Team Mgmt. 2024 Forward Line

[citizen-erased]

I watched McCreery bust his absolute balls to pressure a Richmond player who was 35 meters away from him last night in the 'match simulation' I believe his pressure forced a throw in down the line and I instantly thought to myself we don't have anyone on the list who would do that.

Merrett

One of the reasons there is...ahem...merit in the idea we throw him around the ground to impact with his work rate, skill and leadership.

Davey has a great defensive mindset too. Just needs to develop into a regular player.

outside the box thinking - do you get mcgrath or kelly to lockdown the dangerous hbf in a negative fwd role, whilst the other plays bp?

 

[Bombers36]

Our forward line is certainly the area of most concern - backs/mids/ruck stocks all decent enough - but our forward line is a worry.


2MP, Langford and Gresham are locks
Outside of that it’s anyone’s guess…

Stringer with his talent will obviously play a part - but after round 7 last year he looked cooked..

Caddy being touted as the great white hope but it’s likely he’ll take time to develop

Guelfi and Menzie are honest triers but lack pace

Perkins teases us at times but like Stringer and Langford he’s a medium - we need more talls and smalls

The Davey’s probably aren’t ready yet

Jones looks to have stagnated…

I think we need to get creative-

Get Shiel to play as a pacey small

Draper as a goal square brute

With our backline stacked Laverde might provide some arial prowess and competitiveness..Not sure what the answers are but we need to try something..!!





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[ghostdog]

Merrett

One of the reasons there is...ahem...merit in the idea we throw him around the ground to impact with his work rate, skill and leadership.

Davey has a great defensive mindset too. Just needs to develop into a regular player.

outside the box thinking - do you get mcgrath or kelly to lockdown the dangerous hbf in a negative fwd role, whilst the other plays bp?

My brain says McGrath needs consistency in the defensive role where he has played his best footy. He also provides leadership and direction back there, even if he hams it up sometimes.

My weird science brain reminds me of the short sharp angled darts he can kick and wonders what that could be like going i50. And he could lockdown on the oppo hbf as well.

I'm not sure what the answer is but we do need to block the exits. I think that partly justifies Kelly to the wing though.

 

[Nifft]

Everyone improves when they get a stache

 

[Chambo]

I have Hind starting forward and going one ruck with Peter Wright as the 2nd.

Hind Jones Gresham
Stringer Wright Langford

Menzie as sub or Hind if Menzie starts. I like Hind's pace and we don't really have that in the forward line at the moment. I have never really been a fan on Hind's and think he can be at times a selfish player, but he might bring something our forward line doesn't have atm.

 

[Chief Hopper]

Our forward line is certainly the area of most concern - backs/mids/ruck stocks all decent enough - but our forward line is a worry.


2MP, Langford and Gresham are locks
Outside of that it’s anyone’s guess…

Stringer with his talent will obviously play a part - but after round 7 last year he looked cooked..

Caddy being touted as the great white hope but it’s likely he’ll take time to develop

Guelfi and Menzie are honest triers but lack pace

Perkins teases us at times but like Stringer and Langford he’s a medium - we need more talls and smalls

The Davey’s probably aren’t ready yet

Jones looks to have stagnated…

I think we need to get creative-

Get Shiel to play as a pacey small

Draper as a goal square brute

With our backline stacked Laverde might provide some arial prowess and competitiveness..Not sure what the answers are but we need to try something..!!

Yeah I'm a bit unsure what to make of our fwd line.

On paper we seem to have a lot of talent there. Maybe not the best, but Langford, Stringer, 2MP have all had flashes of being A grade players. Menzie got 23 goals last season to, pretty pretty good.

Jones has so much potential, but I think I've seen maybe 1 too many misses 10m in front of goal from him, and so many matches lost from injury. Fingers crossed that is all behind him.

Going forward we seem to have a lot of coverage in the fwd line too for the first time in a long time.
Is it the delivery from our mids thats holding it back? Injuries?
I vaguely remember when both 2MP and Jones had a run of matches it worked pretty well. Meant Jones dragged a few def while 2MP got the mark. Now we have Caddy we have coverage if Jones or 2MP get injured.

If Laverde is being trialed as a forward, who would he replace? Can he take a contested mark?

 

[jdstorm]

2021 is probably the best recent Essendon fwd line and that consisted of…

Wright
Hooker
Jones
Perkins
Snelling
Smith
AMT

With Jake playing as mostly as a mid.

My guess is the Hooker role is Goldy (or Draper), Langford replaces jones and from there just need 2xAFL standard SFs.



If you keep that structure it’s

Wright
Goldy/draper (hooker)
Langford
Perkins
Gresham (AMT)
Sheil (Dev)
Menzie (Snelling)

That looks like a functional AFL forward line.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Once again, I think one of our biggest struggles this year will be kicking winning scores against quality teams. Particularly in the small forward department. Collingwood have 3-4 great smalls, for example. Menzie/Guelfi etc are battlers at best. Whilst Davey is promising, he's still a while away.

Gresham will help and I hope Caddy is good because we need him.

