On 01/03/2020 at 23:23, nosoupforme said:

Harmsey will perform well whatever roll he is given. Has tagged the best players  when needed and has outpointed them many times. He has become a well round footballer who reads the play well. Off halfback he will run and carry and set us up, 

He can run hard tackle as he did in the finals with 20 of the best he is solid as and most of all he has time on his side.

He learns quick. Another string to his bow.

  

Yep, get him to bring the ball to the ground and then play run-on for a teammate. 

  On 01/03/2020 at 20:05, Demonland said:

It’s been mentioned in Game Threads but hasn’t had its own discussion. 

Melbourne to move midfielder James Harmes into a new role

 Melbourne midfielder James Harmes is set to move into a rebounding half-back role in one of coach Simon Goodwin’s tactical changes for the new season.

This makes perfect sense.  Harmes played alot of time in the back half in the second half of last season and was very good. Also with the opposition's best mids often resting forward he can also nullify their impact.

  On 02/03/2020 at 01:18, Wiseblood said:

I can see why they've made the move.

Harmes is not super quick, but quick enough to go with most half forwards, and he is strong enough to go with them.  He is good overhead so he can float across to take some contested marks, and his kicking is good enough to regularly find targets by foot, although he is no Christian Salem.

I'm interested to see how they use him once the real stuff begins, but I'm confident it will end up being a positive more than a negative.

He's also good on the niggle to upset opponents, putting them off their games.

And he can play run-withs, as many half forwards will get a run through the Mids.  Taking the dangerous Forward/Mids.

With his recent 100 game celebration I just had at a look at his highlight reel.

What strikes me is his attacking run and impact forward of centre. Where does he really sit right now? Where is his best position?

  On 08/08/2020 at 00:17, Deefensive Language said:

With his recent 100 game celebration I just had at a look at his highlight reel.

What strikes me is his attacking run and impact forward of centre. Where does he really sit right now? Where is his best position?

That is incredibly sad. He was an absolute jet playing midfield and forward.

He needs to go forward as a pressure and marking forward alongside Viney. I'd give him some wing minutes in bursts too.

I know he played some half back when he first started, but stop playing him behind the ball when we know what he can do from midfield and resting forward. Absolute waste. 

Edited August 8, 20204 yr by A F

  On 08/08/2020 at 01:40, A F said:

That is incredibly sad. He was an absolute jet playing midfield and forward.

He needs to go forward as a pressure and marking forward alongside Viney. I'd give him some wing minutes in bursts too.

I know he played some half back when he first started, but stop playing him behind the ball when we know what he can do from midfield and resting forward. Absolute waste. 

Copy that AF, after watching Harmesy's highlight reel he is a natural HFF, tagger / mid fielder !!!!!!!!!!!

  On 08/08/2020 at 01:40, A F said:

That is incredibly sad. He was an absolute jet playing midfield and forward.

He needs to go forward as a pressure and marking forward alongside Viney. I'd give him some wing minutes in bursts too.

I know he played some half back when he first started, but stop playing him behind the ball when we know what he can do from midfield and resting forward. Absolute waste. 

I get the sentiment but we're struggling to find midfield minutes for Gus, let alone Harmesy.

That said, he'd definitely be worth a shot on a forward flank, particularly if Bennell continues to show no interest in tackling and committing the body.

The one thing I would say though, is that the fact that some players are not winning as much ball as they used to shouldn't automatically be seen as poor performance or as a waste. Some players can go under the radar and play their role well.

The fact that we have enough midfielders to push Harmes to the fringes, should be seen as a positive.

  On 08/08/2020 at 01:53, Cheesy D. Pun said:

I get the sentiment but we're struggling to find midfield minutes for Gus, let alone Harmesy.

That said, he'd definitely be worth a shot on a forward flank, particularly if Bennell continues to show no interest in tackling and committing the body.

The one thing I would say though, is that the fact that some players are not winning as much ball as they used to shouldn't automatically be seen as poor performance or as a waste. Some players can go under the radar and play their role well.

The fact that we have enough midfielders to push Harmes to the fringes, should be seen as a positive.

I'm talking about the wing. I wouldn't have Oliver, Petracca, Gus or Viney playing wing, but I'd have Harmes.

His ability to mark and carry the ball and a decent balance of defence and attack should make him the most likely to succeed on a wing. His kicking being not great should not hurt as much in that role which can be more metres gained than accuracy in success. The challenge for me is I dont know if he can get up and down the ground well enough and whether he has the discipline to hold position and not chase the ball. There is a wing there for the taking for someone. I do worry that his kicking paired with Hibberd in the back half will hurt us. I think you can only have one there. 

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:02, A F said:

I'm talking about the wing. I wouldn't have Oliver, Petracca, Gus or Viney playing wing, but I'd have Harmes.

Agreed. I'd like to see Harmes and Salem rotate between wing and half forward with stints on the ball.

Time to get some minutes into Rivers to see if he can free those two up with drive out of the backline. It was also Hibbo's 150th and his highlights reel was a sight to behold. Does he still have it in him to play a more attacking role with less direct responsibility for an opponent? It seems to me that he's being forced deeper and deeper.

