Strategy Midfield Fix

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theGav56

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Oct 11, 2004
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The performance of our midfield is a symptom. It is too simplistic to look at it and conclude that we need more or better players in the midfield. I'm not disagreeing with that statement as it is virtually a football truism, but it is a shallow observation.

It also delays finding a solution to the problem; nobody wants to wait for Erasmus and Johnson to get up to speed or for us to trade in Coniglio and BrAyshaw, or Neale to find his way home. This current season is alive.

I am unable to support my idea with statistics, but I think we work our flankers poorly. In the past midfielders rotated on field with players like Cerra and Aish moving through half back and Fyfe, Walters and others exchanging forward.

That isn't a reflection of midfield depth, it is a technique for creating midfield depth. Instead we seem to want to lock our players into position.

Brodie has been copping a bit of a hiding regarding his fitness with him having low on field percentages. The issue is reduced if he rotates via the flanks. Instead we seem locked into the having the same midfielders at every available contest.

I think we have a few issues for which the apparent lack of depth is a symptom;
  • we draft flankers, especially hbf-ers.
  • we lack development of players with a mindset that players should be placed in the position they played in pre-draft.
  • we lack a strategy for on field rotation that brings more players into the midfield by cycling players through the flanks.
 
Yeah. I don't think we have enough quality rotations. If you are going to have a game plan based on hard running you have to have plenty of running options that can maintain the run through 4 quarters and week after week.
 
We have enough HBFers with the skillset to run through the midfield and we should be looking at developing these players to be flexible (at the risk of throwing us into development mode)

Young, Chapman, Walker all have the skillset to play midfield and we have more than enough coverage in the backline for 1 or 2 of these players to run through the midfield at a given time.
 

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I think another thing to factor in with your comments re: rotating players around. It's a lot harder to do now with the 6/6/6 rule and the caps on rotations. Players can't move as freely around the ground as much and therefore are not able to change positions quickly or as easily.

Factor in a young developing group learning the ropes of AFL football and some of the players might not know or might pick the wrong time to rotate positions when they can.

I always come back to Melbourne and how long it has taken them to get to where they are. They had been s**t for so long, flakey midfield, choking and just all around disappointment. It didn't come over night and they've had a team that largely over the last 7 years have been together. Oliver (6th year of career won the premiership), Petracca (6th year), Brayshaw (7th year), Viney (9th Year) and Gawn (10th year).

Now compare it to us and our main midfield group currently of Brayshaw (5th year now), Darcy (6th year), Serong (3rd year), Fyfe (13th) and Mundy (18th year).

Cerra, Neale, Hill are huge holes in our group and all it has done is set us back in development and I just don't see us competing for top 4 or premierships for at least a few more years. The reality is Fyfe and Mundy wont be around for our next tilt and it's on Brayshaw and Serong to lead us into the future. Neil's debut tomorrow will be a step in the right direction but ******* hell we need to maintain our quality mids because we can't keep being set back when good midfield players leave.

edit: and the midfield is where games are won and lost.
 
Some of the older guys are also down hill skiers, Tucker. Acres, offer very little.
Their disposal, awareness and decision making makes the team look slow.
Big bodied in image only, I wouldn’t play them on principle alone.
We look better with Mundy because he is an inside Bull, but with class.
Brodie is getting the heat, but it’s obvious to everyone that we needed to find
replacements for Fyfe, Mundy.
So easy to stop a midfield with Brayshaw,Serong only. Brodie won’t hurt you by
foot, so he needs to use handball, Shepard, tackle. Basically become a Crowley
clone.
But others should have already been trialled.
Would like to see Treacy, Cox, pinch hit in the ruck, a 5th midfielder type to mix
things up.
We may go backwards for awhile but it will pay dividends next season.
 
_007_ said:
Fyfe, Mundy and Walters are all cooked.
Click to expand...

Fyfe is wagu beef rump that has been beat with a mallet. A bit banged up, but still gonna be great eating.

Mundy is blue steak. Aged beef, seared on the outside, but juicy in the middle. A delicacy.

Walters is grain fed rib-eye covered in a burnt mushroom gravy. Yeah the sauce is a bit off, but there's still a great steak under there. All is not lost.
 
There are ways to get around 6x6x6. Clark and Chapman can rotate time in the midfield and hbf perhaps the easiest example.

The loss of Neale and Cerra are always going to be significant, but the issue is also about the inability to find replacements either from trades or from the list from players such as Tucker, Blakeley and Valente. There is no contingency.
 
