Is that a trick question?
No. Iām just curious. I donāt think you need one or two stars who can take over a game on their own. I think itās better to have 5 or 6 really high quality guys who can control it or take it over between them. If you lose one itās not a disaster like it would be if say Martin went down for Richmond.
Hawthorn were much more even imo
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I really think the way you are looking at the midfield is just wrong. No other words to describe it but wrong. You are making a point, but its not the right point, and its so convoluted, long winded and tiresome.
From the above list you have mentioned, Hepp/ McGrath/ Merrett/ Parish, three of those players have easily changed the course of a game. Hepp nearly dragged us over the line against north in 2014, won the game against the hawks last year in round 1 and was instrumental in us winning round one this year. McGrath was also instrumental in the turnaround in the second half of round one this year, and believe he was important in several other games last year. Re Merrett, did you not watch last years game v Freo? ANZAC day last year and heck even Sundays game?
Hepp influences game through getting to contest after contest after contest and using his elite/ marking to impact a game when everybody has slackened off, Zach influences games through his ball use, speed and tackling tenacity, whereas McGrath has easily influenced games and swung momentum with his pace and creativity off half back.
I swear if you argue that point you just dont watch enough games.
To suggest that we have āgone down the rabbitholeā with Parish in hoping that he becomes a ālinchpinā is one of the more bizzare things I have heard come from youā¦ How on earth are we going down a rabbit hole with him? he is performing consistently and is being rewarded with more game time as a result. You seem to think that if HE doesnt become a bona fide superstar, then this consistent gametime is āwastedā becuase that time could have better been spent developing other players who may (or may not) become superstars in their own right.
Secondly, how on earth is the club even suggesting that he becomes a linchpin for us? When have we ever tried to build a midfield around Parish? Hepp and Zach have been, and always will be the cornerstones of our midfield, the midfield is built around them. Heck Iād even aruge that Myers, in the role he is currently playing, plays a more important role in our midfield than Parish at the moment.
I truly feel like you are projecting your own disappointment re Parish onto the team and the way he is playing currently, and are trying to validate your own feelings through some super fkg long winded justifications that make little to no sense.
FWIW I dont think Parish will ever become a super star player like Zach or whoever else is commonly judged to be a superstar, but hes showing great signs of being a very solid, consistent contributor, playing a role where we desperately need solid, consistent contributors, and for that reason I think dropping him at this point in time, or suggesting that his time in the team thus far has been wasted/ put into a ārabbitholeā is ludicrous.
The last thing we need is more āgamechangersā. Give me a solid inside mid who can extract a ball all day long, or a midfielder who loves to apply pressure at the contest for four solid quarters.
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I think they had game changers across every line personally.
Hey everyone, Killed Mike reckons Parish may not become elite. Letās get him!
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I think you really need to have a look at our midfield for now and the past 15 years.
we have been getting smashed there for as long as I can remember.
Yes and to ultimately suggest that it is the fault of players like Parish is wrong.
Poor ball use, inability/unwillingness to provide pressure has killed us more than anything.
āgamechangersā wont solve any of the aforementioned problems. Having nat fyfe/ dusty in our midfield, at any point over the last 15 years, wouldnt have solved its problems.
They should be easy fixes thenā¦
Leaving aside your contention, which is somewhat unprovable for now.
Heās in our best centre 4 as of right now.
If what he is now is all he ever is, itās a slight disappointment, but itās not like the team is losing out by playing him.
You hope, as we all do, that McGrath and String and whoever else improve and push the existing mids. I just donāt see why that comes down only on Parishās head, not Heppellās, or Myersā, etc.
Itās not like weāre building around a 32yo bloke who couldnāt run out of sight on a dark night and couldnāt kick more than 40m any more.
Erm no, you need to draft the right sort of players who have the aforementioned traits. If you dont draft them, then its not an āeasy fixā.
Yes, we shouldnāt try anything else
itās good that all 18 players play in the same position all game until the one single reserve comes on halfway in the third
Which is to say:
Two can be snarkyā¦
Parish is in our best starting 4. Langford, Stringer etc come in as rotations. To drop Parish out of the side, to get some of those 2nd string guys further up the rotations is a touch overkill.
In fact, the fact weāve been able to play Smith and Langford and McGrath and Stringer throigh midfield - without dropping Parish - must be blowing your mind!
Alex.
It comes down to whether you believe our midfield is good enough. If it is disregard what Iām saying!
If you believe its not, rather than argue my point put forth your own solution!
Itās my opinion and if you donāt agree with it it doesnāt bother me!
I donāt think hes progressing as well as he should for such a high draft pick.
Canāt believe heās not played on ball more. Heād be racking up 30+ games regularly if they would just play him there and not on a farking HFF and the fact that I have him in my dream team has nothing to do with this view
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I dont, i dont have a solution, but I dispute that darcy fkg parish is the main reason for the mids issues at the moment.
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I think at this stage, they are level - each having what the other does not.
Fixed
This was almost as fun as the woosha thread.
And thereās a whole 7 days till we play againā¦thank ā ā ā ā the VFL is on TV this week
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Just wait until Langford dominates the VFL and KM comes out of the woodwork again