 

[ant555]

Once again, I think one of our biggest struggles this year will be kicking winning scores against quality teams. Particularly in the small forward department. Collingwood have 3-4 great smalls, for example. Menzie/Guelfi etc are battlers at best. Whilst Davey is promising, he's still a while away.

Gresham will help and I hope Caddy is good because we need him.

Agree and we also leaked a lot of footy in the second half tonight. Blokes not switched on or just not following their opponent up the ground.

 

[JayJ20]

A shambles at the moment outside of Langford.

Midfield and defence improved from last year, but the forwardline is garbage.

Desperately need the Davey twins to come on quickly as small forwards.

 

[fairbump_playon]

A shambles at the moment outside of Langford.

Midfield and defence improved from last year, but the forwardline is garbage.

Desperately need the Davey twins to come on quickly as small forwards.

Yep it’s ugly

Peter Wright is no killer. He needs to be number 2 behind a great forward. The Hawkins to our Cameron.

Jones unfortunately still has that boy playing against men style. Half hearted leaps in from the side of the pack. I had hoped he would hold his ground a bit more effectively with this extra bit of size.

 

[ghostdog]

I thought Alwyn showed a lot last year before running out of gas. How far off is he?

 

[MiguelM]

A shambles at the moment outside of Langford.

Midfield and defence improved from last year, but the forwardline is garbage.

Desperately need the Davey twins to come on quickly as small forwards.

Yeah, Wright & Jones didn't clunk many. Jones was better in general play.

Menzie looked rusty. TBH, I would go with Hind & Gresham.

What has happened to Davey? Seems to have gone backwards, injured?

 

[Petrify]

Caddy better be good fast because aside from Langford and Gresham I don't think we're hopeless up forward.

 

[ant555]

The more look at our forward line the more I see it is not right. We have some good players but a few are too similar and it is generally too slow.
What we lack is Devon Smith

5

Devon Smith

Age

31

Ht

176cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.8

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

7.8

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

5.3

5star

G

0.9

4star

D

16.3

4star

K

9.1

4star

HB

7.1

4star

M

2.3

2star

T

5.0

5star

G

0.6

4star

D

15.6

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

4.0

5star

G

0.2

3star

2018 version before the knee folded up again. 2017-2019 Walla. Some real tackling pressure and some real speed.
Right now we have blokes with ability.

Langford. Good player. Good mark. Good set shot. Average pace.

Stringer. Has some X factor. Not quick. Average contested mark. Pressure okay when he is on song.

Peter Wright is good if you can get him on a lead or isolated one on one but has no core strength at all and is slower than Heppell.

Guelfi is a hard nut but lacks a bit of class.

Gresham has a bit of class but is not quick and not a manic pressure player.

Menzie is not quick and not a pressure player either. He has a bit of footy smarts but only adds to the lack of forward pressure.

Jones can not mark.


Weideman is a bit soft.

Alwyn Davey needs to find a level this year after an okay start.

Jayden just needs to play some games.

Caddy looks okay but is a couple of years off holding down CHF at a consistent level.

Ideally I would like something like the following to make it work. (dreams are free)

Cale Hooker

26

Cale Hooker

Age

36

Ht

198cm

Wt

103kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.2

4star

K

8.2

3star

HB

8.0

5star

M

6.3

5star

T

1.8

4star

MG

213.6

3star

D

11.8

3star

K

5.8

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

0.8

1star

MG

107.0

2star

D

14.6

4star

K

3.2

2star

HB

11.4

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.4

4star

with Peter Wright kicking ability.

Kyle Langford

4

Kyle Langford

Age

28

Ht

192cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.7

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

7.3

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

3.3

5star

G

0.7

4star

D

17.4

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.6

3star

G

0.7

4star

D

8.2

2star

K

3.2

2star

HB

5.0

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

2.6

4star

G

0.6

3star

. He can stay the same.

Prime Walla and Dev Smith as pressure forwards.

Peter Wright with core strength to play KPF / Second ruck.

Stringer that does not get injured.

Fantasia with proper hamstrings.

Seriously though we need Caddy to make it at CHF. We need two fast small forwards. We need a FF who can hold his own as far as contested marking goes.

 

[jdstorm]

The more look at our forward line the more I see it is not right. We have some good players but a few are too similar and it is generally too slow.
What we lack is Devon Smith 2018 version before the knee folded up again. 2017-2019 Walla. Some real tackling pressure and some real speed.
Right now we have blokes with ability.

Langford. Good player. Good mark. Good set shot. Average pace.

Stringer. Has some X factor. Not quick. Average contested mark. Pressure okay when he is on song.

Peter Wright is good if you can get him on a lead or isolated one on one but has no core strength at all and is slower than Heppell.

Guelfi is a hard nut but lacks a bit of class.

Gresham has a bit of class but is not quick and not a manic pressure player.

Menzie is not quick and not a pressure player either. He has a bit of footy smarts but only adds to the lack of forward pressure.

Jones can not mark.


Weideman is a bit soft.

