Adding to our long list of predicaments going into 2020 is the set-up of our midfield.

Currently we have:

Inside: Viney, Harmes, Oliver, Brayshaw, Jones, Sparrow 

Outside: Vandenberg, Kolodjashnij, Baker, Langdon?, Amon?, ANB, Potential draftee (Ash/Young/D.Stephens), Salem

Blokes who can roll through: Petracca, Salem, Melksham, 

So what's our set-up going to look like next season? I think Petracca if he drops some weight should absolutely be a starting mid with his power and breakaway speed.

Viney and Harmes both can play a lock-down role however Viney is the far less versatile of the two. Harmes was tried at half-back in the last game with mixed results

Oliver is the best of the lot and I think he and Brayshaw must be in there 

I'd have Viney (tag), Petracca and Oliver on the ball, with Harmes at HBF and Gus on the bench rotating through.

Langdon and Amon (if we get them) on the wings with AVB rotating 

Also didn't include blokes like Stretch, JKH and Wagner as I'm fully expecting them to get the chop

Assuming everyone is fit for Round 1 and not counting any trade/draft inclusions (other than Langdon):

B:        Jetta                        May                     Lever

HB:     Kolodjashnij           Frost                    Hibberd

C :       Langdon                 Viney                    Salem

HF:      VandenBerg          T McDonald         Petracca

F:         Spargo                   Weideman            Melksham

R:        Gawn                      Oliver                     Brayshaw

Int:     Harmes                  Hore                       Hannan                   Jones

Centre square:  Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw (rotation, Harmes, Trac, Milkshake)

Wings: Langdon, Salem, (back-up: Baker, KK - hopefully he can make a come back)

a pretty good group imo but we need depth/more outside talent

I'd go with assuming a few trades and stuff 

 

• Neville Jetta          Steven May            Jake Lever
• Michael Hibberd   Sam Frost              Christian Salem
• Ed Langdon            Clayton oliver        Issac Smith 
• Jake Melksham    Tom McDonald     James Harmes 
• Bailey Fritsch         Sam Weideman    Jack Viney 
• Max Gawn              Christian Petracca   Angus Brayshaw 
• Nathan Jones, Lachie Ash, Karl Amon, Aaron Vandenberg 

 

 

9 minutes ago, Patches O’houlihan said:

I'd go with assuming a few trades and stuff 

 

• Neville Jetta          Steven May            Jake Lever
• Michael Hibberd   Sam Frost              Christian Salem
• Ed Langdon            Clayton oliver        Issac Smith 
• Jake Melksham    Tom McDonald     James Harmes 
• Bailey Fritsch         Sam Weideman    Jack Viney 
• Max Gawn              Christian Petracca   Angus Brayshaw 
• Nathan Jones, Lachie Ash, Karl Amon, Aaron Vandenberg 

 

 

Like your thinking Viney in the pocket.  In the old days he would have been a second rover having explosive bursts on the ball and a tough proposition for any back pocket.

With a preseason I full expect Viney to bounce back to better form and it's time to get Petracca in to the midfield, he should be a mid/forward not the other way around.

There's enough minutes and match ups to work with all of Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw and Harmes playing through the centre square. One week you might use Harmes at half back, another it might be Petracca forward or a heavy rotation of Oliver/Viney/Brayshaw through the forward line but it can all be done.

Trade for Langdon and that's one wing sorted, then it's a matter of seeing how the list shapes up for the other wing.

Viney doesn't have enough tricks when sent forward. He is not that smart with ball in hand and his goal sense isn't killer either. He's of most value when he is going fullbore at the coalface which means stints on the bench to get his break.

Clayton, Petracca and Gus can all play forward and have attributes that suit a forward role. Strong overhead and genuine goal sense. Harmes has the capacity to play at either end although his positioning let's him down a lot at times.

Just as important as our starting midfield six will be what we do on the half-forwardline and half-backline imo. We've been playing inside mids in those positions for the best part of three years.

Langdon doesn't excite me but obviously you'd prefer him to Jones or Brayshaw on a wing.

I want Papley/Bolton or Higgins/Smith to add to that mix.

We need to go hard, the comp waits for nobody and teams rise and fall every year now. Gone are the days of bottoming out to win a premiership. 

I await eagerly the trade period.

Edited September 2, 20195 yr by stevethemanjordan

If the reports of Trac being upset at not getting more midfield time are true, the challenge for him over summer is to drop a bit of weight (not at the expense of strength) and really build his tank. IMV he's at a critical point in his career where a real A grader would step up and fulfill his potential.

If he wants to play more of a midfield role, its time to rise to the challenge!

In addition to a new, lean, mean Trac, I'm hoping Burgess works on Clarry's power. They guy is a bull, and if he didn't look to give the hands all the time could very easily become a powerful, break free of stoppages and kick long mid ala Danger and Martin.  

15 minutes ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Viney doesn't have enough tricks when sent forward. He is not that smart with ball in hand and his goal sense isn't killer either. He's of most value when he is going fullbore at the coalface

Agree. Viney's focus should be shutdown. Did a good job on Cunnington in the last round and there are other examples. He doesn't have tricks, period. Forward or mid he's not overly creative, quick or accurate with his disposal. What he is good at though is nudging, niggling and crunching tackles.

Lost a yard of pace and a little strength this year though, hopefully that comes back. 

