Where are our holes?
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Where are our holes?
Coming into 2010 I expect sides like Dogs etc to improve - they have some good young talent too....weve lost some players, gained others and may lose another......so what are our areas where opposition sides "could" get hold of us this year?
For mine I do have some concerns...
1. I think we are too reliant on Hayes to provide that genuine midfield spark - Dal/Joey etc are good players.......but when Hayes is "on" we are a different side and normally he starts the rot......he aint getting younger...
2. Small, speedy defender....still think pace can be exposed here.....saw a bit of it GF day...
3. Midfield goals - the old chestnut......I was praying to see Lovett stream down a wing this year......."uncatchable" and goal OVER the heads from 50 of our key fwds........so long since we've had a consistent, exciting, long range goal kicker who was/is a JET.
4. Midfield depth - Ball going does mean either Armo/Steven IMHO HAVE to stand uo in the rotations......Ball's output was reduced but he could handle his own in the grunt dept. and provided great tackling/defensive pressure.....
5. Ruck - Kings/Gardy body.....when they inevitably get injured....can McEvoy do more now than "just hold his own" - lets face it...to win flags...you need more than that....
My god I WANT to get back there that last Sat in Sept.....and win this friggin thing.......I'll be shattered if we fall away in 2010...
For mine I do have some concerns...
1. I think we are too reliant on Hayes to provide that genuine midfield spark - Dal/Joey etc are good players.......but when Hayes is "on" we are a different side and normally he starts the rot......he aint getting younger...
2. Small, speedy defender....still think pace can be exposed here.....saw a bit of it GF day...
3. Midfield goals - the old chestnut......I was praying to see Lovett stream down a wing this year......."uncatchable" and goal OVER the heads from 50 of our key fwds........so long since we've had a consistent, exciting, long range goal kicker who was/is a JET.
4. Midfield depth - Ball going does mean either Armo/Steven IMHO HAVE to stand uo in the rotations......Ball's output was reduced but he could handle his own in the grunt dept. and provided great tackling/defensive pressure.....
5. Ruck - Kings/Gardy body.....when they inevitably get injured....can McEvoy do more now than "just hold his own" - lets face it...to win flags...you need more than that....
My god I WANT to get back there that last Sat in Sept.....and win this friggin thing.......I'll be shattered if we fall away in 2010...
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- Milton66
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1- Agree. Hopefully Armo, and maybe even CJ.
2- Not sure about this... at a guess, Geary?
3- Depending on how the back 6 structure up, we may see other players moved into the middle like we saw in '09. Peake will go better than many are making out IMO. Goddard is the one to watch this year if he plays midfield full time.
4- See #1
5- Expect Mac to play more games.
6- My biggest worry is the med fwd possie. Just look at what Chappy did to us. We need a solid battering ram withthe agility of a mid.
2- Not sure about this... at a guess, Geary?
3- Depending on how the back 6 structure up, we may see other players moved into the middle like we saw in '09. Peake will go better than many are making out IMO. Goddard is the one to watch this year if he plays midfield full time.
4- See #1
5- Expect Mac to play more games.
6- My biggest worry is the med fwd possie. Just look at what Chappy did to us. We need a solid battering ram withthe agility of a mid.
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Yep med fwd is a worry for sure........IF we had that Hamill option we'd be just so much more unpredictable going fwd......I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.Milton66 wrote:1- Agree. Hopefully Armo, and maybe even CJ.
2- Not sure about this... at a guess, Geary?
3- Depending on how the back 6 structure up, we may see other players moved into the middle like we saw in '09. Peake will go better than many are making out IMO. Goddard is the one to watch this year if he plays midfield full time.
4- See #1
5- Expect Mac to play more games.
6- My biggest worry is the med fwd possie. Just look at what Chappy did to us. We need a solid battering ram withthe agility of a mid.
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1 - Medium lead up forward.
Clear to me that the coaching staff think so too, which is evident through their persistence with Gwilt. Unfortunately not up to the task.
2 - As suggested the reliance on Hayes.
3 - Ruck. I think this is an area we can improve on and although I liken McEvoy to a 200cm Dal Santo he will still be a couple of years away from dominating games. Definitely think he will play about 15-20 next year!!!
Clear to me that the coaching staff think so too, which is evident through their persistence with Gwilt. Unfortunately not up to the task.
2 - As suggested the reliance on Hayes.
3 - Ruck. I think this is an area we can improve on and although I liken McEvoy to a 200cm Dal Santo he will still be a couple of years away from dominating games. Definitely think he will play about 15-20 next year!!!
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Me too. He is a great little workhorse (despite his reputation sometimes) - leads, leads and leads again. And when he gets it he kicks the goal. I thought he would have suited us and given the opposition headaches. If not paid the proper attention he can kick 5-6.Teflon wrote:I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.
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A high half forward flanker, there is no way possible that there is anything else we need more. Couldn't be highlighted any more than Chappy's game. We got the talls, and the smalls, but no medium. Someone who can play lead up target, and still do something with it when it hits the deck.
