Tweet
I admit to being puzzled about the difference in what the club says about Mills and how they've been using him. At junior level he was an elite onballer, a much more natural "first dibs" player than Heeney, based on what I saw of both of them. (I think Heeney's best value is either on the outside, or as first receiver from the player who wins the ball at the coal face. His instincts seem to be to stand off multi-player contests and wait to pounce, rather than go in and dig the ball out himself.)
Is the apparent reluctance to play Mills as a full-time onballer because they think he's too valuable in defence? Or do they have reservations about his abilities in the middle of the ground. The latter puzzles me, given he's not been given much of a run there to find out (though I acknowledge the coaches will have seen much more of him in that role - at training).
He is a good intercept marker in defence, but that combination of reading the flight of the ball and courage to compete in the air is valuable all around the ground. And I think it is easier to find (or manufacture) decent mid-sized defenders than it is to find (or create) top-line onballers. Given our obvious deficits in the midfield, it seems like a no-brainer to play him there. And indeed, the rationale for chasing Langdon hard in the off-season, and then eventually recruiting Thurlow, was to give the club the option of playing Mills elsewhere.
So we roll around to the competitive games and, first up, Mills plays pretty well onball in the scratch match against the Giants. Of course, both Parker and JPK were missing that day. As the JLT rolled on, Mills seemed to spend less time in the midfield and more back in his old role as a medium sized defender. And then for round 1, they don't even pick the player they recruited to free him up, in Thurlow, and again we start the game with Mills in defence.
Even now, for round 2, Thurlow has again not been selected despite solid form throughout the JLT and a positive review from last week's NEAFL game. I know O'Riordan has been brought in, but I don't see him as a replacement in defence for Mills. He should have been in for round one in place of one of the talls, irrespective of where Mills played. So I still don't know where Mills is going to line up at the start of tonight's game, as opposed to later in the game when the midfield is again not firing.
I don't see Papley or Jones as proposed replacements for JPK. I think they are there to add some smaller bite and zip around the bigger guys - the role that Jack played with aplomb until a couple of seasons ago, when his hip issues really started to take their toll. I think Papley has done OK in the midfield thus far. My main gripe about him playing there is that he's then not in the forward line applying the pressure that was completely missing last weekend. Ronke might help rectify that but I think we need them both milling around Reid and Buddy for substantial periods of the game.
I've liked what I've seen of Jones in the midfield throughout the JLT and I thought he was one of our less poor players last week. I do also like him zipping out of defence but hopefully COR can provide some of that. (And maybe Ling, or Stoddart, or McInerney in years down the track.) I know I'm more of a fan of Jones than many on here - I forgive him for his occasional errors because they usually happen when he's trying to make something happen, rather than taking safe options.
Is the apparent reluctance to play Mills as a full-time onballer because they think he's too valuable in defence? Or do they have reservations about his abilities in the middle of the ground. The latter puzzles me, given he's not been given much of a run there to find out (though I acknowledge the coaches will have seen much more of him in that role - at training).
He is a good intercept marker in defence, but that combination of reading the flight of the ball and courage to compete in the air is valuable all around the ground. And I think it is easier to find (or manufacture) decent mid-sized defenders than it is to find (or create) top-line onballers. Given our obvious deficits in the midfield, it seems like a no-brainer to play him there. And indeed, the rationale for chasing Langdon hard in the off-season, and then eventually recruiting Thurlow, was to give the club the option of playing Mills elsewhere.
So we roll around to the competitive games and, first up, Mills plays pretty well onball in the scratch match against the Giants. Of course, both Parker and JPK were missing that day. As the JLT rolled on, Mills seemed to spend less time in the midfield and more back in his old role as a medium sized defender. And then for round 1, they don't even pick the player they recruited to free him up, in Thurlow, and again we start the game with Mills in defence.
Even now, for round 2, Thurlow has again not been selected despite solid form throughout the JLT and a positive review from last week's NEAFL game. I know O'Riordan has been brought in, but I don't see him as a replacement in defence for Mills. He should have been in for round one in place of one of the talls, irrespective of where Mills played. So I still don't know where Mills is going to line up at the start of tonight's game, as opposed to later in the game when the midfield is again not firing.
I don't see Papley or Jones as proposed replacements for JPK. I think they are there to add some smaller bite and zip around the bigger guys - the role that Jack played with aplomb until a couple of seasons ago, when his hip issues really started to take their toll. I think Papley has done OK in the midfield thus far. My main gripe about him playing there is that he's then not in the forward line applying the pressure that was completely missing last weekend. Ronke might help rectify that but I think we need them both milling around Reid and Buddy for substantial periods of the game.
I've liked what I've seen of Jones in the midfield throughout the JLT and I thought he was one of our less poor players last week. I do also like him zipping out of defence but hopefully COR can provide some of that. (And maybe Ling, or Stoddart, or McInerney in years down the track.) I know I'm more of a fan of Jones than many on here - I forgive him for his occasional errors because they usually happen when he's trying to make something happen, rather than taking safe options.
Comment