Team Balance

[CJH]

A little excercise I've just done to guage team balance. I taken the benchmark team (Brisbane) as named for tomorrow, added Voss and Lappin in at the expense of Charman and Copeland and then seen how they compare against out team as named for tommorrow (assuming that Poyas, Hyde and Newman miss).

From our named team, you can add in Holland (Key Defender), Ottens (Key Forward) and Hilton (Combo) at the expense of probably Coughlan, Pettifer and Sziller)

The key differences for me is that Brisbane have less defensive midfielders and also less outside running players. They have more big bodied grunts that are capable of winning the ball.

Is this really any surprise to anyone?


Key Defender Key Defender

Michael Gaspar
Leppitsch A. Kellaway

Small Defender Small Defender

Johnson Zantuck
Pike * Torney
White * Chaffey

Running Player Running Player

Ashcroft Cameron
Akermanis Tivendale
Lappin Bowden
Houlihan
Pettifer

Inside Player / Grunt Inside Player / Grunt

C. Scott Rogers
Hart Knights
B. Scott Coughlan
Bolton King
Shattock Rodan


Combo Player Combo Player

Black Campbell
Voss
Headland

Tagger Tagger

Sziller
D. Kellaway

Key Forward Key Forward

Brown Richardson
Lynch
Bradshaw

Small Forward Small Forward

McRae Krakouer
Power

Ruck Ruck

Keating Stafford
Hall

*Pretty frigging tall "small" defenders but they don't usually line up on the big key forwards.

 

[CJH]

Sorry about the formatting. It looked great when I edited it but lost it's columns once submitted....

OH well, you get the gist!

 

[Patrick Bateman]

We get the gist CJH, thanks for that analysis .. What is your panacea - What do you think of Coughlan and Pettifer as our future grunt players ..?

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Originally posted by CJH
A little excercise I've just done to guage team balance. I taken the benchmark team (Brisbane) as named for tomorrow, added Voss and Lappin in at the expense of Charman and Copeland and then seen how they compare against out team as named for tommorrow (assuming that Poyas, Hyde and Newman miss).

From our named team, you can add in Holland (Key Defender), Ottens (Key Forward) and Hilton (Combo) at the expense of probably Coughlan, Pettifer and Sziller)

The key differences for me is that Brisbane have less defensive midfielders and also less outside running players. They have more big bodied grunts that are capable of winning the ball.

Is this really any surprise to anyone?


Key Defender Key Defender

Michael Gaspar
Leppitsch A. Kellaway

Small Defender Small Defender

Johnson Zantuck
Pike * Torney
White * Chaffey

Running Player Running Player

Ashcroft Cameron
Akermanis Tivendale
Lappin Bowden
Houlihan
Pettifer

Inside Player / Grunt Inside Player / Grunt

C. Scott Rogers
Hart Knights
B. Scott Coughlan
Bolton King
Shattock Rodan


Combo Player Combo Player

Black Campbell
Voss
Headland

Tagger Tagger

Sziller
D. Kellaway

Key Forward Key Forward

Brown Richardson
Lynch
Bradshaw

Small Forward Small Forward

McRae Krakouer
Power

Ruck Ruck

Keating Stafford
Hall

*Pretty frigging tall "small" defenders but they don't usually line up on the big key forwards.

where does otto fit into this?
cheers!

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Re: Re: Team Balance

Originally posted by tiger of old

where does otto fit into this?
cheers!

oops just read the top bit lol
disregard
cheers!

 

[CJH]

Maybe, after 10 long years of gym work, Pettifer may be 'physical' enough to qualify as a grunt player - such as Campbell and Rogers have done. As with Campbell, he by nature doesn't fit into this category. He is more like the smooth Rolls-Royce type finishing player such as Mark Mercuri.

There have been a few people here recently expressing that he is a disappointment and they've lost patience with him...

I disagree!

Pettifer is a midfielder and would be best served for us playing on a wing now. You better believe his field kicking is from the top shelf.

He currently is being played as a small forward in starvation corner - something that he doesn't have the build to pull off with any success.

Coughlan really needs to work on getting up with the pace of the game. He takes too much time in getting rid of the ball. He needs to get the ball, spot a target and deliver quicker than he is at the moment. This is essential for an inside player. If he fails to gain this ability, then all is lost for him.

I do remember Torney had a similar fault when he started but now is a very good driver in heavy traffic.

The jury is still out on Coughlan!

 

[GhostofJimJess]

It's interesting to compare how the Bombers, who have probably been the yardstick for introducing new talent into successful or partially-successful XVIII's over the last decade, integrate their youngsters into the senior team.

Think of blokes like Solomon, Ramanauskas, Peverill, Jacobs, Lalich, Forster-Knight, McVeigh, Henneman etc ... and this year youngsters like Welsh and Davies. Almost invariably they're given a job to do, rather than becoming a target themselves for opposition defenders. Usually Sheedy plays them across half-back or on the wing or actually told to follow an opposition second-stringer or youngster.

Compare this to how we've intro'd blokes like Mills, Haynes, Poyas, Pettifer, Rodan, Krakouer, Fiora etc.. in their first crack at the big time i.e. expected to be mid-size marking forwards (even Krakouer!! - he was effectively full-forward last week!!)

Now I'm certainly not saying that Essendon's way of doing things is the be-all-and-end-all ... but it has been pretty effective in introducing new talent, even if these same youngsters eventually wind up as forwards, like Blumfield and Caracella ...

Why not give blokes like Pettifer and Poyas a task, like we did with Zantuck - that seems to have paid dividends. Ultimately, they may be able to slip forward and cause havoc ... hopefully?!?

 

[CJH]

Originally posted by CJH


...

The jury is still out on Coughlan!

I do believe the jury is about to return a verdict!

 

[sethlad]

Problem is Coughlan will put in a quiet one off the bench in the next couple of weeks & it will be back to Coburg, where once again he'll get leather poisoning.What does that achieve?

Let him play,what have we got to lose???????

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I take it Chris, you're implies the jury could be handing down its verdict on the good side?

I really like him and view him as our great white hope..

What about Newman? Will he cut the mustard ?.. Brereton called him a one grab player but my over-riding memory of his effort was that kick out on the full which was fantastic if he was playing for the wallabies..

 

[CJH]

Originally posted by Patrick Bateman
I take it Chris, you're implies the jury could be handing down its verdict on the good side?

I really like him and view him as our great white hope..

What about Newman? Will he cut the mustard ?.. Brereton called him a one grab player but my over-riding memory of his effort was that kick out on the full which was fantastic if he was playing for the wallabies..

The hardest thing about playing as a midfielder is actually getting the ball (well, at least for our midfielders). What cannot be denied was that Coughlan actually achieved this on Sunday. This is a very positive sign.

I was a big wrap for Newman from the first time I saw him playing in the VFL. What did strike me even then was the clean hands and the heap of time he had when in tight. Granted that alone is not enough to make a League footballer but it is a very good start.

He is only a kid who has played a handful of games but already has caught the attention of the likes of Brereton with the same thing I spotted last year.

He did err with the hurried kick on the full but it must also be considered that he had very little help with players running to assist. He also wouldn't be the first kid to make a mistake under pressure.

Watch him closely - every time he gets the ball he is thinking about what to do with it. A very good sign.

Also consider that Brett Ratten also had a very humble start to his football career but now is a priceless player. Newman could well be the same.