Depth

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by sharpie
Kennelly's drive out from half back is good enough now for him not to need to play on a wing. He is almost averaging a goal a game recently. He has got to stay there while that lasts. The opposition is going to have to tag Kennelly and Leo to shut us down - not a bad situation at all to have, having two defenders being tagged. Leaves plenty of other players with some well-deserved freedom. Bring it on.

He's definitely doing a great job from HBF, but I wonder if we could get even more out of him on the wing and thus spending more time on the ball. It's a real stretch, but I think of him as potentially Judd-like!!

[Bleed Red Blood]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
He's definitely doing a great job from HBF, but I wonder if we could get even more out of him on the wing and thus spending more time on the ball. It's a real stretch, but I think of him as potentially Judd-like!!

Yeah, with his pace and improved skills he really is demanding a flank and I feel Willo would be great on a back flank.

[Steve]

Originally posted by sharp9
Difficult to believe that Malthouse can whinge about picks ...

I thought it was funny reading Gary Ayres' comments about St Kilda getting so many first round picks.

Perhaps he's so used to trading them away that he doesn't even realise that every side starts off with 1 first round pick every year.

Granted St Kilda have had a couple extra, and at the better end of the scale.

Saddington and of course Willoughby are also current first round picks still with us.

I think one of the good things for the majority of our younger players (who are basically our depth players) is that the entire universe (including opposition) under-rates them - Goodes, Hall, Williams etc get a lot of attention but after that many others will get very little respect.

Even a guy like Fosdike is finding so much space as his opponents just don't give him any respect - that combined with his hard running at times virtually makes him a permanent spare man.

[penga]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
He's definitely doing a great job from HBF, but I wonder if we could get even more out of him on the wing and thus spending more time on the ball. It's a real stretch, but I think of him as potentially Judd-like!!

preach it brother!!!

ive been thinking very similar things lately ie judd - kennelly comparison, i wonder if it has something to do with tadgh's new hair cut , seriously though, tadhg's hard-running and particularly his kicking remind me of judd but judd has the amazing ability of breaking tackles with the combination of strength and speed. doesnt mean that tadhg cant put a bit more weight on and have the same strength.

and ive been wanting to see willo take a HBF

my best 22 would look a lot like this:

mathews schauble bolton
williams james barry
maxfield kirk kennelly
davis hall goodes
schneider saddington oloughlin
doyle fosdike bolton
ball LRT crouch okeefe

some of the placings are a bit left-field at this stage, but essential IMO if we are to be a genuine threat

NB: i almost completed the team without including goodes thats the selection predicament we are facing!!!

in regards to roosy's comments about aiming to recruit a gun at the end of the season, i really think that we need to look at another ready-made ruckman with ball at the age he is and his injury-"proneness". someone of the likes of biglands or as a long shot ottens. a thought for moving forward...

[midaro]

Speaking of Judd like - McVeigh.
I know its an early call, and I agree that Bevan is probably shading him in the pecking order ATM.

But for me its the way he seems to cut 'through' packs, if you know what I mean. Its pace and weaving and just magic.

BTW how funny is it that we are rating players in terms of their 'Juddness' - given that he's just a youngster. What a talent.

[dendol]

i remember one passage of play from last weeks game where McVeigh picked up the ball in our forward line, propped and weaved and spun around a few kangaroos, fed off the ball to a team-mate, which may have ended up in a goal or behind. Seeing that made my heart cry out in joy. What a star we have in the making!

One thing I've noticed about him is that although he is still fairly slight in build (even compared to Bevan, who's body seems more developed), he doesnt lack in courage when going for the ball or tackling bigger opponents.

[penga]

Originally posted by BBB
FWIW I believe if Mark Johnson never climbed all over his shoulder at the SCG he would not be looked down upon as much as he is on this board.

FWIW it was actually caracella who took the speccy over warfe

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by midaro
Speaking of Judd like - McVeigh.
I know its an early call, and I agree that Bevan is probably shading him in the pecking order ATM.

But for me its the way he seems to cut 'through' packs, if you know what I mean. Its pace and weaving and just magic.

BTW how funny is it that we are rating players in terms of their 'Juddness' - given that he's just a youngster. What a talent.

Judd is awesome!!

But you're right on McVeigh - I've seen him dodge tackles and find gaps a few times. He's pretty much the only player in our side with that catlike ability (Barry is amazing too, but quite a different method).

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by penga
in regards to roosy's comments about aiming to recruit a gun at the end of the season, i really think that we need to look at another ready-made ruckman with ball at the age he is and his injury-"proneness". someone of the likes of biglands or as a long shot ottens. a thought for moving forward...

I think a ruckman about 25-27 yo would be very useful. Plenty of experience and well developed, but not too old.

The midfield seems to be gradually developing well. It's possibly still our weak point, but there are a few young guys stepping up, and so we should be able to replace Williams and Maxfield. Therefore we may not be in a huge need of a gun midfielder (although of course it would always be nice).

A big defender might be useful too, although if James stays healthy and LRT and/or Rogers can take a key back role, that may not be a necessity either.

