Richmonds midfield rotation

[tro-boy]

Richmond got killed on Friday night in the midfield. That was where a lot of our problems started.

Who should be in the midfield for Richmond this year? My view is that it should be Couglan, Johnson and Zantuck. Couglan and Zantuck have the strength and Johnson has the skill.

Campbell should rotate through the midfield. He is often bagged but when all is said and done, he is better than most other players at Richmond.

Rodan - still needs to prove himself in the midfield. I think more rotation between forward pocket and midfield is warranted this year for him

-Tivendale - take him out of the midfield and wing - he cannot get the ball enough. Give him a season on the forward flank.

-Blumfield - we are desperate for skill in the forward line. Keep Blumfield on a forward flank rather than in the midfield.

-Cameron - he may have had a great pre-season but keep him out of the midfield. He is not 20 years old anymore.

-Rogers - if he is tagging an opposition midfielder, I would still prefer him starting outside the square and then latching onto his opponent after the bounce.

-King - forget about it. Might as well put a castle made out of a deck of cards in there.

-Chaffey - he could rotate through the midfield. I admire his hardness at the ball

-Pettifer - forget about it.

Fiora - forget about it. Groom his as a running half back flanker/wingmen instead. Surely he could not do worse than Tivendale.

 

[JohnF]

Really? You think Zantuck could play on the ball? I've never rated him as a ground player, he looks a little unsteady picking up the ball under knee level, though he would be good to hand out a belting to a player or two for sure.

Johnson played okay on friday night, but i think he would be better suited to a wing position. He seems to operate best in the open spaces. Of his twenty posessions, 7 were from marks and a few were hand ball receives. I'm not suggesting he's a total receiver, but i dont think he looks altogether comfortable in the clinches either.

I'm not too much of a fan of this rotation business. I understand that players get tired and need to rest once in a while, but rotating players is a luxury which i dont think we have at Richmond. We have a few good midfielders and the rest are 3rd rate. Give me a tired Campbell over a fresh Pettifer on the ball any day.

 

[Dean3]

Not even an aerobic freak like Shane Crawford can run out a full game at the pace it is played at these days. You've gotta rest players at certain stages so that the side can run out 4 quarters. Plus rotations are not only about resting/tiredness, they're also about unpredictability and variety.

 

[JohnF]

True, but by putting players like Fiora, Pettifer, King and Krakouer in the midfield, I can already predict what will happen. We will get thumped. When you have players of that ilk playing in the middle, it doesn't matter if you rotate 15 of them. In contrast, rotating voss, black, lappin, akermanis, the scott brothers, power, hart, caracella makes sense, because they have adequate replacements that can cause some unpredictability and surprise when the prime movers are resting. *smile* I hate Brisbane. i dont care if we lose, as long as Brisbane don't win the premiership again. I think Collingwood have a good chance of beating them, lol, and i reckon we'll at least beat Collingwood.

 

[admin]

*smile* I hate Brisbane. i dont care if we lose, as long as Brisbane don't win the premiership again. I think Collingwood have a good chance of beating them

I am so glad Collingwood lost the GF and we don't have to see the Flag Ceremony in round 1.
Would prefer Brisbane by miles to Collingwood, if only for the fact that their fans aren't Collingwood supporters. ;D
P.S. You've given the swear filter a good try out John....I'm glad it passed the test. ;D

 

[Rampaging_Richo]

We have to build a new midfield.

Main players - Coughlan, Rodan, Johnson, Campbell, Blumfield

Bit players - Rogers, Kellaway, Krak, Tiv.

 

[JohnF]

lol, what was I thinking, let me rephrase that. I dont care if we lose so long as Brisbane don't win another premiership and so long as its not Collingwood or Essendon or Calrton (fat chance) beating them to it.

Who's *smile* idea was it to put a swear filter in? Get's rid of all the good stuff. Na, good on ya's.

 

[mightytiges]

Not even an aerobic freak like Shane Crawford can run out a full game at the pace it is played at these days. You've gotta rest players at certain stages so that the side can run out 4 quarters. Plus rotations are not only about resting/tiredness, they're also about unpredictability and variety.

Exactly Dean on both counts. Rotations not only in the centre but also around the ground are done to create advantageous mismatches as well as to give midfielders a rest so they can last 4 qtrs.

On the fitness stakes, only Simon Black is able to play almost a full game in the centre (97%) .

 

[Dean3]

At least we've found out what the 'F' in your name stands for John. :

 

[JohnF]

Posted by: Dean3 Posted on: Today at 11:42am
At least we've found out what the 'F' in your name stands for John.

LOL i don't know what the *smile* you are talking about

Ok, you've convinced me. We should rotate our midfield. But we should do it a little differently than from what you would expect. How we should do it is that we should rotate half our midfielders at a time through the Coburg team, and then the following week they should be playing for Richmond and those playing for Richmond the previous week get their go at Coburg. I think this will be a most effective method of rotation.

 

[admin]

LOL i don't know what the *smile* you are talking about

Fancy a holiday John? We're shearing in a few weeks and I reckon you'd come in handy in the shed.
That's the only language the dogs and sheep understand I think, ha. ;D

 

[JohnF]

LMAO, I'm trying to edify the sheep in this forum with my colourful language Rosy.