The MIDFIELD is where its at...

[Ctl]

Great names on paper (and we tend to think of their best football when its names paper) but all of them have significant downsides, be that inconsistency, lack of speed, disposal, injury concerns or lack of experience.

There are of course potential upsides but fundamentally it's a near similar midfield to the previous 2 years, whislt other teams have also improved theirs. I wouldn't expect any improvement in ours to be that dramatic.

Yeh Taranto, Hopper and Prestia offer a lot of the same stuff, but Baker has been hardly used in the midfield and Martin was used very sparingly last year hopefully those two along with Bolton can provide a point of difference. ( CBAs - DFS Australia ).

But I harbour the same concerns with speed, disposal etc

 

[Tygrys]

Great names on paper (and we tend to think of their best football when its names paper) but all of them have significant downsides, be that inconsistency, lack of speed, disposal, injury concerns or lack of experience.

There are of course potential upsides but fundamentally it's a near similar midfield to the previous 2 years, whislt other teams have also improved theirs. I wouldn't expect any improvement in ours to be that dramatic.

To me there is a lack of dynamism in the midfield, with our two most explosive midfielders being Bolton and Martin. Yet Yze wants to use the former who is in his prime as predominantly a forward, whilst the later who will be 33 in June predominantly as a midfielder. If it's about prolonging Martin's career (assuming he stays at Richmond at the end of the year) this seems kind of the opposite of what you expect would happen. Not sure if this will be sustainable in the long run.

The rest, you described pretty succinctly. Has this established cohort got more improvement in them than our opposition to make significant gains on the ladder? I have my doubts?

 

[Lacustrus]

To me there is a lack of dynamism in the midfield, with our ….

At last some one who gets it!

We need you as as an assistant coach…

Dynamism is a general name for a group of philosophical views concerning the nature of matter. However different they may be in other respects, all these views agree in making matter consist essentially of simple and indivisible units, substances, or forces….,,

 

[beema limapep]

To me there is a lack of dynamism in the midfield

Nailed it!

 

[Vassp]

To me there is a lack of dynamism in the midfield, with our two most explosive midfielders being Bolton and Martin. Yet Yze wants to use the former who is in his prime as predominantly a forward, whilst the later who will be 33 in June predominantly as a midfielder. If it's about prolonging Martin's career (assuming he stays at Richmond at the end of the year) this seems kind of the opposite of what you expect would happen. Not sure if this will be sustainable in the long run.

The rest, you described pretty succinctly. Has this established cohort got more improvement in them than our opposition to make significant gains on the ladder? I have my doubts?

I've been saying this for nearly 3 years. People are starting to see it for what it is.

 

[juss]

I reckon how we set up with our mids will go a long way to securing the Team's success...
For me the return of a fit and firing GOAT is a big plus....
The return of a fit and firing JGraham with a pre-season under his belt and gotten over his toe injury will steady our rotations...
Meatball with his hammys is the big unknown...but in his favour has completed a pre-season...our success will be all about how we manage the Meatball!
Hopper has also completed a pre-season and seems to be over his previous injury concerns...
My boy Gow has shown a few tricks in the pre-season game and is the fittest side stepping whippet going around...a point of diff with our mids!
TommyTarants after familiarizing hisself with our midfied ought to continue with his great work and cap it all off by winning the Brownlow!
Then throw in all our untried young guns...
With the possibility of trying young brown/Trez as mids...or given a run there...
DISCUSS please...

It looks a strong stoppage/contested midfield but other than Dusty none of those are really that dangerous or damaging by foot, and that is our potential weakness in that area. Also not the quickest midfield by any stretch would be another possible concern.

 

[SplintWhisky]

Elephant in the midfield room for me is Taranto and his vision. To me it’s looking like he’s got a great footy IQ until he gets the ball.
GWS getting better when he left hasn’t helped in my worries about him.
What Adem does with Taranto’s talents will make or break him as a coach.

I think GWS getting better was down to
A. Getting a new coach in and having a better game plan; and
B. TT was being used as a half forward which is not his best position. By losing him GWS were able to put a bloke who was naturally a half forward into that position and get a better output. TT is a mid but their midfield is rather stacked.

 

[JAKLAUGHING]

It looks a strong stoppage/contested midfield but other than Dusty none of those are really that dangerous or damaging by foot, and that is our potential weakness in that area. Also not the quickest midfield by any stretch would be another possible concern.

Quick is relative...you canna run faster than a footy being kicked or hand balled...
Quick is always suspect under pressure...game plan...tactics...it's all context in my coaching book!

 

[THE THIN MAN]

Great names on paper (and we tend to think of their best football when its names on paper) but all of them have significant downsides, be that inconsistency, lack of speed, disposal, injury concerns or lack of experience.

There are of course potential upsides but fundamentally it's a near similar midfield to the previous 2 years, whislt other teams have also improved theirs. I wouldn't expect any improvement in ours to be that dramatic.

A functioning forward-line will help, instead of it rebounding straight out.

 

[All Aust]

They're not fast than Hopper, Taranto, Baker, Dusty/Bolton and Prestia.

Thank a deity for your comment.

Neg. self satisfiers conveniently omit Bolton (our fastest mid, faster than Cripps)
Continually scream that JG is slow when in season game speeds together with total distance covered regularly show this to be an absolute lie.

 

[All Aust]

Quick is relative...you canna run faster than a footy being kicked or hand balled...
Quick is always suspect under pressure...game plan...tactics...it's all context in my coaching book!

Too true Jack.

