See I view that as evidence that he can continue becoming a good half forward. Leading up at the ball etc is not what I want to see from an inside mid, I want to see 1st hands on the ball at a centre bounce, a breaking of a tackle, a step through traffic to release another mid running past & especially from a young mid - a heap of tackles & pressure acts against the more experienced mids you are playing on. Its not a matter of him being a mid or nothing, I & many others think he has very good promise & will be a good player for a long time, we just don’t see the right skillset for that to be in the midfield at least at this stage of his development. He may ultimately become a defender for all we know its just that right now his best footy has clearly been forward, his intensity at the close contests hasn’t seen him win much inside ball & his decision making hasn’t really looked instinctive & quick enough yet to get away with his pace which will always be an issue.
My concern is that playing him as a mid & having continued back & forth with the VFL when its not working will destroy his confidence & he fails to even become a good half forward - like what we did with Kepler.
He needs to have both sides to his game and he showed both sides in that quarter
Being dropped too often was Kepler’s problem?
I’m 99% sure we tanked in 06 by keeping him at full back.
Unlike internet coaches who are always right.
Just like McKenna people are going to eat their words over this kid.
Hey… their record speaks for itself…hang on… wait…
I don’t understand the fear of trying to develop Langford as a midfielder - why is this so difficult for people to swallow? The notion that by doing this he will somehow lose his forward nous or become a position-less football nomad is completely absurd. I am all in on this guy as a footballer. I don’t know if it will be as a midfielder or half-forward - but I’m supportive of the coaching group development strategy.
He is a forward
PLAYS STONED
I blame the #30 jumper. Or maybe it’s the locker.
Not being settled into a position he was suited to play is what I believe was a factor in Kepler’s development. I think its fair to say Sheedy tried to fit a few square pegs into round holes over the journey, sometimes it worked sometimes it didn’t. I don’t think trying to turn Kepler into Fletcher simply because they looked similar was a time it worked. I hope in developing Langford as an inside mid we don’t ruin a perfectly good half forward.
internet person 1: LACONIC
internet person 2: that doesn’t mean what you think it means.
joyness for everybody.
Everyone screams that he is slow so can’t play midfield but that is very likely the reason he isn’t going to make it as a 3rd fwd either.
Unless you are the bear in the square forwards need to be able to get separation from their defenders as well as be able to put that pressure on to lock it in.
Laverde has definitely got that straight line speed on the lead. Langford doesn’t.
As a midfielder been averaging 26 possessions in the twos, but when he plays seniors he isn’t getting anywhere near as much centre square/sitting under rucks at stoppage time that he would in twos. Hence the lower possession count.
That said 16 possessions against Watson and Heppell only getting 18 each themselves, thus not dishing much ball to our outside players. Those two were very disappointing.
Still did some good things IMO… shame he didn’t kick those two goals that should have however.
It’s hard assessing a player from TV vision alone, but he seems to lack the capacity to offer second efforts. At one point he ran past a pack ball and I waited for him to re-engage. He didn’t. He turned and watched as the Sydney on ballers wrenched it away. It’s intensity and multiple efforts at this point. Hopefully it all comes together in time.
I don’t pretend to know what the coaches know about his potential to be a quality midfielder. In the 4 games he played this year he has average 1 goal per game. Was that when he was kicking goals as a running midfielder or when he was stationed in the forward line as a lead up player? (I don’t know). I just wonder if we left him in the forward line would he become a regular 2 to 3 goal a game player? Gunston averages 2 goals per game over his career I reckon he can do that and more. James Stewart is average 1.1 goals a game for his career. Stewart looks to be on the rise so maybe we can afford to progress with the Langford as a mid.
Reminds me of Ryder.
Thread has lost the plot, err, assuming it ever had it.
As a third tall, he’s not slow. When we did play him forward, he found space , had good hands and kicked clutch goals (albeit in a shite side that rarely looked like winning) from 40 plus.
At VFL he’s been racking up 30+ and generally adds a goal or two as well. From the midfield.
Why compare him to anyone? He has to be himself and work out how to make his strengths work at AFL level long term.
I think hes tracking well. There’s no guarantee but i think there are genuine good signs as long as you look at the overall view, not just moment to moment.
Shaping as one those we hang onto for to long, obvious ability.
Impatient arnt we. What did Langers have 25 min total in the midfield!!! He was solid up agsinst the seasoned best. Hope you have patience with Lav , Francis Ridley Redman. We all develop differently and its niw senior footy and it takes time for most
Langford has a big future but there needs to be a bit patience.
Jack watts was a number 1 draft pick and took the past 5 years to be taken seriously as a footballer.
Not quite coming together for him right now, but it is not going to help putting him in and out of the team.
He needs to be played for a good block of 4-5weeks.
I will be cheering the guy on and enjoying seeing him develop. You guys should try the same.