Do we lack midfield depth?

[leave it to deever 16,013]

38 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

We have more quality mids than most teams, no team can cover in a mids ... we can manage with those that remain and harmes can come in and continue how he started this season in his preferred position

Tx. I really want Harmes to get more games.

Jordon has been wonderful so theres that.

Jones is getting past it.

Sparrow hasnt proved himself yet.

Gus has been good in tge middle but up and down.

We have 3 stars in Trac, Oliver and Jack but nobody can really replace one of them. 

Just want us to recruit another proven 24 year old midfielder for insurance

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by leave it to deever

[Smokey 4,146]

No we don't. 

[Demons1858 1,663]

30 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Tx. I really want Harmes to get more games.

Jordon has been wonderful so there that.

Jones is getting past it.

Sparrow hasnt proved himself yet.

Gus has been good in tge middle but up and down.

We have 3 stars in Trac, Oliver and Jack but nobody can really replace one of them. 

Just want us to recruit another proven 24 year old midfielder for insurance

 

problem is proven mids don't go to teams to be insurance and mfc don't want to pay a hefty price tag for someone to play mostly vfl until injuries occur. l think harmes in his preferred position is a completely different player and hope he comes in as he is more the viney type that provides defensive balance in the middle

Edited May 4, 2021 by Demons1858

[NeveroddoreveN 1,034]

After Oliver/Petracca/Viney i think we are actually a bit thin.

JJ can definitely play a role but he is not doing it currently as a pure midfielder, more structure based filling gaps and putting on pressure seems to be his current role.

Sparrow is improving out of site and needs experience at senior level....SHOULD be in this week.

Harmes is a bit of a worry honestly.  He racked up heap of the ball in the reserves but he just runs around chasing the ball ignoring any structure around him.  To me he does not think when he plays.  He crashes in over the top of teammates to get the same ball, gets lost in transition and lacks care with disposal.

Brayshaw i don't think has what it takes to be a pure midfielder.  Although he has had good games in the past there, he is generally just too fumbly with the ball.

Melksham is not a midfielder, he lacks the pressure required and does not seem to want to put his head over the ball.

Jones i would put ahead of Brayshaw/Melksham and probably Harmes. He can fill a role as required.

The player i would be taking a good look at in the middle is Salem.  He is clearly a heap fitter this year and his clean ball handling skills around stoppages could really free up our other mids.  I think with Rivers/Hunt it would allow us the flexibility to at least roll him through there occasionally.

 

[Ted Lasso 16,971]

No way. our midfield depth is fine. 

taking into account injuries our likely midfield rotations for this week would be 

Oliver, Petracca, Jordan, Jones, Brayshaw, Langdon, Salem, Kozzie, 

and then the two rucks. 

 

[DeeSpencer 23,318]

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

The player i would be taking a good look at in the middle is Salem.  He is clearly a heap fitter this year and his clean ball handling skills around stoppages could really free up our other mids.  I think with Rivers/Hunt it would allow us the flexibility to at least roll him through there occasionally

I’ve long been a Salem in the midfield guy but really the high half forward and high half back positions are roles that require midfielders and see players play in the middle of the field! Salem gets more disposals and with as much impact at half back as he would in the middle.

Rivers and hopefully Bowey are options to grow in to Salem’s role but I’m not in a rush to see it. Maybe a little look at Brayshaw to half back, Salem on ball, someone else to a wing could be an option if we want a small sample but it wouldn’t be a priority. 

[poita 3,667]

Absolutely we lack depth. I rate Harmes & Brayshaw higher than most, but we drop off quickly after those two.

Jordon and Sparrow are grunt players, they are never going to be top liners. You can run the likes of Pickett & Jackson through for a short term impact, but they can't play 50% or more midfield time (plus you lose their impact in other parts of the ground). The likes of Vandenberg and Melksham have zero midfield value at AFL level.

Since hitting gold with Oliver in the 2015 draft, we haven't taken nearly enough midfielders and it will catch up with us at some point.

[DeeSpencer 23,318]

1 hour ago, poita said:

Jordon and Sparrow are grunt players, they are never going to be top liners.

Depending on your definition of top liner I wouldn’t be 100% sure on that with either of those guys, but particularly Jordon.

He’s a late birth date just eligible for the draft, and his rate of improvement from years 1-3 has been quite outstanding. Clearly he’s built his tank a lot but I reckon there’s still plenty of scope with his strength and power.

He might lack the traits to be a game changer but that’s true of most mids. There’s a clear path for him to become a very solid midfielder and from there who knows. The Brownlow top 10 and AA team are full of mids who started from humble beginnings. Club best and fairests even more so.