The look of a balanced midfield

[skeptic]

Our core ball winning midfield group looks like this...
Seb Ross & Jack Steven = ball winning mids
Koby Stevens is our defensive run with player that accumulates possession too
Jack Steele is our tough in and under, grunt mid

Those 4 are our grunt, tough, always producing, winning clearances, accumulating possession mids. They're not super fast or super polished but are generally super consistent (though Steele is still learning).

In order to achieve peak level effectiveness, they need to have damaging, polished fast mids around them to compliment their more workman like skill set.

IMO players like David Armitage, Luke Dunstan, and Blake Acres are not these players. These 3 are in fact in a similar mould. If you have the above 4 in the team, and 1 or more of these 3, our midfield because too slow and too ineffective... poor disposal becomes glaringly evident, not enough line breaking or run and carry.
So therefore, Armitage, Dunstan and Acres are in direct competition with the big four for their spots and should only play if they can dislodge one of them (though many will argue that a fit Armitage is a walk up start).

One of our problems this season is that of these 7, we've played too many of them together too often.

The 3 remaining true midfield spots need to go to true, damaging, pacey, classy, midfielders and they have in Billings, Sinclair and Montagna.

The problem is, is that the slack, by which I mean the extra run and polish needs to be picked up by the flanks.

Now we've done a decent job across half back with Roberton, Newnes and Webster... but we've failed dismally across the HFF and forward pocket areas...
Minchington and Wright lack polish (though they are capable of kicking goals) but play too many games where they get blocked out
Mav Weller too lacks polish but previously made up for it in mongrel, pressure and capitalising on opportunities... MIA this season
Membrey is getting less ball
Lonie hasn't been able to assert himself as he (and we would have liked)
Long needs more time
DMac and Savage have failed to grab them when tried


Of the 4 spots across available either side of the CHF and FF, the only one that has been cemented is held by Gresh who is flashy, polished, damaging at times and he is working harder to get more ball and share it around. And one has to remember that he is just a kid still learning his craft. It's only natural that stuffs up from time to time.

Of the 3 other spots left... no one of the list above even looks close to cementing it and IMO this is where our inconsistency and mediocre patches stem from.
Nathan Freeman is the only player outside of the top 22 that looks capable of walking into a HFF and making it his own and we're told he ain't ready yet.

Of those four spots, 3 go to play makers and one to enforcer/ball winner type.

IMO Acres comes in for Weller and plays more as a flank then a mid with the odd stint at Sandy as needed where he plays full games as a mid... then I don't know.

Here is where we recruit for IMO