Player Watch Wayne Milera

[Coopers]

I'd think we need him at half back for at least 2 more years to get him right up to rolled gold gun level, and consistently.

Then we could look for him zooming around anywhere he needs to be, Mcleod style.

 

[Geoffa32]

he has an insane ability to "part the seas" and find gaps where there shouldn't be any. this kids has had a McLeod type breakout year

Not that I am a big fan of comparing young players to elite players of the game.

But the one player Milera reminds me of is Pendlebury. Pendles is one of the best at slowing the game down and not looking rushed even with four or five opponents around him.

It is a natural trait something that cant really be taught.

Milera has that ability and it is his biggest asset IMO.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Jeffcrowe]

And then add Smith back in there. We have a really high quality backline going into next year. The thing I am most excited about our backline next year is that Ben Hart hasn't been signed on yet

Predicted that our backline would become our strongest line by end of year and that our forward line will emerge as a significant weakness

Think I've got that call right , we need to improve our forward line drastically

And mid talent never hurts , ruck is an issue too !

 

[Shaz2012]

Predicted that our backline would become our strongest line by end of year and that our forward line will emerge as a significant weakness

Think I've got that call right , we need to improve our forward line drastically

And mid talent never hurts , ruck is an issue too !

Yeah, I agree. Good call. But I feel our greatest weakness now is in the coaches box. I think Don isn't a bad coach, but not sure if he is good enough. But when you add to that a failed backline coach, a forward coach who was never a forward, and midfield and ruck coaches who have become stale and out of touch, it just puts us too far behind the 8 ball.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Yeah, I agree. Good call. But I feel our greatest weakness now is in the coaches box. I think Don isn't a bad coach, but not sure if he is good enough. But when you add to that a failed backline coach, a forward coach who was never a forward, and midfield and ruck coaches who have become stale and out of touch, it just puts us too far behind the 8 ball.

Expecting some changes there

 

[Golumless]

Yeah, I agree. Good call. But I feel our greatest weakness now is in the coaches box. I think Don isn't a bad coach, but not sure if he is good enough. But when you add to that a failed backline coach, a forward coach who was never a forward, and midfield and ruck coaches who have become stale and out of touch, it just puts us too far behind the 8 ball.

You do realise it's actually rather uncommon for a coach to have experience in the position he's playing in right? Nor is it judged as even remotely important.

Hell our gun forward coach from last season only managed 80 games as a dour defender at this level.

 

[Shaz2012]

Expecting some changes there

Only Hart and ROK though. As you say, our defensive line is our strongest. ROK hasn't even been involved with our game day stuff. The problem really is Campo and Clarke. They aren't going anywhere. Same ideas. Same voices at selection committee.

 

[Shaz2012]

You do realise it's actually rather uncommon for a coach to have experience in the position he's playing in right? Nor is it judged as even remotely important.

Thats just not true.

 

[Golumless]

Thats just not true.

For reference - the current list of forward coaches:

Adelaide - Josh Francou (midfielder)
Brisbane - Jed Adcock (defender)
Carlton - David Teague (defender)
Collingwood - Brenton Sanderson (defender)
Essendon - Paul Corrigan (doesn't state, but statistically he looks like a defender seeing he managed 6 goals in 53 games)
Fremantle - David Hale (forward/ruck)
Geelong - James Rahilly (midfielder)
Gold Coast - Doesn't state who is their forward coach. There is no forwards listed in their assistant coaches ranks
GWS - Brad Miller (forward)
Hawthorn - Brett Ratten (midifelder)
Melbourne - Max Rooke (Utility player who ended up as a forward I think in his last couple of seasons)
North - Leigh Tudor (forward)
Port - Brendon Laide (forward/ruck)
Richmond - Justin Leppitsch (forward/defender)
St. Kilda - Rohan Welsh (forward)
Sydney - Brett Kirk (midfielder)
West Coast - Jaymie Graham (defender)
Western Bulldogs - Ashley Hanson (forward)

Currently it's 8/18 (giving some loose credit to Max Rooke). So not the most common occurrence, though I did oversell a tad with the very uncommon comment.

Much like the idea that decorated players are suited to coach has been debunked and shot down, the notion that you need to have played the position you coach is equally as flawed. You're not teaching technical facets of the game, and actually, I'd wager a defender would have a much better understanding of how forwards structures work then the forwards do. After all, they've learned to survive despite that.

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

Yeah, I agree. Good call. But I feel our greatest weakness now is in the coaches box. I think Don isn't a bad coach, but not sure if he is good enough. But when you add to that a failed backline coach, a forward coach who was never a forward, and midfield and ruck coaches who have become stale and out of touch, it just puts us too far behind the 8 ball.

