I think one area we failed to assess this year was whether a different forward set up would work for us.When I watch Hawthorn, I'm reminded that we don't have enough small forwards. They have three talls and they're all pretty average (Gunston in his day obviously was great, and Dear is only a kid) but you counter that with Moore, Watson, Ginnivan, MacDonald around their feet, it's no wonder they look so potent.
Same with GWS. They've got Hogan, Cadman, and usually Riccardi or Brown (though it's Keeffe at the moment.) Also all mostly average besides Hogan, but it doesn't matter when you've got Greene, Jones, Daniels and Thomas at their feet.
All those players mentioned there - Moore, Watson, Ginnivan, MacDonald, Greene, Jones, Daniels and Thomas - all so quick and small and creative, they bring mad pressure.
We are really lacking in this area and I fear it will expose our talls - who I like but I think are only average - come finals time.
I understand trying to see if 3 talls would work. But it obviously hasn't, at least in 2024. I would have liked for us to have dropped a tall and seen what the output was like.
But alas. Here we are.