Toughest midfield in the AFL - David King

[ignition. 1,463]

I don't think we are the toughest midfield... yet.

Ideally, I would like to see the club aggressively target another hard-nosed on-baller like a Cripps or Wines (previous years I included T. Mitchel, Treloar, and O'Meara to the list).

I often read that we have "too much of that type", but as it stands Brayshaw and Oliver are nothing more than exciting potential and when they come to fruition Jones and Lewis may have slowed. Petracca is more likely to play as that goal kicking high half-forward link with small stints on-ball.

Last year Cripps dominated Viney, and led the league for clearances (8.8/game) and was second for contested possessions (16.9/game, 0.1 behind JP Kennedy). Likewise, Wines and Viney often cancel one another out - many unbiased AFL fans would argue that Wines has got the better of him when they've faced off.

Regardless, I'd like to see a cycling on-ball brigade of Gawn, Viney, Cripps/Wines, Tyson, Oliver, and Brayshaw - who I think would be very hard to stop.

Surely we have to acquire a high-end young talent via trade in the coming seasons, I think we're due.

[jnrmac 20,055]

5 hours ago, ProDee said:

The talk isn't insane at all.  There are always stars retiring and stars emerging.  It's been this way for over 100 years and will continue for the next 100 years.

There will be a group take over the mantle and when I look at the already exposed form of Viney, Tyson, Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, together with Jones, Lewis and Vince I see no reason it won't be this group of Dees.  It's not a far-fetched call in my view.

We're developing a skull-cracking midfield and the competition knows it.

EDIT: I'm not suggesting it will be the best midfield, although it's conceivable, I'm talking toughest.

Obviously its conceivable but King as I understand it said they would be the toughest midfield this year didn't he?

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,710]

7 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Thank you .

The 'No pressure of course '  line indicated the parts about brownlow medals and flags were tongue in cheek...  Nonetheless, I do think the midfield similarities are there. 

Will ours deliver, who knows.  Agree, we have done nothing yet. 

As i noted in another thread, for me the lid is still on.  Slightly ajar, yes but would like to wait and see if we have stopped 'drinking our own bathwater'.  Hopefully, Lewis will keep their feet on the ground after the hype around the JLT wins.

ps I haven't seen the article so wasn't commenting on what DK wrote.

I must have missed the memo that said this thread had to be filled with cliches and aphorisms. Lucifer, you're the clubhouse leader but I'm sure others can give you a run for your money.  << is this an appropriately cliched emoticon for "tongue in cheek"?

[Gator 17,319]

2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Obviously its conceivable but King as I understand it said they would be the toughest midfield this year didn't he?

I agree it won't be in 2017.  I'm more talking 2020.  

I think there's enough evidence though that it's going to be very competitive this year and super nasty/brutal in years to come.

[chook fowler 19,456]

You wouldn't get too many harder nuts than Lewis, Jones, Viney, Tyson, Oliver and Brayshaw.

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

58 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

You wouldn't get too many harder nuts than Lewis, Jones, Viney, Tyson, Oliver and Brayshaw.

Can six hard nut midfielders be turned into a hard nut midfield? The jury is still out but I hope so.

[chook fowler 19,456]

Just now, america de cali said:

Can six hard nut midfielders be turned into a hard nut midfield? The jury is still out but I hope so.

Can't see why not.

[Skuit 10,031]

Viney alone makes ours the toughest midfield in the comp.

[chook fowler 19,456]

Shouldn't forget the Max Factor feeding our midfield 

[Wrecker45 3,378]

14 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Any other info, for those of us who don't read/subscribe to the HS.

As coincidence would have it just before you started this thread I had posted this to the Gus Brayshaw thread: "Our midfield is scary good:  Viney, Brayshaw, Oliver, Tyson, Salem, (potentially Petracca).  Collectively, they remind me of the Lions midfield of the early 2000's: Black, Voss, Akermanis, Power".

You could almost match them up

• Voss:  Oliver/Viney - tough as
• Black:  Brayshaw/Salem - silky
• Akermanis: Petracca - strong, knows where the goals are.
• Power:  Tyson - quietly gets the job done.

Notice there are more Dees players than Lions...as I said our midfield is scary good!

We could easily have a few Brownlow medalists in our lot - if they don't take votes from each other that is. 

Just as long as they deliver us a flag or two or three!

No pressure of course

That Brisbane side is my favourite of any side any era I have seen.

we are nowhere near that but for sake of it

Voss -Oliver similarities are there but Oliver needs to train more like cross than Watts. Has the vision, sweeping handball and ability to be the greatest player in the league. Far from it yet.

Black - I see Dom Tyson. Can get 35 posesions and you don't really notice until you see the replay and realise he was brilliant. Booming kick and dangerous around goal but inclose stuff is harder to notice.

Aka - there can only be one Aka but Petracca has the pace, unpredictability and x-factor. Like aka and Dustin Martin doesn't have the tank to run on the ball all day but is more damaging forward anyway.

Power - is Salem for me. Would back either to kick a goal from anywhere. Very flexible in where you can play them and a toughness not often associated with silky small players.

Nigel Lappin - Stretch is our closest but doesn't have the penetrating kick. I like Stretch but he is no Lappin.

What he have over Brisbane

Gawn - compared to Keating, Gawn is a match winner. Can influence game with marks around the ground and tap work is poetic rather than just a thump forward.

Hunt - he is our Andrew McLeod of 97 and 98. Players like this are unique. Brisbane didn't have one.

 

 

 

 

[Adam The God 30,172]

It's great to hear a bit of hype coming our way, but at about this time last year, David King was saying the Bulldogs would slide. He really is a mug.

