10 hours ago, Sideshow Bob said:

Our midfield is a myth.

We have genuine bulls but not the out and out class and are severely lacking in pace - have been for a long time 

Need to get pure speed on the ball - kozzie rivers bowey need to play alongside 1 or 2 bulls only and burst out with the pill. 

It's way to dour in there 

For this reason I want Nick Watson next year. Height aside he has speed, X factor and class. Our midfield is not balanced enough and our smalls are not getting to the drop of the ball.

9 hours ago, dee-tox said:

I want a six foot two, hard running guy with outside skills that can complement Oliver, Viney and Tracc.

We don't have enough classy users on the outside. Sparrow, Jordon, ANB, Rivers, Brayshaw, etc don't do it for me. Kozzie has potential but can't get the pill

We don’t have a Rozee or Horne Francis type. Whoever was on Butters to the seconds please. 41 possessions? What were the coaches doing?

9 hours ago, 58er said:

It's a 6 day turnaround not 5.

In case we have all forgotten there are 7 days in the week and we generally work Mon-Frid and that's 5 days. 

Sunday seems to be forgotten as the 7th day!! 
 

For some reason I'd forgotten we'd played Saturday night, was thinking it was Sunday night.

9 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

We do but i don't see anyone who has genuine mid field cred that will also bring the rest at this stage.

There's only so much Tracc, Max and Viney can do.  Viney and Max decent extractors but no toe, Tracc the receiver/clearance player with some break away power.

Clarry has usually been handy to VG here when he drives out of stoppage but at the moment that aspect appears to have dropped away somewhat vs 2021/22 levels.

He was also a decent extractor but even that appears to have left him a tad in the last 3 to 4 weeks?

We lack an Anderson, Day or N Daicos type (ok so everyone wants Daicos) classy ball user with burst speed over 10 to 20 meters who can clear congestion and hit targets coming inside or direct it to advantage.

That should technically be Kozzy on occasions but he just rarely does and his forward craft also appears to be suffering as a result of the dual role being asked or am i imagining things?

Asking Kozzy to play both but no good at one and dropping off on his usual small pressure crumbing role.  That has to be sending signals to the Coach / FD surely that this is now a fail.  Get him back to doing what he does best ASAP and only bring into the mid field for minor minutes if he isnt getting his hands on it up forward.

Good points and so believe Kossie simply plays his own game ( which is good) but he needs to be more in sincere with our game plans and also wait down for crumbs and not try and take the mark of the century

To be fair he has not clunked one yet and is not good at it. He needs some discipline ( just a reminder not too heavy) as does Clarrie who has become a little wasteful agsin. Can smarten up and be more composed.

Anothrr post bemoaning that MAX and VINEY lack pace. FFS not all mids are fast ( Sam Mitchell ) and Jack is playing well in his role. As for Max I am  sure he can kick better with more practice but as for pace he is not slow for his height and it's not his job to be fast!!!!!! 
We do need a couple of players as fast outside runners or a Butters style with pace and good disposal. 
Kossie is fine in the middle but very short doses are better. 
Mids all need with Ooze to redefine their roles and positions  at centre and  boundary throw ups/ins. Last night was the same as in Brisbane of defensive disaster as Port like the Lions got goals at Will from firward stoppages.  
Finally Let's not take our 2/3/4/5 champs in the middle for granted. They all need a regrouping on their roles and positioning as we are being slaughtered on the ball due to poor planning. 
We should be top or near top on the ball but are struggling mainly due to our own planning snd game awareness. 

 

 

 

 

 

9 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

in terms of the midfield, we really missed sparrow

brayshaw is not a midfielder who suits our game style, as his ability to switch from offense to defense is very slow

petracca was clearly hobbled and couldn't get any acceleration out of the contest til after half time, and then only sporadically

Sparrow and Harmes would have been priceless last night for heavy work and some tagging. No doubt we would have won with those two putting pressure on the Port speedsters. 41 possessions and no tag at any time ? That's match losing footy esp in the last quarter. 

