Melbourne’s trade period pick-ups Adam Tomlinson and Ed Langdon will help the club’s star ball-winners enjoy more rest time
The arrival of Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson will address one of Melbourne’s biggest weaknesses. Jay Clark explains how Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney and Angus Brayshaw will cash in.
Melbourne
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Melbourne’s plan to turbocharge its midfield’s running power in the trade period will ultimately deliver its star onballers more rest time next season.
The Demons acquired two of the best endurance runners in the game when they picked up bargain duo Ed Langdon and Adam Tomlinson in the exchange period.
It filled a key void for the Demons, who flipped as many as 15 different wingmen through the position in a bid to provide better defensive coverage and outside run throughout the 2019 season.
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Langdon, 23, and Tomlinson, 26, are expected to slot straight into the outside midfield slots in the season-opener to provide a better balance and more outside class for the Dees.
The bonus is that the gut-running pair, who usually only go to the bench once or twice a quarter, will give their teammates more opportunities to rotate and catch a breather in 2020.
Tomlinson averaged 85.3 per cent playing time, while Langdon was up at 86.1 per cent in 2019. They both topped Hawthorn’s Tom Scully (84 per cent) who is considered the best midfield runner in the game.
Langdon and Tomlinson’s huge tanks will mean star ball-winners Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw, Jack Viney and Christian Petracca will be allowed to soak up more minutes of rest time swapping in and out of the engine room.
Next year, the Demons want their star clearance winners to maximise their time on the field and take advantage of their dominance around the ball.
Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney said the club’s trade period acquisitions would give the Demons a more complete midfield brigade next season.
“Both of those guys (Langdon and Tomlinson) can come in straight away and have immediate impact on our team,” Mahoney said.
“It’s been an area of the ground we’ve wanted to fill for a little while now — our outside run.
“And now we’ve got two locks that can play on the wing, and are really going to add some flexibility in our midfield and some variety of what we can do in there.”
The Dees have an excellent position in this year’s draft with two top-10 picks on the back of a horrible year finishing second-last.
Ruckman Max Gawn is also in line to spend more time in a forward role next season as Tomlinson can spend time in the ruck.
The Demons struggled with their forward line conversion this year but Gawn can give Simon Goodwin another target in addition to key forwards Tom McDonald and Sam Weideman.
Oliver, 22, and Viney, 25, both started last season behind the eight-ball after injury issues throughout the summer.
But the pair are eyeing full pre-seasons as part of their preparation for 2020 and have already got to work in the off-season.
Oliver had a pair of shoulder operations last summer, while Viney has finally overcome his debilitating foot problems.
Improving fitness levels across the board is one of the club’s main priorities under new strength and conditioning boss Darren Burgess this summer.
There is a strong view the Dees’ fitness levels suffered in 2019 largely due to the huge number of post-season surgeries and summer setbacks.
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“This is going to be a really important pre-season for us,” Mahoney said.
“Last year we had a short one, a lot of guys had operations and that certainly played out in the season that we had.
“So this year is going to be a real focus for us, and they are already working on some programs that Darren Burgess has set and they will be back on in mid-November and definitely training hard.”