I think of the two Hartley has the scope for more improvement. He has the athleticism and the skills to be a good footballer.
His being burnt on the lead is more about his technique as a defender more than midfield pressure. I agree if our midfield improves as I expect it will that will assist, but its also him watching his man to much and paying him to much respect.
I sit on level two behind the goals at Etihad and throughout the year I consistently saw his opponent drag him back deep and them burn him on the lead. The opposition coaches would recognise that as a weakness and now they exploit it. If he can improve that aspect of his game and become more of an attacking defender then he should go past Ambrose.
But for mine if I were to choose one or the other then Ambrose has the runs on the board and that should be rewarded.
They saw clear need for him to work on intercept game. He appears to have bulked up from pre season snaps so will hold him in good stead for the big boys.
And yes positioning himself better to defend is certainly a continual thing to work on. Given heâd be training against Hooker regularly would be getting plenty of help.
One thing about this discussion is that Essendon has decent depth. Something to be really excited about.
Itâs obvious the coaches rate Laverde but if he doesnât get game time, off to the Saints (or team who wants him the most) he goes. Hope he gets a decent run at it.
Yeah, reckon Gleeson and Francis are playing for the 1 spot. Hopefully, Francis burns it up. Think heâs got more upside.
Hard to see Green in the team. Reckon the coaches favour Brown for his rebound/interceptions over Hartley (even though they rate his potential).
Myers, early at least, should be in the team. Need his big body but if he has similar output to 2016 others should be tried in his spot.
Will be interesting to see how many, if any, of the untried get game time. Hope Mutch and Clarke do
I wouldnât have colyer or Myers anywhere near the best 22 on 2017 form. You cant carry guys who turn it over 2/3rds of the time. Langford, Heppell and Stringer is enough big bodied mid for me, with our strength being the dynamic midget brigade that run teams off their feet.
Unless colyer stops fumbling and starts hitting a target he shouldnât even be considered.
He provided the most pressure of any of our small fwds, and is very smart with his movement in fwd line. If heâd had his kicking boots on for season wouldnât even be in discussions for missing spot.
Pace and pressure in the side is what Woosh wants across the board. It just won Tigers a flag.
One thing holding him back will be recovery from this foot injury in time and an interrupted preseason.
Certainly going to be huge competition for last 2-4 spots in our team.
About the best thing going for Hartley is that he has the right physical profile for a legitimate key defender. Unfortunately, some just look at his height stat and not at his underwhelming performances.
I think we should consider ourselves lucky to Ambrose. Hartley, Hurley,Hooker, Francis, Ridley, Brown as taller defenders, each one with with different abilities.
In the past few years (ok many years) it has been hard to pick the last couple of spots in the team because you had to choose from a handful of âthe best of the restâ players.
Our list as it is now is such that the last few spots are being chosen from a group of players who are all worthy of a spot.
Begley is a brute HFF/mid which they intend to progress into midfield full time. We pushed out all the experienced inside mids to allow for players like Begley to get solid midfield minutes in the 2âs.
Begley only was playing in side late in year because Green got injured & then Howlett wasnât effective in that role.
But we shall see. So many different ways the selection panel may head.
2 bags of 5 - Walker and brown. I donât think Hartley played on either of them
6 bags of 4 - put Hartley down for Hawkins , Kennedy and half of Hipwood, tabenar ?(reckon DEA had him and Harley was on Kirsten). Dea definitely has Watts and ambo was on Franklin in the final before he basically sat out the second half
3 bags of 3 from Sinclair, McGovern and Jenkins - hurls gleek and hurls.
Itâs not like big forwards toweled us up all year and Hartley was the key figure responsible.