Giansiracusa this year?

[Go_Dogs]

Where do people feel Gia will play his best football this season?

For me, he is a slightly difficult one to place, as I like him around the ball, as he usually has fairly reliable foot skills and decision making. He has mainly been used as a forward who drifts up the field a bit over the last season, seemingly spending a bit less time in the centre square than he has in past seasons (perhaps this is a misconception on my part tho).

I wouldn't mind seeing Gia trialled off perhaps a wing or even a half back flank. We saw how helpful someone like Murph was going back in patches last season, and Ray has been touted as someone who could move into that area. I think Gia could be a good option. For mine, Ray doesn't quite have the disposal yet to play the role, and I quite like the idea of Gia becoming an aggressive, small running back.

What do others think?

[The Underdog]

He's never really cut it as a full time mid. He's had good games but never consistently in that role.
He seems most comfortable playing as a small forward and I'd imagine that'd be where he plays most of his football this year. He is an intersting case because he is in our top 22 talent wise but hasn't ever really laid his claim to a position. He has the skills but is kind of an inbetween type. Obviously he'll be coming off a reduced fitness base early on so I'd be surprised to see him played too far up the field for most of the year. I agree he'd be worth a try off a HBF, he has the footskills and is a smart footballer.

[Mantis]

It will be an interesting season for Gia.

I was very critical of his performnaces last year. To me he seemed to un-fit to play a position we required. With Cross and West out for longish periods we needed someone to fill there void, Gia should have been the logical choice, but he didn't have the stamina to play in the 'guts' for extended periods. His work ethic due to this was not up to scratch.

He will be coming from a long way back in regards to his fitness and the injury has come at a poor time in terms of his career. Gia, as TU pointed out will now have to play atleast the first half of the season as a small forward, but he faces some stiff opposition for such a position from guys who have a 3 month head start on him in terms of fitness training. All of Aker, Higgins, Harbrow and probably Lynch would be well in front of him and with Welsh and Minson new additions to the forwardline structure it means there are less spots available anyway.

Gia is going to have to work his ass off to get back into the team and it might be the best thing for him.

[The Underdog]

Gia is going to have to work his ass off to get back into the team and it might be the best thing for him.

I think the increasing pressure for spots is one of the things that may help us this season.
A greater depth in talls will mean we have more to call on and won't be so reliant on smaller players to fill positions they aren't built for ie Hargrave and Morris won't have to play above their height so often (as well as they do this). This will increase the pressure on guys like Gia to really step up and keep their spots.
I wouldn't be surprised if he plays a game at Willy early in the season.
As Mantis said, a big year for Gia.

[always right]

Where do people feel Gia will play his best football this season?

For me, he is a slightly difficult one to place, as I like him around the ball, as he usually has fairly reliable foot skills and decision making. He has mainly been used as a forward who drifts up the field a bit over the last season, seemingly spending a bit less time in the centre square than he has in past seasons (perhaps this is a misconception on my part tho).

I wouldn't mind seeing Gia trialled off perhaps a wing or even a half back flank. We saw how helpful someone like Murph was going back in patches last season, and Ray has been touted as someone who could move into that area. I think Gia could be a good option. For mine, Ray doesn't quite have the disposal yet to play the role, and I quite like the idea of Gia becoming an aggressive, small running back.

What do others think?

Gia's biggest problem IMO is that he lacks pace and as a result tends to go to ground too easily. He's a little like Cross in that regard. How many times do you see Cross dive to take posession of the ball because he battles to beat his opponents to the ball with pace. What Cross does have of course is enormous stamina that enables him to cover a lot of territory. Gia doesn't have this to compensate for his lack of pace.

I think Gia is a small forward who can take short stints on the ball. He has been tried as a tagger in the past without success. On the plus side I think a lot of blokes have gone past him and he is unlikely to get one of the best defenders as he may have in the past. Those defenders now go to blokes like Aker and probably Higgins this year. This may create the opportunity for Gia to be a true opportunist forward.

