We don't have enough midfielders

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

Now with Wellingham gone I think we are in serious need of some backup/depth midfielders.
We have Pendles, Swan, Thomas, Ball, Beams, Sidebottom, Blair as the ones we can count on. Beside that we have Fasolo who might move in there, but its yet to be proven if he can play in there. Didak who is looking like midfield minutes may be beyond him at his age and Ben Johnson who doesn't even have a contract yet.

Now if all the above players mentioned play all games next year then we don't have a problem. But if we get injuries like we had this year, then we need actual ball winners who can come in and give some rest to our stars. We have so few genuine ball winners in our VFL team. Young?? Thomas?? Seedsman??
To me we have too many potential ruckmen and too many small forward prospects.

Everyone is always saying that our midfield is not the problem. But it was this year, it was too one way and didn't halve enough contests. When the opposition got clearances or got their hands on the ball they burnt us because we couldn't pressure them enough. I believe this is because we relied on too few during the year.

If we do get picks 18 and 19 this year, then we should use them both on midfielders, but they probably wont help this year, so what do we look at doing to bring in some good, solid experienced help to our midfield group.

 

[Pera]

7 midfielders of that calibre is plenty. All we need is a few more guys who can rotate in for 20 minutes a game and we'll be set.

Look at a side like Hawthorn.
Mitchell, Sewell, Lewis, Shiels, Rioli, Burgoyne, Smith are probably their seven top line midfielders. They then have guys like Hodge, Breust and Savage who can rotate in there when needed.

Like you said, I'll be keen to see the club get some midfield minutes into guys like Fasolo and Krakouer over the pre season to add that depth of rotation. One of those two picks though, maybe both, will definitely be a midfielder.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I think we have plenty, but you always want to be adding to your depth and in particular bringing in guys who can play in other roles (like Seedsman has done) while building up their midfield time. Josh Thomas will get games this season. Fasolo will spend more time in midfield than he has done. If Krakouer can build up his tank he may too.

And there's a good chance we will draft a couple of midfielders this year too, as we look likely to have at least two first-round picks the way things are going.

 

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

7 midfielders of that calibre is plenty. All we need is a few more guys who can rotate in for 20 minutes a game and we'll be set.

Look at a side like Hawthorn.
Mitchell, Sewell, Lewis, Shiels, Rioli, Burgoyne, Smith are probably their seven top line midfielders. They then have guys like Hodge, Breust and Savage who can rotate in there when needed.

Like you said, I'll be keen to see the club get some midfield minutes into guys like Fasolo and Krakouer over the pre season to add that depth of rotation. One of those two picks though, maybe both, will definitely be a midfielder.

Yeah but Hawthorn have Lewis, Mitchell and Sewell who are all big bodied mids who will play out a season strong. We only really have Ball who matches them in this regard. Sydney have Kennedy and O'Keefe, West Coast have Priddis and Kerr.
I'm not saying we need a star, but we need a guy like Priddis (obviously lesser quality) who can come in and take some of the heat away from Pendles. Swan certainly doesn't want to do any of the hard stuff inside and Daisy and Steele's games aren't really suited to inside. Puts too much pressure on Beams and Pendles to be something they are not. They are ball winners, but they are class ball winners, we have to use them to best advantage the team, and not make them battering rams.

I'm not saying that this Priddis type would even be in our best 22, he just needs to come in and play 12-18 games for the year while giving Beams and Pendles a chop out. It would be a huge bonus for us as we would be able to rest one of them up forward for greater periods of the games.
I'd be looking at all the state leagues for a big bodied 25 year old-ish who dominates averaging 30 touches a game.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

I think another player like Ball would be ideal. Pendles and Swan are not inside mids despite statistics, only Blair really is.

 

[Lord of the Pies]

Agree with op on use of 1st round picks. You would think a couple of classy mids would thrive under the tutelage of Bucks, Harvey, Pendles, Ball, Swan and Beams.

 

[PieLebo87]

We've got our fair share of mids, if anything, we need a skillful young Aboriginal type small forward similar to a young Neon Leon to replace Didak as the premier small forward. It's scary that ALL of our small forwards just are not traditional small forwards! Fas and Elliot are Medhurst type lead up forwards and Sinclair and Blair are grunt types. With Wellers now gone, we're going to struggle in our forward line stoppages. He was elite in getting the footy out of congestion and snapping a quick goal.

 

[lozza63]

I think we need more tackling power and contested ball winning in our midfield!

Swans top four mids laid an impressive 538 tackles whereas our top four tacklers could only muster 412. In fact we trailed both Hawthorn 494 and Adelaide 442.

In contested ball we again trailed the top four Swans by 107 - the bench mark has been set and we need to strive for it.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Sorry, had to lol.

