Stefchook wrote:
Thought we learnt a bit about how the midfield will be chosen this year on Thursday. Hewett, Cerra, Kennedy and Fogarty all got time alongside Cripps. They all win contested ball and apply defensive pressure. It's pretty clear what Dow is going to need to do, if he wants to gain a spot. Didn't really feature in the VFL write ups, but I wonder how he went with the defensive side of things?
I think what we saw is pretty close to what we will see come round 1.
Fogarty was only given a quarter. In that quarter he got a loose ball in the mid field that went to him. He blindly handballed directly to a Saints player right in front of him, then proceeded to tackle and got dragged along, almost dismissively and saints player got his handball away...with ease. That was his contested ball win, and he does apply defensive pressure.
Fogarty and Dow played 4 quarters in the VFL game. i was told by someone there applying the eye test, Dow did more than Fogarty in the VFL game, and the stats show Dow had 21 possessions, maybe more than Fogarty??
Voss gave us a hint that peripheral players are fighting for one spot against another player. The question we need to ask is Dow competing with Fogarty for a spot? I think they are different types.
I don't think we bat that deep with midfielders we can write off Dow, and I'm not a fan of Fogarty's anymore. IMO there's only Martin and Dow who could be considered for a midfield role missing from last week's praccy, with Docherty possibly played on a wing if Stocker/Boyd picked for a BP role.
I think of all those who got time alongside Cripps, question marks only apply to Fogarty.