Position 2023: Midfield Discussion

NT.Thunder · 6 Feb 2023

They’re few and far between though - I can just see everyone scrambling for the almanacs to search through previous DT/SC history. Sure there’s a few, but typically Richmond players of late don’t scream SC Captain material.

wogitalia · 6 Feb 2023

Richo on a wing, come on!

Vicwood · 6 Feb 2023

NT.Thunder said:

Yes, agree with what you are saying.

Im Expecting a 95-100 average for the year. To my way thinking Dunkley the only FWD capable of 110+ average.

Shannon · 6 Feb 2023

Vicwood said:

I think Rozee can join him

He averaged 110 across the final 10 games last season when playing midfield. Had a big preseason, went to the USA with Boak & a few others for extra training to help further elevate his game. Kid has all the tools to become a genuine star.

Feerits Elf · 7 Feb 2023

What about 21-year-old Trent Cotchin (116.3) as a $545k mid?

Fourth-highest mid by total points, 7th highest by average.

Backbone · 7 Feb 2023

BIGB0Y said:

Also on Taranto
Prestia averaged 105 last year in the games he wasn’t injured
Was subbed out 3 times and played as our only pure pig inside bull
Can see Taranto doing the same this year
Prestia is also a butcher of the footy so the scoring prowess at Richmond is there if the role is there which Taranto has.
Will 100% go 100+
An easy f3 to start

NT.Thunder · 7 Feb 2023

Shannon said:

Boak is the ultimate professional, good to hear they pre-season together. I remember reading a Mens Helath mag a year or two ago with an article on Travis Boak and just seems a machine when it comes to training and conditioning and at his age and condition, you can't argue with his methods.

Ginty22 · 7 Feb 2023

wogitalia said:

The problem is that Fyfe and Ziebell (even McLean) all offer similar prospects to Brodie/Coniglio last year so if you're taking them it's problematic if also selecting 3 or more of the premium plays.

I think that Gawn, Bont, B. Smith, Parker, Petracca and Boak all stand out very strongly as potential DPP guys, any of them that get it and it's possible they're must have types. Yes you can sideways but it's always difficult to do as it basically needs to wait until the team is finished which often means missing all the value of why players get position changes in the first place.

It really hurt my season so I'm definitely not going to try and do it again this year, if it happens it happens but I'm not chasing it.

He's never had a season as a pure mid except 2019 where he averaged 102 in his third season, which is very impressive.

I don't disagree with you but the idea of a full season of pure mid definitely has 105 potential. There's definitely a factor that Richmond might be able to help him slightly although not sure I agree as GWS had a better list than Richmond for most of his career they just had god awful coaching to handicap it.

I'm also not huge on the Richmond factor, I think we all underrate how good a coach Dimma was because the Tigers overcame a lack of talent compared to many sides and still won flags, their midfielders with talent (Prestia, Martin and Cotchin) all scored very well. That they won flags playing the likes of Edwards, Lambert (feel bad lumping him in, his work rate was absurd and he played a team role), McIntosh, Pickett, Caddy, Grigg, Graham and Ellis through there in prime roles is a genuine credit to Dimma. The fact that group never scored well has far more to do with their lack of ability than Richmond's style, imo.

It's a factor but it's not going to stop Taranto or Hopper from producing if they're fit, it might even help them given how they butcher it and how badly the GWS finesse and possession style repeatedly exposed them both.

This would apply if he wasn't just as bad, if not worse, at handballing than he is kicking. Let's not also act like that group is significantly better than Kelly, Whitfield, Cumming, Williams and Coniglio et al running past for the handball either, GWS had talent and he's had opportunities to feed them.

If Dimma fixes his disposal he deserves coach of the year because he's broken at every level.

That said, it really doesn't matter because he tackles like a maniac, wins contested pill and Richmond's chaos style of hacking it forward probably actually helps him as that's already his natural style but this time his team is built around it and ready for it, even if just 2 or 3 of his hacks turn into ineffective disposals instead of clangers then he pushes the 105 range.

He's really solid value as a pick. I personally have him 4th of the Rozee, Coniglio and Dunkley group simply because I think his ceiling is that 105-110 range while the other three are well above that because they've got much more class but I think Taranto is a really strong option and it wouldn't surprise me if he beat any of those 3 given the durability issues they have (and role concerns for Rozee & Coniglio).

I really can't fault him as a pick this year.

Just wanted to jump in to say Tarantos kicking efficiency was much improved last year, from a career mid-high 40s% (terrible) to 61% (pass). Maybe that was due to role , maybe due to skill improvement, the question is is that his new norm, or an outlier, or will he further improve, who knows at the end of the day we're all just taking educated guesses.

Interesting to note that his 61% kick efficiency (13.8 kicks a game) last year was better than cogs at 57% (13.5 kicks a game)

Backbone · 7 Feb 2023

Ginty22 said:

Did playing up forward help in that regard?
From memory he took Greenes role early in the year and looked really good

Ginty22 · 7 Feb 2023

Backbone said:

Hard to say for sure but role possibly could have been a factor eg. less hack kicks forward out of centre bounce or stoppages etc
I wouldn't go as far as saying he took Greenes role though, he pretty consistently had 40+% cbas through the first 9 games before his injury
Trying to find correlations can be difficult but he averaged 44% cbas last season and kicked at 61%, the year before he averaged 49% cbas and kicked at 50%. Not much change in the cba % but a good improvement in the kicking %. Seems like it can't have all been role that caused the improvement imo

gauts19 · 7 Feb 2023

Which giants midfields would benefit the most from both Hopper and Taranto leaving the club? Tom Green looks set for a big year and Josh Kelly could take on a baulk of the load and obviously Cogs will be around more, but could players like Lachie Whitfield regain form with more midfield minutes opening up

donnybuang · 7 Feb 2023

gauts19 said:

I believe Whitfield is going back to defence this year. Might be prudent to keep a spot for him and Short on your backilne.

Manikato1 · 8 Feb 2023

donnybuang said:

Did you see this last Thursday from BF? Little snippets like this just keep the doubt niggling in the back of your mind.

Spifflicator · 9 Feb 2023

gauts19 said:

Callaghan, last years no 3 pick is the one of most interest. Great skill set, moves well and should now see plenty of games early. at $244k he is a tough ask over a Will Ashcroft, but could well end up a better pick than Hopper given the lower price.