We as starting to develop a very long midfield depth list that, if we can keep them, will ensure we are good for a long stint at the top.
The key with Jobe, Goddard and Stanton is that they will all transition to HF/FP and HBF easily, this will not only give them longer careers but also enable our young mids to prosper as they take the load.
2014 is the beginning folks!
Yeah against the swans the small forwards will dominate due to them having 20 defenders on Carlisle
One does not simply double or triple team Jake Carlisle.
Jake to kick 10, Hooker to end Franklins career
Jake to kick 10, Hooker to end Franklins career
I'd fair dinkum die if this happened.
It took balls to delist Dyson and our third round pick. That’s why we improved
One does not simply double or triple team Jake Carlisle.
He‘s so hot right now he needs sextupling.
One does not simply double or triple team Jake Carlisle.
He‘s so hot right now he needs sextupling.
You want to what now?
One does not simply double or triple team Jake Carlisle.
He‘s so hot right now he needs sextupling.
my favourite kind of tupling.
I doubt our midfield poses any fears for the other top teams with Jobe out. Tagged or not he is always a threat. Heppel is a gun and just gets better. He is fast approaching Pendlebury status. Goddard has been great but plays a number of roles, albeit very well. Zaka is very good when he is on but he has been a bit up and down (probably due to injury). Stanton is OK but he is easily tagged out of the game and can turn the ball over.
The best of the rest in Myers who has brought some consistency to his game this year but needs to use that lethal left foot a bit more.
Howlett just doesn't get enough of the ball and his good games are few and far between.
Colyer form until recently has been patchy at best. Hopefully the penny has finally dropped with Bomber in his ear.
Hocking is a workhorse who always gives 100% but is not a big possession getter or match-winner.
Melksham has been disappointing this year after a good finish to 2013. He just seems confused and maybe over-coached. Just needs to open up and be assertive.
Zach Merrett has the potential to be a really good player and has shown enough to me this year that he can elevate himself ahead of some of the others. His brother is too inconsistent and has not won me over yet.
Gleeson has some tricks and looks exciting but can his body stand-up?
We need to either get some outside speed to carry the ball and break the lines or a good decision maker with high level disposal skills.
We have done really well recently recruiting players from non traditional places like older rookies from VFL or other minor leagues, e.g. Hibberd, Baguely, Ambrose. How many top 20 draft picks from the last 1-5 years have not really "made it" yet or are playing interstate and want to come home, e.g. Dom Tyson, Caddy etc. We are restricted in what we can do in the draft this year again so we have to be smart.
Hopefully Jimmy can pull another Heppel out of the pack. Just loved the way he manipulated a situation where Hep's status dropped from a top 3 pick to 8 (our pick) due to "rumours about his groin problems" - absolute gold.
At the moment I believe our midfield is better than it was in 2010 mainly because of the improvement of Myers and Heppel and the addition of BJ. But you can never have too many good midfielders because they can find the ball no matter where they play.
I doubt our midfield poses any fears for the other top teams with Jobe out. Tagged or not he is always a threat. Heppel is a gun and just gets better. He is fast approaching Pendlebury status. Goddard has been great but plays a number of roles, albeit very well. Zaka is very good when he is on but he has been a bit up and down (probably due to injury). Stanton is OK but he is easily tagged out of the game and can turn the ball over.
The best of the rest in Myers who has brought some consistency to his game this year but needs to use that lethal left foot a bit more.
Howlett just doesn't get enough of the ball and his good games are few and far between.
Colyer form until recently has been patchy at best. Hopefully the penny has finally dropped with Bomber in his ear.
Hocking is a workhorse who always gives 100% but is not a big possession getter or match-winner.
Melksham has been disappointing this year after a good finish to 2013. He just seems confused and maybe over-coached. Just needs to open up and be assertive.
Zach Merrett has the potential to be a really good player and has shown enough to me this year that he can elevate himself ahead of some of the others. His brother is too inconsistent and has not won me over yet.
Gleeson has some tricks and looks exciting but can his body stand-up?
We need to either get some outside speed to carry the ball and break the lines or a good decision maker with high level disposal skills.
