Opinion Our Dysfunctional Forward Line

[loki04]

First of all we miss Kraks making something out of nothing, if we could somehow get him back before the year's out it would be amazing. He was great in the grand final until the ball stopped coming anywhere near him.

Second of all we miss Didak's skills in and around the 50. His vision and ability to hit a target in a clustered area is second to none, brilliant skills. He also has great finishing skills around goal which is what we need.

More than anything though we need Dawes to step up big time, not just for his own sake but for the sake of those crumbing forwards around him who rely on him to make a contest and present a target.

Would love the younger Dids not so much the older one he got softer with age.

 

[sr36]

But as long as Dawes plays in his current role as part time ruck, part time forward he won't find that form, so what is a solution to that problem then?

Noone will ever convince me that giving a tall forward 5 minutes a quarter in the ruck is detrimental to their forward play. It's been what you do to try to get the big guy a few kicks so that he increases his confidence and thus performs better as a forward.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Noone will ever convince me that giving a tall forward 5 minutes a quarter in the ruck is detrimental to their forward play. It's been what you do to try to get the big guy a few kicks so that he increases his confidence and thus performs better as a forward.

A few ruck duels is not going to kill Dawes. He needs to be crisp and clean with his movement and ball handling. His reflexes and groud work used to be sharp, but he seems slow and clumsy now by comparison. I agree that playing in the role should allow him to get his hands on the ball and gain self-confidence.

 

[THATSGOLD]

When Jolly goes forward he almost always scores! Wood should be rucking and Jolly should be forward more often. In saying that I'll be interested to see how Tarrant goes on Saturday. Will Goldsack cloke dawes and Taz do the job?

 

[loki04]

When Jolly goes forward he almost always scores! Wood should be rucking and Jolly should be forward more often. In saying that I'll be interested to see how Tarrant goes on Saturday. Will Goldsack cloke dawes and Taz do the job?

Hopefully Tazza actually gets to play fwd he has been named down back.

 

[harry1990]

I think we miss Krakouer more than anything!
His footy smarts, crumbing and positioning are elite!
He would be handy right now, because he would be cleaning up with Dawes dropping all those marks!

I agree we really miss Krakouer we all forget how good he is at kicking that goal when we need it !

 

[Premier Pies]

This may be the most simple observation of the year, but i think one of the reasons why were so dysfunctional going forward is the type of i50 entries that we have. Bombing the ball in, consistently.

Has anyone else noticed that when our players lead up and we honour the lead (eg Daisy vs Freo, Sinclair vs most teams) we get the more simple shots on goal? Pav and Betts got most of their goals off the hard lead, so why arent our forwards doing the same?

I also wouldnt mind seeing Cloke play closer to goal or out of the goalsquare. He could be that spearhead with his workrate if someone could teach him to double lead as well as having those great contested mark skills

I couldn't agree more. You watch Cloke tonight, whenever he takes a mark 60-90 meters out, he immediately swings around onto his left boot and bombs it towards our goal. It infuriates me to no end as its just so predictable and easily defendable.

It's bad enough when the ball is bombed in on top of Clokes head against three defenders but when he does it I just pull my hair out! Does he expect Dawes to suddenly clunk pack marks when he can't even clunk an uncontested mark?

A bit of class,poise and most importantly patience would go a long way to improving our forward line functionality. Hit up the leading forward lace out, kick it space for a forward to run into and mark. Jamie Elliot's kick to Cloke against the Eagles is the perfect example. You don't have to wait for the forward to lead before you kick the ball to their advantage. Of course you need the players to understand patterns and be in sync with each other and that only comes with time and many matches together.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Would love to see Reid or Brown forward. Especially Reid. No point swinging Taz up there, hes not the future. We know he can do it. But he'll retire soon.

 

[Premier Pies]

Would love to see Reid or Brown forward. Especially Reid. No point swinging Taz up there, hes not the future. We know he can do it. But he'll retire soon.

I know what you're saying about the future but we're in the now. We're in the position of the season where we're trying to have a fair dinkum crack at the flag, not set up our future.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I know what you're saying about the future but we're in the now. We're in the position of the season where we're trying to have a fair dinkum crack at the flag, not set up our future.

We can easily tick both boxes.

We have never had Brown Reid and Tarrant in the same side (or Keeffe) so have never had the opportunity to try.

 

[Quicky]

I wouldn't mind seeing Reid forward. I wonder if we can afford to lose his penetration out of the back half however.

 

[Premier Pies]

I wouldn't mind seeing Reid forward. I wonder if we can afford to lose his penetration out of the back half however.

We saw Reid in the forward line against Port Power IIRC and he looked all at sea. He was coming back from injury though so who knows. As you suggested, we would miss his penetration greatly.

 

[Quicky]

We saw Reid in the forward line against Port Power IIRC and he looked all at sea. He was coming back from injury though so who knows. As you suggested, we would miss his penetration greatly.

I don't think you can draw too many conclusions off such a small sample of game time. I think he would make a good key forward if given time in the role.

 

[Damnfinecupofcoffee]

Tarrant is not the answer up forward, we need a L Brown.. Nathan Brown is the only one on the books that has a shadow of a shot at that role

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Tarrant is not the answer up forward, we need a L Brown.. Nathan Brown is the only one on the books that has a shadow of a shot at that role

We might find out tonight when they all line up. Cant see Reid Brown and Tarrant all in defence, with Maxwell as the fourth tall. Something will have to give.

 

[Kirby]

I have no doubt that one of Taz or Reid will play forward tonight, most likely Taz. Whichever of the two does I hope they play a defensive forward role on Scarlett. Both are far too dangerous for Scarlett to zone off and not respect.

I'd have the Sack as sub tonight.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I'd have the Sack as sub tonight.

No chance.

Clarke Elliott or Sinclair will be sub. Probably Clarke.

 

[Kirby]

^ On second thoughts I agree Timmy. Clarke should be sub.

 

[SuperSub17]

I think our fwd line is definitely our weakest link, concerning that Carlscum have held us to 62 points in both games in dry conditions. I think North showed last night how to get it inside 50: long and direct to the hotspot. How many of Petrie's goals came from within 30m on a slight angle? We had so many shots last week from 40-50m near the boundary.

 

[carnthepies19]

I don't think you can draw too many conclusions off such a small sample of game time. I think he would make a good key forward if given time in the role.

IIRC he was drafted as a forward, when he first played there in AFL though he struggled, hence his move to defense whilst in the VFL. Though this switch was purely experimental as he was coming off injury and the coach wanted to try him elsewhere.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

I think our fwd line is definitely our weakest link, concerning that Carlscum have held us to 62 points in both games in dry conditions. I think North showed last night how to get it inside 50: long and direct to the hotspot. How many of Petrie's goals came from within 30m on a slight angle? We had so many shots last week from 40-50m near the boundary.

Watching Petrie play, I thought how much better he is as a forward than Cloke. He kicked goals and marked very strongly. He is also a more animated person with a better personality. We should suggest a swap!

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Noone will ever convince me that giving a tall forward 5 minutes a quarter in the ruck is detrimental to their forward play. It's been what you do to try to get the big guy a few kicks so that he increases his confidence and thus performs better as a forward.

Roughead might disagree

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Watching Petrie play, I thought how much better he is as a forward than Cloke. He kicked goals and marked very strongly. He is also a more animated person with a better personality. We should suggest a swap!

Petrie is 30

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Petrie is 30

Yeah, I thought there might be a catch to it!

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Yeah, I thought there might be a catch to it!

Just shows how much upside all our kpps have. Including Dawes.