Measured and precise disposal by foot, neat and compact, cool under pressure.
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Sam Cumming is a midfield/forward prospect from South Australia with a versatile skill set. He’s strong overhead for his size which allows him to present as a marking target in the forward 50 or around the ground, he cracks in at contest and stoppage and possesses finishing skills on the outside. A prospect that many will be keenly watching in 2025, he appears to have the attributes needed to have his name in the first round conversation.
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Except we hardly used Tsatas or Hobbs in the first team, let alone in the middle. Their development should provide the required depth.
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So 184cm is now midget? Nice how you skipped Durham, Tsatas and Perkins.
The whole versatility/kicking thing is misleading as well as I’ve already said it’s different if they bring more than clearances to the table.
I like those guys, but having those extra two blokes does not make our midfield group anywhere close to elite. its still way too early to call on whether they will be successful or not. Hobbs’ development has stalled and Tsatas still hasn’t put it all together yet.
Part of this clubs issues over the years has been placing too much faith in high-end draft picks. We need to keep bringing fresh faces in the midfield and keep our options open.
Of course we need to keep bringing guys in, but we also need to play the guys we bring in when we have injuries etc to build our depth.
I’d say any new guys we bring in now won’t be seen for a couple of years. The guys who will make a difference to our depth (and possibly more than depth) next year should be Tsatas, Hobbs, Setter field etc.
A (centre square) midfield group might include
Parish, Tsatas, Caldwell, Merrett, Hobbs, Shiel, Setterfield, Perkins, Durham, Martin.
That’s probably ok for Rd 1, but as soon as a few get injured we’re going to end up thin, even with Tsatas and Hobbs expected to play more. In 2 or 3 years that group will potentially be missing Parish, Merrett, Shiel and Setterfield.
There may be some replacements already on the list, but we can’t be sure, and either way we need more, and more quality.
So my comment would be. Yes we have a couple more to add to our midfield depth next year, and no that doesn’t mean we will be stacked for 2027 onwards which is what we should be looking at with next year’s draftees. I would absolutely be trying to draft the best mid in next year’s draft. Midfields win flags. Ours isn’t good enough in either depth or quality at this point.
Little bit of Tyson Stengle about him, like.
They definitely impact depth. On the quality front, most of the draftees from 2019 onwards are still uncertainties, midfield or elsewhere.
But our midfield did pretty well without a fit Parish until Durham & Caldwell started tapering off. And outside of Merrett pretty much every player is a clearance player. Getting another one (currently) looks like a waste.
Obviously a lot may change by October next year.
Death riding melbourne for dyson sharp
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That is more players than we’d play in the firsts, and leaves out Duursma, Roberts and the 2024 draftees (and maybe Cox). With those players you listed plus the ones I added, before injuries there will be quite a few in the VFL.
I deliberately caveated it “centre square mids”.
But you absolutely need “quite a few in the VFL”. The question is who those end up being.
But if it’s centre square only, we only play 4-5 and you listed 10 (although that includes Martin…), plus the new draftees. So, we’ve still got way more than necessary for the firsts (without injuries).
4-5 + rotations. I reckon you need 7-8 in the firsts, then another 4-5 in the 2s who can slot in. The draftees (if they’re mids) are a couple of years from helping much. That’s fine with where we’re at, but by the time you can slot them in (and you’re going to want to be contending) you’ll need to replace a few who are currently out best players.
4-5 in the on-field midfield? In what world?
Say we ditch Shiel & Setterfield at the end of the year and replace Hobbs with a quality BBM who can rotate either forward/back (trade up the draft order if we need to, we have the picks) and that’ll give us a pretty ideal midfield mix in the 23 IMO.
Merrett, Parish, Durham, Caldwell, Tsatas & a versatile BBM to take over from Merrett in a couple of years. Gives us a better balance with few bigger bodies to go with the smaller types.
I don’t really see it with Sharp. Looks like a poor mans JHF…?
I wouldn’t say he’s like JHF myself. Perhaps a taller Rowell with better disposal? But not as crazy intense as Rowell.
His big thing is his ability to hunt both the man and the ball in contests and stoppage. He’s a prolific tackler, and his movement and IQ/craft around stoppages always seems to have him in the right place at the right time.
@Aceman has been watching him for years as Dyson is his mates son, so he might be able to give us a better description of his game.
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I’ve seen a lot of him since the age of 15 when i first spotted him playing at gosch’s paddock in a rep game and he absolutely dominated. He’s typically a mid that is always busy, but like noober says, he’ll likely be a small forward at afl level due to his height. I rate his kicking as good but not elite, he is innovative with it and typically has nice touch. Like a lot of little fellas, the smaller ball drop to foot seems to help in being good kick. A natural footballer.
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Body shape similar to David Rodan? He gonna want some tricks at that height.
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You need rotations.