Strategy Midfield Crows Woes

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Rags_118

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It's an unpopular opinion but I share it.

He does so so many things right, but even a big hack thump forward would do wonders at times.


ROB Very strong mark around the ground but a piss poor tap ruckman, particularly in the centre square. Unlikely to become a Crows Premiership ruckman unless in an Aaron Keating like role.

It would be interesting to see how our current maligned mids would go with a top quality tap ruckman, Jacobs in his prime, Clarke, Rehn, Ryder, NicNat
 
Aug 17, 2007
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Nope, totally disagree.

"Basically to be a good AFL mid you need high Footy IQ."

You seriously believe this?
Been told to me by a few in the industry. Prime mids are basically quarterbacks, drivers of play.

Is the reason Mitch Grigg got delisted and no other club picked him up. Great State League player where study is not as important. AFL, no.


Of course you need the physical attributes. But being very good at understanding the craft is very important.

Even Jarrod Lyons, who I didn't think fitted in our side in 2016 (hindsight is 20/20), had the inate ability to win the ball and position himself to be usefull. And yes better coaching and team mates have brought him up.

But he always knew how to win the ball in the middle.

Jones can't.

They put him at HB, the easiest place to win the ball, and where many junior coaches will put a kid to understand the game better. Jones struggled.


He is a natural small forward. A very good one I reckon. Time to let him play that role before he gets churned out of the system.




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hey shorty

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ROB Very strong mark around the ground but a piss poor tap ruckman, particularly in the centre square. Unlikely to become a Crows Premiership ruckman unless in an Aaron Keating like role.

It would be interesting to see how our current maligned mids would go with a top quality tap ruckman, Jacobs in his prime, Clarke, Rehn, Ryder, NicNat
Hard to say.

Our pure clearance numbers would probably be up but we lose a hell of a lot around the ground
 
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That's simply not true
I think the issue us you and Mutineer saw him play younger and how good he was then. Assuming it translates to AFL and looking for excuses why it hasn't.


But in that bio Mutineer put up, the last line sums up the traits he has shown at AFL level. At AFL level he is best suited up forward.

An upgrade on Murphy. Who was also a good junior mid.

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hey shorty

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I think the issue us you and Mutineer saw him play younger and how good he was then. Assuming it translates to AFL and looking for excuses why it hasn't.


But in that bio Mutineer put up, the last line sums up the traits he has shown at AFL level. At AFL level he is best suited up forward.

An upgrade on Murphy. Who was also a good junior mid.

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It's not looking for excuses at all. He's certainly underperformed so far.

But you don't get to where he did without having a good footy brain. You simply don't.

Hasn't gone right for him so far and he needs to take a portion of the blame for that
 
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ROB Very strong mark around the ground but a piss poor tap ruckman, particularly in the centre square. Unlikely to become a Crows Premiership ruckman unless in an Aaron Keating like role.

It would be interesting to see how our current maligned mids would go with a top quality tap ruckman, Jacobs in his prime, Clarke, Rehn, Ryder, NicNat
WCE did alright with Lycett.
Richmond with Nankervis.
Hawthorn with Ben McEvoy




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It's not looking for excuses at all. He's certainly underperformed so far.

But you don't get to where he did without having a good footy brain. You simply don't.

Hasn't gone right for him so far and he needs to take a portion of the blame for that
I am not calling him dumb. Every AFL footballer has footy smarts to a degree.

Midfield is next level.

All I am saying is he is not going to make it as a mid. But could be good up forward.


I still think he could play 200 games as a role player. DMac has.

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hey shorty

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WCE did alright with Lycett.
Richmond with Nankervis.
Hawthorn with Ben McEvoy




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Each of those sides were loaded with star midfielders to compensate.

Big Boy is/was a good tap ruck.
 
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Each of those sides were loaded with star midfielders to compensate.

Big Boy is/was a good tap ruck.
And that is what you need.

You cant win a flag relying on being spoon fed.

Got to win the ball.


As mids have become bigger and smarter Ruck is less relevant. Just need a guy who can contest, not pay premium salary for him to dominate.

RoB is ideal.

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Jirkago75

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ROB Very strong mark around the ground but a piss poor tap ruckman, particularly in the centre square. Unlikely to become a Crows Premiership ruckman unless in an Aaron Keating like role.

It would be interesting to see how our current maligned mids would go with a top quality tap ruckman, Jacobs in his prime, Clarke, Rehn, Ryder, NicNat
Bewildering comments!!!

Rob’s been our best player last year and has improved out of site. I see him improving more and more. He may never get to the elite level but he has some Rehn similarities. All effort and aggression at the contest.
 
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Bewildering comments!!!

Rob’s been our best player last year and has improved out of site. I see him improving more and more. He may never get to the elite level but he has some Rehn similarities. All effort and aggression at the contest.
I agree I think ROB's all round improvement including his centre ruck work improved as the year wore on. Initially his 2020 season Centre Ruck tap work was scratchy but it improved as the year went on, absolutely top shelf around the ground and at boundary ball ins.
 

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I watched ROB's center square work very carefully last year and he more than held his own.

It was our disgusting midfield that kept running under his taps, straight out missing them, or fumbling clinical clean taps directly into their hands.

ROB should have shot Brad Crouch out of a cannon to St Kilda, that's how bad he was in the center
 
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I watched ROB's center square work very carefully last year and he more than held his own.

It was our disgusting midfield that kept running under his taps, straight out missing them, or fumbling clinical clean taps directly into their hands.

ROB should have shot Brad Crouch out of a cannon to St Kilda, that's how bad he was in the center
And why St Kilda offered him such a low salary....


