The only worry with sps is between the ears like Ainsworth
Brett Anderson reckons Essendon are more likely to pick McGrath. He seems confident.Heās a hbf I thought we were going after a mid.
apparently plays mid in school footy.
very disciplined and can effectively perform a shut down role (smothered ainsworth something chronic/ lost out to mccluggage).
shaw loves him (our shaw).
exciting athletically.
i think labelling him a HBF is a bit disingenuous.
Just my own point of view, and you may think otherwise, but heās yet to convince me he is a great centre square midfielder.
In an ideal world if we are taking a midfielder at pick 1 Iād want to be comfortably satisfied (to use a horrible term) that they were going to be above average at stoppages and be players who exert their influence here. That doesnāt mean they have to be absolute bulls like Josh Kennedy or Jack Viney types but even that Pendlebury type ability to posess great spatial awareness and agility to find the drop of the ball and dance through traffic. Will he become that? Maybe. But right now Iām not convinced.
Even McCluggage as well to be fair has a way to go in this area but I feel he will become more capable as he fills out. Even so, I am less concerned because he has demonstrated great scoreboard impact as well which gives him another dimension where he is damaging.
Of the top prospects Brodie, Bowes and Taranto are best at centre bounces. Iād also have McGrath over McCluggage in that aswell. McGrath used his speed and if he gets a slight nudge he will beat any player to the ball same for Ainsworth when he goes in the middle. McCluggage has clean hands yes but in the centre bounces he doesnāt have the size and aggression to win the contested footy but that could come with more size and he is growing in confidence by the day and whoās knows how good he could become he is still a raw prospect with his potential being very high
Brett Anderson reckons Essendon are more likely to pick McGrath. He seems confident.Heās a hbf I thought we were going after a mid.
apparently plays mid in school footy.
very disciplined and can effectively perform a shut down role (smothered ainsworth something chronic/ lost out to mccluggage).
shaw loves him (our shaw).
exciting athletically.
i think labelling him a HBF is a bit disingenuous.
Just my own point of view, and you may think otherwise, but heās yet to convince me he is a great centre square midfielder.
In an ideal world if we are taking a midfielder at pick 1 Iād want to be comfortably satisfied (to use a horrible term) that they were going to be above average at stoppages and be players who exert their influence here. That doesnāt mean they have to be absolute bulls like Josh Kennedy or Jack Viney types but even that Pendlebury type ability to posess great spatial awareness and agility to find the drop of the ball and dance through traffic. Will he become that? Maybe. But right now Iām not convinced.
Even McCluggage as well to be fair has a way to go in this area but I feel he will become more capable as he fills out. Even so, I am less concerned because he has demonstrated great scoreboard impact as well which gives him another dimension where he is damaging.
I donāt really rate positional judgement in games with the anti-congestion rules. I look more at what a player is doing at a specific play. McGrath shows a lot of poise in trouble and mccluggage just makes things happen. Iāve said before I think our main area of draft targeting for this year is midfield>forward>back. we lack midfield jets that will alleviate the pressure on the defenders, this could be a McGrath type. we also lack poise going forward to give Joe et al an opportunity to take an easy mark in the f50 and end up getting corralled to the boundary, this could be a McCluggage. We also lack a bit of that incisive kick that will set up everything, which for me could be a SPS. But then Taranto steps up in his last few games and monsters a lot of people in the inside work, and dobs goals like its a walk in the park.
So really its what we judge to be the most pressing need out of all of those players imo. I donāt rate Brodie as being a jobe replacement, I do think hes gonna be a good player, but I want a player that will go past being good and into a jet/rolls royce/ gun.
Fair call that. Agree with everything there pretty much.
I would be quite comfortable with us taking Brodie however. If heād had a better run with injury this year I think he would have elevated his name in discussions further. I think heās definitely more than a Priddis extractor type. I encourage people to check out the Vic Country vs Vic Metro game where he was unbelievable. Even in that game he only passed a fitness test on the morning of the game.
Check out this game not just for Brodie either by the way. It encapsulates a lot about the respective qualities of McCluggage, McGrath and Ainsworth who all have their moments in the sun where they have profound influences.
