Why Mundy should be a forward.(longish)

[believe_it]

David Mundy has spent a large part of this year playing or attempting to playa midfield role .
One poster (who loves him) said he wasn't playing this role when I criticised his play in one match .
The truth is thats where he has spent much of the season . Let me explain why this is a mistake.

What are the attributes needed to be a top midfielder?

1.Endurance - to follow the fast moving play

2.Explosive speed - breaking away from packs and chasing down opponents trying to do the same thing etc

3.Agility - to quickly move in often congested areas around ball-ups etc

4.Good ball skills- needed for quick skill execution.

What are Mundys attributes?

1.Good skills
2.Tall stature 192cm

He has poor explosiveness and limited agility due to his stature.A player
like Pavlich who can play any position on the ground doesnt come along
every day.Most of the mids in the league are 178-187cm . Judd is 189cm but again he is an exceptional athelete.

Why arent mids tall?
Because big guys take significantly longer to pick up speed. If there was an Olympic 30m sprint Usain Bolt wouldnt win it! Mundy played on Bartel for at least some of the Geelong game and got pantsed by him.

How many times this year have people seen Mundy swoop down on a ball after a ball-up and burst clear. I can't remember it happening once . Mundy seems to get most of his possesions by drifting off into space. He can mark and he can kick well.

I would rather not have him in the team. However if we have to keep him
we need to play him in a position where he can make the most of the abilities he does have . Thats what we should be doing with every player.

Why should he be played in the forwardline?

Well he is a good kick and is a marking option.If we can return Pav to the
forwardline ,with Palmer coming back next year, this could add to our
relatively few options. Mayne is similar to Mundy but faster and generally
better all round imo,however the more forward options the better.

The midfield role for Mundy defies logic and its a concern that Harvey
hasn't seen this by now . Defence is a second option but I dont see that
he has the strength to be that effective.

 

[Chops_a_must]

Why arent mids tall?
Because big guys take significantly longer to pick up speed. If there was an Olympic 30m sprint Usain Bolt wouldnt win it! Mundy played on Bartel for at least some of the Geelong game and got pantsed by him.

Try telling that to hurdlers.

Anyway, yes, a lot of us feel he should be playing a high half forward role.

Ideally, you want your best kickers delivering it to leads in the fifty. His best games, like his games at the end of this season, and just about all of his best ever games, have had him getting the ball ahead of centre with a lot of I50s and occasional goals.

He can take a good mark when meeting the ball, but isn't so good when waiting for it. And you'd cream yourself as a forward leading to his boot. He has all the attributes of a playmaker and delivery boy off HF. Just look at the impact someone like Stevie J has when he is getting a lot of I50s. You need your most highly skilled players doing that.

 

[bman]

David Mundy has spent a large part of this year playing or attempting to playa midfield role .
One poster (who loves him) said he wasn't playing this role when I criticised his play in one match .
The truth is thats where he has spent much of the season . Let me explain why this is a mistake.

What are the attributes needed to be a top midfielder?

1.Endurance - to follow the fast moving play

2.Explosive speed - breaking away from packs and chasing down opponents trying to do the same thing etc

3.Agility - to quickly move in often congested areas around ball-ups etc

4.Good ball skills- needed for quick skill execution.

What are Mundys attributes?

1.Good skills
2.Tall stature 192cm

He has poor explosiveness and limited agility due to his stature.A player
like Pavlich who can play any position on the ground doesnt come along
every day.Most of the mids in the league are 178-187cm . Judd is 189cm but again he is an exceptional athelete.

Why arent mids tall?
Because big guys take significantly longer to pick up speed. If there was an Olympic 30m sprint Usain Bolt wouldnt win it! Mundy played on Bartel for at least some of the Geelong game and got pantsed by him.

How many times this year have people seen Mundy swoop down on a ball after a ball-up and burst clear. I can't remember it happening once . Mundy seems to get most of his possesions by drifting off into space. He can mark and he can kick well.

I would rather not have him in the team. However if we have to keep him
we need to play him in a position where he can make the most of the abilities he does have . Thats what we should be doing with every player.

Why should he be played in the forwardline?

Well he is a good kick and is a marking option.If we can return Pav to the
forwardline ,with Palmer coming back next year, this could add to our
relatively few options. Mayne is similar to Mundy but faster and generally
better all round imo,however the more forward options the better.

The midfield role for Mundy defies logic and its a concern that Harvey
hasn't seen this by now . Defence is a second option but I dont see that
he has the strength to be that effective.

These days you need half the team to rotate through the middle and i have no problems with mundy being apart of that. He can be frustrating to watch sometimes but at his best he is a very important damaging player.

Yes he can go forward and do well but when he pulls his finger out and shows a bit of aggression he provides us with a big bodied mid around the stoppages where his size can also be a great advantage.

 

[toenail11]

Why not just play him on the half back flank were he has played his best footy.
Players who can use the ball as well as Mundy can dont come along often.

I agree he should definately not be in the midfield.

 

[yakamoto]

I think there is a place for Mundy in the midfield. His second quarter against Essendon was outstanding - probably his best ever quarter of football. Several of his centre clearances were Pavlike in the running power he exhibited. If I didn't know better I might have thought that Pav had donned a blond wig at 1/4 time.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Hase only has one of those skills but is still a good midfielder....