Ge3ks said:
Fyfe is wagu beef rump that has been beat with a mallet. A bit banged up, but still gonna be great eating.

Mundy is blue steak. Aged beef, seared on the outside, but juicy in the middle. A delicacy.

Walters is grain fed rib-eye covered in a burnt mushroom gravy. Yeah the sauce is a bit off, but there's still a great steak under there. All is not lost.
Click to expand...
Haha.

Someone needs to get that menu into a venue.
 
blue shark said:
Some of the older guys are also down hill skiers, Tucker. Acres, offer very little.
Their disposal, awareness and decision making makes the team look slow.
Big bodied in image only, I wouldn’t play them on principle alone.
We look better with Mundy because he is an inside Bull, but with class.
Brodie is getting the heat, but it’s obvious to everyone that we needed to find
replacements for Fyfe, Mundy.
So easy to stop a midfield with Brayshaw,Serong only. Brodie won’t hurt you by
foot, so he needs to use handball, Shepard, tackle. Basically become a Crowley
clone.
But others should have already been trialled.
Would like to see Treacy, Cox, pinch hit in the ruck, a 5th midfielder type to mix
things up.
We may go backwards for awhile but it will pay dividends next season.
Click to expand...
Brodie seems to have no problem finding the ball. We need that. I think he should be rotating forward with whoever the replacement for Banfield is.
 
We need a couple of 23Yo + inside mids plug and play which will offset Mundy and Fyfe leaving whilst Erasmus, Nod and Johnson get up to speed
 

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Spirit Level said:
I think we obviously look at Brayshaw at years end

Do we also look at someone like SPP?
Click to expand...
Yeah but.... I still think we have a strategy problem, not simply a list problem.

I want Erasmus rotating forward/midfield with Fyfe, and Johnson midfield/defence with Young. And I want Chapman and Clark to own a wing and hbf rotation.
 
Ge3ks said:
Any names come to mind? I wouldn't mind us grabbing Angus Brayshaw if the price is right, but not sure if he is an inside mid.
Click to expand...
Brayshaw and Bailey Rogers. One a free agent one in the mid season draft. Still keep our first round draft pick

Angus 27 next year
Rogers 26 next year
Fyfe 31
Mundy gone
Andy 23
Serong 21
Nod 20
Ras 19
Johnson 19

Brodie depth 24

Perfect age profile
 
Last edited:
theGav56 said:
Brodie seems to have no problem finding the ball. We need that. I think he should be rotating forward with whoever the replacement for Banfield is.
Click to expand...
All pre-season we heard how well Erasmus was going midfield.
NOD also was a standout, last year Walker was huge.
I don’t see a future where all 3 don’t play. The guys selected before them
are Soft.
This club need’s a backbone, line in the sand statement, everyone knows we buckle
under pressure.
 
theGav56 said:
Yeah but.... I still think we have a strategy problem, not simply a list problem.

I want Erasmus rotating forward/midfield with Fyfe, and Johnson midfield/defence with Young. And I want Chapman and Clark to own a wing and hbf rotation.
Click to expand...
Yeah agree there are steps we can take both now and at years end
 
nurries said:
Brayshaw and Bailey Rogers. One a free agent one in the mid season draft. Still keep our first round draft pick

Angus 27 next year
Rogers 26 next year

Perfect age profile
Click to expand...
The club could have elected to grab Rogers or other over league options. It's a good puzzle that we didn't.
 
Scham said:
The issue is that we lost Neale, Langdon, Hill and Cerra in quick succession,and it's impossible to replace that amount of mature age midfield talent in the short term, so we're just going to have to be patient.
Click to expand...
Eventually all roads lead back to the uncomfortable reality that we're akin to gold coast without the AFL concessions. meima might have been smarter than we think, he can just enjoy the ride without expectations, we're stuck in this perpetual cycle of being told by the club we're going places "flag by 2020, then three top 4 finishes and a flag by 2025" when we're s**t.
As for the premise of the thread, I agree the only fixes available soon are to bring in some guys that will do basics, simplify, and show some grit, which historically has been the only way bottom teams can beat top teams. How about something aspirational and effort based - like aiming for 80 tackles in a game?
 
nurries said:
Brayshaw and Bailey Rogers. One a free agent one in the mid season draft. Still keep our first round draft pick

Angus 27 next year
Rogers 26 next year
Fyfe 31
Mundy gone
Andy 23
Serong 21
Nod 20
Ras 19
Johnson 19

Brodie depth 24

Perfect age profile
Click to expand...
During the trade period we did bring in some more mature players in Brodie, Clark and Worner.

