For those who don't think addressing our midfield depth should be as high a priority as getting another KPF , check out this nice work from Big Footy poster richoatthedisco regarding how we went the other night with Martin & Graham out of the side (and Prestia too though he's been out for a while),makes for fairly chastening reading:
I just did a little analysis of all the centre bounces on Friday night - who attended, what happened, I present it without comment:
1st Q:
Nank, Cotch, Miles, Edwards. Miles’ opponent Wingard pushes off him and wins clearance with Miles three metres behind him.
Nank, Cotch, Miles, Edwards. Cotch wins clearance (kick off the ground).
Grigg, Cotch, Caddy, Conca. Woeful bounce gifts Ryder clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Miles, Caddy. Cotch pushes off R.Gray, wins scrappy clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Miles, Edwards. Miles dives on ball, secondary ball-up (should have been holding the ball according to the rules). Grigg wins subsequent clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Miles, Edwards. Scrappy, ball in dispute until Port sweeper off the back of the square wins it.
2nd Q:
Nank, Cotch, Conca, Edwards. Cotch wins clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Conca, Edwards. Edwards’ man Wingard wins clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Conca, Caddy. Nank lays it down beautifully for Ryder, who wins clearance.
Nank, Caddy, Conca, Miles. Miles’ man Powell-Pepper starts level with him, pushes off and beats him to the ball by a clear metre. Conca confronts him but P-P handballs to Conca’s man Wines, who handballs to Caddy’s man Wingard (still next to centre circle), who boots it forward. Caddy had left Wingard to follow the initial tap and as such he was well clear.
Grigg, Cotch, Conca, Miles. Conca’s man Wines pushes off him and bursts 3m clear to win clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Conca, Miles. Miles’ man P-P gets the ball but is immediately tackled by Miles and Conca. Secondary ball-up. Tertiary ball-up. Byrnes-Jones wins scrappy clearance.
Nank, Caddy, Conca, Miles. Conca’s man P-P drops ball in Conca tackle, falls to Miles’ man Rockliff. Miles has gone ball-hunting and left him free. Rockliff handballs straight to Sheds but dumpire has called rubbish holding free against Conca. P-P wins gifted clearance.
Nank, Caddy, Edwards, Miles. Edwards’ man Rockliff gets short handball to Caddy’s man Wingard (Caddy left him again). Miles applies ineffective tackle, allowing Wingard to handball to Miles’ man Wines for clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Edwards, Miles. Miles dives on ball, handball to Cotch for clearance.
Nank, Cotch, Edwards, Conca. Edwards gets a bad bounce, his man Wines handballs to Cotch’s man Rockliff for clearance.
3rd Q:
Nank, Cotch, Grigg, Miles. P-P dives on the ball and throws it to Miles’ man Wines, who wins clearance.
Moore, Grigg, Caddy, Miles. Miles attacks nullified tap, as do Wingard, P-P and Miles’ man R.Gray, who taps it to advantage, bursts clear and boots long for clearance. Grigg and Caddy each two metres from contest, zero impact.
Caddy, Grigg, Cotch, Edwards. Caddy follows up his ruck work, handballs to Edwards who fumbles, ball bobbles around, Grigg handballs to Cotch for clearance.
Nank, Edwards, Grigg, Miles. Edwards anticipates the wrong way, Ryder knocks it down to his man Wingard who wins clearance.
4th Q:
Nank, Cotch, Grigg, Higgins. Grigg works Wines under ball, Ryder roves neutral ruck contest, handballs to Cotch’s man P-P who is metres clear, handpass to Higlet’s man R.Gray, back to Ryder, back to Gray, back to P-P who is tackled by Cotch but given six minutes to get his handball wide, Grimes off the ground, out of bounds.
Nank, Cotch, Caddy, Miles. Miles’ man Gray pushes off him and is a metre clear when Ryder lays one in his lap. He handballs to Caddy’s man Wingard who Caddy has again ignored while not impacting the contest. Wingard handpass to Rockliff off the back of the square, he chips it straight to Sheds.
Cotch attended 17 centre bounces, won 5 clearances. His man got 2.
Miles attended 15 centre bounces, won 0 clearances (1 clearance assist). His man got 4, plus an additional 3 first possessions.
Edwards attended 11 centre bounces, won 0 clearances. His man got 2.
Conca attended 9 centre bounces, won 0 clearances. His man got 2, plus 1 first possession.
Grigg attended 6 centre bounces (2 as ruckman), won 0 clearances (1 clearance assist). His man got 1, when he was in the ruck.
Caddy attended 9 centre bounces (1 as ruckman), won 0 clearances, got 1 first possession. His man got 1 clearance, 1 first possession and 2 chain possessions.
Nank attended 19 centre bounces, won 0 clearances. His man got 1 clearance, 1 clearance assist, 1 first possession, 1 chain possession.
Moore and Higgins attended 1 centre bounce each and didn’t bother the statistician. Higgo's bloke got 2 chain possessions.
https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-strange-case-of-anthony-miles.1193683/page-14#post-56212340
Well stuff me, would any Miles and Edwards fans like to comment on that.
Isnt the messiah Carcella in charge of the mids?
Whilst people gush over the fancy stuff of Edwards, the work Cotch does often goes unnoticed