Fair call that. Agree with everything there pretty much. I would be quite comfortable with us taking Brodie however. If he'd had a better run with injury this year I think he would have elevated his names in discussions further. I think he's definitely more than a Priddis extractor type. I encourage people to check out the Vic Country vs Vic Metro game where he was unbelievable. Even in that game he only passed a fitness test on the morning of the game.Check out this game not just for Brodie either by the way. It encapsulates a lot about the respective qualities of McCluggage, McGrath and Ainsworth who all have their moments in the sun where they have profound influences.
Brodieās best game this year imo was his game against Werribee for the academy. Hasnāt looked close to that form since and his ankle injury which he has had for most of the year has obviously had an influence. His agility for his size is incredible he can get last players with ease with some of his baulking. My main issue with him is that he can run to the wrong spots and is usually out of position on transition by hand where as McCluggage and McGrath contantly get in the right spots for a handball. Footy IQ in other words isnāt as good as the top players in the draft.
Imagine if McCluggage had a preseason, increased body weight and endurance. It would likely mean that he would have been āstrongerā inside the contest and also got even more touches than he did.
Last year I got on the Oliver Bandwagon due to his size being more ready for AFL than Parishās. I was convinced that Parish would only be a winger/HF in the AFL. That proved wrong immediately, and I see the same debate forming with the same outcome forming here regarding McC. I believe that McC will fill out and become stronger in no time. He is a good height for an on baller, and some extra weight will assist him to standup in tackles longer.
My view is that if itās between McC or McGrath, I want McC.
Yep I watched a half of that Werribee game youāre talking about. That was really early on this season. He looked the standout prospect in that game. Interesting re: your thoughts on the comparative footy IQ. I was just really taken by his ability to win the footy in close and weave in and out of traffic.
SO MANY GOOD OPTION NOT ENOUGH PICKS
I wrote this post in a match review in August. I think McCluggage fits into this idea of ācongestion playerā with his ability to weave in and out of congestion, find space and hit his targets. Heās not a crash the pack ball winning midfielder but he will get inside the congestion and get it out to advantage.
One thing I've been noticing but couldn't quite put my finger on, is the balance between inside contested football & outside players. I've decided that these two types of football is far too simplistic. I think we're doing a pretty good job in contested footy thanks to Merrett & Bird. But with the change in AFL football, congestion is everywhere around a stoppage and a ground level contest.If Merrett or Bird win a clearance, they cant give it off to an outside runner (like Zaharakis) who is able to run an carry because there is too much congestion. Zaharakis also needs to try and dispose of the footy under a lot of pressure. This in-between area between outside and inside is the area that is letting us down. Simply because we donāt have the ability to dispose of the ball cleanly, make the right decisions under pressure and donāt have clean hands.
Ideally you want your inside players to continue winning the footy at ground level. (Watson, Hocking, Myers, Bird)
Then around the contest you want to have players with nice clean hands, are able to weave or stand up in a tackle, can make the right choices in a split second. They can also win their own footy, or can find space on the outside and hurt the opposition.(Z.Merrett, Heppell, Parrish)
Outside players that run a carry and expose the opposition with delivery to the forwards. (Colyer, Tippungwuti, Fantasia, Stanton)
We need to sort out that middle section, as that is where we are turning the ball over. But I think getting some players back from suspension will help, and allow Merrett to play that inside/outside role.
Yep I watched a half of that Werribee game you're talking about. That was really early on this season. He looked the standout prospect in that game. Interesting re: your thoughts on the comparative footy IQ. I was just really taken by his ability to win the footy in close and weave in and out of traffic.At worst I think he will be a solid AFL player he has so much going for him but just lacks that little bit of Polish with his disposal but if he keeps winning the contested footy and can be a constant clearance threat at AFL level then he could easily become the best player from this draft. Honestly this years top prospects are very close each having their own strengths and weaknesses it's both an exciting and difficult draft this year for recruiters I don't think Dodoro can wait much longer haha
Seems 2 top ten picks is the go. Thereās strong arguments for 3-4 mids here.
If we get 3/5 5/7, we can secure one of them and another bonus top 10 pick.