9 minutes ago, 58er said:

Good points and so believe Kossie simply plays his own game ( which is good) but he needs to be more in sincere with our game plans and also wait down for crumbs and not try and take the mark of the century

To be fair he has not clunked one yet and is not good at it. He needs some discipline ( just a reminder not too heavy) as does Clarrie who has become a little wasteful agsin. Can smarten up and be more composed.

Anothrr post bemoaning that MAX and VINEY lack pace. FFS not all mids are fast ( Sam Mitchell ) and Jack is playing well in his role. As for Max I am  sure he can kick better with more practice but as for pace he is not slow for his height and it's not his job to be fast!!!!!! 
We do need a couple of players as fast outside runners or a Butters style with pace and good disposal. 
Kossie is fine in the middle but very short doses are better. 
Mids all need with Ooze to redefine their roles and positions  at centre and  boundary throw ups/ins. Last night was the same as in Brisbane of defensive disaster as Port like the Lions got goals at Will from firward stoppages.  
Finally Let's not take our 2/3/4/5 champs in the middle for granted. They all need a regrouping on their roles and positioning as we are being slaughtered on the ball due to poor planning. 
We should be top or near top on the ball but are struggling mainly due to our own planning snd game awareness. 

 

 

 

 

 

And who is in charge of the midfield that can do that?

1 hour ago, Dockett 32 said:

We don’t have a Rozee or Horne Francis type. Whoever was on Butters to the seconds please. 41 possessions? What were the coaches doing?

Should've put Viney on Butters after quarter or half time. Viney wasn't on fire anyway, a shut down role would bring him into the game. Not as quick as Butters, but his physicality would prevent him getting another million disposals. 

Edited May 20, 20231 yr by Stiff Arm

They put work in to Viney who has been our most consistent mid.

Tracc nearly won the game playing a quarter on a bad ankle. Defensive intensity and set shot kicking aside I’m not too worried about his game.

Sparrow was badly missed. Pickett isn’t a midfielder, maybe not now, maybe not ever. And we desperately need his pressure forward. 

The biggest worry is Oliver who now yo-yos between the games best and worst player like he did in 2020. His added fitness is fantastic and he never stops trying but he hasn’t made any progress with his kicking or his decision making. Is he too thin now? Where’s the power to ride a tackle? Where’s the long clearing handballs that really open up space?

17 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

They put work in to Viney who has been our most consistent mid.

Tracc nearly won the game playing a quarter on a bad ankle. Defensive intensity and set shot kicking aside I’m not too worried about his game.

Sparrow was badly missed. Pickett isn’t a midfielder, maybe not now, maybe not ever. And we desperately need his pressure forward. 

The biggest worry is Oliver who now yo-yos between the games best and worst player like he did in 2020. His added fitness is fantastic and he never stops trying but he hasn’t made any progress with his kicking or his decision making. Is he too thin now? Where’s the power to ride a tackle? Where’s the long clearing handballs that really open up space?

To me Oliver's form is on the coaches. he's still an incredible player but he needs help to get the very best out of himself

9 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

To me Oliver's form is on the coaches. he's still an incredible player but he needs help to get the very best out of himself

Agree Roost it !! Get Burgo back! 
Clarry  is undisciplined at times and so is Kossie. Both need some TLC with a gentle pat  on the behind to get that 5% out of them ALL the time that is match winning not just careless handballs or futile high screamers or careless kicks for disposal or goals. 

I would like to see Rivers play more midfield. He has pace, a good kick and core strength. We have Salem in now to help cover the backline. 

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

They put work in to Viney who has been our most consistent mid.

Tracc nearly won the game playing a quarter on a bad ankle. Defensive intensity and set shot kicking aside I’m not too worried about his game.

Sparrow was badly missed. Pickett isn’t a midfielder, maybe not now, maybe not ever. And we desperately need his pressure forward. 