Us supporters and more embarrassingly our club rated BCrouch way too highly.

The market didn't.


Sadly he was our best mid.......

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Then maybe go really hard the year after for rankine who may also be ready for a midfield role
Rankine is out of contract end of 2022. I don't want Adelaide supporters to suffer through two years, but having pick #1 in the PSD next year could be very good as far as equalization measures go - Gold Coast have had a fair bit of help. When draft picks outside the first round barely matter there is a different playing field for the rest of the competition.
 
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I watched ROB's center square work very carefully last year and he more than held his own.

It was our disgusting midfield that kept running under his taps, straight out missing them, or fumbling clinical clean taps directly into their hands.

ROB should have shot Brad Crouch out of a cannon to St Kilda, that's how bad he was in the center
That's why he was ranked 13th over all in average clearances per game in the AFL and just behind Jarryd Lyons on centre clearances playing in a shittier team I guess...

 
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Rankine is out of contract end of 2022. I don't want Adelaide supporters to suffer through two years, but having pick #1 in the PSD next year could be very good as far as equalization measures go - Gold Coast have had a fair bit of help. When draft picks outside the first round barely matter there is a different playing field for the rest of the competition.
So the FL will be scrubbing the PSD in 2022 ... set your watch to it.
 

hey shorty

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I watched ROB's center square work very carefully last year and he more than held his own.

It was our disgusting midfield that kept running under his taps, straight out missing them, or fumbling clinical clean taps directly into their hands.

ROB should have shot Brad Crouch out of a cannon to St Kilda, that's how bad he was in the center
You've angered the gods with that one.

It's quite incredible though, that essentially the same midfield from the 2017 season who were quite prolific in the centre pure numbers wise, were so so bad last year.
 
That's why he was ranked 13th over all in average clearances per game in the AFL and just behind Jarryd Lyons on centre clearances playing in a shittier team I guess...

Now check their inside 50 and score involvement rankings.

Surely someone winning so many quality clearances will feature very highly there
 
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Look.. at this point I couldnt give a flying * about winning games or our ladder position at the end of this year.. totally and utterly irrelevant.. Couldnt even care less if we end up with another spoon.

What I do want to see is 110% effort regardless of reward. I want to see improvement throughout the year and I want to see changes made throughout the season if things arent working..

If come the end of the year Sloane, Mcrouch, Laird and Keays are still getting more game time at the centre bounce than all our other mids and the results are the same as last year where we are getting towelled up in the clearances.. then I will be pissed off and worried.

In the next two to three years we will have Sloane, lynch, tex, talia, smith all coming out of contract and either going on far smaller contracts or retiring altogether.. that is going to free up a massive amount of coin in our salary cap.. we will have a war chest to play with.

Use our top 5 pick in this years draft to get the best midfield prospect available... Horne possibly.

Use our position in the preseason draft as leverage (as we did with Hately) to get other high potential youngsters looking for more opportunity.

Then end of next year maybe use the massive war chest we’ll probably have to throw a big money contract in front of an elite midfielder.

Who knows... those who desperately wanted us to pick Holland in last years draft... what if in two years from now he becomes a bit like Hately and Caldwell were at GWS.. high picks that got few opportunities due to being youngsters in a team stacked with top mids.. Gold coast will be struggling to fit all that talent in in a couple of years.. we could shake someone lose from their list.

So.. right about when our young forward and backline talent have developed nicely we all of a sudden get a massive boost in our midfield and, hey presto, our march up the ladder will happen.

And as for worrying about how we went in a trial match against the “March premiers”...
 

Murray2503

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So, we all saw last year. Our midfield was gash.

You don't really finish bottom unless your midfield is the worst in the league.

A semi-decent midfield can hide a lot of sins ahead of and behind the ball.

And our first outing this preseason against an oppo that wasn't us revealed the same problem.

This is largely why I was a Hollands fan at the draft. But Thilly looks a good prospect.

The question now is: WTF do we do about our midfield?

Galluci and Poholke were busts. Jones and McHenry looking likewise (damn that super draft).

Schoenberg looks solid. You can also see potential in Pedlar and Berry (small sample size, granted).

The big question is, option 1 or option 2:

Option 1: do we wait 4 or 5 years until these lads mature (plus whoever we add with pick 1 or 2 this year who hopefully won't be yet another tall),

Option 2: Do we go the Brisbane Lachie Neale route and throw the bank at an established youngish mid with high potential that the lads can orbit around and accelerate their development?

Heaven knows Sloane is way past midfield duties, Laird was never really meant to be a midfielder, and Matt Crouch is just a useful extractor.

There is no quality midfield arising without strategic decisions being made.

Discuss.
You do all of the above. You play the best options available in our squad in the middle. In my opinion they are Crouch, Laird, Schoenberg, Keays, Pedlar, Berry, O'Connor?. You also continue to draft well. Horne thanks in a crows guernsey in 2022. You also trade in a Lachie Neale if you can get one. You also coach them well and focus on skills and fitness. Importantly you trade and draft players who are elite kicks. A player who can deliver precisely to a forward will help convert our inside 50's to goals. Also the modern mid must be able to rest up forward and kick goals.

Lastly you pick players who deserve to be picked regardless of name and age. If I see Sloane in the middle we are heading for a bad beating. You must have pace, hardness, an ability to 2 way run, skill and an ability to win your own ball in the middle. Lastly you don't persist with lost causes or offer big overpaid contracts to declining and aging players (Sloane). You pull the band-aid off and you move them out early and swiftly. Regeneration should always be the mantra.
 
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