Swan, Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball, Blair, Beams, Sidebottom, Fasolo, and then you have players who can pinch hit in Didak, Krakouer and even Shaw or BJ.

That's ignoring kids coming through, and it looks like we might get Stevens from West Coast at the very least.

We're fine.

 

[peter9789]

Midfielders are like sexy chicks ... You can never have enough of them

 

[76woodenspooners]

I think another player like Ball would be ideal. Pendles and Swan are not inside mids despite statistics, only Blair really is.

Remember Williams?

(Marley, not Paul)

 

[motr]

Remember Williams?

(Marley, not Paul)

Exactly, Marley will get plenty of game time.

 

[Gambit78]

Sorry, had to lol.

Swan, Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball, Blair, Beams, Sidebottom, Fasolo, and then you have players who can pinch hit in Didak, Krakouer and even Shaw or BJ.

That's ignoring kids coming through, and it looks like we might get Stevens from West Coast at the very least.

We're fine.

too positive. check yourself.

this upcoming draft appears to be a midfielder's draft. reckon we'll replenish, especially if we get two picks in the first round. we do need to start looking forward a little - Ball, BJ, Krak, Swan, Didak are in the last stages of their careers and now would be a good time to bring in a group to develop while those players are still playing.

 

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

Sorry, had to lol.

Swan, Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball, Blair, Beams, Sidebottom, Fasolo, and then you have players who can pinch hit in Didak, Krakouer and even Shaw or BJ.

That's ignoring kids coming through, and it looks like we might get Stevens from West Coast at the very least.

We're fine.

Of all those guys you mentioned, one is a hard in an under, tough midfielder. One.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Of all those guys you mentioned, one is a hard in an under, tough midfielder. One.

Pretty sure Blair counts.

You also underestimate Pendles in and under work. Before his leg, he was doing plenty of it. It's why he's such a loss when he's out.

 

[Travis bloke]

What we need as far as midfielders is another hard inside nid to help bally and 2 speedy run and carriers we lack speed the rest are plodders especially now that Welligham has flown the coup.

 

[FASOLO#1]

I think we have plenty, but you always want to be adding to your depth and in particular bringing in guys who can play in other roles (like Seedsman has done) while building up their midfield time. Josh Thomas will get games this season. Fasolo will spend more time in midfield than he has done. If Krakouer can build up his tank he may too.

And there's a good chance we will draft a couple of midfielders this year too, as we look likely to have at least two first-round picks the way things are going.

what type of midfielder is Josh Thomas? i have seen on the board he is rated highly but i havent seen any footage of him. who would you compare him to? very interested to know as he seems an exciting prospect

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Maybe a more inside version of Hawthorn's Liam Shiels? Comparisons are always tough to make.

 

[HFF]

Yep, you'd think Josh Thomas will get some games this season.

Cannot wait to see his progress.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

Remember Williams?

(Marley, not Paul)

Yes, sure do. But I meant ready made replacement.

Collingwood is going for a Premiership next year, not rebuilding. A kid like Marley amongst the likes of Kennedy, Hayes in the midfield etc will get slaughtered.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Yes, sure do. But I meant ready made replacement.

Collingwood is going for a Premiership next year, not rebuilding. A kid like Marley amongst the likes of Kennedy, Hayes in the midfield etc will get slaughtered.

The kid went from last live rookie pick to starting 22 within half a season.

Surely he's going to be a monster by the time round 1 comes around!

(But, yeah, take your point)

 

[MeisterBot]

I thought Moneybags might be useful, but especially with the stuff about Dawes, he's going to be a required player up forward. Likely pushing out Caff at the same time.

So, that brings me to my next point: could Macaffer work as a midfielder? He's been out of the game for a long time and it's not his natural position, but he's a big body with a physical game and I remember people saying he could pinch hit as an inside mid when he was in the team.

I think there was also talk on the board at throwing Maxy into the middle as a defensive/inside/tagging mid as well.

Left field choices yes, but I worry about people like Blair and J Thomas going in against the Kennedys and Watsons of the competition. We used Blair this year, but he just got shifted off the ball too much. Would the same happen with J Thomas?

Williams is also another option, but I'd really like him to take the specialist small defender role off Harry. Still, unless his disposal improves, I don't think he's a viable option.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

Surely he's going to be a monster by the time round 1 comes around!

Hope so, I think it's important that sometimes speed isn't necessarily the be all and end all of midfields. I think sometimes you need a couple of Hulks that can physically intimidate players and knock them around. Blokes that will make other blokes hurt around September.

I think Geelong used to do that to us quite well.... and against the whole comp as well I might add.

 

[rand corp]

Looking ahead, I can see Fas developing more as a midfielder, I think Marley Williams is another who could end up there in a couple of seasons, Elliot is not without some claims, Seedsman looks like a prototype modern wingman and then there is Josh Thomas to consider.