Soaring without Wings

[WaynesWorld19]

Soaring without wings
By Tim Watson
April 21, 2004


SHOWING BACKBONE - The best goal-to-goal lines.

Anatomically speaking, the spine is the backbone. It holds us together. In a footy sense, it holds the team together, too.

One can easily get lost in the present climate of football because there is a strong need to build a big engine, complete with the six fast creative and run-all-day midfielders. But without a strong goal-to-goal line, the ultimate prize will elude you.

The little blokes can bang it in there all day and you may win enough of the ball to get over some teams. The reckoning day, though, will arrive in the form of finals footy and you will come up short.

Good strong marking forwards lock the ball in and reward the upfield dominance. Big, strong, athletic defenders stop the forwards dominating at the other end and provide chances for rebounding.

The best goal-to-goal line belongs to the Brisbane Lions. Mal Michael, Justin Leppitsch, Simon Black, Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch are daylight ahead of the rest of the league. They are all strong and powerful individuals.

Coach Leigh Matthews has the luxury of knowing that, on any given day, at least four of them will beat, if not break even with, their direct opponents.

The defenders smash the ball clear of the immediate area, punches so forceful it often travels 20 or 30 metres. It creates running momentum for the small defenders and the drifting midfielders as well as demoralising the opposition forwards.

Lynch and Brown are outstanding players who feature heavily on the contested-mark tally. They are rarely outmarked and when they don't take the contested ball, they tend to control the drop-zone to allow the small forwards to feed on the crumbs.

Black is the prime-moving midfielder who not only wins most ball but also distributes it well and has the engine to keep going all day.

This is how I would rank the next best five goal-to-goal lines in the AFL.

No. 2: St Kilda's rise in stocks can be partially attributed to its outstanding spine. The line of Luke Penny, Matt Maguire, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt and Fraser Gehrig is the most improved in football. All had fine seasons last year except for Maguire, who has risen to the occasion in the absence of Max Hudghton. Penny is rarely beaten, Hayes is now in the elite class and the duo of Riewoldt and Gehrig is more than a handful.

No. 3: Port's group of Darryl Wakelin, Chad Cornes, Peter Burgoyne, Warren Tredrea and Shaun Burgoyne is the next best, although a weakness still exists at full-forward where they pinch-hit effectively. Cornes is in All-Australian form at centre half-back while Tredrea is close to the game's most dominant forward.

No. 4: Collingwood's best spine of Shane Wakelin, Simon Prestigiacomo, Nathan Buckley, Anthony Rocca and Chris Tarrant is a powerful group. Rocca and Tarrant work in tandem well while Buckley is still in the top half-dozen midfielders in the competition. Wakelin was their top rebounding player from the defensive 50 in 2003 while Prestigiacomo is a solid-body player who rarely gets smashed.

No. 5: Sydney's combination of Craig Bolton, Leo Barry, Paul Williams, Barry Hall and Michael O'Loughlin may still be under-rated but they get the job done. The defence was ranked No. 4 last year while the attack was mid-range, but only two clubs had an attacking duo more capable of kicking goals. Both key defenders are undersized but still manage to compete and are dangerous attacking players when the ball hits the ground.

No. 6: Essendon gets the nod due mainly to the fact the bookends are so good. Fletcher is still one of the best defenders while Lloyd may nudge the 100-goal mark again. James Hird is as close to the modern-day centreman as you will find, and the numbers he has been putting up, possession-wise, put him in the elite class. The centre half-forward spot is still up for grabs although if McPhee can string together a couple of performances such as last Friday night's, the position may be taken.

When we talk about our deficiencies at FB, CHF, and FF, is it any wonder we are forced wider than all of us would like, in bringing the ball into the forward line.
Build the spine with strong physical players, and then apply the meat.
Watts is certainly an option for CHF, but I would say we're a long way off from claiming to be in the top 6 as far as spines are concerned.
So we need a midfielder, whats our next most important position to fill in this years draft? and realistically who do we have currently that we could confidently say, we could build a team around for the next 5 years?, as is he likely to be a game winner?

 

[Damp Squarie]

Youve only got to look at Basset being carved up by the likes of Lynch,Gehrig and co to realise we need a BIG backman.

 

[Stiffy_18]

FF: Joshua Krueger
CHF: Fergus Watts
C: ?????? Brent Reilly??????
CHB: Trent Hentschel
FB: Ken McGregor

Ruckman: Rowan Andrews

Its a very good article. I have been saying all along, that you can have a best midfield in the comp but if you don't have a good spine you will struggle.

Potentially we have a reasonable spine. Hopefully in time that potential will turn into consistent performances.

 

[spindoctor]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
FF: Joshua Krueger

No.

FF: Ben Rutten


Krueger has shown nothing and with his back problems, will probably amount to nothing.

Rutten has shown far more than Krueger EVER has, but you never mention him.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
FF: Joshua Krueger
CHF: Fergus Watts
C: ?????? Brent Reilly??????
CHB: Trent Hentschel
FB: Ken McGregor

Ruckman: Rowan Andrews

Its a very good article. I have been saying all along, that you can have a best midfield in the comp but if you don't have a good spine you will struggle.

Potentially we have a reasonable spine. Hopefully in time that potential will turn into consistent performances.

A lot of Question Marks there though.
And the big question, do they have the size and the game to break packs open for the crumbers, and take contested marks.
On AFL standards, the back two wouldn't put the fear of god into an opposing coach.