Blue Sombrero wrote:
Navy Blue Horse wrote:
Not sure what to think. Last night we generated 9 more inside 50s than a star studded midfield, and set up well behind the ball.
So what is it? Our midfield? Our forward line? The quality of ball delivered I50?
I don't think we're far off. It's just a couple of outsiders. Like someone posted last night....once we start losing the clearances like we did in the last quarter we get torched, hence the runs of goals.
Forward line with Charlie, and if we can land Papley, sorts itself out in my opinion.
Charlie keeps getting mentioned.
H has a rooted knee and hasn't played footy for two years. He will come back next year with a big doubt in his own mind as to whether he can stay un-injured.
He may not ever be able to jump like he could if the injured knee is on his take-off leg.
Even if he is OK, he will need a season to get his confidence back.
He is no guarantee.
Papley will cost too much.
Agree with that especially the Charlie part. We don't know if we will get the same athletic Charlie or a somewhat broken down Charlie. Or if he even makes it back at all.
Also agree we aren't far off. A couple of outside mids would be nice.
However, our problems run deeper than that. A couple of outside mids and a bit more class may help us get over some of these games against mid range opposition which we are currently dropping.
They wont though help us much against the top 4 in big games when the pressure cooker goes up to extreme levels.
The reason is our structures are all wrong. Our game plan appears to be too one dimensional. There is no plan b.
The way our mids deliver to our forwards is terrible. The was our forwards set up is terrible. Our goal kicking is terrible. The top teams will still break us until we fix these and we will ultimately fail.
Sheer class can only get you so far. Look at GWS. On paper have had the best list for the past 5 years but only have one grand final and a couple of prelims to show for it.
We also need to play our players to their strengths too. Has been said enough, but SPS is not a defender. He is a classy mid with quality ball use. Should be used further up the ground.
Whilst I'm not a Dow fan, he needs to play where he was drafted and at least be given an opportunity to succeed. Rather than being left to rot in the forward half. Maybe then he will get a bit more confidence in himself and show why he was so highly rated.
Yes Fisher has some qualities as a small forward, but he is another who is a mid first. He can go forward for a rest and shown that he can impact the scoreboard, but needs to spend more time in the middle.
Teague may bemoan the fact that we do not have enough insdie/outside mids, but those 3 mentioned are capable of playing that inside/outside mid role, yet he refuses to play them there.
I remember the Hughes/Rogers era where we'd draft flankers in the hope they develop into mids. Under SOS, we have drafted mids and are trying to turn them into flankers and at the same time bemoaning the lack of mids.
Makes no sense.