Re our 2000 era midfield, what were the “roles” of each of the star midfielders, and why did they combine so well?
Between the nuggety types of Mercuri , JJ , and Mark Johnson, did they all play the rover or did they have distinct roles?
eg Jason was more defensive/tagger, Mercuri played forward of the pack as a goal sneak. Or was Solomon the tagger?
I’m just trying to understand more tactically the roles Sheedy gave them and how they combined to be so dominant.
For memory, our CBAs were…
Misiti and JJ were our mids. JJ more inside mid, Misiti was more outside mid.
Heffernan was used as the run-with tagger.
Hird split his time between midfield and forward as needed.
Blumfield and Caracalla were forwards with the odd run through the wing and midfield.
Rama took one wing and Long took the other wing.
Solomon was a back man. Never played through the middle.
Mercuri was a half forward flanker with the odd run through the middle.
What made our transition from the backline to the forward line was the ability of Barnes to not get caught up in the pack and be able to leak out to the wing where there was space.
Misiti inside mid
JJ inside mid with pace
Mercuri - class in bursts on ball but mostly forward
Hird - forward / mid
Rama run on wing
Long wing
blumfield/ caracella wing/ forward
didnt really run a tagger until peverill days.
previously remember sean Denham was pretty famous tagging mitchell etc.
defence was solid and if didnt win it in midfield won it back at half back.
Heffernan in that mix as well.
I’m just hoping Soloman is mentioned in there separately to the star midfielders
The one thing that was understated from that 99/00/01 side, was the quality of the forward flanks & pockets.
Caracalla, Mercuri, Rioli, & Bewick were absolute class.
When you merge the toughness (often thug like) of Solomon, Wallis & Mark Johnson in the backline……. Then the class & talent of the forwards (as mentioned above), you have an unbelievable side on your hands.
they mean mercuri was delicious like a 20 pack of nuggs after a night at revs
If anything those teams were criticised for their perceived lack of outside speed.
Misiti wasn’t exactly fleet of foot. Just a ball magnet who kicked big goals for us. He had a nose for it.
The real question is why don’t we have a plethora of father sons from that era coming through like Brisbane do.
The boys obviously didn’t celebrate the right way
Wellman could also find some space on the outside - almost like an attacking wingback - quick and clean with his disposal.
Dunny brush had some huge days on Diesel too
Fletcher played in the ruck, Lloyd was the small ruck rover and James Hird was the tagger who sacrificed his game to stop David Neitz from gathering 45 posessions. The nuggety Mercuri was there to help the skinny kids like Wallis from getting bashed up.
Loved these two how good was misiti in this passage of play
they famously chose Ibiza as the place to go celebrate
I’m not sure of the reality, but I always felt robbed that Bewick and Long didn’t play more games together. It always felt like one of them was injured.
Fantastic wingmen.
They played other roles, obviously, but those two on the wings…how could you not feel confident?
Oh to have a team so strong, that the bottom 6 in your team are along the likes of Moorcroft, Alessio, Wallis, Heffernan, Barnard and Rama.
Misiti again
Lloyd was a f*cking superstar.
But the quality of ball being delivered inside 50, was the best we’ve ever seen.
Lloyd could have a dog of a day, and still kick 4 or 5.
The flood was invented to stop our delivery inside 50. That’s how good we were.
Team full of tough nuts
Loved our back 6 with Hardwick,Solly Wellman tough and skillful
Forwards would have shat bricks going against them