I’ve outlined the issues i have with our list in the offseason. Also our drafting and what not, I don’t have much issues with the plan itself, just the players we have being capable of enacting it.
2-3 years from now we don’t have jobe, kelly, goddard, myers, thats 3 big bodied players that can get the ball rolling, this is regardless of the opinions i have about jobe and myers disposal. I was a huge advocate a few years ago when it came out melbourne were offering a first round pick for myers for us to take it. I was spewing when we took morgan and redman over a couple players in that draft (yes that includes mathieson).
Really our gameplan screams of pep’s tiki taka at manchester city last season, except he has the resources and ability to turf all of those players and get the ones he wants for his plan. our game plan suits everyone except the midfield, it suits the forwards (raz, joe, walla, green, stewart, colyer). it suits defenders (hurls, mckenna, mcgrath, kelly, gleeson), but half the midfield don’t have the skills to enact it in terms of disposal (myers, jobe, heppell).
These 3 players have severe deficiencies in terms of kicking, myers is the prodical, grab ball turn kick it 40 metres up 30 down field, jobe doesn’t trust his kicking and after a renaissance got it to acceptable for the style of footy 5 years ago. Heppell has never had penetrating and direct disposals, he is hospital loopy kicking central. They also aren’t the players you want trying to stop the other teams mids when they got the ball because pace is not a thing here. For mine hepp would be a very good HB General floating around and directing play/intercepting other teams attacks. Myers i’ve written off, jobe plays out the year.
So our midfield is left with parish, zmerrett, and zaharakis (this weeks listed team). zach has been carrying the defensive responsibilities of the team for the whole season, and as you saw last game hes wearing the costs for this. parish has been ‘enhancing his game’ in the forward line when hes a much more midfield valuable contributor than myers for me and his best game was when zach went down (2nd time vs collingwood) and parish stepped up and bossed the midfield. And zaharakis, who many say isn’t going to reach the heights we expected, and gets tagged out of games easier than JJ,and lets be honest zaka doesn’t do defensive pressure too well.
so whats the issue? we have no one to replace/fix/mask the deficiencies of the midfield.
begley? played midfield half a season in his draft year and was super unfit for most of his juniors gonna need at least 3 seasons imo.
Mutch? decent disposal and can read the play well but has nothing like pace that we need to compete with the best midfields.
clarke? kicking looks physically painful for him.
what else have we dafted lately?
redman? a utility thats swung around between HFF and HBF in the vfl? not really showed much in the games i’ve seen and just seems to have average at best disposal. (reports lately that hes been super consistent and improving).
Morgan? overcooked tinned spaghetti hamstrings.
The issues is that theres nothing that can come in the correct the issues i see with the team, and it’d be unfair for those players who have been forced as a square peg into a round hole to even get it in their first attempt.
With the players i’ve mentioned too, I only see begley and mutch really making it in the future, but mutch needs to get bigger, and begley the tank.
So yes i don’t think we’ll be that good going forward because our draft sanctions and drafting strategy since then hasn’t been much help to rebuild the glaring issues on our list demographics.
I see 2 needs in the next 4-5 years, KPPs (hooker and hurley will be getting on and we need to start grooming them soon) and midfielders, and i think we’ll always go best available tall over midfielders because of the philosophy disco was taught by sheedy, unless the talls are that woeful not even the wackiest phantom drafter from big footy would pick one at pick 1.