We have done really well recently recruiting players from non traditional places like older rookies from VFL or other minor leagues, e.g. Hibberd, Baguely, Ambrose. How many top 20 draft picks from the last 1-5 years have not really "made it" yet or are playing interstate and want to come home, e.g. Dom Tyson, Caddy etc. We are restricted in what we can do in the draft this year again so we have to be smart.
Hopefully Jimmy can pull another Heppel out of the pack. Just loved the way he manipulated a situation where Hep's status dropped from a top 3 pick to 8 (our pick) due to "rumours about his groin problems" - absolute gold.
At the moment I believe our midfield is better than it was in 2010 mainly because of the improvement of Myers and Heppel and the addition of BJ. But you can never have too many good midfielders because they can find the ball no matter where they play.
the glass is half.
Dismissing Hocking as 'not a match winner' shows some naivety of modern football.
Dismissing Hocking as 'not a match winner' showes some naivety of modern football.
Agreed, sort of.
He's a lot more than a workhorse, that's ridiculously dismissive.
Outside Ryder he's arguably our most important stoppage player (no mean feat with that Watson bloke around) but I'm not sure I'd call him a matchwinner. In the same way I wouldn't call Hooker a matchwinner... still an absolute lynchpin to everything we do in his area of the ground.
Dismissing Hocking as 'not a match winner' showes some naivety of modern football.
Agreed, sort of.
He's a lot more than a workhorse, that's ridiculously dismissive.
Outside Ryder he's arguably our most important stoppage player (no mean feat with that Watson bloke around) but I'm not sure I'd call him a matchwinner. In the same way I wouldn't call Hooker a matchwinner... still an absolute lynchpin to everything we do in his area of the ground.
Not a match winner but he is certainly capable of changing the dynamics of a game by nullifying a match winner from the opposition. Very important player.
Dismissing Hocking as " not a match winner" shows some naivety about modern football.
I knew I would get a bite.
Depends how you define "match winner" doesn't it. Many people, supporters, media etc are too quick to jump in and label players champions or legends. Match winners is another label that is bandied around loosely.
I have great respect for Heath Hocking because he never gives in, he is a "heart and soul" player, he does his job and largely goes about it unnoticed except by Bomber supporters. There are many other players who I would leave out of our team before Buddha. But, as Clint said "a man's got to know his limitations" and no doubt in my mind that Buddha does.
I define a match winner as a player who has the ability to single handedly turn a game and through his deeds inspire his team-mates to do extraordinary things. These single handed efforts are often courageous acts laced with a large amounts of sublime skill that take your breath away.
In my 55+ years as a Bomber supporter I have seen players who had this innate ability. I'll leave out the non Bombers but will anyone dispute this list of match winners and with the greatest respect to Buddha I don't think he belongs with them.
Billy Hutcheson - Rated by the AFL as in the top 5 "rovers" of all time
Ken Fraser - The gun CHF of the 60s, captain and a "markologist" - just turned games with his spectacular marking.
Jack Clarke - sublimely skilled centreman who made great decisions with ball in hand.
Johnny Birt - Small but just so elusive. He kicked 5 in a quarter one day to sink Sth Melbourne at the Lake Oval
Alan Noonan - Was mercurial but when he was on the team lifted around him. Kicked some big bags at Windy Hill.
Graeme Moss - Was without any doubt the most dominating ruckman of his era. Played only 4 years but won a Brownlow and nearly 2
Tim Watson - I ran out of memories of how many times he destroyed teams. His runs used to bring the house down.
Paul Van Der Har - Great ABC commentator Doug Heywood once said "when this guy fires the entire Essendon side is transformed"
Simon Madden - The greatest ruckman I have seen who could mark the ball from any position. Many goal kicking sprees to win games.
Neale Daniher - The original "Iceman", never flustered, cool in the crisis, never beaten, eg vs scum, Prince's Park 1981.
Leon Baker - Unbelievably gifted and skilful player. The architect in the 84 cup win a highlight but could produce something special on demand
Merv Neagle - A combination of speed, skill and mongrel. His bursting runs off the wing inspired everyone
James Hird - My all-time fav, Premierships, B&Fs, Brownlow, Norm Smith, Anzac Medals, All Australians - say no more.