AFL teams are slow, not because sprint speed or endurance, but because due to (poor or delayed) execution of skills -

Kicks / handball that miss or cannot be cleanly marked.
Offensive and defensive fumbles.
Retention of the ball because players have not understood, adhered or executed team structure accountabilities.
Failure to change structure when that structure is inferior to the opposition's plan and execution.

The last two points particularly, have made Richmond look slower in comparison to 2017-2020. Richmond had firstly been coached to be scrappy. This style of play is difficult to learn as a recruit and difficult to run in the VFL system as it is a far more open game .

Thus, the system falls away when there are injuries or,
a player with little game exposure to the style is required to play it.

 

[Grrr]

Dow is missing in most peoples lists here, and he is very sharp around the ball. I think Hopper makes good decisions with the ball and looks a lot sharper this season.

 

[fargothegreat]

I'm thinking our midfield will be a lot stronger defensively this year. That seems to be the focus with Yze.

Probably why someone like Bolton will be getting less time in there and Graham getting more.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Compared to graham, dusty, prestia, TT and hopper.

They're faster than ours. Pendlebury is on another level as a pure mid. His inside ball use is off the charts.
Dusty is a more rounded player and finals winner.

I'm puzzled why Yze wants to use Bolton only once per qtr in the middle for this very reason.

 

[Grrr]

I'm puzzled why Yze wants to use Bolton only once per qtr in the middle for this very reason.

Because he says there's more than a bit ofnCyril in him and he's looking at 50odd goal season. Reasonable. Once might be ideal, but if we need him I'm sure he will go in there. With Dusty more midfield he is not needed so much.

 

[Dr Tigris]

If we get hands on the ball and control it outside of contests then the leg speed is pretty irrelevant. BIG IF!!!

Our midfield should be able to create defensive pressure and give us use.

The key isn't that our mids are good at running fast. The key is that we control contests and can stop other teams using the ball cleanly and that we do use the ball cleanly.

Once the ball exits the contest then speed is vital - of brain, ball and legs. That is the mix of players we have, not just our mids.

If we can't control contests, then it is all academic. If we can then we win a lot of matches.

 

[TigerImposter]

Our midfielders mentioned in the OP looks like a Galapagos island turtle colony. If none of the kids can step up we’re going to have a long season. Playing midfield is not only about winning centre clearances or stoppages which we are terrible at, you also need to setup opportunities when the ball is alive . This requires lots of speed or in reality acceleration over a short distance to be first at the ball. In our premiership years our Wingers and HFf, HBF all assisted our midfielders in this area and that’s where we got a lot of our success from. I don’t think we have that talent now to assist,especially in the Wing and HFF department. Collingwood got there success from bc they had pace in these areas and not necessarily quality as all their duds had to do was hold up the ball until their quality midfielders came into play.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Because he says there's more than a bit ofnCyril in him and he's looking at 50odd goal season. Reasonable. Once might be ideal, but if we need him I'm sure he will go in there. With Dusty more midfield he is not needed so much.

Gotta get it down to him first.

 

[Grrr]

Our midfielders mentioned in the OP looks like a Galapagos island turtle colony. If none of the kids can step up we’re going to have a long season. Playing midfield is not only about winning centre clearances or stoppages which we are terrible at, you also need to setup opportunities when the ball is alive . This requires lots of speed or in reality acceleration over a short distance to be first at the ball. In our premiership years our Wingers and HFf, HBF all assisted our midfielders in this area and that’s where we got a lot of our success from. I don’t think we have that talent now to assist,especially in the Wing and HFF department. Collingwood got there success from bc they had pace in these areas and not necessarily quality as all their duds had to do was hold up the ball until their quality midfielders came into play.

So play a Rioli or Short on the wings, natural accumulators with skill, good run and carry.

 

[sante]

Because he says there's more than a bit ofnCyril in him and he's looking at 50odd goal season. Reasonable. Once might be ideal, but if we need him I'm sure he will go in there. With Dusty more midfield he is not needed so much.

Until the opposition clamp down on him and he is missing throughout games and getting 2 touches a quarter as has been the case in the past when played as a small forward

 

[Area51]

The umpires are where it's at. We could have the best midfield of all time and we aren't winning s**t without a massive change in how we are umpired.

 

[Ctl]

Bolton doesn't need to spend a lot of time forward to impact the scoreboard, having him up there for a long time will be a waste, no one can go with him around stoppages and they can't keep up with his spread. Last season where he essentially played a 50/50 split he should have kicked 40+ goals anyway if he didn't squander so many set shots and shots at goal, he already has massive scoreboard impact.

 

[Karp3_dm]

Shai will kick 50+ this year
Good luck defending him

 

[Bojangles17]

I genuinely think that both TT and hop can step up now that they’re comfortable in their surrounds and know teammates much better . The likes of Dow and somz need to step up and if any of the newbs show a bit will be a dead set bonus not expecting much there,,,yet . Dusty and jack g should be part of the backbone of this midfieid , using likes of banks and Dan rioli for outside . We got plenty of qty to go thru , haven’t mentioned bakes and shai yet

 

[Bojangles17]

Our midfield is probably our strongest line with Bolton, Martin, now Baker, Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, then guys like Graham, Dow, Mcauliffe, Ross.

The issue for me is to fit them all in the side, the pure inside mids will be forced to play other roles where they are really not suited to and there is alot of bad overlap with a few guys in terms of ball use, leg speed etc

Dow and Bolton maybe mcauliffe will be needed to add leg speed to those inside bulls