Who will do the off the ball work in 2009?

[one-eyed]

One area we know we need to improve in this year and according to the coaches we've done extra work on over the preseason is applying defensive pressure across the ground. Just doing the off the ball work that is often unrecognised but goes a long way to winning games of footy consistently.

It's interesting to see that those who win the most footy for us are also our best tacklers (even though we as a team are a low tackling side).

Who do ppls think will be our best tacklers in 2009 and who do you think will rise out of obscurity and help boost our defensive pressure this year?

For the record here are our best tacklers under Wallace from 2005 to 2008:

2005

Coughlan  99 (5th highest in AFL behind Kirk 136)
Krakouer   76 (27th)
Tuck         71 (35th)
Newman   65 (42nd)
Johnson    44
Bowden    38

2006

Tuck        72 (41st behind McDonald 143)
Tivendale 71 (45th)
Foley       70 (50th)
Krakouer  51
Tambling  48
Hyde        48

2007

Foley        90 (34th behind Kirk 149)
Johnson    70 (60th)
Tuck         61 (81st)
Tambling  49
King         49
Tivendale  49

2008

Tuck         84 (31st behind Kirk 151)
Foley        75 (48th)
Tambling  72 (60th)
White       64 (83rd)
Johnson    54
Deledio     48

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_rankings?year=2008&rt=LT&st=TA

[cub]

Now with Cousins and Cogs coming into the middle Tucky will be even more invisible yet effective in getting the hard yards done.
Ultimate quiet achiever is the friar

[wayne]

If Hislop and Polo are regulars, i'd expect that they would lead the tackle counts.

[Chuck17]

With some of the midfield talent we now have I would like to see Tuck inside the top 10 tacklers for the AFL.

Also Cogs is another one who doesn't mind the hard yakka if he makes it back into our top side on a regular basis.

[mightytiges]

Adam Thomson could be another one. One of the reasons he's been brought over is to act as a blocker and protector for Foley and our other gun mids.

[Stripes]

I agree with MT regarding Thomson, he seems like a hardnut who could be an ultimate team player next year - tackling, shepherding, blocking and providing plenty of clearances.

Cogs will also lift our tackle count if he finds his way back in the middle. Whitey has the pace to run players down so he could be another one high in the count along with the reliable regulars, Tuck and Foley.

Also great to see Lids high in the count last year given this was an area identified in previous years as a weakness.

Stripes

[Mr Magic]

Agree Stripes, great to see Deledio move into our top 5 tacklers last season thought it's still an area he can improve on.

IMO it's our forwards that are the genuine worry in this area.

None of Richardson, Hughes, Brown or Morton are particularly good in the tackling stakes(to put it midly).
I can see in this respect why Wallace is flirting with the notion of playing Hislop as a small forward.
We desperately need someone in there who can create real pressure on the defensive ball carriers.

[Smokey]

Agree Stripes, great to see Deledio move into our top 5 tacklers last season thought it's still an area he can improve on.

IMO it's our forwards that are the genuine worry in this area.

None of Richardson, Hughes, Brown or Morton are particularly good in the tackling stakes(to put it midly).
I can see in this respect why Wallace is flirting with the notion of playing Hislop as a small forward.
We desperately need someone in there who can create real pressure on the defensive ball carriers.

I think you are a bit harsh on Morton MM.  One thing that stood out to me last year was the way the defensive pressure in the forward line increased noticeably when Riewoldt and Morton played.  He averages over 2.1 tackles per game for us and here are some others as a comparison - Riewoldt 1.9 (2.0 in '08), White 2.9, McGuane 2.2, Thursfield 1.2, King 2.8, Moore 1.8, Jackson 2.1, Deledio 1.9 (2.2 in '08).  For a forward I think he is quite good at maintaining pressure on the ball carrier.

[mightytiges]

IMO it's our forwards that are the genuine worry in this area.

None of Richardson, Hughes, Brown or Morton are particularly good in the tackling stakes(to put it midly).
I can see in this respect why Wallace is flirting with the notion of playing Hislop as a small forward.
We desperately need someone in there who can create real pressure on the defensive ball carriers.

Agree Magic.

Also a reason why we picked up Nahas as a rookie. Not only a small forward goalkicker but someone who can chase and harrass the opposition defence. The question on Nahas though is whether he can do that at AFL level.

[yellowandback]

what about jordy? ashes to ashes dust to dust, if hislop don't get you thommo must