One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on April 30, 2025, 01:15:51 AM
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This graph shows we're lacking mids who can explode out of stoppages.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GpqPJsZaUAAU__X?format=jpg&name=large)
https://x.com/JamesIves17/status/1917002013814231400
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This graph shows we're lacking mids who can explode out of stoppages.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GpqPJsZaUAAU__X?format=jpg&name=large)
https://x.com/JamesIves17/status/1917002013814231400
Lovely graph basically saying our entire midfield is $#!+ and it's hard to disagree with those optics
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I mean we all knew this from the eye test didn’t we.
Also supports the fact that hopper and Taranto are basically the same player and extremely limited positionally
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I mean we all knew this from the eye test didn’t we.
Also supports the fact that hopper and Taranto are basically the same player and extremely limited positionally
Taranto can play forward. :shh
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Didn’t we draft an explosive bull of a mid who can break away from packs and get forward???
Would be nice if we could throw him in there from time to time…..
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Tigers to mix up midfield groups
By Henry Milic
RFC website
24 June 2025
Despite Richmond's defeat to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at Marvel Stadium, coach Adem Yze was impressed with Tiger young guns Seth Campbell and Jack Ross, who picked up valuable midfield minutes.
Ross finished with 19 disposals and three centre clearances, while Campbell picked up 15 disposals to go with a goal.
As stars Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper continue to have strong seasons, and Dion Prestia's impact grows after his return from injury, Yze explained post-game how important it is for some of the side's younger players to come into the middle, take their opportunities, and learn from the established midfielders.
“We got to make sure that by the end of the season, we do get some exposure for some of our younger players, whether that’s through the centre bounce or not,” Yze said.
“Seth threw himself in there (on Sunday) to try something different, and we will look at that. We do want to try different things.
“Jack Ross got some more opportunity through there (on Sunday). Sammy Lalor might be back in the next week or two and he has been getting those opportunities.
“We just got to make sure that we are not leaving it to a few and we will look at those things moving forward.”
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1812803/tigers-to-mix-up-midfield-groups
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Yep because Taranto and Hopper are not cutting the mustard. Along with West coast we have the worst midfield in the comp, but we have Taranto and Hopper in their primes..
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Yep because Taranto and Hopper are not cutting the mustard. Along with West coast we have the worst midfield in the comp, but we have Taranto and Hopper in their primes..
Potting Hopper with the season he’s had :wallywink
Absolutely ridiculous
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It’s about time Yze, it’s about damn time.
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Yep because Taranto and Hopper are not cutting the mustard. Along with West coast we have the worst midfield in the comp, but we have Taranto and Hopper in their primes..
Potting Hopper with the season he’s had :wallywink
Absolutely ridiculous
Explain to me why our midfield is so poor when we have the experience of hopper, Taranto, nank and now Prestia ?
Cant deny they’ve all battled really hard, but they just aren’t that good of players. Yeah hopper may win the b&f or finish top 3 or something but what will it count for when our midfield is beaten so convincingly every week
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I don’t think you can look at TT or Hopper individually and not think they’ve had good individual seasons.
Problem is our midfield mix isn’t balanced and is too one dimensional. As said above our midfield is the most experienced line and they have gone missing for large patches of multiple games which is usually when we cop the most run of goals.
Yze just needs to mix it up more. I haven’t really seen anyone not named Taranto, hopper, Dow, kmac, kmacII and in the last couple of weeks Prestia get any significant time in there. First year or not, it’s insane to me that Lalor has barely been given a run through there.
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I don’t think you can look at TT or Hopper individually and not think they’ve had good individual seasons.
Problem is our midfield mix isn’t balanced and is too one dimensional. As said above our midfield is the most experienced line and they have gone missing for large patches of multiple games which is usually when we cop the most run of goals.
Yze just needs to mix it up more. I haven’t really seen anyone not named Taranto, hopper, Dow, kmac, kmacII and in the last couple of weeks Prestia get any significant time in there. First year or not, it’s insane to me that Lalor has barely been given a run through there.
To me it’s because mainly hopper can’t play anywhere else, Taranto has been okay in the fwd line in the past.
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I don’t think you can look at TT or Hopper individually and not think they’ve had good individual seasons.
Problem is our midfield mix isn’t balanced and is too one dimensional. As said above our midfield is the most experienced line and they have gone missing for large patches of multiple games which is usually when we cop the most run of goals.
Yze just needs to mix it up more. I haven’t really seen anyone not named Taranto, hopper, Dow, kmac, kmacII and in the last couple of weeks Prestia get any significant time in there. First year or not, it’s insane to me that Lalor has barely been given a run through there.
To me it’s because mainly hopper can’t play anywhere else, Taranto has been okay in the fwd line in the past.
True but ironically I think Hopper is possibly a better shot for goal but I haven't checked the stats, I just remember him kicking a few clutch ones
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Two things can be true at once.
