Analysis Do you have Wood going forward, or is it a massive flop?

[BrisDog]

My Mrs likes Wood in the morning and occasionally down back...

 

[Fossie 32]

 

[Martyn_30_]

Wood could add something different to the forward line but if Trengove is also going to play forward I have big concerns over the backline under the high ball without wood coming over the top and Morris injured. Cordy lost three one on ones in the first quarter on the weekend resulting in goals and Naughton isn’t strong enough yet.


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[SayerTheCreator]

Feel like it's bordering on getting a bit cute by the coaching staff. This isn't the only example, many players have and are being groomed to play multiple positions.

Versatility is a great thing in theory but not every player has that swingman ability. Watching Woody line up for a set shot from the arc made me uncomfortable for some reason and he definitely doesn't have that fluid set shot that's required.

He's an AA half-back. As someone mentioned; it's better to have an elite half back than a mediocre (or slightly above average) medium forward.

 

[lachy]

Given he has spent the entire pre season training as a forward I have no issue with it. Like Harry Taylor at Geelong with his attributes he could, along with JJ make the world of difference not just in scoring but just as importantly defensive pressure.

We finished 7th in our premiership year and 10th last year, we need to improve so just doing the same old thing because it makes supporters feel warm and cosy is nonsensical.

The restructure is inventive and well worth the risk. We know if it is not working out after a decent sample size in the regular season we can revert to Wood going back.

And for those having a go at his goal kicking, it was Wood that stepped up in the final against the Hawks and kicked the first after our forwards and mids had burnt 5 shots on goal

 

[BrisDog]

 

[Tommycash]

NEVER LET HIM LEAVE THE FORWARD LINE!

 

[maddog37]

My Mrs likes Wood in the morning and occasionally down back...

 

[X_box_X]

Do you have Wood going forward?

Bloody oath, especially if we win another flag.

 

[BRWB]

The Harry Taylor comparison is good.

Easton is a far better backman, but for team balance he may need to play fwd.

Should be an athletic fwd line with Jong, JJ and Easton there. Not a lot of footy smarts or exquisite use though.

We do seem to have lot of tallish backs. Watching Trengove and Easton not playing back may indicate how that works out.

 

[BJ06]

I'd have him in defense. But i can understand the reasoning behind swingmaning him forward due to his ability to cover the ground / marking ability.
If we can get it over the back and have him running towards goal matched up on tall defender, something like Jenkins at Adelaide (not a strength of ours last season) it could be a real asset.
Also, his aerial ability when we slow the game down and bomb it in aimlessly (which we found ourselves doing too frequently last year) may offer us the contest we hoped that one of the other talls would provide.

 

[Leviticus]

I like the Wood & JJ experiment.

Think they can be covered down back by the likes of Crozier, Biggs, Suckers, Williams, Cordy, etc.

We have to try something with the forward line and this is at least a bold something.

 

[stefoid]

NEVER LET HIM LEAVE THE FORWARD LINE!

ha ha, love the north spud feebly giving chase "no...stop..."

 

[stefoid]

He's an AA half-back. As someone mentioned; it's better to have an elite half back than a mediocre (or slightly above average) medium forward.

yeah.... but we do have Adams who plays very similar to Wood. Can we play both of those guys in the same backline? If not, playing Wood forward is one way to be able to keep both in the best 22 and gives us the option to shift players who are being beaten or injured. And we arent exactly falling over ourselves for athletic, high-marking forwards right now, so ... I get the why.

 

[Next Waiting]

yeah.... but we do have Adams who plays very similar to Wood. Can we play both of those guys in the same backline? If not, playing Wood forward is one way to be able to keep both in the best 22 and gives us the option to shift players who are being beaten or injured. And we arent exactly falling over ourselves for athletic, high-marking forwards right now, so ... I get the why.

I too understand, and even accept the reasoning behind Wood forward. However, the real test of how much time he spends there comes when we're not achieving parity at clearances. In such a scenario, we're being beaten often at centre clearances and around the ground by strong and combative ruck divisions and midfield units. There's quick opposition ball going into our D50 and we're being aerially bombarded with opposing tall forwards not being held to account much in the air. We're having 3 to 4 goal runs against us in pretty quick time.