Bloke.

We've destroyed Richmond west coast geelong Sydney and ports system in a season from hell.

Coaches are doing something right

The development of dodee keath and milera in defense is a massive a plus for our coaches.

We've had significant injuries to all our gun defenders

 

[Coopers]

Bloke.

We've destroyed Richmond west coast geelong Sydney and ports system in a season from hell.

Coaches are doing something right

The development of dodee keath and milera in defense is a massive a plus for our coaches.

We've had significant injuries to all our gun defenders

Dude.

We also stood around like witches hats vs Melbourne and Freo and looked like we had no plan, structure or hear whatsoever. Felt like we'd shut up shop in round 12. It was one of the most down periods I've had as a supporter.

And we keep having bizarre statistics like - losing clearances vs Melb 17-2 in Q3. Or vs port, where I think we won the clearances by similar numbers in one of the quarters, but couldn't get near the bloody goals.

So they're also doing something wrong...

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

Dude.

We also stood around like witches hats vs Melbourne and Freo and looked like we had no plan, structure or hear whatsoever. Felt like we'd shut up shop in round 12. It was one of the most down periods I've had as a supporter.

And we keep having bizarre statistics like - losing clearances vs Melb 17-2 in Q3. Or vs port, where I think we won the clearances by similar numbers in one of the quarters, but couldn't get near the bloody goals.

So they're also doing something wrong...

Mate.

Against freo and Melbourne the Cubbard was bare. Basicaly picked the only 22 we had available.

In the return game against Melbourne they were saved by the rain when it was our turn in the sun. Good posters here astutely pointed out before the game Melbourne get on rolls. Melbourne were on thier last legs at three quarters time and then it rained heavy

 

[Squiba]

Has the ball in 5 of the 'plays of the week' and is involved in more. 3 in the last quarter alone.

Think that sums up his play making ability.

 

[Tex Danger]

Mate.

Against freo and Melbourne the Cubbard was bare. Basicaly picked the only 22 we had available.

In the return game against Melbourne they were saved by the rain when it was our turn in the sun. Good posters here astutely pointed out before the game Melbourne get on rolls. Melbourne were on thier last legs at three quarters time and then it rained heavy

Freo had Sandilands, Fyfe, Hill (x2?) and im sure others out. Plus they're no good. Injuries were no excuse there

 

[kulak]

Predicted that our backline would become our strongest line by end of year and that our forward line will emerge as a significant weakness

Think I've got that call right , we need to improve our forward line drastically

And mid talent never hurts , ruck is an issue too !

A bold claim!

we are conceding a lot of goals per I50. For example we smashed Port in the contest and the I50s and nearly lost because they kicked 14 goals from only 47 I50s.

And for most of our year until Milera’s recent uplift, we got to watch Hartigan, Kelly and Brown handballing around in a circle meanwhile the opponent setup the press.

Our defence has not been good this year in any respect.

Might become good if the current group can stay healthy and play a full season together.

 

[Shaz2012]

A bold claim!

we are conceding a lot of goals per I50. For example we smashed Port in the contest and the I50s and nearly lost because they kicked 14 goals from only 47 I50s.

And for most of our year until Milera’s recent uplift, we got to watch Hartigan, Kelly and Brown handballing around in a circle meanwhile the opponent setup the press.

Our defence has not been good this year in any respect.

Might become good if the current group can stay healthy and play a full season together.

Our defence has been pretty solid all year. Kelly has been way off. Hartigan shaky, but in general it’s been our strongest line this year.

The problem has been opposition teams have been walking it in. We lacked any defensive pressure in our forward line for most of the year. Finally got it right after the bye. Knight, Gallucci and Murphy have made us better when they all play and now that the two youngsters have some games under their belts.

The other problem has been our midfield. Too slow and being killed on the spread. All our mids have been down at various stages. Gibbs started brilliantly but then went off the pace. Greenwood and CEY carried us early, but they are slow and we were eventually exposed. CEY may have run out of steam for a while. Didn’t help that guys like Crouch were turning it over more than usual. Atkins was awful until the last couple of weeks. Lairds early disposal was off.

All these things, plus our structures have led to the ball coming into our defence in a way that is very difficult to stop. I never felt that the reason that we were getting scored heavily against was because our defenders were getting dominated. Some mistakes under pressure and some serious structural issues were there, but overall as individuals I think most can hold their heads high this season.