1. Hopper has had a good year and tries hard.
2. Our midfield is ass and needs to be overhauled in time.
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Two things can be true at once.
1. Hopper has had a good year and tries hard.
2. Our midfield is ass and needs to be overhauled in time.
Really need some pace and kicking skill.
We had two tractors, good enough for the grunt work but they do lack polish.
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Hopper has had a good year in comparison to the rest of our team, but that doesn’t mean much imo.
Only 1 tractor can be in the midfield at a time. Pretty much the model of all successful midfields atm.
Holmes, Smith, Atkins
Anderson, Miller, Rowell
Bont, Richard’s, Libba
Some other teams have a better balance like Collingwood, but pendles has slowed down but is surrounded by guys like the daicos’ boys with lots of zip.
Brisbane really well balanced, Dunkley probably the closest to a tractor
Adelaide well balanced but Laird is pretty slow
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Rowell is a jet compared to the speeds of Taranto and Hopper.
Atkins too.
Libba quicker although not super fast himself.
We just have nobody with breakaway capacity who can hit a target like Bolton or Dusty, but we've been spoiled in the last 15 years with some classy mids.
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I'd just preach patience. I don't mind hopper when he gets on the park. He uses the ball reasonably well from what I've seen when he gets it. Saying that I have not watched a lot this year.
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Yze on Taj Hotton and Seth Campbell playing in the midfield…
“It's something we’re looking at. We want to give them some exposure this season, and leading into next year, we'll look at upping the ante with that and giving them more exposure and more time. Right now, we've got a midfield crew with (Tim) Taranto, (Jacob) Hopper and (Dion) Prestia. We want to add some flair to that and some youth to that as well, so they've got a role that they're playing right now and hopefully in the future that will grow. It's exciting, not only for us but for our fans…just a little taste, and hopefully that will grow over time.”
Source: RFC website (https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1870428/ooze-opens-up-on-tagging-the-midfield-mix-and-more).
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Plus McCauliffe
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The dump kicking of Taranto coupled with the ultra slow decision making of Hopper is insufferable.
They have to be better than this.
Plus if they could put some pressure on that would be nice for next year.
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Categorizing rowell as a tractor feels very harsh
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83%
Jacob Hopper 466 81%
Tim Taranto 428 81%
Dion Prestia 189 68%
Kane McAuliffe 70 59%
Samson Ryan 25 56%
Thomson Dow 130 44%
Jack Ross 194 34%
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24%
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That looks very one paced and easily exposed to me
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That looks very one paced and easily exposed to me
I think we just haven't got enough games out of the correct players tbh.
Slow: Nank, Hopper, TT, Prestia, Ryan, Ross, KMac to a lesser extent
Quick(er): KMac2 but injured, Dow but I don't rate him too highly, gee that's a short list of blokes with some pace!
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That looks very one paced and easily exposed to me
I think we just haven't got enough games out of the correct players tbh.
Slow: Nank, Hopper, TT, Prestia, Ryan, Ross, KMac to a lesser extent
Quick(er): KMac2 but injured, Dow but I don't rate him too highly, gee that's a short list of blokes with some pace!
Dow is not quick in fact like the others exasperates the problem.
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83% 31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
Jacob Hopper 466 81% 29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread
Tim Taranto 428 81% 28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.
Dion Prestia 189 68% 33yo been a great servant but is slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth. trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere but for depth due to those poor numbers.
Kane McAuliffe 70 59% A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.
Samson Ryan 25 56% Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
Thomson Dow 130 44% Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.
Jack Ross 194 34% 25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24% delisted.
Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..
This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.
2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.
F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD and Rookie Draft 2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward
Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.
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Like button for you clawski
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83% 31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
Jacob Hopper 466 81% 29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread
Tim Taranto 428 81% 28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.
Dion Prestia 189 68% 33yo been a great servant but is slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth. trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere but for depth due to those poor numbers.
Kane McAuliffe 70 59% A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.
Samson Ryan 25 56% Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
Thomson Dow 130 44% Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.
Jack Ross 194 34% 25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24% delisted.
Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..
This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.
2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.
F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD and Rookie Draft 2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward
Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.
All sounds good BUT we seem to have no luck in selecting young ruckman and developing them.
I think our last good draftee ruckman was Ottens??
We probably could have got Grundy 2? Years ago, who are the potential 25 y o ruckman going around? If we could target one of them that would be my preference, any comment??
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83% 31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
Jacob Hopper 466 81% 29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread
Tim Taranto 428 81% 28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.
Dion Prestia 189 68% 33yo been a great servant but is slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth. trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere but for depth due to those poor numbers.
Kane McAuliffe 70 59% A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.
Samson Ryan 25 56% Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
Thomson Dow 130 44% Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.
