As others have point out, MJ is the most important of the missing players.
It will be handy having Dawson and SCOS back. A Pearce has been good for us as a young bloke, but I reckon when the heat goes up in the finals good teams will isolate and expose him for strength one-on-one. I think he needs a few more games and time in the gym before we throw him to the wolves like that.
One thing I’ve been thinking about is how when you focus on a player, you notice how much they stuff up. I think we all do that for Dawson. So, as an exercise, I’ve been focusing on McPharlin a bit this year (I sit high behind the goals at the city end). One thing I’ve noticed is that his closing speed is still excellent, and his positioning is really good. But, his disposal is atrocious. His kicks are slow and loopy, and he spends way too long making a decision where to kick it.
It got me to thinking, is that aspect of his game any better than Zac, who is also a rubbish kick, so he doesn’t take the punt (literally)?
