Next year - Best players in the middle

[B.M]

Even if we pick up two or three good kids next season and Garcia develops, given the fact our midfield is our weakness

Do what I used to do when coaching u16s

Just put our best players in the middle and take out their best player with a tag if need be

Best players
Jack Sinclair
Rowan Marshall
Jack Steele
Mattaus Phillipou

I have always been an advocate of Sincs at HB where he’s a dual AA/B&F but with Seb Ross, Zak Jones and Maybe Crouch done. Get your best player in there!!!!!

Role from the bench
Windhager
Dow (not enough production to start)

Role through there at times
Mitch Owens from HF
Liam Henry from Wing
Hunter Clark from HB

Sandy
2 x Kids from 2024 draft
DFA - possibly Brodie? If Crouch is done??

The side
Rebuilding
B: Wilkie - Howard - Stocker
HB: NWM - Caminiti - Clark
C: Wood - Steele - Hill
HF: Henry - Owens - Butler
F: Sharman - King - Higgins

Foll: Marshall - Phillipou - Sinclair

Int: Windhager- Dow - Wilson - Schoenmaker
Byrnes

E: Garcia - Hastie - Keeler

Another 20 into Phillipou, Wilson, Caminiti, King, Windhager, Nas, Owens
5-10 into Garcia, Collard, Hastie. Continue to develop them in the VFL
Debut Keeler and 3 x 2024 draftees
Develop them in the VFL

[B.M]

Go back to the draft in 2025 with another top 8 pick and go BANG on a free agent!!!
2026-2030
Strive to play finals

In the Marshall, Wilkie, Sinclair, Steele era

[Sainter_Dad]

Role from the bench
Windhager
Dow (not enough production to start)

Role through there at times
Mitch Owens from HF
Liam Henry from Wing
Hunter Clark from HB

Are you saying these players have a Role (the function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation) or that they will Roll (to flow or advance in a stream or with an undulating motion, as water, waves, or smoke)

Does my head in - My boss used to send out Professional emails to other staff and clients welcoming a new staff member to their new Roll. Turned my mind to

[ace]

Put draft pick 4 and pick 5 (Battle compensation) in the middle.
That is where you play the best midfielders.
I don't their names but they had better be superb.
No more wasting top picks on low probably full forwards.

[sks023]

Sincs and the team looked terrible when he went into the middle
This ain't junior footy

[B.M]

Look at the trend of other teams

Sydney
Heeney from forward to midfield
Jordan Dawson from HB to midfield
Hayden Young from half back to midfield
Isaak Rankin from forward to midfield
Sydney Mills from HB to mid
Tom Stewart HB to midfield
Sam De Konning from FB to ruck

Putting you best players around the ball is not uncommon

[sks023]

Look at the trend of other teams

Sydney
Heeney from forward to midfield
Jordan Dawson from HB to midfield
Hayden Young from half back to midfield
Isaak Rankin from forward to midfield
Sydney Mills from HB to mid
Tom Stewart HB to midfield
Sam De Konning from FB to ruck

Putting you best players around the ball is not uncommon

Based on what I've seen ,I can't see it
Time will tell!

[Vortex]

King to centre square ruck contests.

Prepare him for that roll over the off season.

[B.M]

Never played ruck in his life - as a 200cm footballer

There’s a reason for that

And we have an elite ruckman - who was again our best player last night

[Scollop]

King to centre square ruck contests.

Prepare him for that roll over the off season.

Role

[The Fireman]

King to centre square ruck contests.

Prepare him for that roll over the off season.

Role

Has a PhD and can’t spell. Not sure how that works

[Scollop]

People think Artificial Intelligence is going to revolutionise everything we do and every industry....

But ... what's more important...and what we really want... is correct spelling on forums.

[Vortex]

Hey SD I was putting that hook out for your comical benefit in the hope you'd get a laugh out of it...I never imagined I'd end up wetting my own pants with laughter.

[Vortex]

Never played ruck in his life - as a 200cm footballer

There’s a reason for that

And we have an elite ruckman - who was again our best player last night

Leigh Mathews spoke recently about Fagan doing a similar thing with Danier to great effect.

Leigh said it was something he did with players just to get them around the ball in the hope it would get them into the game.

