West Coast reveals forward plans for utility Mark Nicoski

[Cassieeee27]

I can't see either player playing deep forward as the crumbing player at the feet of our FF so really it means they will play HFF and play from the HBF to just inside the forward 50 as part of our midfield running zone.

If Nicoski was to play here, would he not be another lynch? Bombing it into the forward 50 at no advantage to our marking forwards.
Nicoski caves under pressure, often letting his opponent win, which is shown from his role in defense, if we were 50 points down, and needed someone to kick it to our marking forwards I'm not sure I'd trust him with it. If he freezes in pressure so easily, you'd think he would continuously do [FONT=&quot]a thoughtless long bomb in the forward 50 to areas of which our leading forwards are out positioned or out numbered, which I know last year is something Lynch did that annoyed A LOT of people. [/FONT]

I guess if we were playing more then one crumbing forward it wouldn't be as big a problem as it was last year, but I'd definitely put a lot of players before Nicoski. Nab cup should be interesting

 

[Biggie]

Im a fan of this idea.

Could be the final link up from outside 50 to set sail for home.

Hopefully he shows something in our NAB opener.

 

[Obeanie1]

If Nicoski was to play here, would he not be another lynch? Bombing it into the forward 50 at no advantage to our marking forwards.
Nicoski caves under pressure, often letting his opponent win, which is shown from his role in defense, if we were 50 points down, and needed someone to kick it to our marking forwards I'm not sure I'd trust him with it. If he freezes in pressure so easily, you'd think he would continuously do [FONT=&quot]a thoughtless long bomb in the forward 50 to areas of which our leading forwards are out positioned or out numbered, which I know last year is something Lynch did that annoyed A LOT of people. [/FONT]

I guess if we were playing more then one crumbing forward it wouldn't be as big a problem as it was last year, but I'd definitely put a lot of players before Nicoski. Nab cap should be interesting

Playing an attacking role at HFF or through the wing is a whole different ball game than playing in defence. Firstly when you are attacking you are not worrying about your direct opponent or where to position yourself to cut off a pass you are in attack mode. You start to think creatively, start to enjoy your footy more and your confidence increases. If you get caught or duff a kick its not the end of the world, you don't have to stand their with your hands above your head and watch your player kick a goal.

As for protecting Waters from having to tackle by playing forward...................I seriously dont think Waters will be holding anything back when he plays. More like it sounds as if the club will take care with him and get him 100% right in the WAFL before picking him.

 

[15_year_member]

Waters is not slow and to say he wouldn't bring defensive pressure to our forward line is simply incorrect.

The guy was unlucky not to win the Norm Smith playing as a defensive player so to say he wouldn't bring defensive pressure is way off the mark IMO.

I can't see either player playing deep forward as the crumbing player at the feet of our FF so really it means they will play HFF and play from the HBF to just inside the forward 50 as part of our midfield running zone. Whether both play in the forward line at the same time is a stretch I must admit but both are utility types who can play off the bench and cover game day injuries.

Like I've stated before, its make or break for Nicoski in 2010.

He is not the slowest player at the club. But he is not exactly Aaron Davey or Cyril Rioli either. I can't see him chasing too many blokes down from behind wih sheer pace like those guys do. Nor can i see him crumbing too many goals.

And the article is not talking about pinch hitting in the forward line to cover injuries. It states they will be playing there as permament forwards.

 

[Obeanie1]

He is not the slowest player at the club. But he is not exactly Aaron Davey or Cyril Rioli either. I can't see him chasing too many blokes down from behind wih sheer pace like those guys do. Nor can i see him crumbing too many goals.

And the article is not talking about pinch hitting in the forward line to cover injuries. It states they will be playing there as permament forwards.

As I stated I don't see Waters or Nicoski playing deep forward as the crumbing forward, so that leaves the HFF's and playing through the wings to just inside the forward 50.

