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sharp9
13th April 2005, 03:34 PM
OK time for Sharp9 theorising again.

Had another look at the game and it confirmed for me my opinion that Buchanan should be in the thick of the action as much as possible. Several clearances and hard ball gets FOLLOWED BY a deft dishing off to a team mate. This is what we need. Davis seems to have so much time even in heavy traffic and very rarely wastes a possession.

We tend to have so many on ballers that it is difficult to pin point who is supposed to be an inside player and who an outside.

We have seen Mathews as the designated set-up man from half back over the last couple of years and I don't like it at all. Oppositions would be comparitively happy to see mathews ball in hand trying to set things up. I liked Williams clearing from the back of the pack at HB which he did to great effect a few times on Saturday. We seemed to play Maxi as the loose man at half back, whilst they had Chris Johnson. That's not a good match up at all considering the rate of Maxi's clangers this year. He did best last year (ie Carlton) when he was in close, wresting possession and thumping it long to a contest. When he is on the groung I would far rather see him doing this than hanging out on the wing or free at half back.

Kennelly on the burst is simply Magic..similarly Jude, B2 and Leo sprinting through the centre ball in hand in the 4th was fantastic.

Dempster was a revelation.

So here is my centreline

Ablett.....J. Bolton.....Kennelly

On ballers

Ball/Jolly....Kirk...Buchanan

Half Back Flanks

Williams (roving packs behind centre a la Buckley)....Barry

Half Forward Flanks

Davis (roving packs forward of centre a la Hird)....O'Keefe

My theory is that these are the players you would want in the thick of it most. The other mediums or smalls you distribute round the ground or on the bench as required.

The other four defenders come from Schauble, LRT, Dempster, Mathews, C. Bolton, Crouch, Spriggs

The other four forwards come from Hall, O'Loughlin, Goodes, Schneider, Saddington, Bevan, McVeigh, Fosdike and Doyle

Mix and match those two groups as required, add three for the bench and hey presto you have an attacking, tough balanced team (with five unlucky blokes!)

Bevan's disposal seems to get better the further up field he goes so I say play him as a small forward/relieving midfielder. Same for Fosdike and McVeigh.

Keep Schneider out of the midfield!

Spriggs has good hands so if he gets a guernsey it should be as a hard tagger on a midfielder or small forward. In that instance when he does get the ball it will be in tight and his hand skills will be needed to get it clear to a Williams, Kirk, Kennelly or Bolton.

Schneiderman
13th April 2005, 05:16 PM
Nice work.

Not sure whether we should swap Buchanan and Davis, maybe even switch it round in a game to keep it different.

Wil
13th April 2005, 05:19 PM
Originally posted by sharp9

So here is my centreline

Ablett.....J. Bolton.....Kennelly

On ballers

Ball/Jolly....Kirk...Buchanan

Half Back Flanks

Williams (roving packs behind centre a la Buckley)....Barry

Half Forward Flanks

Davis (roving packs forward of centre a la Hird)....O'Keefe


Great post, I agree! I think we disadvantage ourselves having both Kirk and Bolton on ball because they both play a similar game. Moving Bolton to a different position would be good. I also rate Bucky in the midfield - he should be near the ball as much as possible. Though I would think it would be more a Williams/Bucky rotation at that position.

Problem with Leo Barry on Half Back is he is constantly playing FB. It worked against St. Kilda, once. I think he is wasted there, no matter how good a spoiler he is - we need his run off the Half back.

I think Davis has the most potential of any player in the team. He is the champion midfielder we need - just need to get the best out of him.

Schneiderman
13th April 2005, 05:22 PM
Originally posted by Wil
Problem with Leo Barry on Half Back is he is constantly playing FB. It worked against St. Kilda, once. I think he is wasted there, no matter how good a spoiler he is - we need his run off the Half back.

We changed this on the weekend from what I saw. Craig Bolton played back on Bradshaw, and Leo provided a lot more run. It did mean that Bradshaw kicked more goals, but whose to say Schauble would have done better?

We are still on the hunt for a good FB nevertheless.

giant
13th April 2005, 05:27 PM
Bolton struggled with Bradshaw on the weekend but Bradshaw is an easy player to underestimate.

Interesting thoughts on the centreline - I think we're still in experimentation mode and if we can keep doing so and still win then that's fine by me.

TheHood
13th April 2005, 05:29 PM
Craig Bolton was the reason why Lions could not get the ball past halfway at the end of the game.

Bradshaw also missed a number of shots in the first half because he had to chase the ball to the 50 arc. He should have kicked 10.

Craig Bolton should have got Brownlow votes IMO.

giant
13th April 2005, 05:34 PM
Originally posted by TheHood
Craig Bolton should have got Brownlow votes IMO.

Only if they are using the 20-19-18... voting system and not the more traditional 3-2-1

He was bollocksed.

dimelb
13th April 2005, 11:19 PM
I like the suggestions. I'd play Bevan as small forward/onballer and run Buchanan between snall defender/onballer. I think Bevan is a better kick for goal. And I'd like to see Schneider recover some form and add to our selection problems!