Thatās convinced me that if that opportunity arises, we should take it.
Brett Anderson reckons Essendon are more likely to pick McGrath. He seems confident.Heās a hbf I thought we were going after a mid.
apparently plays mid in school footy.
very disciplined and can effectively perform a shut down role (smothered ainsworth something chronic/ lost out to mccluggage).
shaw loves him (our shaw).
exciting athletically.
i think labelling him a HBF is a bit disingenuous.
Just my own point of view, and you may think otherwise, but heās yet to convince me he is a great centre square midfielder.
In an ideal world if we are taking a midfielder at pick 1 Iād want to be comfortably satisfied (to use a horrible term) that they were going to be above average at stoppages and be players who exert their influence here. That doesnāt mean they have to be absolute bulls like Josh Kennedy or Jack Viney types but even that Pendlebury type ability to posess great spatial awareness and agility to find the drop of the ball and dance through traffic. Will he become that? Maybe. But right now Iām not convinced.
Even McCluggage as well to be fair has a way to go in this area but I feel he will become more capable as he fills out. Even so, I am less concerned because he has demonstrated great scoreboard impact as well which gives him another dimension where he is damaging.
I donāt really rate positional judgement in games with the anti-congestion rules. I look more at what a player is doing at a specific play. McGrath shows a lot of poise in trouble and mccluggage just makes things happen. Iāve said before I think our main area of draft targeting for this year is midfield>forward>back. we lack midfield jets that will alleviate the pressure on the defenders, this could be a McGrath type. we also lack poise going forward to give Joe et al an opportunity to take an easy mark in the f50 and end up getting corralled to the boundary, this could be a McCluggage. We also lack a bit of that incisive kick that will set up everything, which for me could be a SPS. But then Taranto steps up in his last few games and monsters a lot of people in the inside work, and dobs goals like its a walk in the park.
So really its what we judge to be the most pressing need out of all of those players imo. I donāt rate Brodie as being a jobe replacement, I do think hes gonna be a good player, but I want a player that will go past being good and into a jet/rolls royce/ gun.
Agree with that, and Iām hoping the 2nd bit will be covered by Langford & Laverde. Weāve also recently discovered a few more attacking weapons in Walla and Fanta, and have Colyer, Howlett, Parish, Zerret and Zaka as more attacking mids. Jobe will possibly do some forward stints. Myers, Hocking and Heppell can be more defensive mids, but thatās where weāll lack in the future. In my opinion.
Brett Anderson reckons Essendon are more likely to pick McGrath. He seems confident.Mc Grath is a brighton grammar boy...see Jack Watts...Hope he doesn't take 7 years to develope into an average footballer.
Brett Anderson reckons Essendon are more likely to pick McGrath. He seems confident.Mc Grath is a brighton grammar boy...see Jack Watts...Hope he doesn't take 7 years to develope into an average footballer.
Would love to have Watts in the team.
McLuggage aināt that small. He is like parish.
Gees itās funny seeing people say that McCluggage is small and slow.
People will come up with anything to convince themselves that they donāt like a player. Theyāll Even call them Vanilla Plodders just because they canāt articulate what it is they donāt like about a player.
McClugg all the way. We need to take a gamble on this kid because weāve been given the chance to with pick 1. Letās not play it safe on McGrath. Balls to the wall Disco, letās bring in a jet mid that kicks goals and brings his other mids and forwards into the game. Need!
Gees it's funny seeing people say that McCluggage is small and slow.People will come up with anything to convince themselves that they donāt like a player. Theyāll Even call them Vanilla Plodders just because they canāt articulate what it is they donāt like about a player.
There was one misguided comment about McClugās height. Then people do the usual sheep-following thing.
The point of difference in McC is positioning re: goals - right place, right time.
From highlights not a lot of penetration in kicks and handballs are soft.
His vision, spatial awareness is good.
Slow and steady type.
McG in contrast is dynamic.
His centre work impressive, reading ball of hands, a lot of give and go.
He brings others into the game, is a line breaker and runs hard all day.
Just the sort of player needed, a 2 way runner with desperation
Would of thought both McC and McG are the safe options
Now SPS on the other handā¦