As for Waters not being as fast as Davey or Rioli that is obvious..............but he's not slow, will lay a fair few chases and tackles and if I had a choice I'd rather have Cyril or a Davey tackle me than Beau.

What Waters lacks in fancy footwork he more than makes up with in determination and hurt factor. If you were tagging Kerr would you be worried about Rioli or Davey running off the HF at a centre bounce or at a clearance or Waters running through you?

Waters on a HFF will not be there to kick bags of goals but to play a team role blocking, tackling, bumping and showing leadership. Chances are he will kick a couple here and there but we need hard players around stoppages doing the role that RoJo and Stinga used to do for Judd, Cuz and Kerr.

 

[Prem87]

Waters will play that Max Rooke bull with horns crashing packs role in the forward line as he tries to recover from injury.

 

[pacemaker]

Yep good move, Nico brings a booming left foot kick and Waters brings physical pressure in the forward line like chick use to do

 

[Wirra for PM]

Given that they've also been talking about Dalziell playing off HF and Masten playing a bit there there, not to mention the likes of Weedon floating around, looks like there will be a bit of competition for those HF spots. Can't be a bad thing.

 

[Kennedy_17]

this is disapointing as i had grand plans for him to spend the entire season at the lions and once his contract expired at the end of the year to be de-listed.. HACK

 

[joeyavalanche]

unless he finds a rich vein of form early,
i cant see nicoski playing that role consistantly.

eberts and masten's are so far ahead even while still developing

 

[the fox]

Given that they've also been talking about Dalziell playing off HF and Masten playing a bit there there, not to mention the likes of Weedon floating around, looks like there will be a bit of competition for those HF spots. Can't be a bad thing.

I think Kerr may well be up there.It might take away all the tagging and he can crumb.

 

[PRANKSTER666]

Given that they've also been talking about Dalziell playing off HF and Masten playing a bit there there, not to mention the likes of Weedon floating around, looks like there will be a bit of competition for those HF spots. Can't be a bad thing.

Can't see Weedon nor Neates getting any games this year, especially early on, they are not even training with the main group which makes it hard to believe they will get any pre-season games.

Only two new recruits training with main group is JON and Shepp who no doubt are both earmarked to play pre-season.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

personally think his best footy is behind him

if he is to play - I think his best position is forward - his decision making and the odd shank of a kick are too costly in defence

 

[Cassieeee27]

Playing an attacking role at HFF or through the wing is a whole different ball game than playing in defence. Firstly when you are attacking you are not worrying about your direct opponent or where to position yourself to cut off a pass you are in attack mode. You start to think creatively, start to enjoy your footy more and your confidence increases. If you get caught or duff a kick its not the end of the world, you don't have to stand their with your hands above your head and watch your player kick a goal.

I realize it's not the same as playing down back as he won't continuously be out positioned by the oppositions forward and i realize if he makes a mistake he's not the last man in defense stopping them from scoring. I know the pressure down back is completely different compared to the midfield, but i think if Nicoski was to be the one kicking it into the forward 50, with the opposition a few steps behind him, he will continuously do thoughtless long bombs. Maybe if he was standing on a mark and had time to think about where he was kicking it to, he wouldn't shank the kick as much. But we usually use handballs, over kicks forcing players to quickly think about their next move, and nico isn't great at this. Sure if we were in 06 form and full of confidence his decision making might be better, but with a young team that is only just starting to find confidence on the footy field a guy that caves under pressure might not be the best at pin pointing it to our leading forwards.

If we were going to play Nicoski I'd prefer him forward of the ground, but I'd also rather not watch a repeat of lynch last year. If he can work on accuracy and his confidence increases like you say it will, then I'm all for the move.

 

[imright]

Nicoski dosen't make good decisions and is not an accurate kick.

Turnovers in the forward line are just as costly as in defence because of the speed of the game and the zoning component which means quite often defenders are caught out of position.

There is nowhere on the field to hide if skills and poise are lacking.

