He’s going poorly but what other options do we have. Menzie is just as average
How are our small forward stocks this bad. Diabolical
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Play Roberts.
In all honesty, we don’t need to replace him with a like for like player. We have Gresham, Hind and Guelfi that can all play the small forward role. Bring in Roberts to replace Cox on the wing and Jones to replace Davey.
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Strong disagree.
Balance of that forward line is important.
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I’d say that if we hadn’t taken such a recent hit to our wings/midfielders that we would end this block of games that Davey has had and give him a spell while playing one extra mid in a forward rotation to see how that compares to what Davey has been bringing.
The flow on effect of Parish, Duursma, Hobbs and Cox all being out might save him until the bye.
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One thing i notice is that he is pretty composed when he gets the ball…just needs more of it
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Raz was always injured, something happened to Walla (was in AA form this time 3 years ago), and Mozzie got stuck into the pies big time after doing his knee.
It sucks but I think we were just unlucky.
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A couple of times against North, too. And I thought he did reasonably well in those situations. There are other times - quite a lot of them - when you see him skirting and you just want him to attack the ball. I wonder if he’s just unsure about where to go in those situations.
It’s pretty clear that he’s not up to the level yet. He shouldn’t be judged by disposal numbers - he’s playing in a low disposal position, he’s getting good exposure at the top level, he adds speed that we really need and he’s kicked a goal in four of the last five games. And I’m not sure we have a better option to replace him. I’m happy for him to stay in for the time being, this could be a case of some short-term pain for long-term gain…
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This just isn’t accurate. He’s fine when he has space, any heat around him and his disposal turns to absolute ■■■■.
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I don’t think it’s luck at all, particularly with mozz and tippa. We got a good amount of service with tippa, he put his hand up to say he’d lost the passion but we enticed him back. That’s not poor luck, that’s entirely our fault. Mozz we just didn’t have the supports around to help and he left.
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Gee, I don’t think that is fair, he hasn’t had that many disposals by foot or hand but I don’t remember stuffing up any/many
The eye test and some educated guesswork.
Coming out of U18s he wasn’t know for endurance running and in fact it was something he had to work on.
He’s had two full pre-seasons but still isn’t quite there. Can do shorter bursts but not for a full game and certainly not across multiple games without expecting his body to break down.
He’s been played predominantly forward with some time on the wing to help build on whatever base he already has. If he could do more, they’d play him there more often, but I doubt they will.
There are very few players that come out of U18s and are capable of running like a wingman straight away. I’d say we learned that from the Cox experiment in his first year. Combine that with Alwyns size and there are even less.
Most wingers are groomed in other positions and slowly transition to wing because you need to be pretty bloody fit and primed to run pocket to pocket.
It has been good to see Menzie and Davey Jnr playing further up the ground so they aren’t just fixed to being a small forward. Pretty much like what we did with Snelling and Guelfi last year. It’s interesting that in Guelfi’s case, he’s flipped to spend more time in the forward line than on the wing. The greater flexibility we build into Menzie and Davey Jnr, the better.
I’ve maintained that if he gets a full pre-season into him again, next year is when to expect him to impact games more consistently. Both as a small forward and a wing.
My only worry is I don’t know whether he’s better off as a small forward or a wing. It is likely this could end being a wasted opportunity as he isn’t quite good enough for a small forward and may also not be good enough as a wing.
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Serious question. Why do we need a small forward?
Isn’t the criteria a player who is quick, agile, skillful, knows where the goals are, can put on defensive pressure and tackle more than their size?
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Menzie might be average, but he is better.
Compare his body of work last year to Alwyns this year. If Menzie was afforded all the goodwill that Davey has had this year he would have had more impact than Davey. And they are only 16 months apart in age.
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We should have kept Meatball.
Well, you’re talking about Hind, there.
Because Bobby Hill.
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We could probably get him via the MSD (again).
He’d be better than our current options
Here’s the top 10 under 25 small forwards from last year for goal scoring: Pickett, Higgins, Rankine, Weightman, Hill, Bolton, Bailey, Stengle, Stephenson, Daniels.
Picks: 12, 17, 3, 15, 24, 29, 15, rookie, 6, 27.
A decade earlier it was: Lindsay Thomas, Walters, Steven Motlop, Wingard, Garlett, Breust, McGlynn, Elliott, Dahlhaus, Josh Hill, Zorko
Picks: 53, 53, 39, 6, rookie, rookie, rookie, pre-list, 61, pre-list
It’s a bit difficult to say exactly what Zorko and Elliott were worth because they were part of multi-part trades, but Zorko roughly pick 40, and Elliott roughly pick 30.
Regardless, I think it’s pretty obvious that the idea that small forwards are a late pick/rookie type of player is outdated thinking. Teams are willing to spend earlier picks on the role now, which means the players are going earlier. The highest pick we’ve spent on a small forward since drafting Davey’s dad was pick 38 on Mozzie, and that was six years ago.
So looking at the pick used on the top 10 from last year again with the most we’ve spent on a small forward in the last 18 years it’s:
3, 6, 12, 15, 15, 17, 24, 27, 29, Essendon, rookie.
Just unlucky I guess.
Edit: corrected the first list because I didn’t realise Owies was that old. It should actually be Brent Daniels on there instead, so it’s 9/10 top 30 picks and 1 rookie.
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You don’t have to draft them yourself. If the Giants or the Suns like you they give them away.
Bobby Hill traded for future pick 43.
Unfortunately the Giants and the Suns don’t like us.