Guido into defence

[AndrewP6]

Re: Guido into defence

Obviously we are a good contested ball side, and I'm more than confident that's a stat we can turn around ... but 1 tackle in the F50 after it was a focal point in the off season? That's disgusting.

I can't argue with those comments about Gia, either. Problem is, you can add Cross, Gilbee and probably Hudson to that list too. It's a problem.

One thing Huddo is good at is getting his hands dirty. Applying pressure, well, maybe not so much

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Guido into defence

One thing Huddo is good at is getting his hands dirty. Applying pressure, well, maybe not so much

I've been a massive fan of Hudson, but I can't see how he's going to impact games like he has for us. Primarily, because of the ridiculous sub rule. The ruck situation is going to cause us massive headaches, unless Roughead finds form/durability.

I fear Hudson will become a liability, as opposed to the strength he was.

[Mofra]

Re: Guido into defence

Too slow to play as a forward due to an ability to apply offensive pressure which is a must in the modern game.

The problem is that leaves (arguably) our best ball user in traffic on the outer.

As an inside mid covering for Boyd he had his best games for the year last year - he was 4th on our list for tackles last year, I wonder how many of those were in the middle?

Have we reached the point where we need to make a hard call on one of Cross, Boyd & Gia early in the season? All are elite endurance runners but the modern game is about burst speed and repeated efforts.

[Topdog]

Re: Guido into defence

Gia in defense would be a disaster. He is far from finished but the fact that Boyd and Cross can only play one position on the ground really hurts us. Gia should be in the middle and IMO would be more useful there than Cross and Boyd.

[Bornadog]

Re: Guido into defence

Gia in defense would be a disaster. He is far from finished but the fact that Boyd and Cross can only play one position on the ground really hurts us. Gia should be in the middle and IMO would be more useful there than Cross and Boyd.

Boyd use to play the tagging role. Maybe he needs to go back to doing that.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Guido into defence

Cant see this working. Gia is one of our better converters. Seems well suited to current role to me.

Hill, Murphy, Picken, Addison and even Cross look better suited to a defensive role IMO.
Cross could go back and we could look for more speed through the midfield or introduce Wallis.

Would love to see Wallis in the centre, with Crossy providing a Nick-Maxwell-esque role along with Murphy.

[1eyedog]

Re: Guido into defence

His best returns last year were when he played midfield in my opinion. His hands are good in tight, and he's good by foot too - so in my mind he's a possibly a better option as a "slow" midfielder than some of the other guys we are playing through there. We need to find a way to balance the rest of the midfield rotations so that Gia can play more minutes in there.

Yep we have plenty of these. So you think Gia is a better option there than Cross? Boyd?

[1eyedog]

Re: Guido into defence

Boyd use to play the tagging role. Maybe he needs to go back to doing that.

Exactly, but I'd use the term negating midfielder as I think Boyd can negate and also get a bit of ball rather than solely being responsible for a man. The strength of Boyd before last year was that he was effectively negating an opposition mid and also getting a bit of ball himself.

Stop thinking you're Chris Judd Boydy.

[stefoid]

Re: Guido into defence

We really missed gilbee, hargrave and harbrow. Morris got his usual 6 possessions, but without anyone to give them to he was forced to take 6 kicks and is credited with 6 turnovers. In defence!

Ability to dispose well under pressure is our achilles heel, and I am now convinced that until we start to shed a few guys who cant dispose well under pressure and replace them with guys who can, we will not progress.

guido, for all his perceived faults, can dispose well under pressure.

no Im not advocating ditching Morris obviously, but he needs to be surrounded by guys who can receive he ball safely from him and use it well on his behalf.

[Maddog37]

Re: Guido into defence

Gee I hope we are all jumping at shadows re Gia, Boyd and Crossy.

I really do believe Boydy played his best footy as a tagger on the oppositions best player. Crossy, I did like the idea of a Nick Maxwell type role as third man up against opposition KPFs. He would also be able to run forward all day long which would take the sting out of his opponent possibly.

Gia, hmmmm. Needs to be told if he does not tackle he will be in the VFL. Harsh to single him out but if we are going to make an example of people it needs to be senior players.

I just hope that as the year goes on these guys will get better and better. They are after all seasoned pros in a tough sport. If they struggle this year though.........well things will get very interesting.

[Greystache]

Re: Guido into defence

Boyd use to play the tagging role. Maybe he needs to go back to doing that.

Please God yes, his attempts to turn himself in to the next Gary Ablett have been a disaster.

His role should be to try and win the ball at the stoppages, then go straight to his opponent and try to shut them down.

[the banker]

Re: Guido into defence

Lots of sense in these posts IMHO. Boyd a defensive midfield role, Cross to defence,Gia as sub?, bring Wallis and Sherman into midfield.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Guido into defence

Lots of sense in these posts IMHO. Boyd a defensive midfield role, Cross to defence,Gia as sub?, bring Wallis and Sherman into midfield.

Cross to defence?.
Imagine you're an opposition coach.
would you see him as a threat at all?
And what opportunities would that present for your team?
Very little speed to rebound or baulk / break the lines
Poor kicking penetration
A good mark, but not a tall player.
A very fit player, who can run all day. but perhaps not keep up with even taller opponents.

Crossy is well loved at the club and most of our scoring opportunities in the past started with him. But a player does not always have to be at their lowest point to see that's it's time to start a transition to the new guard, with older players being slowly given decent but less opportunities against lesser opponents to allow the Wallis's and Libba's of the world to cut their teeth. Same goes for Gia. It's not to take a pot at players, but it's just their time, not to be cut from the team, but to share the load with younger players. The mentoring and experience, leadership they can provide is invaluable.

[Desipura]

Re: Guido into defence

Too slow to play as a forward due to an ability to apply offensive pressure which is a must in the modern game.

Well that is pretty obvious to the non rose coloured.

[Desipura]

Re: Guido into defence

They were pretty scathing of our performance and the way we played.

The main points of concern were that we had just 1 tackle in our F50 and we were smashed in contested play, but still had players getting forward of the ball.

Pretty much said that Gia needs to get his hands dirty and that if he won't apply pressure which is a most in the modern game then he doesn't have a role to play.

These are the stats that mean more these days.