 

[EaglesFlyingHigh]

I don't think that he will be suited to playing foward.
He is not a very accurate kick, although none of our fowards really are!

He should remain as a running player off the half back flank.

 

[paran]

Best position for Nico is left-right out.

 

[fryzie]

I don't think that he will be suited to playing foward.
He is not a very accurate kick, although none of our fowards really are!

He should remain as a running player off the half back flank.

Yeah those 58 goals from 84 scoring shots by LeCras proves that.

In 2005 I believe Nico was played forward a few times and kicked 12 goals 7 for the year, I seem to remember he kicked the first goal in that Grand Final too?

Given the opportunity he will either take the bull by the horns and improve his game in the forwardline or fail to deliver and get dropped for one of the other guys pushing for a spot in the forward line. Dalziell/Ebert/Masten/JON/etc...

It's not going to hurt by giving the bloke with 80 odd games under his belt first crack at the position.

 

[EaglesFlyingHigh]

Yeah those 58 goals from 84 scoring shots by LeCras proves that.

Ok, all our fowards apart from LeCras.

We had one of the worst kicking efficiencies of any team in 09.

 

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

There's a lot of dislike for Nicoski but the facts are:

- At one point Nicoski was a good player
- We're not going to win anything major this year
- We need to find out if Nicoski can again be a good player

So it stands to reason that we try him out and give him a decent run.

From my point of view, since we have a strong marking forward line, with Kennedy, Lynch, LeCras and McKinley all being good overhead, and since we're talking a lot about inside 50 pressure, a bloke that can kick it deep to a contested situation is perfect.

If one of our better marks doesn't take the grab, the inside 50 pressure is put to the test. In theory this is swell, whether it comes off is another matter but we have to try it or we're not giving ourselves every chance to re-find a decent/good player for our next assult.

People can speculate about how Nicoski will go on a HFF all they like aswell, but the truth is nobody knows until he plays there. Perhaps the fact that he wont have to find an option completely in the clear when passing inside 50 will make the decision making process easier for him and he'll get some confidence back.

If he doesn't, there's no harm done. Every youngster we have who's ready to play AFL has a spot in the Eagles side.

 

[fryzie]

Ok, all our fowards apart from LeCras.

We had one of the worst kicking efficiencies of any team in 09.

I'm happy with Josh Kennedy's 31 goals from 48 shots as a young CHF, that's roughly 2.1 per game.

 

[Brazen]

He is not a very accurate kick, although none of our fowards really are!

Yeah those 58 goals from 84 scoring shots by LeCras proves that.

Ok, all our fowards apart from LeCras.

I'm happy with Josh Kennedy's 31 goals from 48 shots as a young CHF, that's roughly 2.1 per game.

OK OK... but apart from Lecras and Kennedy and better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have our forwards ever done for us?

 

[jaxxon]

OK OK... but apart from Lecras and Kennedy and better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have our forwards ever done for us?

Niiiiiiiiice

 

[Eagle Ant]

I think this idea reeks of failure. We are short down back now IMO. How many backpockets do we really have. At my guestimate Shannon Hurn would be our most experienced small defender nowadays which isnt a good way to roll

Yeh I agree Embers.

Nico going forward is fine as he is just a bomber from defence anyway and normally it leads to a turnover, But having Beau Waters forward seems to be a waste of aggression out of our back line.
I reckon as a Forward you would be far more worried about getting crunched if beau was playing anywhere near you and more likely to fumble or drop marks.

Plus with the inclusions of Shuey and Weedon (who will probably play a few games) they dont really need anymore changes to our Defence.
The only reason I can see for Beau to play forward is if they are having Weedon training as a defender Like Wirra was. (the Sweeper)

But regardless I like the way beau throws his body around and he is more likely to make that last minute saving mark deep in defence to win the game then any other WCE at the moment, So why remove that from the team.

 

[EaglesFlyingHigh]

OK OK... but apart from Lecras and Kennedy and better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have our forwards ever done for us?

thankyou