Opinion The Caleb Conundrum

[immortalmike]

It's interesting because in 2021 when Treloar and Dunkley went down he played on ball quite a bit and was actually quite good if a little defensively unsound so that might be an option.
Honestly I think he's outlived his usefulness as a back and needs to move closer to goal. Deep he'd be too slow but that Gia/2016-17 MacLean high forward extra mid role may be the go.

 

[Dazb86]

I like the idea of him half forward delivering the ball in. Just worried he'd struggle on quick attacking half backs.

Little bit of a conondrum. He's too good to leave out of the side but has some exploitable weaknesses. Pace more so than height IMO.

 

[HK_Bulldog]

Why can’t he play as a genuine rover? He’s got the tank for it.

 

[Libba39]

Why can’t he play as a genuine rover? He’s got the tank for it.

Agree.
I think 2023 needs to be Caleb's coming out party. Needs to play majority as a mid. Otherwise it feels like he's this backline not-so-secret weapon and designated kicker which the whole league has cottoned onto.

 

[Mofra]

Odd take - he's our Blicavs equivalent, in miniature form.
Caleb can play our 'Mr Fixit' role, starting on the bench.

Where is our ball movement the slowest? Where are we being held up? That's where Caleb goes.

Can't get the ball out of defence? He plays back 6
Struggling in transition? Take a mid or wing rotation.
Multiple inside 50 entries with no score? He goes to HFF and we try get him to be that 'inside 50 kick' player.

His kicking in congestion is as good as anyone in the competition. He's played forward and back and even had CBAs during his career. He becomes a pretty handy lever for our coaches box to pull and can be one of our most important players if used correctly.

 

[doggies ftw]

Odd take - he's our Blicavs equivalent, in miniature form.
Caleb can play our 'Mr Fixit' role, starting on the bench.

Where is our ball movement the slowest? Where are we being held up? That's where Caleb goes.

Can't get the ball out of defence? He plays back 6
Struggling in transition? Take a mid or wing rotation.
Multiple inside 50 entries with no score? He goes to HFF and we try get him to be that 'inside 50 kick' player.

His kicking in congestion is as good as anyone in the competition. He's played forward and back and even had CBAs during his career. He becomes a pretty handy lever for our coaches box to pull and can be one of our most important players if used correctly.

This 100%.

Unfortunately for whatever reason our coach seems to never move the players that can and should be used as genuine versatile fixes at either end in game, ie Caleb, Naughty, etc but for whatever reason throws everyone else around game to game (but not in game )

So it will never happen

 

[BulldogMuscle]

After re-watching a bunch of 2016 games, I want him back forward again

 

[cecil]

I want him out of the backline but am not sure who takes his spot. Out mid sized defender stocks aren't great.

Jones, Gardner, Keath, Duryea, Richards, Dale. Who is the 7th?

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

I want him out of the backline but am not sure who takes his spot. Out mid sized defender stocks aren't great.

Jones, Gardner, Keath, Duryea, Richards, Dale. Who is the 7th?

It's a good question, our desire to play 7 defenders will probably keep him in the backline. Cleary has a lot of promise there but maybe not yet best 22. Williams is probably the one if we want to move Caleb forward.

Also wouldn't be surprised to see our pick 11 (assuming it's a mid) take that spot pretty early. Bev tends to get a lot out of first year mids taken with good picks.

 

[Jeff 1975]

If we play Jones, Gardner, Keath, Duryea, Richards and Dale back
Who plays forward? - Naughton, Darcy, JUH and Lobb?
I can't see Bevo playing all 4 talls forward, one will go back or one tall will miss out
Even with one tall missing out we will still have 6 talls which is a lot for Bevo
Interesting to see what he does
Also, I can't see Bruce getting a game

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

If we play Jones, Gardner, Keath, Duryea, Richards and Dale back
Who plays forward? - Naughton, Darcy, JUH and Lobb?
I can't see Bevo playing all 4 talls forward, one will go back or one tall will miss out
Even with one tall missing out we will still have 6 talls which is a lot for Bevo
Interesting to see what he does
Also, I can't see Bruce getting a game

I think it'll just take a while to work out what the best mix of English/Lobb/Naughton/JUH/Darcy/Bruce/Jones/Gardner/Keath/O'Brien/Khamis etc is.

Personally, I expect to see Darcy start the year out of the side in favour of more experience/consistency - he struggled in the forward line in the finals and others have more runs on the board down back. I think he might be in the AFL backline by the end of the season though.

Agree Bruce is up against it to find a spot in the best team but I am sure some combination of our 30+s (and probably Naughton based on his history) will miss some games and see him play 10+.

 

[doggies ftw]

I want him out of the backline but am not sure who takes his spot. Out mid sized defender stocks aren't great.

Jones, Gardner, Keath, Duryea, Richards, Dale. Who is the 7th?

For mine I’d be changing the setup a bit especially if we get an extra bench spot.

I’d look at it this way -

2 genuine key defenders:
Jones & 1 of Gardner or Keath

1 genuine intercept focused tall:
Darcy or Keath

1 hybrid intercept player who can play tallish, small and also gives a bit of drive too:
Bukus probably the only one the list, Weddle could feature here too if we land him. Possibly Cleary or Williams

1 defensive small:
Doc

2 playmakers:
Dale & Richards

I still have Daniel in my team as a utility so could quite easily shift him back if we’re lacking drive out of defence. We need our wings to pick up more of the slack of offensive drive from defence too. Can still throw Darcy or Buku forward if we need a bit of a change up front or Naughty back etc if we’re struggling so gives us flexibility and height across the ground

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

In the ruck

 

[Del165892]

For mine I’d be changing the setup a bit especially if we get an extra bench spot.

I’d look at it this way -

2 genuine key defenders:
Jones & 1 of Gardner or Keath

1 genuine intercept focused tall:
Darcy or Keath

1 hybrid intercept player who can play tallish, small and also gives a bit of drive too:
Bukus probably the only one the list, Weddle could feature here too if we land him. Possibly Cleary or Williams

1 defensive small:
Doc

2 playmakers:
Dale & Richards

I still have Daniel in my team as a utility so could quite easily shift him back if we’re lacking drive out of defence. We need our wings to pick up more of the slack of offensive drive from defence too. Can still throw Darcy or Buku forward if we need a bit of a change up front or Naughty back etc if we’re struggling so gives us flexibility and height across the ground

How many Leprechauns should we have?

 

[Mofra]

It's a good question, our desire to play 7 defenders will probably keep him in the backline. Cleary has a lot of promise there but maybe not yet best 22. Williams is probably the one if we want to move Caleb forward.

Also wouldn't be surprised to see our pick 11 (assuming it's a mid) take that spot pretty early. Bev tends to get a lot out of first year mids taken with good picks.

I'm guessing Williams remains part of our wing plans. Agree with the draft point you raise

 

[doggies ftw]

How many Leprechauns should we have?

We got one angry one in the coaches box that’s enough for mine

 

[Jeff 1975]

I think it'll just take a while to work out what the best mix of English/Lobb/Naughton/JUH/Darcy/Bruce/Jones/Gardner/Keath/O'Brien/Khamis etc is.

Personally, I expect to see Darcy start the year out of the side in favour of more experience/consistency - he struggled in the forward line in the finals and others have more runs on the board down back. I think he might be in the AFL backline by the end of the season though.

Agree Bruce is up against it to find a spot in the best team but I am sure some combination of our 30+s (and probably Naughton based on his history) will miss some games and see him play 10+.

In many ways a good problem to have