Alwyn Davey needs to find a level this year after an okay start.

Jayden just needs to play some games.

Caddy looks okay but is a couple of years off holding down CHF at a consistent level.

Ideally I would like something like the following to make it work. (dreams are free)

Cale Hooker with Peter Wright kicking ability.

Kyle Langford. He can stay the same.

Prime Walla and Dev Smith as pressure forwards.

Peter Wright with core strength to play KPF / Second ruck.

Stringer that does not get injured.

Fantasia with proper hamstrings.

Seriously though we need Caddy to make it at CHF. We need two fast small forwards. We need a FF who can hold his own as far as contested marking goes.

Or

F1 1x Peter Wright at CHF roams up the ground towards the wing

F2 1xSam Draper as Cale Hooker /Ruck who takes CBA’s then swans around in the forward line ready to create magic moments.

F3 Kyle Langford traditional 3rd tall/close to goal mobile leading player

F4 Archie Perkins/Sam Durham/ hard nosed decent paced resting mids who can tackle and

F5 Gresham not as fast as you’d like your pressure forward to be but a decent all round Forward with good goalsense

F6…. Aka SF2 Guelfi vs Menzie vs Sheil vs Daveys vs Tex vs Roberts vs Hobbs

Likely not best 22 by seasons end

Jake Stringer. Can kick a bag as a decoy unaccountable 5th option and has physical presence to pressure… but is worse then Wright/Langford as a slow forward and can’t play ruck like Draper.

Jai Caldwell: midfielder masquerading as a defensive forward. Doesn’t seem dangerous enough around goals. Try midfield or HB

 

[ant555]

Or

F1 1x Peter Wright at CHF roams up the ground towards the wing

F2 1xSam Draper as Cale Hooker /Ruck who takes CBA’s then swans around in the forward line ready to create magic moments.

F3 Kyle Langford traditional 3rd tall/close to goal mobile leading player

F4 Archie Perkins/Sam Durham/ hard nosed decent paced resting mids who can tackle and

F5 Gresham not as fast as you’d like your pressure forward to be but a decent all round Forward with good goalsense

F6…. Aka SF2 Guelfi vs Menzie vs Sheil vs Daveys vs Tex vs Roberts vs Hobbs

Likely not best 22 by seasons end

Jake Stringer. Can kick a bag as a decoy unaccountable 5th option and has physical presence to pressure… but is worse then Wright/Langford as a slow forward and can’t play ruck like Draper.

Jai Caldwell: midfielder masquerading as a defensive forward. Doesn’t seem dangerous enough around goals. Try midfield or HB

too slow !

 

[Rick Ross]

too slow !

Sitting on the fence so hard I got splinters on my arse - You could split those 2 posts between the Antdream and Stormfantasy -

• Speed and manic tackling a clear deficiency… Great for a Davey saviour IF it happens but think it needs to be our 2024 trade target above all else
• Like to think Draper plays deep this season (maybe next) with Goldie prime ruck. Not sure it’s a long term solution once Goldie retires.
• X factor Caddy would be great to see develop in the 1s but reality says he needs time…
• my boy Cox could be the wild card, hard at it, gutsy tackle machine … ok, that bit isn’t serious

 

[Yoda_]

what changes this year? need Tex or Jayden to come on. Need to upgrade Menzies real quick.

 

[Old Campaigner]

what changes this year? need Tex or Jayden to come on. Need to upgrade Menzies real quick.

There’s a lot of smalls in this draft allegedly, maybe we nab a small forward in the first round. That’s probably our best shot at getting someone with some elite attributes and genuine point of difference

 

[eth-dog]

Harsh on Menzie. Yes, right now he's struggling but averaged over a goal a game last year as a 20 year old. His pressure the last fortnight has improved a lot. He has all the tricks, just needs time.

 

[ant555]

Harsh on Menzie. Yes, right now he's struggling but averaged over a goal a game last year as a 20 year old. His pressure the last fortnight has improved a lot. He has all the tricks, just needs time.

Problem is his spot and skill set is the same we get from Gresham. Menzie is not overly fast. Is not anything more than an average forward pressure player and he does not actually transition into defense all that quickly. Yes he has a few offensive tricks. My view is you can only play one of Menzie / Gresham / Geulfi if you want to fix the forward leaking issue.

 

[Yoda_]

Problem is his spot and skill set is the same we get from Gresham. Menzie is not overly fast. Is not anything more than an average forward pressure player and he does not actually transition into defense all that quickly. Yes he has a few offensive tricks. My view is you can only play one of Menzie / Gresham / Geulfi if you want to fix the forward leaking issue.

And that is a big reason why I wasn't sold on getting Gresham whilst offering Menzie an extra year. Had to be one of the other

 

[Learntopray]

How many of our forwards can consistently create space on the lead?

 

[ant555]

And that is a big reason why I wasn't sold on getting Gresham whilst offering Menzie an extra year. Had to be one of the other

You can not fix everything in one year. The extra year with Menzie buys time for Davey x 2 to get going. It is not a big deal. Two or 3 years would have been a big deal.