I wanted to canvass RWO posters about Mills. I really expected that this year was going to be his break out year. There was the expectation that he was going to spend big minutes in the midfield, hopefully becoming the big bodied inside mid who was eventually going to take over from JPK.
Instead, he has remained as a backman, who is steady enough most times but also prone to panic and poor disposal when under pressure. He is not quite big enough to be a KP defender, not quite nimble enough to be a lockdown defender on the fastest and craftiest small forwards, a bit too slow to be destroying opposition with rebound and not quite composed enough to be a backline general a la McVeigh or Hodge. He's just steady, gets the job done most times as long as he's not under intense pressure. Contemporaries like Dawson, Aliir, Hewett, Papley and Heeney have all gone ahead of him in importance to the team.
Given the big wraps on him in his first year, I feel that so far he is an unfulfilled talent. So where to?
Do we accept he is destined to be an average player? If that's the case, his next contract should be on average money. Does he need a change of roll to bring out his best, in particular a run in the midfield or even time forward? What are the reasons the coaches are so reluctant to do this? Surely COR, Thurlow or even Dawson could cover his role for some of the game. If we were to get a good offer, should we trade him while he still has the currency of promise?
I really want to see Mills live up his number 3 draft position at the swans. Obviously this would be the best result for the swans and I think for him as well.
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