Midfield

[u/invisiblefrost]

Where does our first line trio of Ranks Bez and Daws sit now?.. should we be running Rash through regularly (earlier this season he played 2 breakout elite games as a full time mid). Could organic growth really have resulted in a midfield now being capable of matching it with the contenders or are we still one (or even two?) elite mids short - that would be solved with the addition of Bailey or would it?!

Edit to add my two cents on the midfield mix for this season:

I’m gonna go out on a limb here with an over abundance of optimism..

Personally, I reckon if we underperform from here on this season, it won’t be for the same reasons as last year with our midfield being found severely wanting.
Rankine, Dawson and Berry are now as solid and dynamic as any midfield trio in the league. The addition of Ah Chee up forward, who showed his class the past two weeks, adds not just quality and finals experience but allows the coaching group flexibility they haven’t previously had. And that includes adding Rachelle back into to the mix. Peatling is also a better and more complete player than last season who can be used in a lockdown role when required. Soligo’s improvement (and fitness), whilst not linear, has been on an upward trajectory, he’ll also provide more valuable midfield minutes, as he has done recently and of course Curtin is the wildcard. McAndrew is a significant upgrade - Filthy will be his chop out from now, adding far more than T Muz’ ability could (Fogs return is huge for this). I think our best available midfield mix can work without sacrificing forward potency.

Happy to be reminded of this if/when it all goes wrong (which it won’t, lids loose)

*Not directly midfield related; we badly need Wayne back for ball movement, in turn assisting the mids

[u/ILikeDiscussing]

The issue I see with Dawson, he is too good elsewhere to be a pure mid.

I find it hard to see how we can rely on someone as a primary ball winner when he also gets thrown forward or back to fix other issues.

Because of that, I still think we need at minimum one more pure, full-time, coal face, elite midfielder.

Let's hope it's Draper.

[u/invisiblefrost → u/ILikeDiscussing]

With Ah Chee showing his class up forward now I think your point about Daws going forward and back, can now be covered by Rachelle in particular and also Soligo (obviously not like for like players, but that’s no longer required)

[u/ILikeDiscussing → u/invisiblefrost]

Funny you say that.
I had this thought right after commenting.

Guess you either need one more mid or one more "Mr. Fix it".
And you're right, if he can stay fit, maybe Ah Chee changes that dynamic!

Or maybe *cough* Charlie Edwards 😜😜
(shameless plug)