I think/hope he will be used as a run with on Sidebottom next week...playing on the wing/midfield.

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:02, A F said:

I'm talking about the wing. I wouldn't have Oliver, Petracca, Gus or Viney playing wing, but I'd have Harmes.

Yep. Agree with that. I don't think he's a ready-made wingman but he's certainly got attributes that are better suited than the rest of our mids.

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:24, rjay said:

I think/hope he will be used as a run with on Sidebottom next week...playing on the wing/midfield.

That's where there is a place for him in the midfeild I recon - when the opposition has a dangerous player that we need to nullify or when an opposition midfeild starts to get on top.

He really should have been thrown in the guts against Port and/or the Lions.

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:23, Deefensive Language said:

Agreed. I'd like to see Harmes and Salem rotate between wing and half forward with stints on the ball.

Time to get some minutes into Rivers to see if he can free those two up with drive out of the backline. It was also Hibbo's 150th and his highlights reel was a sight to behold. Does he still have it in him to play a more attacking role with less direct responsibility for an opponent? It seems to me that he's being forced deeper and deeper.

I reckon we need to play Rivers, Lockhart and Salem in the back half with Hibbo, May, Lever and third tall (seems to be Tomlinson at the moment). I agree it'd be good to be able to play Salem up forward and wing, but I don't think either are his go. So Jones makes way for Rivers IMO.

The forward mix should be Weideman, Jackson, Fritsch, Melksham with Kozzie, Viney, Harmes and back ups like Hannan and AVB.

The main midfield mix is Oliver, Gus and Petracca with Langdon, Harmes, AVB and Tomlinson on the wings. Viney with bursts in the main midfield too.

That's 21 with Gawn. I'd look at bringing in another pressure forward. But this last position could be pressure forward or an additional wingman. Ideally, I'd have Petty or Omac playing Tomlinson's defensive position and use Tomlinson as another winger.

I don't think we're a mile away from being able to play this set up. Whether we do, that's another thing.

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:54, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

That's where there is a place for him in the midfeild I recon - when the opposition has a dangerous player that we need to nullify or when an opposition midfeild starts to get on top.

He really should have been thrown in the guts against Port and/or the Lions.

I agree to a certain extent but you can see why the coaches might be reluctant to use a tagging mid as plan A. 

I still think there's a belief that we can become a really aggressive, attacking and dominant midfield. Having a tagger in there full time definitely hinders that.

Used sparingly, It's great card to have up the sleeve.

The Lions game is a great example - shutting down Neale could have shifted the balance in our favour.

The Port game would have been wasting your time. We were gassed (or at least pretended to be) from the opening bounce.

Well, Brayshaw seems a plodder unless he’s in the middle, and Harmes seems wasted unless he’s played in the middle and forward, so f#$@ing do it, Goodwin....

  On 08/08/2020 at 02:54, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

That's where there is a place for him in the midfeild I recon - when the opposition has a dangerous player that we need to nullify or when an opposition midfeild starts to get on top.

He really should have been thrown in the guts against Port and/or the Lions.

This weekend it's Higgins...

Thought Harmes looked alright at half back against the Crows, one of his better games this yr, leave him there for the rest of the season and see if he can get some confidence back. 

Harmes is being played at half back because

a. It is increasing his skill set

b. He can go through the midfield if required

c. we have the mid sized fwd covered 

 

With Viney out now is a good opportunity for Harmes to remind them that the 2018 version is far superior and more valuable to the team than whatever they've been doing with him since.

We are not a top of the table side that has the luxury of being able to take players away from their best position to experiment with them elsewhere. 

  On 08/08/2020 at 06:30, Satyriconhome said:

Harmes is being played at half back because

a. It is increasing his skill set

b. He can go through the midfield if required

c. we have the mid sized fwd covered 

 

It's not increasing his skillset. He played a lot of footy at half back to begin his career. He's played there before and he's much more damaging through the middle of the ground and forward of centre.

His fumbling and poor kicking hasn't helped his cause across half back recently though.

As for point 'c', that's Hibbo's job.

Edited August 8, 20204 yr by A F

  On 08/08/2020 at 07:50, A F said:

It's not increasing his skillset. He played a lot of footy at half back to begin his career. He's played there before and he's much more damaging through the middle of the ground and forward of centre.

His fumbling and poor kicking hasn't helped his cause across half back recently though.

As for point 'c', that's Hibbo's job.

If you notice, he is marking up on small fwd, hence my comment about his skill set, he covers Lockhart in the absence of Nev

With Viney out, we may see him back in the midfield rotation, the coaches are fully aware of what he provides in there

Goodwin has shown no hesitation in dropping players, so we can assume Harmes is fulfilling his role, contrary to what some of the experts on here think

c. Is MFC mid size fwd spot

All I know is that I want him on Higgins all day today

I am assuming Higgins is Norths best mover and user.  Don't know other teams much.  But I do think Harmes can do a job on the oppositions best player every week,  He (Harmes) might lose a bit, but the opposition lose more.  And we can cover his midfield presence.

I see it as a win - win situation for the team   and the player !    This year anyway

Higgins and Simpkin the the danger players for them. Give them too much space and they'll kill us on the outside, especially Higgins.