Im. not sure if Leigh ever had as much experience with coaching U16s so maybe he doesn't know what he's talking about but it sounds like current AFL coaches seek him out for advice like Fagan did with Daniher.

Ross also seeks Leigh's advice regularly and I wonder if that is why he sent him to play ruck.

[B.M]

So Max is the same as Daniher?

Same age, same history, same injury history, same body type, same fitness level??

Why isn’t Ben King also playing in the ruck?

[B.M]

Vortex

Are you really trying to bag me for coaching my son’s junior footy team?

You do that as a parent!

Or the concept of getting your best players at the coal face. Longmire has done it with Heeney, Scott has done it with Stewart .. they can coach

It’s not a concept that is foreign

[Vortex]

So Max is the same as Daniher?

Same age, same history, same injury history, same body type, same fitness level??

Why isn’t Ben King also playing in the ruck?

Leigh Matthews reckons it's a good idea, I'll go with that.

[Vortex]

Vortex

Are you really trying to bag me for coaching my son’s junior footy team?

You do that as a parent!

Or the concept of getting your best players at the coal face. Longmire has done it with Heeney, Scott has done it with Stewart .. they can coach

It’s not a concept that is foreign

And according to Leigh Matthews, it's a good idea to throw a key tall into the ruck to get him into the game if he's struggling, pretty certain that's also not a foreign concept.

[B.M]

What do you think?

Or do you just have to go with others opinions

He has had two shoulder recos, and and a knee reco and another serious knee.

Not sure Leigh has taken all the medical history into account

Many great forwards haven’t gone into the ruck, because you don’t plough a paddock with a Ferrari

[Scollop]

I wouldn't waste my time worrying about how Max King is going to be used in the side in 2025...until 2025

It's up him to prepare himself. It's up to him to decide how he's rated amongst his peers and whether it's important to him.

If he invests in himself as much as the St Kilda football club has invested in him, he'll be a beast with 25% better fitness and 25% better strength.

It's up to him if he wants to be the best key forward in the AFL.

[Vortex]

What do you think?

Or do you just have to go with others opinions

He has had two shoulder recos, and and a knee reco and another serious knee.

Not sure Leigh has taken all the medical history into account

Many great forwards haven’t gone into the ruck, because you don’t plough a paddock with a Ferrari

I think Max should be trialled in the Ruck and Leigh Mathews agrees with me.

[Killa]

Over the past couple of weeks, firstly Port Adelaide got us out of the centre for a few minutes, kicking successive goals whilst favoured by 6x6x6, then Sydney ditto then Adelaide particularly when the rain started to bucket down

We stabilised v Port Adelaide and v Sydney but, in the wet we could not address the issue

I am referring to centre bounces where there is 6x6x6, not around the ground feet of the ruck contests where firstly you are not restricted to 3 players and secondly no 6x6x6

Centre bounces are to start each quarter and after a goal is scored

No doubt we look to add some centre square clearance talent so we can benefit by those clearances registering goals, then back to the centre

But that is only one aspect

[Killa]

And the next issue is, who do we have in the centre square (versus when not centre square)?

You could put that the 3 players in the centre square are your premium mids - getting first crack at clearances when there is a real advantage to winning those clearances

So, at the opening bounce who is in there for us, assisting Marshall who generates his own clearances?

Then you project such as us Wanganeen-Milera going to play his career off a half back flank (I think not), where Wilson with his elite running style finish up and where Phillipou will finish up

Then there is Henry and Windhager and Owens evolving to what?

Noting the absence of our genuine mid, Crouch

And whoever else we Draft or otherwise attract - if we need to attract other “mids” and not support for Marshall, King and Howard

These are the questions we look to be resolved

[Killa]

And don’t leave Clark out

Anyway Spicks and Specks finished so back to watching what she who controls the remote chooses - still on the ABC but watchable!!

[Zed]

Anyway you slice it, we will likely still have a bottom 4 midfield next year.

Even if we somehow snag the best 2 mids in the draft pool - they will take 3 years to start influencing games at the level we need them to make a material difference.

Pou will be an interesting watch in 2025. I had practically given up on him being an elite mid, but since returning from the VFL, he has shown enough to suggest there is still hope he may yet develop into one of the better mids in the comp.