If Micky O comes in...

[penga]

Originally posted by Newbie
I am curious to see whether Ryan is best fit for the team. The forward line looks to be crowded with Micky, Davis, Ball and Stevens already. There might not be a spot for him there. Where else could we put him? I am not convinced Ryan could play as an winger. He is a bit too slow to play in the back half and a bit too clumsy to play on the ball.

i think he could replace nicks in the forward line and push nicks back up the ground

[skilts stilts]

OKeefe would be our hardest nut at the footy excluding the nude nut at full forward.I would start him in the middle at centre bounces to the back of the square and let him run through at pace to spreadeagle the obligatory pack that always occurs.A physical clash between Okeefe and Rashootio would be most interesting.

[Charlie]

Definitely believe that O'Keefe belongs in the centre. He's obviously not going to get a full game there behind Willo, Crouch, Maxi, Tiger and Fossie, but that's the best place for him.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Charlie
Definitely believe that O'Keefe belongs in the centre. He's obviously not going to get a full game there behind Willo, Crouch, Maxi, Tiger and Fossie, but that's the best place for him.

I think there is a place for him there.

Tiger and Maxfield on the wings

Fossie, Williams, Crouch, O'Keefe, Schneider in centre etc

Williams can play across half forward if need be
Crouch can play down back
O'Keefe can play down forward

Surely we can fit him in there occationally!

[Newbie]

Originally posted by skilts stilts
OKeefe would be our hardest nut at the footy excluding the nude nut at full forward.I would start him in the middle at centre bounces to the back of the square and let him run through at pace to spreadeagle the obligatory pack that always occurs.A physical clash between Okeefe and Rashootio would be most interesting.

For this, O'Keefe needs to have decent pace off the mark which he does not seem to have. It often takes a while for him to get his wheels up to a decent speed.

I believe his best use is to dive on the ball and dig it out to a close by Swans player. This works a treat in bad weather footy but it does not justify a regular spot in the team.

If Josh Thewlis turns out to be decent, it is bye bye Ryan.

[penga]

Originally posted by Newbie
For this, O'Keefe needs to have decent pace off the mark which he does not seem to have. It often takes a while for him to get his wheels up to a decent speed.

I believe his best use is to dive on the ball and dig it out to a close by Swans player. This works a treat in bad weather footy but it does not justify a regular spot in the team.

If Josh Thewlis turns out to be decent, it is bye bye Ryan.

thewlis for starters is a half back flanker, if he becomes decent it is bye bye leo/ben

IMO o'keefe is a skilled jude... if jude can be in the middle there is no reason why o'keefe cant be, o'keefe has a better football brain, better skills, his apparent lack of speed is only an illusion because of his bigger size, and throws himself hard at the ball like what jude does... whatsmore o'keefe can kick for goal and deliver to a target...

imo if o'keefe had played in the middle against carlton, he would got those 29 possessions and woulda used the ball a bit better (im not taking anything away from jude's performance here BTW...)

[Newbie]

Ryan started out as a half back flanker. Thewlis seems pretty slow to me to be a genuie half back type. They might be grooming him to be a midfield body type.

Agree that O'Keefe is a better decision maker and more skillful than Jude but I dont think O'Keefe would be able to get to the contests as often as Jude.

[penga]

Originally posted by Newbie
Thewlis seems pretty slow to me to be a genuie half back type. They might be grooming him to be a midfield body type.

Agree that O'Keefe is a better decision maker and more skillful than Jude but I dont think O'Keefe would be able to get to the contests as often as Jude.

how can u make that call, when u woulda only seen thewlis on maybe one occasion... ive asked him personally where he is being setup to play and he said "half back"!!!! roos when introducing him at the guernsey presentation anounced him as being groomed for half back!

HB*slow = not ok
midfield *slow(in thewlis' case) = ok
midfield *slow (in o'keefe's case) = not ok

where is your logic???

[TheMase]

Originally posted by penga
thewlis for starters is a half back flanker, if he becomes decent it is bye bye leo/ben

IMO o'keefe is a skilled jude... if jude can be in the middle there is no reason why o'keefe cant be, o'keefe has a better football brain, better skills, his apparent lack of speed is only an illusion because of his bigger size, and throws himself hard at the ball like what jude does... whatsmore o'keefe can kick for goal and deliver to a target...

imo if o'keefe had played in the middle against carlton, he would got those 29 possessions and woulda used the ball a bit better (im not taking anything away from jude's performance here BTW...)

I agree with your comments re O'Keefe.

But I am pretty sure that Thewlis is a midfielder.

[Newbie]

To me O'keefe and Thewlis are similar type of players. The main difference will probably be that O'keefe could kick goals.
Thewlis seems to have better speed off the mark than O'keefe.

Thewlis is not a flanker. A half back role for him would be similar to a defensive midfielder who would mop up the ball, charge through the line and deliver the ball to the forward. This is exactly the role for O'keefe that you envision. Thewlis has better off-the-mark pace and thus more suited for this role than O'Keefe (if Thewlis turns out to be decent). Note that in this role, the player often has to STOP to gather the ball, then RUN fast to break the line, hence speed off-the-mark is critical.

If Thewlis is better than O'Keefe in this role. We need to identify the roles O'Keefe could play in the team?

Of course we could play O'Keefe as a medium forward which he did well in, but we already have some qualities in this area.

The other area which we could play O'Keefe is as a genuine ball winner, aka Bolton. Ball winners need to apply sustainable pressure on the opposition so that even if they could not get the ball, they will reduce quality of the opposition delivery out of the contest. For this you need to be able to apply constant harassment and pressure on the opposition ball getters. O'Keefe is a kind of start-stop player. Once he is out of the contest, he is not going to get back to the contest until the next stopage.

Bolton on the other hand, has the ability to get back on the contest fairly well. Bolton did run down Bradley or Bratten in his very first game after loosing the contest.

Until we could identify a position that O'Keefe could contribute to the team, I cannot see the reason for O'Keefe in the team if Thewlis comes along.

[penga]

Originally posted by TheMase
But I am pretty sure that Thewlis is a midfielder.

im only stating what he and roosy said...

[TheMase]

Originally posted by penga
im only stating what he and roosy said...

Just when he was drafted I am sure it was suggested that he was a midfielder.

Not that it all really matters

[Benevolent Ert]

Magic, Ablett, Powell in - no outs yet
so who are the 3 who don't make the final cut?
Ablett, Ball, Fosdike, O?Keefe, O?Loughlin, McPherson, Powell
is the 7 man bench, so 3 of them will miss out

My tip is that Powell and Ablett wont make the final cut, and O'Keefe makes way for Magic