Doyle has to go......

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by BBB
What's the point??? So you would rather he hit the ball towards the opponents goal for our midfield to fumble rather than hit it 10 metres towards our goal for our midfield to fumble.

If the midfield are going to fumble then it doesn't really matter where he hits it then.

[Triple B]

I'd rather they fumble it 65 metres from our goal than 70 metres from the opposition goal.

That's the point. Doyle has consistently shown he can get first hands to the ball in ruck contests but when he belts it downfield he finds there is nobody in a red and white jumper in the vicinity.

You seem to think it is his problem 'why can't he hit it backwards to our guys' when the problem lay's with our guys setting up to a losing ruckman.

I'm not suggesting we have 4 midfielders forward of the ball, but 1 or 2 would be 1 or 2 more than we have at the minute.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by BBB
I'd rather they fumble it 65 metres from our goal than 70 metres from the opposition goal.

But a half decent side will make up that 25-30m gap in a flash, so it's not much of a buffer. I notice that quite frequently now, as we get a few players (particularly J Bolton) who like to come over the top and belt the ball forward from a throw in or ball up. It goes forward about 20m, and always goes to an opposition player and it's back past the original point very very quickly.

That's the point. Doyle has consistently shown he can get first hands to the ball in ruck contests but when he belts it downfield he finds there is nobody in a red and white jumper in the vicinity.

You seem to think it is his problem 'why can't he hit it backwards to our guys' when the problem lay's with our guys setting up to a losing ruckman.

It's hard to say whose fault it is as we don't know the setups. However, if the ruckman knows where his midfielders are before he jumps in the ruck, then he should change his tap to account for them. Other ruckmen do that.

I'm not suggesting we have 4 midfielders forward of the ball, but 1 or 2 would be 1 or 2 more than we have at the minute.

I think that would make sense, particularly when the opposition do win the tap out, they often feed it backwards to a couple of free midfielders anyway.

I've said before I think the set up should be one behind, one in front and one to the dominant hand.

[sharp9]

Originally posted by BBB
Barry, you have hit the nail on the head.

I spoke at length with DrJ about this a few weeks back.

Our midfield setup is very defensive at ball-ups and centre square because Ball rarely gets clean tap-outs. Doyle gets way more clean touches but the midfield setup remains the same.

When Doyle is contesting we need to roll the dice a bit and get some numbers forward so when Doyle punches the ball forward it may go to advantage.

Doyle is vital to our future and I think he is a gun, not just at the minute. Anybody who thinks 'he must go' truly has NFI, IMO.

Please footy gods, let the man have an injury free, full pre-season.

I'm with you, BBB....I reckon Doyle will be the goods. Picks up the ball from the ground well, too. have to agree that our midfield is VERY disappointing at getting the ball when it is tapped to no one in particular. In fact we are shocking. If the ball is tapped to space we are about 1 in 5 to get first hands on it. Surely this can't be all the ruckman's fault. In the centre we nearly aslways FOLLOW opponents to the ball. I guess you could call the "defensive setup," I call it a recipe for not getting your fair share of clean takeaways.

All the more reason to get Monty and McVeigh into the centre with the task of GETTING the ball.