 

[Clay Davis]

Mundy is a utility. He needs to work on his ability to play tall though. I think he's actually a good (contested) mark, maybe that should be used by the team more.

 

[theGav56]

Because big guys take significantly longer to pick up speed. If there was an Olympic 30m sprint Usain Bolt wouldnt win it! Mundy played on Bartel for at least some of the Geelong game and got pantsed by him.

Pavlich goes okay in the midfield and Judd is over 190. We are pretty much odds on to pick up Moabito. Pace is his weakness in the midfield for sure, but the whole process of playing him there has got to be good for his development in a year where there was always going to be a shortage of midfield options for us, and where there was not a lot of point having him simply pass his time in the backline. If he goes forward that is all for the good, but unless he could actually be a KPP there he is better being part of a midfield rotation moving around the ground where needed most.

 

[malpaso]

Why arent mids tall?

I think you've just missed where the game is going in the last few seasons. A couple of player's that put holes in the question above.

Jimmy Bartel - 186cm
Joel Corey - 191cm
Corey Enright - 187cm

Adam Cooney - 186cm
Ryan Griffen - 188cm
Daniel Cross - 187cm

Nick Dal Santo - 186cm
Lenny Hayes - 186cm
Farren Ray - 187cm

Scott Pendlebury - 190cm

I could go on but that's a sample from the top 4. I realise that you went up to 187cm however that's almost 6'2" and that is a tall midfielder. Anything under 6' is considered less than tall.

 

[Clay Davis]

Judd's 189, but he is quite tall for a mid, and fast. Adam Goodes is 194, and has excellent explosive pace.

Swift is 191, and had one of the best 20m sprint times at DC last year. Naitanui is 200cm and had similar athelticism.

The old notion of tall blokes being slow is pretty much being smashed every year.

 

[WCEforeverman]

Because he has been played as a Defender and a Midfielder and a Forward is the next logical step.

 

[bigkev bleeds purple]

I remember Troy Simmonds always had the quickest 10m sprint times at Freo when he was here. He wasn't exactly short.

I disagree that Mundy isn't agile. He isn't super quick, but when you combine an above average evasive step with a big body, you can generally just bash your way through traffic fairly easily. Pretty much exactly like he did against Essendon several times and also in most of his best games.

Clean hands, excellent decision making, good skills, agility, height and ability to read the play... if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, then it's a midfielder.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Didn't realise midfielders were ducks bkp

 

[theGav56]

Didn't realise midfielders were ducks bkp

Ducks may have been handy on the weekend.

 

[believe_it]

I could go on but that's a sample from the top 4. I realise that you went up to 187cm however that's almost 6'2" and that is a tall midfielder. Anything under 6' is considered less than tall.

When i say why arent mids tall I mean generally they are smaller than kpp . Afl players as a population group would have a average height significantly higher than the general population . I agree that 6' is not regarded as tall in afl . My point is that once you get to about over 187 there are much fewer players who are mids. I am aware of pendlebury etc but I think these are more of the exception than the rule .

Hase only has one of those skills but is still a good midfielder....

I disagree . He has reasonable endurance , pretty good skills and is reasonably fast at getting the ball out .Certainly much fatser(this was a typo but its also true so Ill leave it)than Mundy in close.You see Hase diving on the ball and getting it out from close quarters often-rarely Mundy. Hase does however lack inherant speed over greater distance .Unfortunately I have seen this quite a bit this year when he is trying to pursue opposition players . Also Haselby is certainly not in the top group of mids - at least not anymore otherwise he would be getting a longer contract.
I dont think mundy is totaly lacking in agility however you have to compare him with other AFL players . The standards are very high these days.

Now I am going to read those posts that have sprung up about players wanting out of the club- maybe i shouldnt.

 

[believe_it]

Judd's 189, but he is quite tall for a mid, and fast. Adam Goodes is 194, and has excellent explosive pace.

Swift is 191, and had one of the best 20m sprint times at DC last year. Naitanui is 200cm and had similar athelticism.

The old notion of tall blokes being slow is pretty much being smashed every year.

Tall lanky blokes over short distances are GENERALLY slower over shorter distances and take longer to get up to speed . They also tend to be less manouverable .Its not a past predjudice its biomechanics. Yes there are a FEW Judds ect . Mundy is not Judd . How many 192cm players of Mundys built are mids? You can always find exceptions to rules. Thats what I said in my original post. Just because Goodes is 194 and Pav is 194 and are great players it does not follow that -gee Mundy is about the same height therefore he can play a role like those two players . That is false logic. Compare his speed and explosiveness to those two . We are getting bogged down in a side issue about height when the real issue is Mundy lacks the requirements for the role .
We are talking about when the ball comes from a tap - grab it- bang handball , bang -ball to boot in an instant ,bang - power away from a pack like lightning . Ablett ,Judd etc thats what these guys do . Mundy doesnt do this.

 

[Bradesmaen]

He's one of the best decision makers in the team, probably has the cleanest skills of all, has reasonable side stepping ability and ability to dodge tackles in close. He may not have a burst speed, but his speed is decent enough. He also reads the play incredibly well.

Seems to be a perfect fit for a midfielder.