[dee-tox 4,835]

Guy in newspaper states an opinion. Demonland shoots messenger even though many agree!

Relax, Many pundits will say many things. Some may be true. Some speculation. Some wrong. Take it with a grain of salt and you'll enjoy the ride much better. 

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Oh no, people are talking us up again.

This is the 2011 preseason all over again?!?

[At Least I Saw a Flag 5,225]

Never liked King as a player. Sniper.

However, he turned up to my son's Auskick (years ago). He was really good with the kids. I rated that.

On that topic, Richo turned up another time. Needless to say he was a ripper.

Lance Whitnall another time. He was totally clueless, and had no ability to interact with the kids at all. And certainly looked like he was doing it under sufferance.

Garry Lyon turned up another time to hand out trophies or certificates at Auskick (about 2000). His attitude was appalling; had "I wish I wasnt here" written all over his face. In the circumstances, he did neither himself, nor the kids any favours. He was my favourite player. That performance and subsequent behaviour ... hmmm

Edited March 4, 2017 by bingers
grammatical error

[pinkshark 950]

David.  King.   Is.   A.  Penis.

[btdemon 482]

We need to find some more. Vince, Jones and Lewis won't be there or at their best when we are a serious flag prospect. I still haven't written off Trenners. I think he can be more than depth playing at Casey most of the time. People forget. He is tough and footy smart. VDB and Harmes have skill and decision making problems but certainly add toughness. We can thank Roos' philosophy for recruiting this midfield group. Some added speed would be nice though. Joel Smith certainly has some and tackles ferociously. I hope he can build the necessary skills and awareness to play in the middle eventually. We do have significant depth but the quality of the depth tails off after the top seven - Jones, Viney, Lewis, Tyson, Oliver, Brayshaw, Salem. (I don't yet count Petracca as a true mid). Then we have Harmes, Trenners, Bugg, Kennedy, VDB, ANB. I don't know much about Maynard but he looks tough and strong. There are no soft mids in this list. Traditionally we have had a number of skilful but softish mids own our list. Think, Yze, Bruce, Travis etc. There are none now and we can at least be confident that 'bruise free' footy is a thing of the past. I'm very thankful for that. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by btdemon

[Redleg 40,872]

15 hours ago, bingers said:

 

Garry Lyon turned up another time to hand out trophies or certificates at Auskick (about 2000). His attitude was appalling; had "I wish I wasnt here" written all over his face. In the circumstances, he did neither himself, nor the kids any favours. He was my favourite player. That performance and subsequent behaviour ... hmmm

There are many reasons I regard Robbie as our best ever player, one of the nicest guys ever to don the red and blue and that you could meet and still mourn his passing, while at the same time hardly ever giving Garry Lyon a fleeting thought.

[At Least I Saw a Flag 5,225]

33 minutes ago, Redleg said:

There are many reasons I regard Robbie as our best ever player, one of the nicest guys ever to don the red and blue and that you could meet and still mourn his passing, while at the same time hardly ever giving Garry Lyon a fleeting thought.

Regleg. I qualify my earlier statement. Lyon was my favourite player during the period that Robbie wasn't playing!!

I totally agree with you. No one comes close to Robbie (RIP).

 

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

On 3/3/2017 at 8:09 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Any other info, for those of us who don't read/subscribe to the HS.

As coincidence would have it just before you started this thread I had posted this to the Gus Brayshaw thread: "Our midfield is scary good:  Viney, Brayshaw, Oliver, Tyson, Salem, (potentially Petracca).  Collectively, they remind me of the Lions midfield of the early 2000's: Black, Voss, Akermanis, Power".

You could almost match them up

• Voss:  Oliver/Viney - tough as
• Black:  Brayshaw/Salem - silky
• Akermanis: Petracca - strong, knows where the goals are.
• Power:  Tyson - quietly gets the job done.

Notice there are more Dees players than Lions...as I said our midfield is scary good!

We could easily have a few Brownlow medalists in our lot - if they don't take votes from each other that is. 

Just as long as they deliver us a flag or two or three!

No pressure of course

They're nice looking comparisons Lucifer but i feel we are at least 1 QUICK silky player short, both on the outside and inside. We are tough and solid on the extraction side no doubt about it and should win our fair share of games by winning the clearance count substantially. And will. But silky and quick on the inside/outside by foot is what we still lack a little IMO  ...subject to some of the youngsters stepping up who 'might' fill these roles.

Need more accuracy by foot hitting targets on lead and kicking a few extra goals on the run (or from marks i50). Forcing the opposition to use valuable resources covering these players in their match ups instead of us covering their's. The exisiting seniors, maybe Lewis excluded as i haven't watched his finish closely enough over the years, still tend to bomb the ball a little too often coming i50.

I felt last year we were knocking on the door of the top 6 mid fields but we'll need to see a big step up by Trac (very likely but he will also be used a fair amount up forward), Clarry (silky by hand....maybe not so with feet...yet), Gus (??) and Salem (more likely than Gus but no g'tee) if we're to solidify this progress or improve on it.

We know what we're going to get from the likes of the Jones boy, Iron Mike, Lewis, Viney and occasionaly Mr Vince when he gets a run there. What will be interesting will be the degree of development of the youngsters. To see how far they've come or might go as the year progresses. It's these youngsters and the addition of Lewis that will probably determine the fortunes of our mid field and our likelihood of playing finals and possible success in them, this year and beyond.

P.S. I nearly forgot JW. He might also be asked to play a significant and important role through here this year. Could this be what Goody is hoping to groom from him as a bonus addition to our mid field stocks i wonder? The Silk on the outside coming i50 on a more regular basis than last year? The missing ingredient! With Trac and Salem also playing decent roles in this area on rotation.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Rusty Nails