[Mantis]

Gia's biggest problem IMO is that he lacks pace and as a result tends to go to ground too easily. He's a little like Cross in that regard. How many times do you see Cross dive to take posession of the ball because he battles to beat his opponents to the ball with pace. What Cross does have of course is enormous stamina that enables him to cover a lot of territory. Gia doesn't have this to compensate for his lack of pace.

I think Gia is a small forward who can take short stints on the ball. He has been tried as a tagger in the past without success. On the plus side I think a lot of blokes have gone past him and he is unlikely to get one of the best defenders as he may have in the past. Those defenders now go to blokes like Aker and probably Higgins this year. This may create the opportunity for Gia to be a true opportunist forward.

Agree with your assessment.

On the bolded part: Is this a good or bad thing? Will he still get a game with all these players going past him?

Our simply forwardline structure has to change. We have seen that playing a 3 or 4 man forwardline has it's limitations. Does Gia offer enough to suggest that he should warrant a spot in this new line-up?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Gia's biggest problem IMO is that he lacks pace and as a result tends to go to ground too easily. He's a little like Cross in that regard. How many times do you see Cross dive to take posession of the ball because he battles to beat his opponents to the ball with pace. What Cross does have of course is enormous stamina that enables him to cover a lot of territory. Gia doesn't have this to compensate for his lack of pace.

I think Gia is a small forward who can take short stints on the ball. He has been tried as a tagger in the past without success. On the plus side I think a lot of blokes have gone past him and he is unlikely to get one of the best defenders as he may have in the past. Those defenders now go to blokes like Aker and probably Higgins this year. This may create the opportunity for Gia to be a true opportunist forward.

Nice assessment AR, and like Mantis I agree.

Gia'a going to have to work extremely hard to keep up to pace with the rest of the group. He's already behind as far as his pre-season is concerned, and because he's not a player with solid stamina it's going to take him a lot more to get to where he'll need to be. The lack of pace combined is the reason why he'll only ever be a small forward with brief stints in the midfield. He's very much in-between; at times he does play hard nosed footy, but on other occasions he's soft as butter. Gia is a very intelligent footballer who can read the game and deliver the football well, this is why he needs to make a HFF his own.

He can be a particularly dangerous forward when there's support (Johnson, Murphy, Higgins). If he's able to get himself fit enough, that's what he should be aiming for - to be a HF specialist. He's terrific at setting up play and out-smarting & out-footing his opponents. Last year we didn't see too much of this, perhaps because of fitness - and when Gia's fitness is lacking, his lack of pace really, really stands out.

As for a HBF I don't think Gia can play it well enough. As been noted several times already - he lacks stamina & pace - you've really got to have at least one of these to be a decent backmen. Secondly, defensively Gia isn't great. At times when he has been dragged down back, he's been outmarked by an opponent or beaten on the lead far too easily. The fact that Gia can play tough footy at times is completely different to actually playing a defensive role, of which I really don't think Gia is capable of. He's a HFF with stints in the midfield at his best, and that's what he needs to work extremely hard on to achieve consistently.

[always right]

Agree with your assessment.

On the bolded part: Is this a good or bad thing? Will he still get a game with all these players going past him?

Our simply forwardline structure has to change. We have seen that playing a 3 or 4 man forwardline has it's limitations. Does Gia offer enough to suggest that he should warrant a spot in this new line-up?

If Gia gets his fitness up to scratch and finds some form......and still can't crack it for a game, then that will be disppointing for him and terrific for us. It means we have improved a playing list to the point where even someone as talented as Gia is no longer an automatic selection.

[LostDoggy]

A couple of years ago he nearly won the best and fairest but the last two havent been that kind to him. Hes a bloody hard worker on the training track though and this set back must frustrate him no end.
He needs to have a good season and I think he is best suited to a small forwards role with the odd stint in the midfield. He can be a good kick for goal but needs to be tighter with his passing to other forwards. Im not sure why his skill level drops from time to time but I think it might be a concentration issue.

There is a logjam for small forward positions so Giansiracusa might need to get his fitness up a fair bit from its current base so that he can play on the wing as well.

[LostDoggy]

What of Daniel's place in the leadership group?