34 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

Who’s Dawn?

He's the guy coming after Gawn.

If Gawn can start jumping over blokes and tapping to offensive positions, we don’t need bulls.

We needed bulls because Goody wanted contest ahead of all else

1 hour ago, chook fowler said:

Who’s Dawn?

.. and what happens when Dawn breaks?...

3 hours ago, TRIGON said:

I’m liking the look of Other - but then he is a brother from another mother.

Evasive isn’t he. Couldn’t even capture his picture

2 hours ago, sisso said:

I agree, look at the Hawks. Jai Newcombe aside in parts they did not have a single dominant mid for most of last season but a large group of dynamic players who can rotate through there, playing an attacking style with elite speed and running power. It will take a while to get there for us but I think this is more the way the game is trending, Geelong have a similar setup as well.

Not quite right...There is a reason the Hawks were after Merrett. Class still counts in the midfield.

Geelong is going hard for Butters, Danger ran out of puff by the last game

Both their current setups got them there but didn't win them the flag.

3 hours ago, sisso said:

I agree, look at the Hawks. Jai Newcombe aside in parts they did not have a single dominant mid for most of last season but a large group of dynamic players who can rotate through there, playing an attacking style with elite speed and running power. It will take a while to get there for us but I think this is more the way the game is trending, Geelong have a similar setup as well.

I actually think it’s the opposite with your point. The Hawks didn’t win it because they didn’t have a star midfielder and won’t win it this year because they lack one. Day could be that player, but his body broke down yet again. They went after Merrett because they needed a star midfielder.

Brisbane have been the dominant team for three seasons now. They had a dual Brownlow medalist in their midfield and multiple other midfield stars in Mcluggage, Ashcroft, and Bailey.

This year I’ll eat my hat if Gold Coast, Brisbane or Sydney don’t win the flag. Their midfields are stacked with stars and brand of footy is irrelevant.

I find all the talk of the “modern game” and speed humorous at times. Fact is when the whips are cracking in finals, contest is king. Fancy quick game styles might get you to finals, but when the intensity lifts it becomes chaos and a contest. Brisbane just won a grand final in romping fashion by controlling clearances and contest. I believe we made the right choice moving on the players we did and to change the way we play, but contest is still king and we won’t be competitive until we develop or acquire our next contested midfield superstar. I believe it’s Langford, but still years away.

57 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

I believe it’s Langford, but still years away.

Add Bailey Humphrey into that class too

Edited February 12Feb 12 by John Demonic

5 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

I thought he was poor last year although that wasn't his fault. As I said a natural winger & will be very surprised if he makes it as a mid.

Outside mid. Will have kozzy, Langford, Steele, Culley to do the inside work. He will be on the outside. That’s modern footy. Not Goodwin running three inside mids and making the game a Friday with contested possession. The game has moved past that. That’s why we sucked for 3 years

7 hours ago, Demon_JB said:

I might be ostracised here for saying this, but I honestly think the age of a midfield group of superstars is over. The best teams are the ones that can

• Bat deep in the midfield

• Constantly rotate players through

• Keep oppositions guessing with a mix of different players in different positions at set ups

• Mix of speed, agression, grunt at different times

It worked for us in our flag year, then got exposed when teams with a much weaker midfield dominating us because they kept us guessing, and we always did the same thing and never tried different players. Just relying on our 'stars' which wasn't the way anymore.

It does not require bonafide midfield stars to win the midfield game. It requires hard running, cohesion and ability to adapt.

I disagree with this bit.

We didn't get exposed by weaker midfields. We got exposed by our inability to convert clearance and territory to scores.

When you're playing territory the way we played it, you're essentially trying to score when it's 18v18 in your attacking half of the ground. Makes it very difficult and even harder when you don't have great ball users - something we've tried to address with Langford and Lindsay.

Conversely, weaker midfields like Collingwood's would have space in behind when they did win clearance.

I do think it's important to have a diverse mix of attributes in the midfield though, particularly post 2023. You need pace and good ball use.

As for keeping the opposition guessing, I think it depends on the type of game you want to play. Because if you're keeping the opposition guessing, you might also make your own team mates double guess.