Our forward line would look a lot better if our midfield could hit a target regularly. Langford, Parish and McGrath would greatly assist us there.
Langford is an above average kick of the footy. Agree with that. But I donāt look at Parish and McGrath as classy ball users by foot. Not liabilities but nothing special.
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McGrath is a decent kick i reckon, he kicks it low, flat and hard, better than parish. Mind you parish is a good set shot.
McGrath spent 2019 as a wingman, rating above-average at the position per Champion Data, but he was limited by his contested ball skills.
He also struggled by foot, with the seventh-worst kick rating in the AFL out of the defensive 50 and the eighth-worst rate of retention when he kicked inside 50 (stats via the 2020 AFL Prospectus).
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I think weāre very balanced for quality across the 3 positional segments of the ground and usually win/lose as a team rather than one segment letting us down. We have won 12 games 3 seasons in a row and we wonāt get the trust and recognition until our win rate increases by 10%.
I think the whole AFL community would rank all 3 sections top 6 if we finished top 4. We just need to get on a run of wins, avoid lapses and the recognition will come. Win a final or two and trust will spontaneously develop.
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Que sera Cerra!
l heard him pipe up on the radio the other day, and he rated Freoās midfield as the best in the comp. So there you have it folks, it is official. It isnāt only supporters who over rate their players, players do it themselves. While it is okay to be have a healthy amount of self belief and confidence, there is no room for hype, which will always come back to bite those who make big statements on the bum.
Like many have said, our midfield as a whole is pretty good, but there is no standouts. We all thought Shiel was going to be that guys, but I donāt think so. He just adds to the sum. I rate Merrett as our best.
Having said that I think our mids can match it with the best, but the real issue is our ruck department. I real hope Draper will be the player we all hope he is
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still missing an out and out star mid, and maybe another creative playmaker type.
when compared to the top 5 or 6 groups in the comp we are still seem to be a bit vanilla
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I find it really hard to say that our midfield are poor kicks without looking at who is being kicked to and thinking again. Our midfield is short and, without Daniher, our tall forwards make pretty poor targets.
Are you saying it is difficult to see above the grass?
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Shorter quarters could work for us. When we get our act together and start like our backsides are on fire, we are hard to topple and catch. If we can do this and get early scores on the board we could make a real show of it. That of course depends on many things including early injury.
We will have to wait and see how we handle the differences in the game.
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EFA
Thatās a fair call. I think we have a lot of B and B+ guys but not that blue-chip A grader, that difference maker that the likes of Dusty, Danger, Fyfe, Cripps and Bont are. But they are hard to find, you really have to be at the pointy end of the draft to get one. Jobe at his peak was that player, and before then it was Hird. Until someone out of this current group emerges as that player, or we strike gold in the draft, we will lack that star quality in thereā¦
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We have plenty of spicy players on other lines but basically we only have Shiel in the midfield at this point and he tends to excite when he gets the ball and runs, then disappoints when he kicks itā¦
Heppell, Shiel, McGrath and Parish are all below par kicks for AFL mids, although Parish seemed at least to have lifted his goal kicking set shots last year.
Merrett gets lauded for his kicking on here but is probably league average as a kicker for a mid. Smith, Zaka probably around average although Langford is probably a bit better. Cutler is a booming kick but yet to see if he has precision. Maybe he does? Ham seems OK but havenāt yet seen that heās better than average. Hibberd is meant to be OK I think?
Itās only when Walla, Fanta or Irish take a turn the we get higher level delivery skills in the square.
I think this is one reason to allow McKenna up the ground to wing or HFF, and shred his passport.
Could Ridley play as a tall rangy winger and deliver inside 50 with polish? Probably not.
Weād have a great 80s midfield.
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Spot on.
Once we see the back of worsfold .there will be a change in the way our midfielders operate. Ruttan will put the right personality in the guts
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Iād rather Redman play somewhere in the middle. Heās a beautiful kick, also has the tank and attack on the ball.
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Supposedly different belly buttons do reveal your personality.
Iām unsure which of the following is the personality of a midfielder though.
Should there be a Poll?
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In time
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