With Konstanty and Stevens coming in along with Payne and Harvey there is a fair bit of competition for his spot. Form in the pre season will probably decide who or if anyone gets a start.
Player Watch #46: Robert Hansen Jnr - Extends to End 2025
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Respectfully to all of them though at this stage - none of them are AFL standard yet.
There's every chance they're all in the VFL together.
Having five equally ordinary players all competing for the same spot does not mean that there's a fair bit of competition for that spot.
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The one thing/hope that we should keep in mind, though, is that the performance of the team in general has not in any way helped the development of these types of player thus far.
You'd expect Kostanty to be first up. He was with a top team behind players like Papley, Wicks, Parker.
No body in front of him at North.
RHJ hasn't shown much. Is more an hff than small forward.
Harvey similar.
Payne could be a future chance. Needs to perform in the vfl.
No body in front of him at North.
RHJ hasn't shown much. Is more an hff than small forward.
Harvey similar.
Payne could be a future chance. Needs to perform in the vfl.
TennisPlayerAndy
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It’s what happens when you pick ‘best available’ and already have numerous options at the same position.
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Swans also dont usually casually flip players they rate.
Let's hope he's more Tim Membrey and less Mark Powell.
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They've never not been important and we have neglected that area of our list
This apparent need for a specialist small forward is a massive cop out for Curtis, Zurhaar and co.
I think you are splitting hairs with the small forward classification. Curtis is a small forward, don’t care how tall he is or how he plays. If he is not putting on forward pressure, then he is not performing his role.
Zurhaar is a hybrid, if he is not putting on forward pressure, then he is not performing his roll.
Then you have 2 key forwards minimum, and the last 2 spots are taken by extra mids/high half forward types in Sheezel/Parker/FOS etc.
Haven’t even mentioned a spot for the forward/ruck or Duursma yet. Where is this specialist small forward going to play exactly? There is probably a bench sport up for grabs for a specialist forward. Or he is replacing one of Curtis, Zurhaar or FOS.
We are a mobile forward line on the shortish side, this forward pressure problem is a mindset/endeavour issue.
I think you are splitting hairs with the small forward classification. Curtis is a small forward, don’t care how tall he is or how he plays. If he is not putting on forward pressure, then he is not performing his role.
Zurhaar is a hybrid, if he is not putting on forward pressure, then he is not performing his roll.
Then you have 2 key forwards minimum, and the last 2 spots are taken by extra mids/high half forward types in Sheezel/Parker/FOS etc.
Haven’t even mentioned a spot for the forward/ruck or Duursma yet. Where is this specialist small forward going to play exactly? There is probably a bench sport up for grabs for a specialist forward. Or he is replacing one of Curtis, Zurhaar or FOS.
We are a mobile forward line on the shortish side, this forward pressure problem is a mindset/endeavour issue.
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Paul Curtis had the fifth highest number of tackles inside 50 in the comp last year.
Zurhaar was equal 19 for total tackles inside 50, sharing the rank with the likes of Charlie Cameron, Gryan Miers and Jack Darling.
Zurhaar is as close to filling this specific role as Jy or Wardlaw. What part of CZ’s game do you think translates?
As a hybrid, he needs a ground game. With the stats provided by ferball, it seems like Cam and Paul ARE putting on the pressure.
So my point is why do we need a specialist small forward? And whose spot is he taking?
FF. Curtis Larkey Zurhaar
HF. FOS, Darling, Parker
Miers has led the league in GAs for the past 5 or so years hasn’t he?
*edit: Miers (2024) is #14 league wide. CZ not in top 100. Interestingly Lazzaro and Coleman-Jones averaged more goal assists.
Cameron regularly turns a game and probably has averaged 30% more goals over the last 3-4 seasons (from the eyeball test). Cameron comes at #32 with 1.68 gpg and CZ ranking 68 at 1.32 gpg.
Darling plays against actual KPDs and would be beating him for contested marks I’d say. They average close to the same looking at the stats with Darling #65, Zurhaar #71 pulling in one a game.
I like FOS across HF, but in reality, he could play on any flank of any third of the ground.
Are you seriously saying that North couldn’t fit a specialist small forward when the top 4 sides run with 2-3 in their f50? What about the last 5 years makes you think we are so special at North that we can be neglecting a top 5 priority of modern football?
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One thing I've noticed in the last season especially is that small forwards are moving the ball the length of the field alot more. Geelong, Hawthorn and Brisbane have all had periods where they've done that quite effectively. I've even seen our VFL team do the same with Harvey, Hansen Jr and Drury multiple times over different games. Its the speed and good ball movement that they provide that makes them effective.
I don't think its necessarily vital that the players doing this be traditional small forwards. I think the speed and skill helps but you could use mids with the same attributes and start them on the forward line. Provided they can kick goals when the opportunity is (almost) there.
The reason we notice small forwards is they are creative and dynamic and use these qualities to score goals. They are usually smaller so they are more nimble but the best of them pull off spectacular shit regularly making goals happen that otherwise wouldn't.
Zurhaar and Curtis both do this in other ways. They are both excellent targets as well if the forward line is functioning cos they are strong and can mark the ball. They can also win contested ball and beat mutiple opponents with strength. But there's space around them and one or two good small forwards (or mids who can play there) will be able to use that space to create goals that those two can't.
Curtis creates space cos he has great strength and can turn on a five cent piece. But I wouldn't call him dynamic like Papley ... or about five indigenous small forwards. Having that sort of dynamism on our forward line would make it more effective.
I just don’t see a spot for him if he’s not replacing one of Curtis or Zurhaar.
2 key forwards min (sometimes running with 3) and then rotating Parker, sheez & FOS as high half forwards. Probably leaves Duursma or a “specialist small forward” fighting for a spot on the bench.
From my point of view, you have conflated a few seperate issues here. For one, this seems to imply that the most important aspect of the specialist small forward classification is the ability to apply forward pressure. I agree with your later comment that since we have a smaller and more mobile forward line, our levels of forward pressure are a mindset/endeavour concern. More generally, I think it's rarely the most mobile players who are at fault when forward pressure is down due to endeavour. Rather, it's the middle tier guys who need to work really hard to apply pressure who are likely to be the issue. If a team wanted to improve forward pressure, acquiring an elite small forward on it's own is really unlikely to remedy the problem, unless it implies a change of structure.
When I think of our need for specialist small forwards, I'm thinking about the ability to read the drop of the ball, get front and centre of marking contests, ideally at speed, one touch collect, and ideally get the ball away with accuracy of a couple of steps. I'm thinking about that magical ability to collect a ground ball at speed like TT used to do. I'm also thinking about knowing when to sprint forward get into position over the back at the right time. I'm thinking about evasive types that are a decent chance of a goal snapping under pressure from deep in the pocket.
While Curtis, Zurhaar, and Hansen jr all have elements of these in their game, I don't think anyone would say my description above really applies to them. When I hear someone say we need specialist small forwards, I understand them to mean we lack players who match my description above.
With regard to selection, if we had a genuine small forward of modest ability, I'd be advocating for selection. Players like Curtis and Zurhaar should be competing for limited mid size or auxiliary forward spots in accordance with their play style rather than getting selected as closest-to-type of a genuine small forward in a side without any genuine options to call upon.
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