Shiel is a bonus to our midfield, that’s literally why we traded for him. But he is/should definitely be behind Parish and Merrett in midfield pecking order.
I’d like to see Dyl starting forward at the bounces with Stringer onball>drifting forward and switching with Shiel.
Shiel has the tools to be a more effective HFF than Parish will ever have, his speed especially would be super handy offensively and defensively. He’d have to learn defensive running and finishing but his ability to generate shot on goal is as good as we’ve got out of most of out mids.
Only a minor point but from my hazy memory of the game, some of our ‘cleanest’ clearances came from Parish handballing out to Merrett who was coming in off the wing, at least in the 2nd half.
Just means we can mix & match these centre bounce combos without being too locked in to one particular combo - I prefer to be less predictable
His entire career points to being an inside mid centre clearance player. He has consistently been top 10 in the league for centre clearances per game at Giants and us.
He is rubbish outside. That’s why he is not an elite player. If he could spread like Merret he would be an elite player. But he can’t.
I’m of the opinion that Shiel is pretty obviously best 22. He’d come in for Snelling or Ham no problem. That’s not really a question. The question should be, does he fit the direction of the club? I’d say no. Barring a miracle, he probably won’t be here for our next premiership push, so he’s going to be taking valuable development time away from the kids that will be. I still rate the guy, but I don’t think he fits our longterm plans at all.
Not saying we force him out the door, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks for a trade at the end of the year and I wouldn’t hold it against him. It’s honestly probably best for everyone at this point.
Its not about Parish v Shiel. Parish is a different type of player that is a bit unique in the mix.
It should be more about Pigeon and Shiel and Merrett. 3 very similar type of players. Merrett is untouchable, so its about McGrath and Shiel…its a very good situation to have. All good players, all required, we just need the right mix in there.
Parish needs to be at as many ruck contests as possible
We haven’t been able to see Shiel in a committed and functioning team, the group have bought in and i think we’ll be able to see a lot of our players strengths especially Shiels once he’s fit again.
The mix of players in a team is so important. With Hepp injured and on the decline as a midfielder, Pidge and Parish in developing mode, and Stringer not being the mid we thought he should be two years ago, Shiel has had a hard go at it.
No doubt his absence has helped Parish. Next year with Parish and Merrett taking the majority of minutes and hopefully Caldwell contributing Shiel can be a damaging player in a strong midfield.
Plus he is an Edi-Aspendale boy so leave him alone.
you could make the arguement most of the midfield wins when shiel has been a big part of the midfield over the 2019/2020 seasons were against similar quality midfields as 16th and 17th teams of this year. Alot of the losses and heavy losses in that time frame are against top sides, to which you’ve just pointed out in how many posts, shiel was a big and important part of the midfield in those games !
also if you’re going to use roving to the likes of zac clarke, while in the midfield, tis only fair that in the sydney and brissy game you mention the other guys had to rove to peter wright and Langford ( who didn’t jump/compete in ruck contests) and a twig in his 4th and 5th games.
The sydney game they got pantsed cos hickey was in career best form, shiel wouldn’t have changed that.
and in the brissy game all of merret, mcgrath and parish got similar clearance numbers to shiel avg across 2019/20 games.
He nor anyone is “absolutely required” in any position. Just like hooker and the presumption of people that we can’t be competitive or win if he doesn’t have a big influence (which was just proven wrong yesterday). What it is a familiarity with the perception that a player who spent so much time in the midfield, and being the main target in the midfield, is required because of the conflated numbers it produced.
Just like Buddy franklin in his hay day. If the hawks/swans had 60 fwd 50 entries, you could surmise that a fair chunk of those fwd entries were heading straight towards franklin ( for obvious reasons). but when you break it down his 10 shots on goal and 5 goals or more a game are coming from 20-30 entries being directed at him. so the other 5 forwards have 30 entries between them to do something with.
so of course he is going to get more shots on goal, and more goals based on the simple fact he is used more.
Just like shiel has been the main midfielder spending most of his gametime in the middle and has been used as the main clearance player, so of course his numbers in that area are going to be better than anyone elses.
If you force him to play 50% forward and 50% midfield, his clearance number will probably match parish’s of the last few years.
I think the Shiel question has already been answered.
Is he best 22 when fit: obviously.
Is he starting mid rotation when fit: probably.
Would you trade him: for a Dunkley type mid (tall under 24 proven ball winner with decent disposal) in a heartbeat. Not worth trading for anything less.
Would we get that trade: not in a million years. Dogs want the world for Dunkley, Taranto and Green are going nowhere. I can’t even think of any others that fit the bill.
End result: he stays and adds some forward strings to his bow, we pay his salary without denting our warchest and he continues to polarize blitz.
Gentle reminder though. He gave a huge Fark Carlton to come here for less than they were offering.
I don’t see him as a wingman, but as a 2nd possession player. Receiver of the extracted ball. An outside inside mid. Like Merret. Neither of them are true wingers.
fair enough, he has a good burst away from the contest but I don’t think he’s clearances hurt opposition teams much at all. them stats suprise me but then again Andrew phillips is on that list
I still think on team balance he’ll have to move to the outside (especially if we get dunkley)
most of them other players listed in the stats you provided are who I consider good clearance players. selwood, neale, Cunningham etc