 

[hey shorty]

Our backline has the most talent on the park..... but weve let a huge amount of easy goals through due to poor structure

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Four first round picks down back. We'd want it to be good

And Lever was a 5th. Have invested heavily in that area of the ground

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Four first round picks down back. We'd want it to be good

And Lever was a 5th. Have invested heavily in that area of the ground

Added to that the age profile is very good so significant upside compared to our forward line which is a massive concern and cracks were starting to appear at end of last year

 

[BunjiMac]

I'm one of those that actually believe its about misfiled to forward transition rather than the forwards themselves.

We have a lot of midfielders who like to kick long to a contest at every opportunity. Perhaps that's what they are told to do? I'm not saying we need to kick short, but have the composure to sum up the situation and kick to advantage.
We need more class in that midfield.

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

I love how this 20 year old boy is becoming a man.

You can see the growing confidence in his strength and body.

He's shrugging players and attacking contests with great confidence and the best bit is his real weapons of agility, evasiveness and elite disposal by foot have really started to shine.

I can't wait to see what another pre season is going to produce.

He reminds me very much of Charlie Cameron last year, where the coaches had clearly told him to take players on with his speed, even if that meant he sometimes got caught HTB. Milera seems much more willing this year to run through players, rather than quickly hack a kick forward.

 

[Bazz_27]

For reference - the current list of forward coaches:

Adelaide - Josh Francou (midfielder)
Brisbane - Jed Adcock (defender)
Carlton - David Teague (defender)
Collingwood - Brenton Sanderson (defender)
Essendon - Paul Corrigan (doesn't state, but statistically he looks like a defender seeing he managed 6 goals in 53 games)
Fremantle - David Hale (forward/ruck)
Geelong - James Rahilly (midfielder)
Gold Coast - Doesn't state who is their forward coach. There is no forwards listed in their assistant coaches ranks
GWS - Brad Miller (forward)
Hawthorn - Brett Ratten (midifelder)
Melbourne - Max Rooke (Utility player who ended up as a forward I think in his last couple of seasons)
North - Leigh Tudor (forward)
Port - Brendon Laide (forward/ruck)
Richmond - Justin Leppitsch (forward/defender)
St. Kilda - Rohan Welsh (forward)
Sydney - Brett Kirk (midfielder)
West Coast - Jaymie Graham (defender)
Western Bulldogs - Ashley Hanson (forward)

Currently it's 8/18 (giving some loose credit to Max Rooke). So not the most common occurrence, though I did oversell a tad with the very uncommon comment.

Much like the idea that decorated players are suited to coach has been debunked and shot down, the notion that you need to have played the position you coach is equally as flawed. You're not teaching technical facets of the game, and actually, I'd wager a defender would have a much better understanding of how forwards structures work then the forwards do. After all, they've learned to survive despite that.

The most interesting part of this is the previous AFL senior coaches and the relevance to their form this season... very interesting

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Not that I am a big fan of comparing young players to elite players of the game.

But the one player Milera reminds me of is Pendlebury. Pendles is one of the best at slowing the game down and not looking rushed even with four or five opponents around him.

It is a natural trait something that cant really be taught.

Milera has that ability and it is his biggest asset IMO.

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Bernie Vince and, to a lesser extent, Atkins have that ability. The way they can just fake a step, or drop a shoulder to get a defender on the back foot and buy themselves more time.

Milera extra advantage is that he has that, plus pure speed, which is an awesome combo that makes him hard to tackle, especially now that he has more core strength to shrug off tackles as well.

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

A bold claim!

we are conceding a lot of goals per I50. For example we smashed Port in the contest and the I50s and nearly lost because they kicked 14 goals from only 47 I50s.

And for most of our year until Milera’s recent uplift, we got to watch Hartigan, Kelly and Brown handballing around in a circle meanwhile the opponent setup the press.

Our defence has not been good this year in any respect.

Might become good if the current group can stay healthy and play a full season together.

We also still struggle against good small forwards. Robbie Gray has kicked 10 goals and Wingard 6 goals in the 2 Showdowns this year.

 

[BunjiMac]

He reminds me very much of Charlie Cameron last year, where the coaches had clearly told him to take players on with his speed, even if that meant he sometimes got caught HTB. Milera seems much more willing this year to run through players, rather than quickly hack a kick forward.

I think he's been given that licence and his become more confident in his strength and body. He's not intimidated physically anymore.

I think where Cameron was explosive going straight, Milera is more evasive. He has these deft body faints in close that makes players look silly. I don't think I've seen anyone do what he does in close in the congestion of the midfield actually.