Aish can only play one position at AFL level and that is as a sweeper midfielder who plays one handball off the inside of the stoppage. It's the position he played in the games I saw of him at Norwood and it's the position he played late last season in the only period of his career that he looked like an above average AFL footballer. He's not strong enough to be pure inside and he's not fast enough or has the stamina to play pure outside. The stoppage sweeper makes the most of his strengths which is an above average decision-maker with good disposal. He will never make it as a defender for the same reasons he won't make it as an inside or an outside mid - he's slow and below average in 1v1 situations.
Aishe's failure for us demonstrates Buckley's shortcomings as a coach. If you want to manufacture a team to follow a set of rules verbatim there is an opportunity cost in the form of creativity at the front end and our more naturally gifted/creative players are feeling this cost. Aish/ Broomhead/ Moore and even I fear De Goey should constitute our most talented younger group of players yet the current environment/system is bringing out the worst in all of them. De Goey, Aish and Broomhead need more midfield minutes so they can get more possessions. They may not run and tackle as hard as Greenwood, Crisp and Adams but they are better with it in hand and in the medium term will redress the unbalanced blue collar nature of our midfield. It irritates me to no end that players who can lay a tackle are preferred to players who create stuff and can regularly hit targets by foot. This is a coaching issue.
From a broader team perspective Buckley's period as coach has been defined as one where the team has been terrified of risk. Only when we're under maximum pressure are changes made and risk encouraged - as was the case this season and last season when we played Geelong. Of course as soon as we get a couple of wins on board we revert back to risk averse tactics that are so familiar.
In short, no risk, no innovation, no creativity, no ambition (other than talk). Collingwood under Buckley really are the last men.