Matty Lloyd - Big time player who menaced opposition fullbacks and provided a great target at FF
Michael Long - Absolute match-winner. Just look at 1993 finals series. Just breathtaking.
Jobe Watson - Just look at his games the last 3 years and don't tell me he didn't carry us over the line many times.
Dismissing Hocking as " not a match winner" shows some naivety about modern football.
I knew I would get a bite.
Depends how you define "match winner" doesn't it. Many people, supporters, media etc are too quick to jump in and label players champions or legends. Match winners is another label that is bandied around loosely.
I have great respect for Heath Hocking because he never gives in, he is a "heart and soul" player, he does his job and largely goes about it unnoticed except by Bomber supporters. There are many other players who I would leave out of our team before Buddha. But, as Clint said "a man's got to know his limitations" and no doubt in my mind that Buddha does.
I define a match winner as a player who has the ability to single handedly turn a game and through his deeds inspire his team-mates to do extraordinary things. These single handed efforts are often courageous acts laced with a large amounts of sublime skill that take your breath away.
In my 55+ years as a Bomber supporter I have seen players who had this innate ability. I'll leave out the non Bombers but will anyone dispute this list of match winners and with the greatest respect to Buddha I don't think he belongs with them.
Billy Hutcheson - Rated by the AFL as in the top 5 "rovers" of all time
Ken Fraser - The gun CHF of the 60s, captain and a "markologist" - just turned games with his spectacular marking.
Jack Clarke - sublimely skilled centreman who made great decisions with ball in hand.
Johnny Birt - Small but just so elusive. He kicked 5 in a quarter one day to sink Sth Melbourne at the Lake Oval
Alan Noonan - Was mercurial but when he was on the team lifted around him. Kicked some big bags at Windy Hill.
Graeme Moss - Was without any doubt the most dominating ruckman of his era. Played only 4 years but won a Brownlow and nearly 2
Tim Watson - I ran out of memories of how many times he destroyed teams. His runs used to bring the house down.
Paul Van Der Har - Great ABC commentator Doug Heywood once said "when this guy fires the entire Essendon side is transformed"
Simon Madden - The greatest ruckman I have seen who could mark the ball from any position. Many goal kicking sprees to win games.
Neale Daniher - The original "Iceman", never flustered, cool in the crisis, never beaten, eg vs scum, Prince's Park 1981.
Leon Baker - Unbelievably gifted and skilful player. The architect in the 84 cup win a highlight but could produce something special on demand
Merv Neagle - A combination of speed, skill and mongrel. His bursting runs off the wing inspired everyone
James Hird - My all-time fav, Premierships, B&Fs, Brownlow, Norm Smith, Anzac Medals, All Australians - say no more.
Matty Lloyd - Big time player who menaced opposition fullbacks and provided a great target at FF
Michael Long - Absolute match-winner. Just look at 1993 finals series. Just breathtaking.
Jobe Watson - Just look at his games the last 3 years and don't tell me he didn't carry us over the line many times.
Yep, I agree - to clarify, I was not claiming he is a match winner - just a comment that his value should not be diminished purely on that measurement alone.
Yes he is a tagger and a good one but IMHO his real worth is how much he contributes to us winning clearances (whether he touches it or not). Uses that fat ■■■■ brilliantly.Not a match winner but he is certainly capable of changing the dynamics of a game by nullifying a match winner from the opposition. Very important player.
Agreed, sort of.
Dismissing Hocking as 'not a match winner' showes some naivety of modern football.
He's a lot more than a workhorse, that's ridiculously dismissive.
Outside Ryder he's arguably our most important stoppage player (no mean feat with that Watson bloke around) but I'm not sure I'd call him a matchwinner. In the same way I wouldn't call Hooker a matchwinner... still an absolute lynchpin to everything we do in his area of the ground.
I don't think this is really the right kind of stats either. I mean, you're going from a low point in a season where between issues with injury and the playing group we pretty much imploded, to a point where we were always expected to be much further progressed. 2010 was barely into the re-development after getting Sheedy out the door. A better comparison might be against 2005 when we last won a final.It's not so much about the raw numbers but also the personnel and the depth of the players getting those numbers over the past couple of seasons.I'm not disagreeing with the premise that we have a better midfield than we do then, but I'm not sure the numbers you are presenting actually confirm or deny this. On what basis do the numbers prove we have a better midfield?
