What's our most effective forward set-up?

[CALL ME SNAKE]

Time to build a forward line without Roo.

Billings Bruce Gilbert

Sinclar McCartin Murdoch

Murdoch a huge smoky ready for a big year, will surpass Membrey.
I picked Sinclair in front of Lonie because he is more ready to go into the middle.
Gilbert will give us another lead up marking option who will also play midfield.

Thinking outside the box with Gilbert.
Not sure if i agree but its good to see something different. He is a player who divides Saints fans. But when hes good hes pretty bloody good indeed

 

[majortinkle]

Carlisle did actually spend a fair bit of time playing in the ruck at times last season, so that idea is certainly not without merit. The club have him listed at 200cm and those who have seen him up close this offseason all seem surprised at just how tall he is. He's had 14, 16 and 18 hitout games in the last two seasons.

Carlisle's heavy knee strapping don't cry out potential ruck role to me to be honest.

Gilbert should take some of the ruck work when longer is on the bench - assuming hickey doesn't cut it as a forward

 

[George]

Time to build a forward line without Roo.

Billings Bruce Gilbert

Sinclar McCartin Murdoch

Murdoch a huge smoky ready for a big year, will surpass Membrey.
I picked Sinclair in front of Lonie because he is more ready to go into the middle.
Gilbert will give us another lead up marking option who will also play midfield.

So Lonie doesn't play at all?

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

IMO it doesnt matter if your fwd line is Lockett, Ablett snr , Dunstall.
Unless you have goal kicking mids as well it dont mean shit.
Take our 2002 to 2005 period. Roo, Milne, Hamill, G-Train, Kosi. up fwd. It dont get much better than that.
But most of our 'harder bodied' mid rotations like Hayes, Powell,Harvey, Thompson, Ball, were far from regular goal kickers.
Gotta be able to snag goals from the half back line running fwd as far as im concerned.
I think the club is drafting better shots for goal now.

 

[Winners Only]

So Lonie doesn't play at all?

Maybe bench until he can provide a midfield option. I dont like the idea of having 1 dimensional small forwards. If you look at the Hawks Puopolo, Rioli & Breust all have bursts in the middle and are all very good over head for their size.

Lonie is a great little player but needs more strings to his bow to oust players like Sinclair.

 

[George]

Maybe bench until he can provide a midfield option. I dont like the idea of having 1 dimensional small forwards. If you look at the Hawks Puopolo, Rioli & Breust all have bursts in the middle and are all very good over head for their size.

Lonie is a great little player but needs more strings to his bow to oust players like Sinclair.

Lonie is good overhead, I think he'll get more of a run in the midfield this year anyway. I don't know what Murdoch has done to warrant a spot in the 22, he really needs to lift if he's going to even remain on the list by the end of the year

 

[Winners Only]

Lonie is good overhead, I think he'll get more of a run in the midfield this year anyway. I don't know what Murdoch has done to warrant a spot in the 22, he really needs to lift if he's going to even remain on the list by the end of the year

No less than Membrey, who is another over rated player just because he was traded in. Murdoch was injured most of last year and will show his true worth if given a chance.

 

[George]

No less than Membrey, who is another over rated player just because he was traded in. Murdoch was injured most of last year and will show his true worth if given a chance.

I agree with Membrey. Too many talls to fit into one side IMO.

I think our forward line should be this

Sinclair Riewoldt Billings
Lonie Bruce McCartin

Lonie/Sinclair/Billings can swap in and out of the midfield for Armo, Joey, Weller if they need a rest. Put Hickey on the bench for the 2nd ruck spot depending on who we play and if we even need to take a 2nd ruck into the game.

 

[The Punter]

There's a little bit of deconstruction that needs to happen here.

Firstly, do we need a ruckman who can play forward, or can forwards provide sufficient support in the ruck so that this is not necessary?
Secondly, do we operate well enough without Riewoldt in the forward set up that we can afford to play him further up the ground?
Thirdly, do we need to prioritise ability to kick goals above other things (like tackling and goal assists) when selecting small forwards?

They seem to be the main issues. Personally I think we need to play Hickey because we don't have a Jason Blake type who can provide meaningful support productivity in the ruck when Longer is resting, we don't play well enough with Riewoldt somewhere else (although we do need to learn to play without him there, so a bit of pain may be worth it), and I'm unsure on the third one, but remember our best goalkicking small forward is Darren Minchington.

 

[busso_mick]

There's a little bit of deconstruction that needs to happen here.

Firstly, do we need a ruckman who can play forward, or can forwards provide sufficient support in the ruck so that this is not necessary?
Secondly, do we operate well enough without Riewoldt in the forward set up that we can afford to play him further up the ground?
Thirdly, do we need to prioritise ability to kick goals above other things (like tackling and goal assists) when selecting small forwards?

They seem to be the main issues. Personally I think we need to play Hickey because we don't have a Jason Blake type who can provide meaningful support productivity in the ruck when Longer is resting, we don't play well enough with Riewoldt somewhere else (although we do need to learn to play without him there, so a bit of pain may be worth it), and I'm unsure on the third one, but remember our best goalkicking small forward is Darren Minchington.

Some very good analysis there Punter. Another issue that could impact our forward setup is the reduction in interchange from 120 to 90. You would think that the midfield rotations would have more of a premium so small forwards with a bigger tank could become a priority. I like Sinclair and Lonie in our forward 6 as they are good tacklers and chasers and they look to be very athletic and capable of longer game time.

 

[plugger66]

HF Billings Roo Sinclair
F Lonie Bruce Membrey

play hickey off the bench...

I know rotations have changed but I doubt any club will use a ruckman off the bench. They will be using it for 3 mids and one other IMO. It will interesting to see actually.

 

[puppy_dog7]

Billings - Riewoldt - Sinclair
Lonie - Bruce - Membrey

 

[saintkildaman]

Billings Riewoldt Sinclair/Weller
Lonie Bruce Hickey/Membery/McCartin

 

[Newnsey Boy]

Assuming every player is injury free, I believe a good set up would be:

Half-Forward - Dunstan, Riewoldt, Billings
Forward - Lonie, Bruce, Sinclair
Ruck - Longer, Steven, Weller

Dunstan and Billings have proven to be really reliable Mid/Fwds running off the 50, and Steven and Weller have the explosion we would need out of ruck contests.

Bruce and Riewoldt are no brainers despite the fact Rooey will push up into the midfield this year.

 

[Periphery]

Even rotation of Billings/Sinclair/Monty ~ Bruce ~ Weller/resting mid
Lonie ~ McCartin ~ Roo/Hickey

 

[Persevering Saint]

This is from the Hamill video - does this indicate our tall forward options this year?



Payne, Pierce, Bruce, Holmes, Lee, Fisher, Delaney, Hickey.

I highly suspect this includes all the KPs, both forward and back (hence Lee and Delaney - but hey, who knows?), including the ruck-forwards. I just notice no Roo, no Longer. No Paddy either, so yeah, I'm probably reading too much into it.