Goodwin continues to persist with playing harmes in the back line where he struggles. He has a great pair of hands and has good pace and is best suited to a FF position IMO especially since tmac is offering nothing and we have no reliable tall options. Put him one out in the square and he will dominate, and can rotate through the mid as needed but keep him the hell away from the back line, just like fritsch was wasted there.

"Continues to persist"? It's been 2 games. Reckon we should give it more of a chance before making a definitive call.

 

I've been wasted for more than 30 seasons.

  On 25/06/2020 at 10:03, Elegt said:

Goodwin continues to persist with playing harmes in the back line where he struggles. He has a great pair of hands and has good pace and is best suited to a FF position IMO especially since tmac is offering nothing and we have no reliable tall options. Put him one out in the square and he will dominate, and can rotate through the mid as needed but keep him the hell away from the back line, just like fritsch was wasted there.

I posted something similar in another thread, James was brilliant in the guts in 2018 and kicked goals 

Suggest he plays a role locking down the midfielder resting forward, which he is ideally suited to.  He can also push off and deliver forward.  He also can rotate into the midfield.  I think people are overstating the loss of playing him back.  I can see real value in this concept.

  On 25/06/2020 at 10:12, Lord Nev said:

"Continues to persist"? It's been 2 games. Reckon we should give it more of a chance before making a definitive call.

 

He played there last year too and struggled. Lacks the footskills and smarts to deliver off HB

  On 25/06/2020 at 11:27, Elegt said:

He played there last year too and struggled. Lacks the footskills and smarts to deliver off HB

Agree. It didn’t work in a few occasions. 
 

Harmes is best as the inside mid. Competitor.  He can rest forward. I’d start him on the bench and work through midfield rotations. 
 

midfield - Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Harmes, Brayshaw, Langdon. 

Take advantage of his strengths ... and that aint playing him off HB.

Harmes generally gut runs both ways and covers off his man well when played in the middle.  Also occasionally damages any lazy opponents he might be on when pushing forward.

One of many perplexing experiments by Goody that doesn't seem to have alot of upside but offers plenty of down.

Reminds me of last season starting chunk and Lewis on either wing on occasions. 

Smith down back also ...ughh.

Goody must have a death wish looking at some of these tactics.

Edited June 25, 20204 yr by Rusty Nails

  On 25/06/2020 at 12:21, Rusty Nails said:

Harmes generally gut runs both ways and covers off his man well when played in the middle.  Also occasionally damages any lazy opponents he might be on when pushing forward.

One of many perplexing experiments by Goody that doesn't seem to have alot of upside but offers plenty of down.

Reminds me of last season starting chunk and Lewis on either wing on occasions.   Goody must have a death wish looking at some of these tactics.

Is all this a result of us drafting a similar player type over about 5 consecutive draft years? Under Roos and now Goodwin we have brought in a plethora of contested midfield types who largely have clicked. That is good but now we don’t know where to play them all. 

The Bayley Fritsch of this year unfortunately. 

  On 25/06/2020 at 12:25, Earl Hood said:

Is all this a result of us drafting a similar player type over about 5 consecutive draft years? Under Roos and now Goodwin we have brought in a plethora of contested midfield types who largely have clicked. That is good but now we don’t know where to play them all. 

Good point and has merit but with 6 on the bench (this season anyway) surely there's enough room for plenty of mid field bottom splinters Mr Hood?

And not many of those mids are able to push forward AND score.  Not saying Harmes is a regular at this but he does have the odd success here, so why would we not want to max our scoring potential by playing him down back instead of another mid type who rarely scores?

Edited June 25, 20204 yr by Rusty Nails

If Brayshaw doesn't find some form, I'd be dropping him, giving Harmes the spot in the guts and using either Lockhart or Hibbard down back.

Still, I'd rather see Brayshaw find form and perhaps Harmes will succeed down back.  If over time, we can develop these players to sucessfully play multiple roles then, that could be a real asset.

Perhaps Goodie sees potential for Harmes to read the play well and play a role similar to Hodge did for Hawthorn or Leiws for us down back, but with some pace?

I also wounder if the rapid and somewhat exceptional ability that Rivers is demonstrating in playing as a damaging defender with pin point penetrating kicking off half back is stealing some of Harmes's thunder?

Hey Rusty I don’t think we have 6 on the bench this year but I am agreeing with you, Harmes should play a shutdown mid role and drift forward when he can because he can score. But they are struggling to fit in a number of contested mids who don’t naturally have a second string, e.g. Brayshaw, Viney, and Oliver to some extent. 

  On 25/06/2020 at 12:59, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

If Brayshaw doesn't find some form, I'd be dropping him, giving Harmes the spot in the guts and using either Lockhart or Hibbard down back.