Pace... meh, when your winning clearences and have a good half back rebound you seem quicker anyways. Although I won't be complaining if Lovett does get to play for us
Pace... meh, when your winning clearences and have a good half back rebound you seem quicker anyways. Although I won't be complaining if Lovett does get to play for us
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If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.Moorabbin Saints wrote:Pace.
I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.
Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.
Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.
Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.
Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.
Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.
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- meher baba
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Peake and Lovett are different sorts of players. Lovett is an evasive and dangerous runner up the middle who would have given us a level of penetration through traffic that we haven't really had since Harvey's last really good season (2007). From what I have seen, Peake is quintessentially an outside player.Milton66 wrote:If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.Moorabbin Saints wrote:Pace.
I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.
Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.
Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.
Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.
Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.
Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.
Raph - with all his faults - remains the closest thing we have to a player who can play the role that we were looking for Lovett to play.
For mine, Peake will be competing for a spot in the team against the likes of Dempster and Eddy. I reckon he is superior to both of these guys, so I hope he will win that particular contest. It would help his cause if he could lay a few tackles like Eddy does.
I agree with you about Ray: I'd like to see him in more of a midfield role. Likewise McQualter.
Otherwise, I'm rather worried about our potentially weaker midfield in 2010 due to Ball's departure. Ball isn't the player he once was, but we will need someone else to do what he was doing as well as he was doing it.
We would have won the GF if we'd kicked straighter, but Geelong only managed to stay in the game long enough to capitalise because of their enormous midfield strength. We can never hope to match that strength, but we need to be able to put up a credible contest. Ball helped us to do that. Lovett, in a different sort of way, would have helped too. That's why I would be hoping for Ray and McQualter to deliver something more for us in the middle.
If one or both of Armo and Steven can step up too, then we will be even better off. Unlike some on here, I am not yet 100% convinced that either of them are really going to make it as dominiant midfielders at AFL level (although Armo did show some promising signs late last season). But we can hope.................
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Never Fear MB, this is the year of Armo. I can feel it in my bones.meher baba wrote:Peake and Lovett are different sorts of players. Lovett is an evasive and dangerous runner up the middle who would have given us a level of penetration through traffic that we haven't really had since Harvey's last really good season (2007). From what I have seen, Peake is quintessentially an outside player.Milton66 wrote:If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.Moorabbin Saints wrote:Pace.
I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.
Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.
Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.
Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.
Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.
Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.
Raph - with all his faults - remains the closest thing we have to a player who can play the role that we were looking for Lovett to play.
For mine, Peake will be competing for a spot in the team against the likes of Dempster and Eddy. I reckon he is superior to both of these guys, so I hope he will win that particular contest. It would help his cause if he could lay a few tackles like Eddy does.
I agree with you about Ray: I'd like to see him in more of a midfield role. Likewise McQualter.
Otherwise, I'm rather worried about our potentially weaker midfield in 2010 due to Ball's departure. Ball isn't the player he once was, but we will need someone else to do what he was doing as well as he was doing it.
We would have won the GF if we'd kicked straighter, but Geelong only managed to stay in the game long enough to capitalise because of their enormous midfield strength. We can never hope to match that strength, but we need to be able to put up a credible contest. Ball helped us to do that. Lovett, in a different sort of way, would have helped too. That's why I would be hoping for Ray and McQualter to deliver something more for us in the middle.
If one or both of Armo and Steven can step up too, then we will be even better off. Unlike some on here, I am not yet 100% convinced that either of them are really going to make it as dominiant midfielders at AFL level (although Armo did show some promising signs late last season). But we can hope.................
- Milton66
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I think u are corerct about Raph. It will be interesting to see how he looks ohysically this year. I think the thing with Geelong is that they had stronger bodies overall than we did.
I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?
Like I mentioned above, there is stil a fair bit of improvement to come from within.
I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?
Like I mentioned above, there is stil a fair bit of improvement to come from within.
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- meher baba
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What about the guy who won the GF day sprint (is it Stanley? I'm struggling to remember right now). He's clearly got a bit of pace, if nothing else.Milton66 wrote:I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?
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- Milton66
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too oung.. but there's also Lynchmeher baba wrote:What about the guy who won the GF day sprint (is it Stanley? I'm struggling to remember right now). He's clearly got a bit of pace, if nothing else.Milton66 wrote:I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?
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Classic "bait" comment Rodger. Good to see you're in top form in the preseason.rodgerfox wrote:Some glaring holes have appeared in the coaches box over the past 6 months.
I agree 100% with what you say.
I'm surprised your not down at Peter McCallum... throwing out a few insults at the patients.
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We do have that option. He wears number 18 and would have been the ideal replacement for Hamill, as soon as Sammy started missing games through injury. He could be much more damaging there than Sammy ever was.Teflon wrote:
Yep med fwd is a worry for sure........IF we had that Hamill option we'd be just so much more unpredictable going fwd......I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.
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