If this scenario eventuates, it's likely to be against particular opponents in the regular season, and perhaps a more regular finals threat. The key, IMO, are our midfielders and rucks. Parity or better against all comers and it may not matter too much. Getting beaten regularly in that area and it will be interesting to see how long we hold our nerve. I don't dispute that the idea, indeed the practise, of someone of Wood's calibre and capacity forward is a good idea. I think it is. But, he is an experienced and premium defender. I think the success or otherwise of our midfield and ruck divisions in part determines how long he stays there and they seemed to have a bit more of a spark about them in the pre season game. Early days but some cause for optimism.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I believe wood played forward for a few games towards the end of last season. The gws game at Etihad comes to mind for one, so dont know why it comes as such a surprise now.

I am pretty sure he did against Gold Coast in Cairns, I reckon it will take some time for it to work out but its worth persisting with as he can always go back if we need to.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

This is just another example of coaches out coaching themselves for no apparent reason.

Wood is a great defender. He repels attacks, this limiting scoring opportunities while at the same time generating forward thrusts (pun absolutely intended). He has a massive effect on the scoreboard from that perspective.

He does not have forward craft, is an unreliable set shot and the final ball to a leading forward is a problem for a majority of the team - including Wood.

I understand that you try things in JLT but this is just a monumental waste of time.

If he could play forward I’m sure we would’ve seen him forward in the previous 10 years of his career.

It’s ideas such as these, which had me concerned last year and now this year.

Not sure that I agree with this as this same logic could have been applied to Picken and MBoyd before Bevo turned up. in fact one of the questions Flannigan asks Picken in his book is whether he feels cheated because it took so long for a coach to work out he was more than a tagger.
I think the issue of Wood going forward is complex its not just a matter of him learning forward play its also our team adjusting to it, I think Bevo has earnt enough points for us to give it time.

 

[jdz101]

I needed to pick options 3 AND 4 but it only let me pick one.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

I needed to pick options 3 AND 4 but it only let me pick one.

One vote, One value.

I always run a fully legit and transparent poll, unlike our bigfooty overlords picking a new board mod.

 

[TMoney22]

a result of drafting and recruiting too many backmen.

And i don't like Morris and Wood not being able to play on Stringer when we play them

 

[dogupya]

In 2016 Bev clocked the game, we witnessed magic and for life of me I cannot understand why we have and are continuing to stray so far from the formula that took us there??

I'm no game plan expert, however, I would of though that when something isn't broke you dont fix it. Yes, there were 'other' factors last year and you need to evolve someway and some change was necessary, but f*** me, our game style in 17 was so far from what we saw in 16 it left me scratching my head every week and it seems that in 2018 we're moving even further away.

Maybe I'm just too simplistic and I'd love for the posters who have experience in this area to help me fill in the blanks as to why we have overhauled something that worked so well, I I may be really dumb but I just don't f****** get it?

Richmond don't look like they'v changed too much from last year, in fact, they look scarily similar to us in 2016....

Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, Im sure it has. But this moveof Easton forward is symptomatic of a bigger question that no one has ever really answered for me.

Your thoughts are most welcomed.

 

[Libba39]

Wood is a backman who had a very average year last year. His intercept and contested marking dropped right off and he just wasn't the same player from 15/16.
The last thing he needs is to go forward. He needs to play in his position and find some form!!!

 

[ScragCity]

In 2016 Bev clocked the game, we witnessed magic and for life of me I cannot understand why we have and are continuing to stray so far from the formula that took us there??

I'm no game plan expert, however, I would of though that when something isn't broke you dont fix it. Yes, there were 'other' factors last year and you need to evolve someway and some change was necessary, but f*** me, our game style in 17 was so far from what we saw in 16 it left me scratching my head every week and it seems that in 2018 we're moving even further away.

Maybe I'm just too simplistic and I'd love for the posters who have experience in this area to help me fill in the blanks as to why we have overhauled something that worked so well, I I may be really dumb but I just don't f****** get it?

Richmond don't look like they'v changed too much from last year, in fact, they look scarily similar to us in 2016....

Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, Im sure it has. But this moveof Easton forward is symptomatic of a bigger question that no one has ever really answered for me.

Your thoughts are most welcomed.

