 positions now... near the ball (NTB) and kinda near he ball (KNTB). Look at how the game is played, so often you see all the players in one third of the ground. Take Judd away from the contest, that's a big win for the opposition. He's a big enough boy to fight his own fights in close.

 

[No1Suspect]

The worst part about the injuries is that we can't just go, "oh well lets play the kids" because there aren't any young onballers in the 2s because we haven't recruited any one of these types and haven't retained any. A good reason why the Northern Blues are ordinary. Pity we lost Grigg and delisted Cachia.

Our disregard for 2nd round picks from 2008 and 09 is what's killing us and why we have no depth.

Take a look at some of the names there!

08 - hannebury, Redden, beams, shiels.

We traded our 2nd rnd for Warnock so make of that what you will.

09 - Duncan, Stevens, fyfe, tapscott, Bastinac

Yes we scored Henderson from Brisbane and Lucas ( who hasnt really done anything) but we threw away 11 for McLean and could of had anyone of those.

And so of the last few years kids wise we've had yarran, Henderson and Robinson come on and then not a great deal there after. (no one from 2010)

Yes it's all could of should of stuff but kind of highlights what we've missed out on and why we are lacking so much depth I believe and how important 2nd rounders are to hang onto.