Basically, We have a vastly improved list of midflelders getting first use.
Yes, I could've also added contested possessions, clearances, 1%ers tackles etc etc, but then it turns into a thesis.
It was a brief snapshot and celebration of the fact that our midfield has finally evolved into something decent.
But possession stats don't really show this. As Mr Jez said:
I would think comparing our ranking in clearances, midfield disposals, F50 entries, etcetera would be the more interesting statistics. Not just listing our starting midfield now versus the middle of the rebuild.Possession stats pretty much just show who has been in the midfield, but the true signs of improvement would have to be clearances, effective entries inside 50, tackles, and opposition numbers, right?
Anyway, you can see the rise of Heppell and Zaka as major ball winners, and the consistency of Jobe and Stants.
Can you imagine having another top 20 and top 35 pick players on top of Zerrett?Which is exactly why those draft penalties are gonna sting.Yeah I'm not completely sold on the guys I've never seen either.I wanna see our next level of midfielders coming through (the ones not named on those high-possession lists).
As yet, cannot see it.
Our VFL midfield seems to get beat most weeks.
Shame Hams has some chronic injury now.
Dismissing Hocking as " not a match winner" shows some naivety about modern football.
I knew I would get a bite.
Depends how you define "match winner" doesn't it. Many people, supporters, media etc are too quick to jump in and label players champions or legends. Match winners is another label that is bandied around loosely.
I have great respect for Heath Hocking because he never gives in, he is a "heart and soul" player, he does his job and largely goes about it unnoticed except by Bomber supporters. There are many other players who I would leave out of our team before Buddha. But, as Clint said "a man's got to know his limitations" and no doubt in my mind that Buddha does.
I define a match winner as a player who has the ability to single handedly turn a game and through his deeds inspire his team-mates to do extraordinary things. These single handed efforts are often courageous acts laced with a large amounts of sublime skill that take your breath away.
In my 55+ years as a Bomber supporter I have seen players who had this innate ability. I'll leave out the non Bombers but will anyone dispute this list of match winners and with the greatest respect to Buddha I don't think he belongs with them.
Billy Hutcheson - Rated by the AFL as in the top 5 "rovers" of all time
Ken Fraser - The gun CHF of the 60s, captain and a "markologist" - just turned games with his spectacular marking.
Jack Clarke - sublimely skilled centreman who made great decisions with ball in hand.
Johnny Birt - Small but just so elusive. He kicked 5 in a quarter one day to sink Sth Melbourne at the Lake Oval
Alan Noonan - Was mercurial but when he was on the team lifted around him. Kicked some big bags at Windy Hill.
Graeme Moss - Was without any doubt the most dominating ruckman of his era. Played only 4 years but won a Brownlow and nearly 2
Tim Watson - I ran out of memories of how many times he destroyed teams. His runs used to bring the house down.
Paul Van Der Har - Great ABC commentator Doug Heywood once said "when this guy fires the entire Essendon side is transformed"
Simon Madden - The greatest ruckman I have seen who could mark the ball from any position. Many goal kicking sprees to win games.
Neale Daniher - The original "Iceman", never flustered, cool in the crisis, never beaten, eg vs scum, Prince's Park 1981.
Leon Baker - Unbelievably gifted and skilful player. The architect in the 84 cup win a highlight but could produce something special on demand
Merv Neagle - A combination of speed, skill and mongrel. His bursting runs off the wing inspired everyone
James Hird - My all-time fav, Premierships, B&Fs, Brownlow, Norm Smith, Anzac Medals, All Australians - say no more.
Matty Lloyd - Big time player who menaced opposition fullbacks and provided a great target at FF
Michael Long - Absolute match-winner. Just look at 1993 finals series. Just breathtaking.
Jobe Watson - Just look at his games the last 3 years and don't tell me he didn't carry us over the line many times.
yeah our midfield should contain these guys. And you people called this critique of our current midfield depth naive.