The way we played in 2016 changed football. Every other team in the league altered their game plan based on the style of football the Bulldogs used to win a flag. Make no doubt, every coaching team studied us heavily. Then we saw last year a bunch of teams implementing a similar game plan, not only that but they were doing it better than us now. So the obvious solution is to try to find the next best one, because having a decent list and playing a predictable game plan is not enough to win flags. Bev revolutionised footy that year much like Clarko did in the 2000s. Now we have to wait and see if he can do it again.

Now some people seem to think Bev is all about versatility for the sake of versatility. What a load of crap. He has a list of players which he only had a small part in assembling and he has to make the best of what he has. Why did we play Cordy at CHF? Was it Bev trying to be cute? No. It was because WE DIDN'T HAVE A DOMINANT TALL FORWARD TO COMPETE IN THE AIR. Guess what. We still don't. So whether it's Cordy, Wood or Adams, take your pick. If we don't get some marking power inside forward 50 we will be as impotent as we were last year. It's not the coaches fault that he has a list in which all the best marking players are backmen. Last year we tried Cloke. That didn't work out but it was worth the gamble. But at least he is trying to make it work. If we had a Ben Brown or a Joe Daniher on our list you could safely assume Wood would be playing in defence. But quality key forwards are bloody rare and not many teams will do well without one. Somehow we did and maybe this year we will again.

The people whining about versatility weren't sulking when we threw Cordy forward and won a flag. They sulked when we turned Boyd into a ruck and still sulk about it now, conveniently forgetting that he played the best two games of his career BY FAR in the ruck. They conveniently forget that Bev revitalised the careers of Matthew Boyd and Liam Picken. Even Easton Wood went from being a pretty average player to the best intercept defender in the league the first year Bev came on board. And yet we still question whether he can get the best out of players... Heaven forbid we give him an ounce of credit for all the times his "versatility mantra" paid off massively. This same bloke who took a struggling team that looked to be destined for many more lean years and got them to a flag within two years. But we have one less than stellar year with a developing young list and you all turn on him over the same mindset that saved this club.

 

[jdz101]

One vote, One value.

I always run a fully legit and transparent poll, unlike our bigfooty overlords picking a new board mod.

Of course the basket of deplorables go for the versatility option.

 

[yebiga]

The way we played in 2016 changed football. Every other team in the league altered their game plan based on the style of football the Bulldogs used to win a flag. Make no doubt, every coaching team studied us heavily. Then we saw last year a bunch of teams implementing a similar game plan, not only that but they were doing it better than us now. So the obvious solution is to try to find the next best one, because having a decent list and playing a predictable game plan is not enough to win flags. Bev revolutionised footy that year much like Clarko did in the 2000s. Now we have to wait and see if he can do it again.

Now some people seem to think Bev is all about versatility for the sake of versatility. What a load of crap. He has a list of players which he only had a small part in assembling and he has to make the best of what he has. Why did we play Cordy at CHF? Was it Bev trying to be cute? No. It was because WE DIDN'T HAVE A DOMINANT TALL FORWARD TO COMPETE IN THE AIR. Guess what. We still don't. So whether it's Cordy, Wood or Adams, take your pick. If we don't get some marking power inside forward 50 we will be as impotent as we were last year. It's not the coaches fault that he has a list in which all the best marking players are backmen. Last year we tried Cloke. That didn't work out but it was worth the gamble. But at least he is trying to make it work. If we had a Ben Brown or a Joe Daniher on our list you could safely assume Wood would be playing in defence. But quality key forwards are bloody rare and not many teams will do well without one. Somehow we did and maybe this year we will again.

The people whining about versatility weren't sulking when we threw Cordy forward and won a flag. They sulked when we turned Boyd into a ruck and still sulk about it now, conveniently forgetting that he played the best two games of his career BY FAR in the ruck. They conveniently forget that Bev revitalised the careers of Matthew Boyd and Liam Picken. Even Easton Wood went from being a pretty average player to the best intercept defender in the league the first year Bev came on board. And yet we still question whether he can get the best out of players... Heaven forbid we give him an ounce of credit for all the times his "versatility mantra" paid off massively. This same bloke who took a struggling team that looked to be destined for many more lean years and got them to a flag within two years. But we have one less than stellar year with a developing young list and you all turn on him over the same mindset that saved this club.

Can’t like this post enough.