Not with Walla, Fanta and Green/Begley buzzing around. Those big guys also create headaches for the opposition team with JD and Hooker clunking or bringing to ground, and as we’ve seen Stewart goes alright as a mobile tall 3rd. I think most here would agree the forward line is the least of our problems.
Anyway, Hooker stays forward unless we draft another ready to go stay at home gorilla for goal kicking and structure, with Stringer rotating through the middle in bursts with Walla, Fanta and possibly Fridge.
If we cant land a running half back I would try Begley there and replace him with Long as a defensive forward. Rest looks classy and mobile.
Midfield will be fine next year. We have that talent we just need to get experience into them and develop a better structure that involves more defence. Stringer in my opinion will make our mifield look A grade.
Granted it may have been different if hooker had of clunked a couple , but the game we played Richmond , there was pretty much 0 forward pressure after qtr time.
There were other games the forward pressure wasn’t there.
You can’t carry 3 talks in modern footy, pressure wins games and you can’t have 3 people in the forwardline who when the ball hits the ground, it goes out straight away.
To much work is required of the 3 players you mention. You add a 4th in there that can potentially cover the exit out of our fwd 50 and the load is shared.
Pressure and building it by harassing the opposition works better than relying on kicking it long and hoping hooker can mark it.
It didn’t work foe Sydney last year or Adelaide this year. And their lists are superior to ours.
Hooker was a band aide fix til the forwardline got better. It’s better now we need him back to sure up the defence
People want to look at our midfield this year and blame the lack of pressure all on them. If we can add more defensive pressure from our small forwards it allows our midfield to set up better also.
Walla is a great example of somebody that puts pressure on and makes the defenders make mistakes even if he doesn’t lay a hand on them.
Ideally we need another fast backman(Saad) a couple of mids with class and speed and a small forward with the prime objective of laying tackles(Long or somebody else).
These are relatively easy to get so we aren’t that far off.
Weve been banging on about our similarities to the crows under woosha but what we need is the manic pressure and endless running and intent to tackle and hurt that the tigers showed yesterday.
The crows were probably the superior list yesterday with superior skills but they were utterly broken by the pressure and intensity.
They were literally mauled for 4 qtrs.
That is how the tigers got up (and/or the umpires for those still raging) and that foundation is key to why a group of seemingly ‘ordinary’ players are now champions.
I’m confident that Skipworth has been employed in that role for this exact reason.
I know Skipworth has been the butt of a lot of jokes o here over the years but what he has done with the forwardline in such a short time is nothing short of phenomonal. I believe the employment of Rob Harding has had a role to play in strategy also.
This off-season will bring with it a lot of change.
I think Begley is a midfielder personnally but having that mid size forward role for me is not working. Begley does not play as a small forward if you watch him.
I get that he hasn’t been used as a half back but I think that area of the ground will be our biggest issue next year and I would happily try something new.
As far as Long goes i don’t believe he will make it at AFL level unless he’s given a clearly refined role. I was suggesting him because if he doesn’t make it as a wing which in my opinion he wont then he will be lost to the game. He has mongrel about him and is quick and agile and all he might need is a simple role within a grander scheme.
A lot of “how we change to become Richmond - like” in here.
We have different players with different strengths and weaknesses. We need some tweaking, but we don’t throw it all out.
We were best when hooker was creating crumbs and fighting and battling and stopping any defender getting cheap intercepts this year. We were at our worst when we lacked that presence.
Richmond can pressure all they like through the middle and on our half backs breaking out of defence, but if our forwards can at least neutralise those contests then Richmond’s weapon is taken away.
We need to be our version of a premiership team, not Richmond’s, not Footscray’s…
(as per whoever’s article about the patriots from months ago)
Was certainly the weakest link, at least at full strength (the forward line at full strength was good, but not the depth when Green and/or Fanta went out).
I’m not suggesting that the midfield wasn’t the weakest link this year but tat our total lack of pressure wasn’t just from the midfield. In comparison to most sides we don’t offer any pressure up front because in my opinion we are to tall.
It’s as much a reason as the midfield why we dont get many repeat 50 entries.
I think our height is comparable with most sides but I don’t think it works. If all the talls have a specific role then they are important but I find the role that laverde was filling at the end of the year a bit much.
Our forward pressure is average at best and I think a smaller, faster tackling machine would be more valuable.
If you have a look at side through the middle of the year when we had our best wins(Geelong, WC, Power, etc.) we had a smaller lineup both forward and back(Ambrose was out and Green was in).
In my opinion if the taller ones aren’t adding something structurally then I prefer to go small.