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MatthewBoydFanClub wrote:Thing with Ash is that he plays tall, can take a mark and is extremely mobile. We play he and Mihocek in the forward line we have the spine we need since Cox played forward back in 2018. Henry is our medium forward, McCreery is our defensive forward and then we build up our forward line around those four. Kreuger and McStay could change the formula next year. What showed us up last night was being killed by Gawn and Brown in our backline. We need another defensive tall to help out Moore - maybe McStay could fill that role next year.
That's what everyone is missing. McStay is being recruited for defence. And an ageing Howe.
But is McStay any good in defence? Been playing forward for many years, so not sure if he is any good as a defender.
Playing back is a hell of a lot easier than playing fwd, thing is he’s never been played as a deep forward, he’s a workhorse very similar to Checkers, he chases and leads up the ground, don’t know about you but I wouldn’t mind another Checkers in the side.
Or
We play him at FB allowing Moore to move to CHF, for 600k I’d take him every day.
MatthewBoydFanClub wrote:Thing with Ash is that he plays tall, can take a mark and is extremely mobile. We play he and Mihocek in the forward line we have the spine we need since Cox played forward back in 2018. Henry is our medium forward, McCreery is our defensive forward and then we build up our forward line around those four. Kreuger and McStay could change the formula next year. What showed us up last night was being killed by Gawn and Brown in our backline. We need another defensive tall to help out Moore - maybe McStay could fill that role next year.
That's what everyone is missing. McStay is being recruited for defence. And an ageing Howe.
But is McStay any good in defence? Been playing forward for many years, so not sure if he is any good as a defender.
If you can be an even halfway decent forward, you can be a good defender as it’s just a way easier role. Hell, just look at Jeremy Howe who was recruited by us as a forward and then turned into a borderline AA defender after playing him forward didn’t work
I’m not sure that playing him forward didn’t work, just that our needs at the time were greater in defence. I will not discount him being our “break glass in emergency” forward if required. McRea like any top coach will have plans BC&D in reserve regarding Jeremy Howe.
I term the current Collingwood attack based strategy “Unceasing Waves” like on a stormy and windy day with rough seas. A Perfect Storm
McStay played in defence as a junior and a couple of years there about 5 years ago.
He was arguably a better player there.
At the end of the day he has versatility which we really could have done with this year...
"You must be a parking ticket, cuz you got fine written all over you" Glen Quagmire
I really like this young man.He’s given our forward line an extra dimension in the last few weeks.He actually leads to the ball,takes marks,and kicks straight.So unusual for Collingwood!We haven’t had a forward like that in a long time.
Jaimie Ellliot is equally impressed.In his post match interview he said ‘How exciting is Ash Johnson?F…’.
lazzadesilva wrote:I’m not sure that playing him forward didn’t work, just that our needs at the time were greater in defence. I will not discount him being our “break glass in emergency” forward if required. McRea like any top coach will have plans BC&D in reserve regarding Jeremy Howe.
I could also have used Darcy Moore as an example. Or Ben Reid. Or Simon Prestigiacomo (he used to be a centre half forward!). Or even Chris Tarrant (seemed washed up as a forward before becoming an AA defender). It’s not an unusual phenomenon
VicParkTragic wrote:Johnson has the attributes that sees him looking like a cross between Andrew Krakour and Sean Rusling. This is very exciting to say the least.
Yes, but a bigger body so could be damaging and not out-bustled easily.
Pebbles Rocks wrote:McStay played in defence as a junior and a couple of years there about 5 years ago.
He was arguably a better player there.
At the end of the day he has versatility which we really could have done with this year...
Good post.
If he joins us, he will be useful as a utility. Though, I suspect they see him as a replacement to Roughead.
Ash will also kick more goals once his teammates get used to his leading patterns and give him more opportunities to use his pace. This kid could become an absolute star of the AFL. Although he's 24, he's really just at the beginning of his AFL career, and should be even fitter and stronger next year after another solid pre-season under his belt. The sky's the limit.