[Go Swannies]

Originally posted by NMWBloods

The midfield seems to be gradually developing well. It's possibly still our weak point, but there are a few young guys stepping up, and so we should be able to replace Williams and Maxfield. Therefore we may not be in a huge need of a gun midfielder (although of course it would always be nice).

This is a serious question. I keep hearing that our midfield is weak but I just can't see where. Can someone tell me, please? Yes we do handball too much to find a free player but we seem to have the skills to do it (even in the wet now, Collingwood). We have brilliant power out of defence and we have turned the midfield into a quagmire when other teams are in attack. So where does it let us down? And which teams have a better midfield? What specific players?

[NMWBloods]

I don't think our midfield is 'weak' - I think it is our 'weak' point. In other words, of the three parts of the ground, it is possibly the one that will struggle most and is our biggest danger. It's possibly our weakest link!

Through most of last year and a couple of times so far this year, the midfield has been commented on as the most important part of our game, as it can make or break us, and it has.

Better midfields - Brisbane and West Coast.

I think a few other sides might challenge our midfield too, like St Kilda, although I'll wait for the season to progress a bit more before seeing which ones might as many other sides continue to be a bit variable.

The wet has typically been a problem for us because of our handball - we have only won 3 games of our last 8 in the wet.

Handball in the dry can also be a problem for us if we overdo it or the opposition places too much pressure on us.

We do have the ability to place a lot of pressure on opposition midfields, which is a great trait, although a difficult one to maintain all season, but hopefully we do.

Our drive from half back is enormously important, although it's not really part of our midfield.

[liz]

Originally posted by Go Swannies
This is a serious question. I keep hearing that our midfield is weak but I just can't see where. Can someone tell me, please? Yes we do handball too much to find a free player but we seem to have the skills to do it (even in the wet now, Collingwood). We have brilliant power out of defence and we have turned the midfield into a quagmire when other teams are in attack. So where does it let us down? And which teams have a better midfield? What specific players?

Clearances.

We were close to the bottom last year, despite our lofty finish. Freo killed us in the middle a couple of weeks ago. Geelong killed us in the middle for 3 quarters - though to the team's credit, that was one area they really turned around in the final quarter.

Our best player at clearances is Kirk. Sadly, he is so good at stopping opposition guns that often this is not his main focus. Roos seems to be gradually changing the role he is asking of Kirk and this could help.

If we had a player of Mitchell's ability giving us first use of the ball, with our forward line we would murder most teams because we would get the ball to them so much more quickly.

[penga]

Originally posted by lizz
Clearances.

If we had a player of Mitchell's ability giving us first use of the ball, with our forward line we would murder most teams because we would get the ball to them so much more quickly.

but which is it everitt or mitchell who gets it for first use of the ball?

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by lizz
Clearances.

Yep. Here are the clearance stats for last year and this year.

v. Carlton 38-26 total, 18-15 CB
v. Fremantle 30-27 total, 12-11 CB
v. Hawthorn 34-37 total
v. Melbourne 38-35 total, 16-13 CB
v. Collingwood 28-38 total, 8-16 CB
v. Brisbane 38-38 total, 15-12 CB
v. Geelong 42-41 total, 9-13 CB
v. Kangaroos 23-43 total, 10-10 CB
v. Richmond 32-31 total, 5-9 CB
v. Essendon 26-36 total, 10-13 CB
v. Western Bulldogs 33-39 total, 12-9 CB
v. Port Adelaide 31-44 total, 13-8 CB
v. West Coast 27-42 total, 8-14 CB
v. St Kilda 41-31 total, 17-7 CB
v. Carlton 34-38 total, 10-15 CB
v. Fremantle 45-25 total, 22-8 CB
v. Adelaide 27-44 total, 5-12 CB
v. Hawthorn 35-40 total, 16-13 CB
v. Brisbane 31-46 total, 6-14 CB
v. Collingwood 47-50 total, 8-17 CB
v. Melbourne 44-31 total, 9-8 CB
v. Port Adelaide 40-43 total, 12-13 CB
v. Brisbane 34-33 total, 7-12 CB
v. Brisbane 34-25 total, 12-10 CB
v. Fremantle 41-46 total, 10-10 CB
v. Geelong 36-29 total, 10-12 CB
v. Kangaroos 39-27 total, 15-11 CB

Average 35-37 total, 11-12 CB

So, slightly down on clearances overall, but we have won 2/3rds of the above games.

Our leading players at clearances last year were (total/CB):
J Bolton 97/42
Goodes 74/21
Kirk 69/32
Maxfield 54/23
Williams 54/21

So, the top 5 had 348/139

Brisbane's top 5 were 415/181
Collingwood's top 5 were 430/176
Fremantle's top 5 were 363/170
Hawthorn's top 5 were 379/152
Kangaroos' top 5 were 368/176
Port Adelaide's top 5 were 381/167
West Coast's top 5 were 475/215

Sometimes we can match up well against these sides and reduce their clearance levels, but it would be nice if we increased ours. We seem to be doing a bit better this year, with the clearances quite well spread amongst a number of players.

[chammond]

Actually, Goodes and Ball have been our best bet at clearances, but unfortunately that has been stymied by the new rule penalising the ruckman who grabs the ball at stoppages.

Before that rule came in, Jason Ball had one of the best "clearance" rates in the comp.