It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

[Dry Rot]

IMHO it's time we should have a real hard tagger. If you agree, who are the candidates?

[The Coon Dog]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

Dylan Addison springs to mind.

[GVGjr]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

The can be developed within or recruited at the draft table. Trading for them might not be the best option.

[Dry Rot]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

The can be developed within or recruited at the draft table. Trading for them might not be the best option.

Who are our candidates from within?

[GVGjr]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

Who are our candidates from within?

Ideally we need someone who is capable of winning the footy themselves much like we did with Libba and Romero. My long shot for this role is Eagleton and Gia or Boyd would other candidates.

[Mantis]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

I'm with TCD in believing Addison would be perfect for this type of role, Boyd would be the other one.

In general we need our midfield group to be far more accountable to there opponents. We have too many one way midfielders and as a group they need to pay more attention to the opposition.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

The trademark of successful taggers appears to be: running ability, concentration, determination, and plenty of mongrel

a) They have to be fit
b) They have to be able to focus on their job and not lose their man,
c) They have to be determined to do anything to stop there man getting it, and absolutely hate it when they do - but they cant hang their head when a player gets it, they need to bounce back and get on with it.
d) They have to play like a bastard (Ling, Rawlings, Godfrey, Stenglein) and be prepared to tackle, cop the blocks etc and basically sacrifice themselves getting huge individual accolades or media attention.

Our candidates: Cross, Boyd, Addison, Harbrow, Power, Giansiracusa & Ray

Not sure that Power, Giansiracusa are bastard enough to do it, nor desperate enough - although its the kind of role that could be the making of them because there careers are going nowhere.

Others have touted Addison but could Harbrow be an option or is his size an issue?

[Dry Rot]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

The trademark of successful taggers appears to be: running ability, concentration, determination, and plenty of mongrel

a) They have to be fit
b) They have to be able to focus on their job and not lose their man,
c) They have to be determined to do anything to stop there man getting it, and absolutely hate it when they do - but they cant hang their head when a player gets it, they need to bounce back and get on with it.
d) They have to play like a bastard (Ling, Rawlings, Godfrey, Stenglein) and be prepared to tackle, cop the blocks etc and basically sacrifice themselves getting huge individual accolades or media attention.

Our candidates: Cross, Boyd, Addison, Harbrow, Power, Giansiracusa & Ray

Not sure that Power, Giansiracusa are bastard enough to do it, nor desperate enough - although its the kind of role that could be the making of them because there careers are going nowhere.

Others have touted Addison but could Harbrow be an option or is his size an issue?

Good criteria. Does Addison have the engine for the job? If we could cover him down back, could Morris be the answer?

[Mantis]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

Good criteria. Does Addison have the engine for the job? If we could cover him down back, could Morris be the answer?

Addison - Not yet, hopefully his engine will improve after another pre-season.

Morris - I think he is one of the few defenders you can depend on to beat his opponent week in week out. For that reason he stays in defence for me. We have enough midfield types on our list to do this job.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

Addison - Not yet, hopefully his engine will improve after another pre-season.

Morris - I think he is one of the few defenders you can depend on to beat his opponent week in week out. For that reason he stays in defence for me. We have enough midfield types on our list to do this job.

A tagger is generally one of the best runners on your list, so Addison is probably a reasonable runner but hasn't quite elevated himself to that level - he does seem to have the toughness, concentration and determination though. He didn't quite have the sparkling second year I had expected, but injury seemed to nag him all season.

Morris is an option I hadn't really even considered, and he really might be the exact man for the job, he obviously had more time in the midfield as the season went on - I dont know how he compares engine wise with elite midfielders.

I think we have more coverage for Morris in the backline with Everitt, Hargrave, Wight etc developing than we do in the midfield. Morris could be the answer DR

[Dry Rot]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

Could the development (or otherwise) of O'Shea release Morris from the backline?

If nothing else, you'd hope that some mix of Harris, McDougall, Williams and maybe Everitt may release Morris and Hargrave from play on blokes half a foot taller than them.

[LostDoggy]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

I don't think Morris should go into a tagging role, he's so good in the backline and even when we're getting flogged you know that he's going to do his job well and keep focused, the latter being something our boys have had a lot of problems with recently. He's a leader along with Shaggy and Harris down there and losing him could be really detrimental to our defence.

I don't know a lot about tagging as such, I hate players like Rawlings and Baker who just hold on to and infuriate other players, is it possible to tag players other than in the midfield?

[GVGjr]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

I have seen Morris run into the midfield as part of his lock down role and he was a non factor.
In short I'd prefer to see a tagger who can win the ball on their own merit as well and I don't think Morris can do that. Around the ground he might be OK but really I think he is a defender.

[dog town]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

I think Rocket has already ear marked Power as someone who can be further developed in that role. He did some brilliant jobs towards the end of the season and personally I wanted to see him tried in that role a while before Rocket actually started using him as a regular stopper. He has some good attributes for it in that he is an excellent tackler and can cover the ground pretty well. He seems the type of player that would respond much better to a simple role like stopping a player than having to make the play himself. To be honest I reckon it will be the making of him as a player. Once he nails a role in the side his confidence will grow and his excellent hands in close and growing courage will see him become a quality defensive midfielder. Would be surprised if Eade chased a tagger in a trade after playing Power in that role for 5 or 6 weeks.

[southerncross]

Re: It's time we had a Ling, Baker etc

I hope you are right DT. I don't mind Power and think he can get better at that role but plenty of people will disagree with us.