Still, I'd rather see Brayshaw find form and perhaps Harmes will succeed down back.  If over time, we can develop these players to sucessfully play multiple roles then, that could be a real asset.

Perhaps Goodie sees potential for Harmes to read the play well and play a role similar to Hodge did for Hawthorn or Leiws for us down back, but with some pace?

I also wounder if the rapid and somewhat exceptional ability that Rivers is demonstrating in playing as a damaging defender with pin point penetrating kicking off half back is stealing some of Harmes's thunder?

We've been waiting on Gus to find form for quite a while now Balls.  Shown occasional glimpses but his disposal ...well we've all witnessed the results here.  Appears to have caught the Tommy virus.

Lockhart for Harmes pls.   He played his junior days there and reads the play as well as anyone.   Decent burst speed also.  Harmes in to the middle as the run with mid on the opps best while also punishing him by pushing forward (keeping opponent honest / fatigued as well).

  On 25/06/2020 at 13:13, Rusty Nails said:

Harmes in to the middle as the run with mid on the opps best while also punishing him by pushing forward (keeping opponent honest / fatigued as well).

I do like the thought of both Trac and Harmes in the guts.  Try containing both of those two bulls.  Trac probably is slightly stronger, but I do highly rate the bust through and burst ability of Harmes and he probably has the slight edge of pace on a lot of players as well.

Play your best mid in the middle. Not rocket science. When the chips are down and a player needs to step up - its always Harmes. Harmes, Petracca and Oliver is a hell of a midfield. Wouldn't be beat often. Harmes runs both ways, Oliver is starting to as well which is scary. 

Edited June 25, 20204 yr by KingDingAling

Harmes was really good and important in the middle in 2018, his shut down roles were absolutely critical on certain players and he forced them to be accountable on the rebound. I'm not convinced of him in defence but it is still early days in terms of the season, the proof will come at the end of the year.

Harmes was fantastic in the second half of 2018, but surely we didn't give him a 5 year contract to wander around the backline looking lost. Put him back in the middle where he belongs, running with the opposition's best midfielder, starting with Dangerfield this week.

  On 25/06/2020 at 10:03, Elegt said:

Goodwin continues to persist with playing harmes in the back line where he struggles. He has a great pair of hands and has good pace and is best suited to a FF position IMO especially since tmac is offering nothing and we have no reliable tall options. Put him one out in the square and he will dominate, and can rotate through the mid as needed but keep him the hell away from the back line, just like fritsch was wasted there.

True statements. I also like the style of Hunt as a forward because of his kicking and his leads to space that precede possession of the ball. So he is not 210cm tall - who cares? He (and Harmes) can get by (themselves) out in front, within goal range. Both have been largely wasted in their applications as 'gap fillers' on matchday. There's two leads for the midfield, right away. 

 

Shut down Joel Selwood and Tom Mitchell in consecutive finals in 2018.

   It was a brilliant move by Goody to make him a tagger , and then he goes and throws it away by moving him to half back.

 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/melbourne-tagger-james-harmes-is-the-master-of-the-dark-arts-and-he-is-ready-to-wreak-havoc-again-in-2019/news-story/1091034814ab4d2eaa28aa79efa04d34

James Harmes wasn’t Melbourne’s first choice as tagger this time last year — not even close — but now he is the most feared stopper in the game. Just ask Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Mitchell or Josh Kennedy.

Edited June 26, 20204 yr by TheKozzieExperience

  On 25/06/2020 at 16:13, KingDingAling said:

Play your best mid in the middle. Not rocket science. When the chips are down and a player needs to step up - its always Harmes. Harmes, Petracca and Oliver is a hell of a midfield. Wouldn't be beat often. Harmes runs both ways, Oliver is starting to as well which is scary. 

Yes. I am mainly advocating him as a forward because we have no contested marking targets and he can fill that role. Watch the gws game at marvel a few years ago where he dominated at FF but he is a great midfielder too.

  On 25/06/2020 at 10:12, Lord Nev said:

"Continues to persist"? It's been 2 games. Reckon we should give it more of a chance before making a definitive call.

 

Harmes has been played in the backline for nearly 2 years now and has been rotating through the wing.  He is rubbish in those two positions. Time to move him forward

He should be a tagger that's when he was playing his best footy. Problem with Adelaide is there is no one to tag. Give him 1 more game down back and if he doesn't play well play him on Cunnington the week after. 

  On 01/08/2020 at 02:07, WERRIDEE said:

He should be a tagger that's when he was playing his best footy. Problem with Adelaide is there is no one to tag. Give him 1 more game down back and if he doesn't play well play him on Cunnington the week after. 

why one more game back? plonk him at FF