Brodie is the clearance mid strategy, but I think we can get more value by rotating him forward. We could also have added Rogers but failed to.

Clark has provided nothing more than additional defensive depth. We don't need that. We need to redeploy some of our defensive resources to the midfield.

Worner will get opportunities.

We went into the trade/draft period with Mundy aging, Walters banished from the midfield and Fyfe under the surgeon's knife. We lost Cerra.

These were all "knowns" but the Club sent out messages about being on the cusp of a premiership. Who is reading the tea leaves in there?

If the answer is to have Serong and Brayshaw attending every centre bounce we are in trouble.
 
nurries said:
Brayshaw and Bailey Rogers. One a free agent one in the mid season draft. Still keep our first round draft pick
Click to expand...

Brayshaw in particular really (in theory of course) solves a fair few of our pressing midfield issues. He's the right age for our list, adds size to protect the younger brigade and as Gav has rightly highlighted, has the important ability to play both inside and out on a wing. It's almost critical that we add him or another player of the same profile to help bridge the gap in development between Brayshaw/Serong and Erasmus/Johnson.

He's also one of the few potential free agents who might actually consider coming here, given the opportunity to play with his brother in his home state and probably at a higher salary than what Melbourne will be able to offer given the number of quality players they will be wanting to lock away. We wouldn't even have to compete with West Coast for his signature. He's also achieved a lot with Melbourne and is odds on to tick the last box and win a flag at the MCG with them this season.

For any Melb fans reading - just remember that we're stuck in that awful mediocre zone where your boys were sitting from 2015-17 so allow us to dream pls. Also you owe us for Langdon.
 
Square Peg said:
Eventually all roads lead back to the uncomfortable reality that we're akin to gold coast without the AFL concessions.
Click to expand...
I'm struggling reading this. It's a terrible thought, with a strong ring of truth to it.

I'm not pining for Lyon to come back and generally have come to terms with the change we had to have. But for a time he made us relevant. The only way for that to happen again is by winning.
 
It’s all very well saying we need to trade in best 22 midfielders but where are they? Who was available last year in trade week?
We are not Carlton or Essendon that can go out every single year and trade picks for quality players that originated from Melbourne like Shiel, Cerra, Caldwell, Saad, Devon Smith, Treloar, Brad Crouch, Prestia etc etc.
These types of players don’t want to come to Freo. That’s the cold hard truth.
The pool of quality players available to us is about 1/10th of the Melbourne clubs.
Hence the draft will always be where we get any high end talent more often than not.
That requires unrealistic levels of luck as we don’t get draft concessions like the suns or GWS.
So we need to be more creative with rookies, supplementary picks, mid season draft etc.
In terms of trading, when a high quality talent occasionally does become available to us, the eagles will usually be more attractive. Tim Kelly was a good example of this. (As it happens we were better off not getting him anyway in that big trade, if we wanted Kelly he should have been rookie listed in 2016 that was our one and only chance).
Angus Brayshaw is that one in ten year opportunity.
  • a free agent so no draft picks needed.
  • highly unusually, he was a freo supporter as a kid from Melbourne.
  • he hates the eagles due to the Gaff incident so no competition from them like there normally would be
  • he’s actually a very decent player

The last point is most important. Look at the players we have traded in from Melbourne over the years. Usually they are just outcasts. Conca - Richmond VFL team.
Aish - salary dump from the pies.
Acres - saints couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
Colyer - another salary dump from Essendon to make room for their latest shiny trade toy (Shiel I think it was)
Most years - this is the quality of midfielder available to the dockers in trade week.
What was the last genuine A grader that the dockers traded into the club from the eastern states? Probably Jeff Farmer. Maybe Brad hill. But there’s been heaps of underwhelming trades.
We need to be rolling the dice on rookie picks far more than we are. Stop putting fringe players that are out of contract on extensions for an extra year only to delist them anyway. People like Giro, Banfield, Crowden (if he doesn’t play much this year as seems likely), a few others. Looks like we could be paying Ethan Hughes for the next 3 year to play for Peel 😟
Someone mentioned Barlow here as key to our success from 2011 to 15. He was taken as a rookie back in 2009 when we used to select 3 or 4 rookies every season.
Hard to get another Barlow type when we only take one rookie selection a season though.
 
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