Best inside mid, yeah right.
I am not sure what you believe he is
Merrett certainly isnāt an inside mid.
Maybe a first or second receiver. His clearance and contested possession numbers are not that of an inside mid.
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He is a mid that starts in the middle. I think that fits the definition of inside mid. Some inside mids are defensive, some are attacking, some are clearance specailists, but they are all inside mids.
Well Iāve never thought of Merritt as an inside mid. But know youāve made me think about it he can play that role but I donāt think he does that role for us often and he certainly wouldnāt be a great inside mid in the context of the AFL as a hole.
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it sure feels that way sometimesā¦
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I completely disagree with you on this. There are all different kinds of midfielders that play different roles, despite attending centre bounces. Itās like saying all backmen are key position defenders.
An inside mid is primarily based on clearances and contested ball (think Cripps, Oliver etc). This isnāt what Merrett is.
He is an absolute star, but he isnāt an inside mid. That isnāt his role.
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When I think of elite inside midfielders, I think of Tom Liberatore, Clayton Oliver (before he went off the rails). Those blokes who were absolute battering ram, head in the hole types who attack the footy as if their life depended on it. I donāt see that with Tsatas. He might win a lot of possession, but heās not the type that will rip the footy out of the middle and fight tooth and nail for it at the coalface. VFL level is a different kettle of fish to the AFL. There heās up against players of his peer in terms of age, and/or blokes he got a clear talent advantage on. In the AFL he playing against guys who are more talented then him, and/or players with 8-10 pre-seasons under the belt.
The elite players show that level within the first 2-3 years of being in the competition. If he doesnāt show it next season, I doubt he will be anything more than a good ordinary player. Iād take him being a Brent Stanton level of player who gets it 25-30 times a game, runs to exhaustion, and has a 10+ year career of being a solid B Grader. If he ends up less than that then the decision to pick him at #5 was the incorrect one.
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So what is an outside mid? a winger?
Soft
I gotta disagree on this
I reckon you would be in the minority
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I reckon you are probably right, it doesnāt mean I am wrong though. Remember this is Blitz, being in the minority is generally a good thing.
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I think I have had a good day , just about upset all posters. It is all in good fun and polite. Keeps us old blokes amused.
I do recall it was Merrett getting the tag that year more often than not and Parish would reap the benefits of less defensive attention.
Our midfield depth that year was atrocious and there were some cameos from McGrath and Stringer for half a season, but for the most part, it was Parish running around and doing as he pleased. In fact, Iāve seldom seen teams tag Parish at all when Merrett is on the field.
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Will he get to 100 games
I think when you strip it back the role of an inside midfielder is to get the ball from inside of the stoppage to outside the stoppage. That can be done through sheer strength in the contest like an Oliver and liberatore but some of the best at it are actually guys like daicos and lachie Neale. I wouldnāt call those last two battering rams but they are elite at bringing the ball from inside a contest to the outside, Caleb serong, bont are a couple of other names that come to mind. Tsatas from my view has elite hands under pressure and in the contest and power in his legs to both burst away but also stand up in a tackle. Part of that is still developing and will only reflect more at AFL level as his strength improves. But he is an inside midfielder and I think will prove to be a very good one once he irons out a few deficiencies in his game and gets a good run at the role.
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Itās actually an interesting conversation, what is an inside midfielder? Itās true that just about any starting midfielder in any side does have an inside side to their game. But, when I think of inside midfielder Iām thinking of someone that uses their strength to win the contested ball and who can stand up in tackles and dispose of the ball effectively.
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Whether you think Tsatas will be any good or not is certainly in contention. I think he will be fwiw. But how anyone sees Tsatas as anything other than an inside mid is beyond me.
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