The biggest worry is Oliver who now yo-yos between the games best and worst player like he did in 2020. His added fitness is fantastic and he never stops trying but he hasn’t made any progress with his kicking or his decision making. Is he too thin now? Where’s the power to ride a tackle? Where’s the long clearing handballs that really open up space?

Nah. Oliver is probably the only player who'll be in the AA side based on these first 10 rounds. If you think he's our biggest worry, then you're ignoring numerous other players who are out of form.

14 hours ago, demon3165 said:

And people stop blaming the umps we lost that game full stop with dumb football, same game plan as 21 forward line entry is dysfunctional we have a kid who is getting 2 best defender instead of 3rd or fourth, we have a midfield that is one paced we will make finals but thats it if we keep going down with the same path.

If we intend to keep entering our forward line in this manner with no pressure at ground level, we will get sliced up. Simple as that.

1 hour ago, Hopeful Demon said:

Nah. Oliver is probably the only player who'll be in the AA side based on these first 10 rounds. If you think he's our biggest worry, then you're ignoring numerous other players who are out of form.

I’d like Tracc to be more consistent, stop fumbling and chase harder but Oliver is the one whose game is really out of shape. He’s our best player but also a problem when it goes badly wrong.

17 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Watching Brayshaw plodder tonight pretending to be a midfield was extraordinary. He was seriously cooked. No More of that please. We made a mistake simply by not bringing in Harmes for Sparrow to play more or a defensive role.

Going off this Port had a plan right from the very start.

Where was ours with Butters? He's rated one of the top 4 mids in the competition over the past 4 weeks and we let him just run around looking like Gary Ablett jnr.

Petracca fumbled at the most crucial of times tonight just when we needed that soft touch to get a clean clearence. Oliver is just sloppy and has zero composure. 

Time for the blow torch to go on Adem Yze now.

For unspecified reasons possibly "personal" Harmes isn't plying anywhere this weekend, so that was not an option.

Just now, monoccular said:

For unspecified reasons possibly "personal" Harmes isn't plying anywhere this weekend, so that was not an option.

harmes played at casey - one of the best mids today in terms of run and carry but burns the ball too often

In all of our loses we have been smashed in our clearances yet we have 2 xAA rucks?? Is it the rotations in the mid, yet in the 3rd qtr our best mids turned the game around, another 13 games to go so they have time to fix this but concerning as even to lower teams we have struggled 

If you watch the centre square starting points they are pretty much always the same and around the ground we have more numbers defensive side and they usually have a spare on the attacking side. 
Grundy still doesn’t have the best chemistry with our mids and that’s to be expected tbh, Max has not been anywhere near his normal dominating self post injury.

I keep trying to stay positive and hoping we get it right in the last third of the year.

Yesterday I thought we were getting good tap outs but just not connecting with the mids -which can surely be worked on

You just have to look at our past few weeks to see something up with a midfield defence.

- Noah Anderson 3 votes Best game of his life.

- Butter 3 votes Best game of his life

- Will Ashcroft 2nd AFL game - Rising star nom nom.

And we supposedly have the best midfield in the AFL. 
 

You just know that Daicos will be the first player to get 50 touches in the modern era. 

Edited May 20, 20231 yr by Gawndy the Great

5 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

harmes played at casey - one of the best mids today in terms of run and carry but burns the ball too often

I stand corrected. Thanks. 

I thought Rivers into the midfield was a thing this year.

Anb needs to go. No skills, slow and is definitely not a forward 

2 minutes ago, Tracca said:

Anb needs to go. No skills, slow and is definitely not a forward 

But but the sacrifice running??? 

14 hours ago, monoccular said:

For unspecified reasons possibly "personal" Harmes isn't plying anywhere this weekend, so that was not an option.

He played at Casey yesterday mate lol......

I have lost faith in our midfield of late to win crucial clearances. They used to be reliable when the game was on the line, but they feel flakey. Teams flick the ball out to space and we are still drawn to the contest.