Nick Coffield has come into the senior Bulldogs side at a time when the tall defender stocks are at somewhat of a low point, with Liam Jones consigned to the VFL and Buku Khamis starting as the substitute in recent weeks. Against some clubs you can get away with one or two established key position defenders and make up the numbers with hybrids like Coffield, but today the Dogs play the Crows who have three genuine tall targets inside 50. The likes of Coffield, Bailey Williams and James O'Donnell will be rushing between spinning plates all afternoon.
Nick Coffield has come into the senior Bulldogs side at a time when the tall defender stocks are at somewhat of a low point, with Liam Jones consigned to the VFL and Buku Khamis starting as the substitute in recent weeks. Against some clubs you can get away with one or two established key position defenders and make up the numbers with hybrids like Coffield, but today the Dogs play the Crows who have three genuine tall targets inside 50. The likes of Coffield, Bailey Williams and James O'Donnell will be rushing between spinning plates all afternoon.
Nick Coffield has suffered a fate common to mid-size defenders in modern times: being called upon to play as a tall despite not quite having the body for it. Like Martin Gleeson and Michael Hibberd at other clubs, Coffield gets a lot more of ball in hand on a consistent basis when he's minding small rather than key position forwards. The return of Jake Carlisle from injury should see him revert to that more traditional back flank role, where his floor is a lot higher as he has the energy and free licence to create on the rebound.
Sour taste for Coffield
Dropped from the senior side post-bye, Nick Coffield struggled through form and injury concerns in a difficult second season before a shoulder dislocation ended it. The composed user was unable to improve on his debut season statistically. He was very late in resuming contact work in preseason following a late season operation. Perhaps that forgettable campaign can be chalked up to second-year syndrome, and it sounds like Coffield will have to build his form in the VFL initially. A dominant ball winner throughout his junior career, he has failed to transition that over to the primary competition. One for twelve months' time, as he has undoubted talent.
Coffield tees off again
A top-10 draft pick entering his second season, much is expected of Nick Coffield. As a 191cm defender, the question mark over Coffield from a fantasy perspective is whether or not he assumes a predominantly offensive or defensive role. If Coffield looks like he’ll be a start for St Kilda and a rebounding option, he’s worth a late pick in drafts as a possible breakout candidate.
Rich blend of Coffield
When a kid gets compared to Scott Pendlebury, he normally gets drafted in the first round and so it was with Nicholas Coffield, who spent his last junior year behind the ball controlling the play like Pendles does for the Pies. He played a fairly outside game with two-thirds of his 21 touches uncontested, and he doesn't tackle much either but he had three clearances a game and as many inside 50s as rebound 50s. Sometimes one should be wary of using the stat lines of previous stars to gauge young blokes in their first year, though with Coffield his game is so similar to that of Pendles that the fact that the Magpie star started slowly enough to not be worthy of drafting should be treated with respect. He will be a hot property in keeper leagues, no doubt, but even if he is named for round 1 you should not use anything but the latest of picks on him.
