Our forward pressure shapes to be poor next season. Tabs and CamMac offer very little forward pressure, Walters is puts himself about but isn’t elite in that part of the game, Ballas is whole-hearted but not as quick as he used to be, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Matera tackle, and while I’ll reserve judgement on Hogan and Lobb I can’t see them helping in that respect.
So, I get the argument for picking Neade up, but I just don’t think he is good enough in the other parts of the game to justify selection. He doesn’t seem to crumb the ball very well for a bloke his size, and his disposal is poor. I think there are probably other players going around who could give you forward pressure and perhaps a little more on the skills side.
It will be interesting to see which smalls will line up in our forward line next season. I’d love to see Walters in the forward line full-time, but our midfield could use some help so we’ll probably see him there a lot. Ballas and Matera were fringe selections all last season. I think Banfield will play as a defensive forward at times again, and Colyer’s pace could be handy. Maybe one of the younger blokes will carve out some time.
But Neade is a known quantity who is at best a fringe player. I’d rather give that list spot to a young bloke with more upside.
