He just seems a bit underwhelming to me, not bad but just lacks the good stuff, should give him time from his injury and youth
Figured someone of a similar height/build might make a better comparison. Didnāt see any qualifiers in your below statement?
Touk Miller has only taken one more mark than Andy this year. Guess he doesnāt work hard enough?
Or just maybe, marks are a terrible stat to use to try and judge a midfielders workrate.
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We need to calm down. There were periods in 2020/21 when he looked absolutely fantastic. He combined exceptionally well with Merrett and Parish and we were all lauding how much of an asset his run and delivery was. Clearly the injuries have been a speedbump and his confidence has taken a hit while bad habits (i.e. not running hard enough and panic kicking) have crept into his game. He has the tools to be a good midfielder and we know if we deployed him as small defender heād be excellent. Heās still young enough to grow with our up and coming players, if coached well (massive caveat at Essendon I know) to be a key part of our future. Letās reserve judgement for a couple of years. Reality is heās not getting traded unless he through some crazy turn of events wants out at the end of this year.
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I remember when we drafted him I was disappointed because I wanted clug. I was encouraged in his first year by what I saw but not enough to make me change my mind. Then in Rd 1 2018 v Adelaide he had some scintillating moments in the last quarter which really made me sit up and take notice and rethink things.
Sadly those moments have proven too few and far between and I feel his kicking and decision making has gotten worse and more problematic every year.
He diosnāt seem to be able to quite harness his strengths as a player nor significantly improve his weaknesses.
I think part of the problem has been that his last two seasons have been interrupted by injury but also heās playing in a midfield that is dreadfully imbalanced. we canāt figure out how to fit 4 Rovers ( parish McGrath shiel and Merrett ) into our on-ball brigade.i think of that lot parish is the most pure centre man and Shiel probably the closest to ruck rover but playing all of Merrett parish and Shiel together just flat out didnāt work.
Weāre now trying to find other roles for McGrath and Shiel to play when they arenāt on the ball but as soon as injuries strike or we are in trouble McGrath gets thrown around. To my eye heās played half back, half forward, on ball and tagger so far this season. Itās hardly a surprise his form is a bit all over the place.
We need to settle him down a bit but we also desperately need to find a reliable deputy or 2 for stringer. Caldwell and hobbs show promise as strong combative inside players but I suspect theyāll always be punching slightly above their weight. I still think we need to invest a bit more heavily in Langford as an on baller but heās another who has probably suffered a bit for a lack of role consistency. I thought he looked the best heād ever looked as a centre square player last year in the middle of the year and then promptly got injured and has barely played since.
Regardless, back to Andy. Thereās a good footballer inside Andy McGrath, itās up too the coaching staff to get it out of him. I still strongly suspect that his best footy will be at half back if we settle him there once Merrett gets back and assuming we have no further serious midfield injuries. Given Redman and hindās form of late itās not too hard to imagine dropping one of them to accommodate Andy.
That said a midfield of parish McGrath and Merrett isnāt one weāve seen a lot of and it could have potential if we could get Langford to support them around ground from a wing or half forward.
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I thought the sameā¦ until I rewatched the game last night ( actually a really fun game to watch after quarter time). He does nothing to stop Petracca, who simply had an off night.
The coaches swing him to Oliver at half time, after they correctly recognise Petracca is off. Oliver proceeds to give him a bath, having about 13 touches in the quartee and about 6 inside 50s. He gets so much of a bath that the coaches take him off Oliver at 3 quarter time, as whatās the point.
I donāt think either Andyās running patterns are good enough or he isnāt fit. In that third quarter Oliver is everywhere and Andy is miles behind him. Heās also barely getting involved in link up play atm, and you barely see him running to make options. Compare him to Parish, and you can tell his running capacity is miles off him.
Heās got an easy run of opponents coming up so hopefully he can improve quickly. Heās someone who needs to needs to work it out asap, as Hobbs is breathing down his neck
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They didnāt. Truck specifically stated after the match that Andy was on Trac and Caldwell was moved to Oliver.
I thought the same until I rewatched the game.
Rewatch the third quarter (if you can), the commentators talk about the switch.
Petracca has 0 touches for most of the third, until he kicks that goal - when he had no opponent
I am not thinking anything, I am taking what the coach said they did. Sometimes there is cross over, something switches for short periods, but for the most part Andy was on Trac.
As for the comms, half the time they donāt even know what just happened and have to watch the replay to get the call right, the other half of the time they carry on about something irrelevant, like the pies they are eating. They wouldnāt know who played on whom if they stood right in front of them.
Iām literally saying a watched the replay last night, and thatās what happened.
Do you have Kayo? Literally watch the first 10 minutes of the third quarter
I remember seeing McGrath matching up on Oliver at stoppages for a bit in the third, didnāt notice how long that lasted.
It lasts the entire third, then the coaches take him off him at 3 quarter time, as Oliver is doing what he wants anyway.
Itās actually a positive for the coaches. We criticise them for not making changes during the game - but in this game they
(1) put Andy on who they thought would be the most dangerous player in Petracca
(2) see Petracca is having an off night and instead Oliver is the best player on the ground, so they move Andy to Oliver
(3) see that Andy isnāt stopping Oliver at all, so correctly take him off him at 3 quarter time
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In McGrathās defence, even if he was matched up on Oliver, Oliver does that to just about every other opponent he gets too.
Heās had 30 or more disposals 58 times in a 127 game career to date.
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It highlighted to me how far off Andy currently is from the top midfielders.
Oliver only has eyes for the ball and works so hard when he doesnāt have it. Andy gets stuck in no manās land too often
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Think both of you are misreading what happened.
McGrath did apply a pressure game to Petracca in the first half. Successfully. And letās leave the Petracca was off excuses alone - heās still notorious for dropping right off if the gameās not going his way.
What caught us out was Melbourne taking Petracca out of the midfield completely in the third quarter, and playing him forward.
Which left McGrath somewhat stranded, rather than being deliberately put on Oliver man on man.
So itās more a breakdown of our āsystems basedā mid set up when one component, McGrath, is used as a āman on manā player. Too easy for the opposition to throw a spanner in the works.
And we werenāt quick enough to respond with our own midfield changes.
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No youāre wrong. Can you even watch just the first 5 minutes of the third quarter? (If you have Kayo)
From the first centre bounce, Andy takes Oliver at the stoppages, with Stringer lined up on Petracca.
If you scroll to the moment where 16 min are left in the 3rd, thereās a literal shot of Andy following Oliver to the stoppage after the ball goes out of bounds. Cutler lines up with Petracca instead
We were proactive and made the correct change, but Andy couldnāt stop Oliver from doing what he wanted
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Funny.
Petracca said Andy did a good job.
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Petracca seems like a pretty humble guy and respects his opponents. Thought he spoke well after last yearās match too.
Like heās going to say ānah Andy was useless, I just had an off nightā
Duh
I did.
We just have different interpretations of what happened.
Youāre focused on bagging an individual player.
Iām more interested in how our systems broke down or were out coached.
And my interpretation, apart from aligning with our coaches & Petraccaās own comments, leaves room for improvement.
Rather than dealing in absolutes that take us nowhere. But if it makes you feel betterā¦ā¦.
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The stats and influence speak for themselves.
He didnāt have to say anything.
Petracca went nearly the entire 3rd quarter without having a touch and Andy wasnāt playing on him. Yes the stats do speak for themselves.
You said in your initial response said that we responded to the shock on Dees moving Petracca forward for the third quarter.
I was simply saying that Petracca did start midfield for the third quarter, so that wasnāt true. In addition, we had already decided to move Andy onto Oliver
Anyway im done 