So who's left?

Ahh, … IIRC, the ideas been floated, but isn’t actually a thing yet …??

Agree.
I just find it interesting that people ignore it, when it’s clear as day.

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So from our next generation academy zoning/player nominations we can pick an indigenous or multicultural player that’s overlooked in the main and rookie drafts

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Clarke last year is pretty much the first time we’ve drafted a specialist clearance guy since what, Howlett?
This trend has crossed over four coaches now. Damned if i know why. I’ve been whingeing about it for years.

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You should have pointed this out last night.

I would guess the concept is that pure inside guys cost you more than they gain you, so you need guys who are inside ++. And those guys are hard to find.

Clarke as an inside guy is probably seen as having other qualities (eg his running was v. good, if not explosive) that made him more than just a clearance specialist.

Going back through the years I reckon we’ve drafted guys who we think will be good clearance mids with the right setups around then (I’m guessing we have thought McGrath, Begley, Parish, maybe even Francis, Langford, etc etc have all been seen as being “good enough” clearance winners with enough other qualities, rather than grab a guy who wins every clearance at U18 level, but who has limitations, and you don’t even think his clearances will translate against bigger bodies and with different setups.

Who knows.

My only thought is that we’ve had one of the best clearance mids in the game for the last 10+ years. And we’ve still been cr*p in the middle.

Parish is now primed for more permanent inside mid role and then…

Langford. Begley. LAV. Mutch.

Silly post. You expect Blitz to have patience. Blitz has no patience.

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We took a 20 year old one in the ND and have a handful waiting game time in the seconds. Or what, you want a list with 10 spare inside mids?

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M Parker

Why? Had a poor attitude last year and then missed out. Plenty of unlucky players.

Hoping we take one of Mynott, Jones or Thompson. All 3 have done some great work as inside midfielders but can also push forward and kick a goal.

Jones is also a big Bombers supporter so that helps

Sorry if I missed it mate did you do a review on houlahan?

To be honest I don’t have much more to add than what Dodoro and co have said about him, I could do a long and detailed review but I’d need a bit of time to get one done up. Work has been busy so I havnt had as much time to sit down and review all the players in the last few weeks so I’ll need to go back on some footage for a bit of a refresher.

Federico

I might get blasted for this…

But I think we might see Heppellplay as our main inside mid next year.

He seems as likely as anyone our list to be able to get the job done.

I couldn’t be opposed to seeing Hepp do more inside work. He’s got a talent for it. I do think he’ll need to bulk up a bit to really get the most of himself in the position though.

Take your point HM and respect your opinion.

I watched the draft a lot more closely last year and from what I saw McGrath when playing through the middle was a very effective clearance player and for me the interesting one was begley. When he moved into the middle he displayed a very strong ability to win cleArences too.

Would you agree? Notwithstanding that neither is a pure clearence player.

I had actually assumed this was what was happening (and couldn’t imagine @langford getting blasted for it). Heppell and Zac +1 as being the goto centre square lineup.

The +1 can be anyone from Myers to Fantasia depending on what we’re trying to achieve, and the ebb and flow of the game.

Then you roll with Goddard and Zaharakis and on through the rotations…

I think McGrath will be a useful contributor in the middle, but he’s a very specific TYPE of clearance player. He has good vision and quick hands, and flicks it around very well. This is a really good trick to have, but it does have some minor downsides. It’s not an inspirational way to play - you’re not going to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and single-handedly drag your side to victory. It’s a style of play that really relies on your teammates, and if a couple of them are having off days, or you’re playing with a couple of guys whose games you don’t know well, it can be considerably less effective. Also, it is a lot harder to play that style as the numbers and pressure around the ball increase. There simply isn’t the time and space to share the ball around, and every disposal risks being cut off. This is doubly true when you’re a bit small and it’s easier for body contact to affect your disposal. I think he’ll be a very good EFC player for a very long time, but I think in style he’s something we have already in Zerrett and to a lesser extent Parish. It’s be handy to have another TYPE of clearance player, whether it’s a Jobe who can use strength to stand up in the tackle and shoot off a 20m handball out of congestion, or a Hird who can simply walk through traffic as everyone falls over trying to tackle him, or a Martin who can just smash straight through. Also, i suspect sometimes we’re simply going to HAVE to take McGrath out of the middle to put the brakes on a Betts type who’s destroying us, cos I rate him right up there among the best small defenders in the league.

Begley I’ve seen basically nothing of as a midfielder, so i can’t really talk about him