Positional depth

[Bleed Red Blood]

Midfielders;

Crouch, Williams,Mathews, Kennelly, Schneider, Bevan, Maxfield, Fixter, Ablett, Malkeski, Fosdike, Spriggs, Bolton, Kirk, Goodes, Sunqvist, Davis, Willoughby, Schmidt, Moore, McVeigh, Buchanen, Nicks.

Can tag; Mathews, Crouch, Kirk and Ablett.

Small defenders;

Crouch, Bevan, Fixter, Nicks, Powell.

Medium defenders;

Kennelly, Mathews, Barry, C Bolton,Saddington, Dempster.

Tall defenders;

Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Goodes, Schuable, C Bolton, James, Barry.

Ruck;

Jolly, Doyle, Ball, Erikson. (Goodes, LRT)

Tall forwards;

Hall, Doyle, Goodes, Saddington, Jolly.

Medium forwards;

O'Keefe, Nicks, O'Loughlin.

Small forwards;

Schneider, Buchanen. (Fosdike)

That's good depth.

[liz]

Powell a small defender?

Dempster missing from your list.

It's also possible that Vogels will be capable of playing senior football this year and - once they've had a bit more time - maybe Campbell and Grundy too.

But I think we know most positions are covered. It's top end depth that is critical. Who can step up to be a matchwinner through the midfield if Willo is being tagged out and Kirk has his hands full with an opponent?

Can someone else provide a tall, strong target if Hall goes down or loses his cool?

How susceptible are we to a prolonged absence from Schauble.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Where would you have Powell then Liz.

[robbieando]

Originally posted by liz
But I think we know most positions are covered. It's top end depth that is critical. Who can step up to be a matchwinner through the midfield if Willo is being tagged out and Kirk has his hands full with an opponent?

Jarred McVeigh, your time is NOW.

Can someone else provide a tall, strong target if Hall goes down or loses his cool?

While we couldn't replace him like for like, I suppose if Hall does miss a match or two Ball, Doyle or Jolly would provide that target up forward.

How susceptible are we to a prolonged absence from Schauble.

Not that bad off with James, LRT and Leo Barry capable of holding down the position well. However as we saw last year with Leo, he does the job well and gets noticed but it takes him away from his damaging rebounding role and that does hurt somewhat.

[liz]

Originally posted by Bleed Red Blood
Where would you have Powell then Liz.

Well, he's 193cm tall...

[liz]

Originally posted by robbieando


Not that bad off with James, LRT and Leo Barry capable of holding down the position well. However as we saw last year with Leo, he does the job well and gets noticed but it takes him away from his damaging rebounding role and that does hurt somewhat.

We can cover any position on the ground in terms of having a player with appropriate physical attributes.

What I was trying to get at is where the matchwinners-in-waiting are if our small handful are indisposed. That will be the difference between finishing 7th or 8th and finishing in the top 4.

[Wil]

Originally posted by robbieando
Jarred McVeigh, your time is NOW.

Pinning our hopes on a, soon to be, 20 year old is a bit of a worry.

By the time we have the championship midfield we need, it will be time to start rebuilding the forward and back lines.

I hope Willo, Maxxy and Ball can dig VERY deep this season...

[liz]

Originally posted by Wil
Pinning our hopes on a, soon to be, 20 year old is a bit of a worry.

Not necessarily.

It is too early to expect him to be a regular matchwinner and far far too early to mark him down if he doesn't become one this year.

But it is not too early to hope that he is capable of making a significant contribution. He was drafted in the same year as Wells and as a junior was rated up alongside Wells, certainly before his final year of junior football was lost to injury.

He has great endurance and showed fleeting glimpses of very exciting skills during the pre-season so it's fair to be very optimistic about what he can deliver this year.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by Wil
Pinning our hopes on a, soon to be, 20 year old is a bit of a worry.

Luke Ball - May 1984
Nick Del Santo - Feb 1984
Chris Judd - Sep 1983
Gary Ablett - May 1984
Jared Rivers - Oct 1984

Jarred McVeigh - April 1985

Whilst its not unusual to put a lot of pressure on young players, especially if they are gifted, this would show that he probably needs another full year at senior level with 20 full games under his belt before we expect him to really blossom. And thats if we can agree his talents are anywhere near those listed above.

[swansrule100]

mcveigh should be good this year, based on today he will have the opportunity to give it his all, will be a few mistakes made but if the others fire he has the freedom to make a few mistakes

[Thunder Shaker]

McVeigh's goal was amusing, definitely not a recommended way to get a goal, but they all count as six points

[swansrule100]

at least he kept going til he got it which was good. He was annoyed at himself which is also good