I prefer Jones on a HFF if desperate. At least he's a chance to kick a goal when in and around the 50 

6 minutes ago, Good Lord George said:

In addition to a new, lean, mean Trac, I'm hoping Burgess works on Clarry's power. They guy is a bull, and if he didn't look to give the hands all the time could very easily become a powerful, break free of stoppages and kick long mid ala Danger and Martin.  

Agree on this as well. If Trac can lift his endurance he'll be a weapon in the middle. Nearly impossible to tackle, upper body strength to get his arms free and kicks like a mule. 

Viney should tag, wether that is in the midfield or on a damaging hbf. 

Brayshaw should be in the guts always, Oliver too, Harmes, Trac, Salem also swinging in there.

25 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

If the reports of Trac being upset at not getting more midfield time are true, the challenge for him over summer is to drop a bit of weight (not at the expense of strength) and really build his tank. IMV he's at a critical point in his career where a real A grader would step up and fulfill his potential.

If he wants to play more of a midfield role, its time to rise to the challenge!

Oath.

If he wants full-time midfield minutes he needs to be leaving the coaches no other option but to play him there.

Starts on the track.

6 minutes ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Starts on the trac

I couldn't resist bro...

My issue with Viney is he actually upsets the midfield set up quite a bit, some mids make the guys around them better, Viney has the opposite effect. he attacks the ball hard but other than that and a burst of speed doesn't offer much. at least up forward he could chase and tackle and pressure. 

our midfield mix looks so much better when it's Brayshaw, Oliver and Harmes, and Petracca rotating through.

Don't forget a bloke by the name of Sparrow. He could fit  into our inside mix next season.

if they were all fit i'd probably go with the following,

Inside mids- Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca(Fwd)

Wings- Salem, Langdon

inside/outside rotations- Harmes, Vandenberg, Sparrow(HBF)

Petracca should play more minutes through the guts next year, close to a 50/50 split Mid/Forward would be good and help keep him involved in the game, and as a scoring option. thought he was under utilised on ball this year with the others not really setting the world on fire there most of the year.

Salem to play an outside mid role where he can use his quick kicks under pressure to good use and link up the play.

Langdon, sounds like its a done deal, he can play as the fat side Winger to use his running power to good effect.

Harmes and Vanders off the bench rotating through wings/on ball/tag/forward as needed.

and play Sparrow off half back flank with brief stints either on ball or through the wing.

 

 

 

can we stop putting Viney in a forward pocket? He will never play there

3 hours ago, Patches O’houlihan said:

My issue with Viney is he actually upsets the midfield set up quite a bit, some mids make the guys around them better, Viney has the opposite effect. he attacks the ball hard but other than that and a burst of speed doesn't offer much. at least up forward he could chase and tackle and pressure. 

our midfield mix looks so much better when it's Brayshaw, Oliver and Harmes, and Petracca rotating through.

I have been shouting from the rooftops about Viney in the Fwd Pocket. WOuld make others walk taller because of his strngth and willingness to attack the ball. He would ease the pressure on our defence because our lack of forward pressure lead ot our defence being swamped too often.

Petracca in the guts would provide someone with his vision and hands to clear the ball out better.

Geez our midfield looks bad on paper all of a sudden. You'd have to try Salem in there in pre season games for some polish. Otherwise we have no great ball users in there or anyone with breakaway pace.

2 hours ago, billyblanks35 said:

Geez our midfield looks bad on paper all of a sudden. You'd have to try Salem in there in pre season games for some polish. Otherwise we have no great ball users in there or anyone with breakaway pace.

If we rotate Tracc, Melksham and Salem through the middle we potentially get better breakaway pace and ball use out of the middle. The reverse of this is we need to develop more versatile roles for the current insiders. Oliver can play forward and Harmes can play wing/half forward. Brayshaw needs to develop another string to his bow. 

I still think a great midfield coach could get a lot more out of having a dominant ruckman and Oliver with the quickest hands in the competition. The great Hawthorn midfields always seemed to have time and space to gain possession with clean hands, then flick it around to someone in the clear and moving forward. Mitchell, Lewis and co didn’t have great pace but could move the ball quickly to Smith or Hill on the outside. 

On 9/2/2019 at 3:27 PM, Collar-Jazz-Knee said:

Assuming everyone is fit for Round 1 and not counting any trade/draft inclusions (other than Langdon):

B:        Jetta                        May                     Lever

HB:     Kolodjashnij           Frost                    Hibberd

C :       Langdon                 Viney                    Salem

HF:      VandenBerg          T McDonald         Petracca

F:         Spargo                   Weideman            Melksham

R:        Gawn                      Oliver                     Brayshaw

Int:     Harmes                  Hore                       Hannan                   Jones

No love for Fritsch forward?  <Spargo?

10 minutes ago, monoccular said:

No love for Fritsch forward?  <Spargo?

I realised after I missed him.... yes 100% Fritsch ahead of Spargo.

On ‎9‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 4:41 PM, Moonshadow said:

If the reports of Trac being upset at not getting more midfield time are true, the challenge for him over summer is to drop a bit of weight (not at the expense of strength) and really build his tank. IMV he's at a critical point in his career where a real A grader would step up and fulfill his potential.

If he wants to play more of a midfield role, its time to rise to the challenge!

what is this annoying myth Petrraca is carrying extra weight?. reports have been his skin folds etc ar excellent. his work rate and attitude are excellent. yes work on the tank but its annoying these comments are made but based on what ? if Dusty couldn't run all day then you'd be saying well its because hes fat.