Jack Ross 194 34% 25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24% delisted.
Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..
This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.
2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.
F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD and Rookie Draft 2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward
Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.
All sounds good BUT we seem to have no luck in selecting young ruckman and developing them.
I think our last good draftee ruckman was Ottens??
We probably could have got Grundy 2? Years ago, who are the potential 25 y o ruckman going around? If we could target one of them that would be my preference, any comment??
I'd give Draper a go if the price is right.
Otherwise if CDT is available I genuinely think we should consider it, despite the need for mids. Add P4 mid + Kellaway, work with what we have, chase a FA in 2026 eg Butters.
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83% 31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
Jacob Hopper 466 81% 29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread
Tim Taranto 428 81% 28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.
Dion Prestia 189 68% 33yo been a great servant but is slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth. trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere but for depth due to those poor numbers.
Kane McAuliffe 70 59% A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.
Samson Ryan 25 56% Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
Thomson Dow 130 44% Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.
Jack Ross 194 34% 25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24% delisted.
Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..
This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.
2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.
F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD and Rookie Draft 2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward
Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming.
Grlj.
*Kellaway pending*
+ Retschko.
Filled the small forward X2 NRT & Pucker. No ruck yet. Maybe Hayes-Brown
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Should be able to find a winger or two from this years draftees IMO,
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Should be able to find a winger or two from this years draftees IMO,
Reckon Hotton and Grlj look fun as wings.
If the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming.
As developing inside mids.
+ Retschko.can be a other option / back up.
Looks like backline will be many options so balta/brown/banks type could push up wing also?
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Pretty sure the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming
Hotton
with old heads
Taranto
Hopper.
For me Grlj starts on a hbf.
Campbell and Retschko if he shines in preseason the wings. Would have loved to add Hunter Holmes into this mix.
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Pretty sure the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming
Hotton
with old heads
Taranto
Hopper.
For me Grlj starts on a hbf.
Campbell and Retschko if he shines in preseason the wings. Would have loved to add Hunter Holmes into this mix.
Vlastuin. Balta. Miller. Trainor. Brown. Banks.
Back line looks pretty full And you'd likely have gibcus and broad best 23.
Smillie...
Grlj looks better fit wing /mid/Hff short term
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That explosive speed of Gryl has me channeling Nathan Foley which I would love to see next year. Our bigger mids are the perfect types to release him, particularly from centre stoppages. I think our wingers might come from our half back depth with both Banks and Brown being good options. I think Banks in particular has good wheels, is a nice kick and has shown the balls to kick into space quickly which is so important when we have the ball on transition.
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Every AFL team’s midfield ranked 1-18
We’ve unveiled our verdict on the competition’s best, and worst, midfields from the 2025 season.
Harrison McIlwaine
zerohanger.com
December 12, 2025
Richmond
Ranking: 17th
Much has been made of Richmond's commitment to youth, but the bulk of its midfield production was left to the ageing. Dion Prestia (33), Jacob Hopper (28) and Tim Taranto (27) joined ruckman Toby Nankervis (31) in the top four for total clearances for the yellow and black this year.
The Tigers struggled to get their hands on the pill, averaging 51.4 fewer disposals than their opponents this year, besting only the Eagles in this and many other metrics, including total clearances.
Adem Yze's men were the worst side for first possession to clearance rate, inside 50 differential, and centre clearances, leaving the former Demon under no illusions as to what needs addressing over the summer.
https://www.zerohanger.com/every-afl-teams-midfield-ranked-1-18-171649/2/
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Pretty sure the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming
Hotton
with old heads
Taranto
Hopper.
For me Grlj starts on a hbf.
Campbell and Retschko if he shines in preseason the wings. Would have loved to add Hunter Holmes into this mix.
Vlastuin. Balta. Miller. Trainor. Brown. Banks.
Back line looks pretty full And you'd likely have gibcus and broad best 23.
Smillie...
Grlj looks better fit wing /mid/Hff short term
For various reasons i Would not have thought any of Balta, Trainor, Brown or Banks are locks for the backline.
Grlj best position to start his career is simply H/B. In time i think they have an eye on a mid role.
Im not sold on Banks and dislike parts of his game a fair bit. Brown needs to become more productive and find a bit of toughness..
Balta is coming of not just a horror year this year but was pretty ordinary the year before. Think second ruck and utility is the go with him. Its time to stop pandering to the older players and actually start playing younger blokes in roles we know they play best in.
I think to accomodate favorites Trainor could play wing again, who knows the thinking there. All of Balta, Miller Gibcus and Trainor will not play in defence. One will eithr miss altogether or find themselves in a different role. With the ruck changes and Balta's ability to play different roles he is an ideal choice for the second ruck role and can swing either forward or back providing great flexability.
we actually have several players with great attributes for the wing roles who would be a better fit than Trainor.
