C'mon all of you, the coach will wait until he is completely wasted before he try's him as a mid. Can't you see what's happening, he try's to turn all our players into backmen first, subsequently stuffing them up. But he and some here say it's all about developing their defensive side.......
I think it's great to put em in defence first. later in his career when hes playing mid, his experiences in the backline will urge him to run back harder as he knows the pressure they can be put under. also improves his tackling, pressure.. all that good stuff that we dont have.
I don't agree. Go through the history of the game and tell me how many of the best mids were started in the backline. The answer is hardly any. Voss, Black, Lappin and Akermanis, Burgoyne, Pendlebury, Swan, Beams, Hayes, Judd, Ablett, etc etc etc etc etc.
This is complete tripe and it ends up stripping the player of their natural attacking and goal kicking instincts. You don't have to go to the back half to learn how to defend. You must learn to defend all over the ground no matter where you are. That can be done playing in your best position. History shows that many of the best mids end up finishing their careers as a backline player as the slow down a little but they don't start there.
I just don't agree with this way of coaching. Every player must defend when they don't have the ball, not just the backs.