Our core midfielders going forward

[RudeBoy]

Marsh and Karnezis could just be the smoky bigger bodied mids we're all hoping for I guess.

[yin-YANG]

Yeah it would be great if Marsh was able to come along and be an option he has size and pace - just the skills are not quite there yet - but still a lot of potential - o I would give him a go.

Giving the younger guys more opportunity through the middle might yield a real gem. It might even be worth throwing White in there now and then as a ruck rover at the bounces to use his size and pace. Ruffhead does it really well and although White does not have the forward arsenal of ruffy he can play further up the ground and cause some headaches running back into space.

I would like to see our team focus on pressure and run - maybe accept the skills are not A -grade but burn teams with pace and numbers to the ball. Young teams can do it and we have a bit of class around to make the most of opportunities the young guys could present.

The outside run is clearly the key component of the best teams and even young guys can make a contest and or pressure seasoned or more skilled players.

[HAL]

And for my part, I would like to show it to you, but I can't.

[yin-YANG]

Yeah I know... you don't have a heart!

[thompsoc]

We need players who can run, carry, contest and
spread. They also need elite foot and hand skills with
a big tank.
We have not got these type of players full stop!
After Beams and Pendles ????????
Don't delude yourself into thinking that the above
mentioned players will take such giant steps.
Watching the top 4 sides in September just showed
me how far we are behind these sides.

[John Wren]

^ i think most of our guys are 2-3 years away from being there.

[jackcass]

[jackcass]

[McMonkey]

Agree with your sentiment RB. At key position we look to have the depth and class with players like Cloke, Reid and Brown as good as any in the comp. Gault, Moore, Frost and Keefe offer plenty of potential. Clarke (if we get him) and White are wild cards for mine, both have plenty of potential but I’d have question marks against their names in terms of delivering it.

I'm also a massive fan of trying White as a mid for short stints ala Roughy. It would be great to see Collingwood experiment with this in the preseason and the VFL if White isnt getting a senior game.

Our ruck stocks don’t have a lot of depth, Witts and Grundy could be one of the best combo's in the comp in the next couple of years but apart from them we only have part timers. I wouldn’t mind us adding a ruckman, either a youngster with a late draft pick or another Hudson type, I guess there is Mason Cox but not sure we can count on him.

But getting back to our mids, it is our biggest weakness in my opinion. After Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Beams and Swan we really drop off. Though I do think, as good as Beams is, he needs to improve his 2 way running and get more of the ball in defence to go to the next level.

As you said we need a core of a good 8 - 10 and we aren’t near that. In the list you mentioned to fill the breach my worry is height and contested ball winning ability.

Broomhead potentially seems the best of the lot, he has class, speed and accuracy. Thomas and Kennedy offer terrific pace and skill at times. Sinclair, Williams and Adams have their strengths and are part of the mix but I still feel we are another mid or two short and lack another couple of 185cm plus mids. Freeman has huge potential but given he has yet to play a game it’s tough to heap too much on him with any certainty. Of this lot, Adams looks to be the best contested ball winner, though he lacks the size. I certainly see him as a handy player though with good potential to help our big 4.

I agree with the posters on here with regard to Karnezis and Marsh having the potential and being the types we need but again, neither is yet to play a senior game, so not sure we can be certain these two are the answers.

Fasolo is another that has been mentioned, I’ve been very critical of him because he has great skills yet a poor defensive mindset sometimes. He hasn’t done much of a preseason over the last couple of years which means he probably needs to be cut some slack (by me). Again he is probably not in that size range however we need to compete with a Josh Kennedy, Luke Hodge, Nate Fyfe type mid. Seedsman has the size but not the contested game.

It will be interesting to see what types we chase in the offseason. High on my list would be a strong bodied, tall (185cm +) mid or two, that has a contested footy game.

I'm not sure who might be available at our second pick, assuming we take Moore at 8, which could help us in this area. I'd probably rather us go to the draft to find a player rather than recruit from another club, unless it is a player of proven class (like Dangerfield), that obviously won't come cheap. If we found someone like Heppell, I’d say that's the type we should be after to get our mids back to being able to compete with the top sides.

This is assuming Beams, Sidebottom, Swan and Pendlebury all have A grade years and our second tier mids all improve again. A lot of ifs, with a few things going right ( injuries/better player management) and luck we could get back into the top 8, even push up to 6th or 5th next year. We are a good 3 years off premiership contention though and by then we will need to replace Swan. Recruiting the best mid we can, with height and a contested ball game, is paramount for us in this off season in my opinion.

[MJ23]

[RudeBoy]

Since this year witnessed the rapid demise of Swanny, he can no longer be relied upon as an A grade midfielder for us going forward. If he returns to anywhere near his best it will be a bonus.

Therefore while we need 8-10 top midfielders to be a genuine top 4 team again, right now I count only 3, being Pendles, Beams and Sidebottom. We will not become a top side while we are overly reliant on these 3 midfield guns. Of our others I am very confident that another 4 will rise to the occasion over the next 2 years, that being Elliott, Broomhead, Kennedy and Adams.

This means we will need another 2-3 quality midfielders to step up to the plate within the next 2 years from the following group: Freeman, Williams, Sinclair, Karnezis, Fasolo, Marsh, Thomas and maybe even Scharenberg.

Given the age profile of most of these players, there's every reason for us to be optimistic that these players will develop into the top players we desperately need. Some of them will obviously fall by the wayside, but with an ounce of luck, enough of them will make the grade and help propel Collingwood back up the ladder.

[MJ23]

Just thinking it through again, I think Langdon is another potential big bodied mid.
He played his junior footy as a mid and his last year in TAC cup ( albeit an overage player) he had the second most possessions in the comp.

It was only his froth spurt and senior games in the backline at VFL level that gave him the experience to break into the seniors while the opportunities presented itself through injury.

I wouldn't mind seeing him take a role in the wing or through the middle. Certainly composed enough.

[jackcass]

[Lazza]

[DT]

[quote="qldmagpie67"]