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Mofra
29-05-2008, 10:28 PM
As sad as it is to reflect upon, players such as Johnson, Eagle, West, Hudson, Aker & Welsh are all getting a litle long in the tooth and we will see most of them depart in the next 2-3 years.

Just wondering as an exercise who on our current list appear to be the heir apparents to these players?

As a quick run down:

Johnson: For mine, the easiest to pick. Higgins is a smooth mover, very good overhead for his size & finishes well. He will play midfield & forward and could play the Johnno role now, assuming Cooney spends most of his timne in the midfield.

West: Cross plays a similar style of game; although nobody can really replace West in terms of hand speed and wrist strength in packs, Cross is much better overhead.

Eagleton: Farren Ray looks like he can run & carry all day, yet that boming left foot that was at the front of our assist count for years on end looks like a hole in the list. Move Gilbee up the ground? Ward looks like he'll develop to be too good in traffic to waste as an outside player. O'Keefe lloks liek he can run into space well so will watch his development with interest.

Hudson: I'd like to say Cordy (hell I'd like to say Mulligan or Shaw) however teh answer to this one is unlikely to be known until after next year's draft. Lets hope the talk of Huddo having a young body for his age is true.

Aker: I doubt we have anyone of his directly-replaceable quality on the list, however two thinsg really stand out in Aker's game. His finishing is the obvious one, his defensive pressure & willingness to scarifice his game when required is less obvious. Harbrow's woprk ethic on turnovers leads me to believe he is the closest we have to playing Aker's forward linerole.

Welsh: To me, an obvious stop-gap until Grant is ready, although as a "contibuting tall forward" Tiller may well fill his spot if/when Grant is ready for senior football.

Just for the hell of it:

Hahn: Reid is a Queenslander, solid build for a youngster, and could well be a solid midfield/forward type.

Hargrave: Tiller could play his role, although I really think Tiller is a long term forward. As much as everyone wants KPPs in this year's draft, I'd love a quarterback/mid sized player in the Goddard mold to develop - one with a booming kick. O'Shea has a ton of courage & may develop into a Shaggy type player - pure backman that can play tall, small or undersized on guts alone.

Gia: Anther player who knows where the goals are, has a good football brain and is very good in congested situations. Callan Ward, gudday.

Murphy: Dammit, too bruddy unique a player. Everitt seems to have his "time stands still" effect when he has the ball, but will play in the backline.

hujsh
29-05-2008, 11:28 PM
Agree with the Acker-Harbrow comparison. Watch the way they move and they could be brothers

Topdog
30-05-2008, 10:37 AM
The important one to replace IMO is actually Cross.

We know Cross will do what West does, but who will do what Cross does?

Mantis
30-05-2008, 11:09 AM
The important one to replace IMO is actually Cross.

We know Cross will do what West does, but who will do what Cross does?

Addison?

LostDoggy
30-05-2008, 12:13 PM
Aker's poise is irreplaceable.

Unless we win a couple of premierships in the next couple of years ... then we'll have a whole list of players with premiership-type pressure experience PLUS crazy skills.

Bumper Bulldogs
30-05-2008, 07:02 PM
The important one to replace IMO is actually Cross.

We know Cross will do what West does, but who will do what Cross does?

Agree with Mantis on Addison however their is a bloke called Callan Ward who could be that in and under player with a bigger body.

hujsh
30-05-2008, 08:36 PM
Agree with Mantis on Addison however their is a bloke called Callan Ward who could be that in and under player with a bigger body.

And a better user of the ball by foot

westdog54
31-05-2008, 02:56 AM
Gia: Anther player who knows where the goals are, has a good football brain and is very good in congested situations. Callan Ward, gudday.


Personally, my first thought was O'Keefe based on that description.

soupman
31-05-2008, 11:20 AM
Pretty good analysis, however I would add more contenders.

Johnson: I agree Higgins is probably the only obvious replacement here.

West: Cross obviously steps into this role, but to cover the loss Boyd will have to do more, and hopefully an Addison can step up into this spot.

Eagleton: Farren Ray is the obvious one here, but guys like Josh Hill and Guy O'Keefe could fill the role of attacking wingmen in the near future.

Hudson: Hopefully we have another ruckman ready to go when Hudson retires, potentially Cordy.

Akermanis: Harbrow is a good fit, Lynch or Hill maybe?

Welsh: Yeah, pretty much Grant or Tiller

Hahn: Not many players like him. Would be very hard to replace.

Hargrave: Considering many here (and on Bigfooty) are already starting to question his spot in the team he may not even need to be replaced with the emergence of Everitt and Williams.

Giansiracusa: O'keefe or Ward? A little unsure about this one but we have a lot of time until we have to worry about this.

Murphy: With Hahn is pretty unique. Maybe just change the role of the position in the future, playing to Grants or someone elses strengths instead.

I think we look pretty well covered, there are still blokes like Stack, O'Shea, Mulligan, Shaw, Boumann, Reid and White that haven't been memntioned yet but you would expect about 4 of them to push for regular selection at some stage. It will be interesting to watch.

Mofra
31-05-2008, 12:09 PM
Personally, my first thought was O'Keefe based on that description.
Fair point - O'Keefe probably has the goal nous now, although I haven't seen enough of him in the middle to offer a reasonble comparison.

LostDoggy
31-05-2008, 12:24 PM
Murph is also a once in a generation type talent, but Hill looks to have the crazy skill base to be able to replicate some of Murph or Aker's influence. Let's see what the next couple of drafts throw up as well.

I don't think we'll necessarily need a like-for-like replacement for all our retiring players (Chris Grant was irreplaceable, for example), but as soupaman has already sort of flagged, game plans will adjust to the personnel available (and who knows where tactics will develop in the next few years).

The one player I am really looking forward to building the team around for a long while yet is our boy Ward. The kid can really, really play (reminds me of Foley a bit, but even more dynamic, if anything). He doesn't need to get into the team asap because he will be here for a long time and will have plenty of opportunity to make his mark, but it will be exciting to see him out there sometime this year. With young Grant, this last draft shapes as potentially the most influential yet.