One who may surprise for a wing spot is NR-T. His outside game and run is quite good he also has shown an ability to get contested ball as a mid and could be described as a genuine utility.
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Yze seemed to say he wants taranto/hopper/prestia/Ross as our first choice midfield + next man in. ..
On the podcast recently
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Didn’t we draft an explosive bull of a mid who can break away from packs and get forward???
Would be nice if we could throw him in there from time to time…..
Imo we have two of them with McAuliffe yet to show what he has fully but has shown some great glimpses, he too looks like he has the tools to become a formidable player.
Things are looking bright. Just add Hotton and Cumming and hope Smillie can get over his freakin injuries.
From here on in its about adding depth we still remain in an overall list perspective a little bit light on for mids.
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Didn’t we draft an explosive bull of a mid who can break away from packs and get forward???
Would be nice if we could throw him in there from time to time…..
Imo we have two of them with McAuliffe yet to show what he has fully but has shown some great glimpses, he too looks like he has the tools to become a formidable player.
Things are looking bright. Just add Hotton and Cumming and hope Smillie can get over his freakin injuries.
From here on in its about adding depth we still remain in an overall list perspective a little bit light on for mids.
Are we really light on still? I know we have a lot of kids but the numbers are there, between full timers and blokes who can rotate.
Prestia (last year)
Taranto, Hopper.
Ross (rotate)
Lalor
Smillie
Mccauliffe
Hotton
Cumming
Alger
Grlj
The one for me who should be given a go inside is actually Kaleb Smith.
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Im actually talking about depth and list balance.
People may think it dumb but im a fan of copying what you do in the seniors in the reserves.
You have named 10 players.
I would not classify Alger or Grlj as mids at this point in time. Both should play but their primary roles should be h/b and hf.
That leaves 9 mids of which bar one will have to fit into the senior team. We need more mids if we are to mirror the senior team.
Seniors goes something like this
Vlastuin - Gibcus - Trainor
Grlj - Miller - Brown
Retschko - McAuliffe - Banks/Campbell
Nankervis - Taranto - Lalor
Hotton - Faull - Algar
Mansell - Lynch - Armstrong
Hopper - Cumming - Balta - Prestia - Broad
Reserves
Trezise - Gray - Third tall
Smith - Fawcett - Short
Clarke - Smillie - Ralphsmith
O H-B - Ross - Sonsie
Rioli - Lefau - Green
Peucker - Sims - Ryan
N R-T - Mid - Mid - Utility - Mid.
Yep i think another 3 or 4 mids are needed. Especially with Prestia close to retirement and Ross and Sonsie being overtaken.
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End of season - CBA stats -
Toby Nankervis 457 83% 31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
Jacob Hopper 466 81% 29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread
Tim Taranto 428 81% 28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.
Dion Prestia 189 68% 33yo been a great servant but is slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth. trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere but for depth due to those poor numbers.
Kane McAuliffe 70 59% A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.
Samson Ryan 25 56% Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
Thomson Dow 130 44% Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.
Jack Ross 194 34% 25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..
Kamdyn McIntosh 135 24% delisted.
Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..
This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.
2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.
F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD and Rookie Draft 2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward
Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.
All sounds good BUT we seem to have no luck in selecting young ruckman and developing them.
I think our last good draftee ruckman was Ottens??
We probably could have got Grundy 2? Years ago, who are the potential 25 y o ruckman going around? If we could target one of them that would be my preference, any comment??
I think we have not managed to bring ruckmen on simply because we don't seem to put much time into it. We tend to take them as an after thought and ultimately are forced to go after mature types. Imo i think this damning in many ways.
Ruckmen we have taken since Toby who we took in a trade for pick 46 end of 2016. But first the list of ruckmen we had in 2016.
Hampson a right dud we traded pick 32 for him in 2013
I Maric another trade from 2011 with pick 37 Ivan was shot by the time we traded in Nankervis.
Vickery more a forward than ruck imo. we used a good pick on him with #8 in 2008 and we at least got 100 games out of him, mainly because of where we drafted him. Was soon exposed when he went to the Hawks.
Ivan Soldo a cat (B) Investment. Was always a
So thats it we bought in Nankervis end of 2016 and the others we had would soon be gone or exposed.
2016 - Nankervis, trade #46
2017 CC-J #20. Was a 50 50 bet on what he was, a Forward or a ruckman we needed both and we hedged our bets.
2018 nothing
2019 nothing
2020 Ryan #40, Colina Cat (B)
2021 nothing
2022 nothing
2023 Naismith DFA aged 31. OH-B (cat B)
2024 Sims #28. A kpf who may be a second ruckman or fwd/ruck.
2025 nothing.
Thats our investment in ruckmen for the last 10 seasons little wonder we cannot find one to develop.
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Don't worry claw we have an unfortunate/undrafted ruck training with us this summer