TBH I take exception to you, and others, calling Parish a vanilla type player.
Parish is 20 years old, he has played 48 games, he was nominated for the Rising Star and finished well ahead of Oliver in the final votes.
So he is having a harder year this year? All players go through that at some stage, especially when you consider that our side has been crap all year basically and he is surrounded by a very weak midfield group. We have a difficult game plan, lost a lot of leadership from the side in Watson, Hocking, Kelly, Stanton, Howlett, etc and have no real inside beast to take all the pressure. He also appears to be playing a different role this year and it doesnât suit him. He went back to the VFL and started to show some glimpses of why he is a good player but now has to sit out for a bit.
I would take him him again if I was given the choice and at 20 he is barely even into his prime.
Oliver on the other hand is surrounded by a very good and experienced midfield group and has a lot of freedom to play the way he wants to play and where his skills reside. He doesnât get heavily tagged and is also a very different player to Parish.
Everyone fawns all over Langford but calls Parish a vanilla type player. Sheesh.
Sorry, I frequently get Wells mixed up name wise with Hine in my head. I meant Wells. I also didnât say top 3, I said he sits just behind the top 2. That wasnât meant to mean exactly 3, although certainly in the ballpark. And I do believe that.
On Wells, he hit it out of the park in 1999 and 2001. But has he done a heap since then? Geelong got awfully lucky in a lot of ways (especially F/S picks), and I havenât been a fan of Geelongâs recent list strategy. I think theyâve hurt themselves in the hunt for the premiership, although I concede that might be Scott driving things. They got rid of Johnson and Chapman too soon IMO, and have cast off good players who they didnât need to. Heâs obviously good, but Iâm not sure heâs stellar. Iâd put him in a similar ballpark, just behind the top couple of teams at the moment.
On Hine, the recruiting 2005 to 2010ish was very good. But it was based on certain things (tanking, trading out quality players) that I donât believe our club has ever allowed.
By the way, you do know when I posted those comments about Dodoro/Keane sitting behind the top couple of recruiting teams, that Wright and Hine had taken up other roles in their clubs, right?
Not aimed at you, but I do think it odd some are using Wines and Oliver to have a go at Dodoro about. Neither were available at our picks.
People keep going on about talls, but since 2008 weâve what, used 2 first round picks on talls (JD & Francis), and one 2nd rounder (Carlisle)?
Well, you missed Zaharakis and Melksham. And Bellchambers (which meant we always had a fresh ruck to hit them with and two rucking styles). You say they werenât the most skillful, which ignores we had a Brownlow medalist in the middle. Winders also provided some class support, and Colyer had an impact pre-injury in 2014.
It wasnât the best midfield in the league, but it went well enough that we went pretty well before injuries derailed us in both 2012 and 2013. In 2012 we were top 4 in Round 14, and in 2013 we were top 4 until Round 19. Who knows what happens without the Sagaâs impact on players, coaches, and picks. Of course, if you blame Dodoro for the injuries (e.g. they were the wrong types) then you can discount those seasons pretty heavily.
Iâd also point out that with Melbourne, four of their midfield are top 4 picks (Pettracca, Brayshaw, Tyson, Oliver) and Viney was a F/S they got cheap who was rated pretty high. Essendon has had one top 4 pick since the late nineties.
Imagine how much more diabolical our midfield would be had we selected Lobb instead of ZMerrett as originally planned!
I hope we can somehow get Setterfield from GWS over the next couple years. Could be the missing piece. Wonder how close we came to bidding on him at pick one?
That midfield got run off its feet in the second half of that final, by North Friggin Melbourne. It was too slow and immobile.
It had the âbig bodiesâ (Hell it had a Brownlow medalist in there) that we all wish for now, but it lacked run and spread. And it too, wasnât good enough.
I find it interesting that we all automatically lament our lack of âinside bullsâ after every loss, even though we won the inside contests 3 weeks in a row.
Itâs a balance thing imo. We havenât managed to get a balanced midfield for⌠I canât even remember, thatâs how long. Probably the 2000 team, which even then, was a touch slow and heavy. (Not that it mattered)
So, while an Ollie Wines type would be â â â â â â useful, an outside runner with polish would be just as useful imo. And if you look at the younger mids coming through (Parish, Langford, Clarke, Guelfi), they all may address the first part, but none address the second part.
Zaharakis just got injured, and we literally have zero options to replace his role.
Edit: I guess McGrath is a candidate, but Iâm not sure playing on the outside really utilises his strengths.
Look at our midfield. Just fkn look at it. Tried to build a list for 90s footy. If ya canât get a decent midfield together in a million years, I canât see it changing anytime soon.
He certainly helps our outside run a considerable amount (and will find his way into the team quickly because of it) but he doesnât get anywhere near enough of the ball to fill Zahaâs role.