Forward Line Crumbs

[Pembleton]

This may sound odd to some people given we have such a short forward line set up, but i think we can get better at ground level inside 50.

At the moment we use short forwards, and sometimes Chris Grant. At one point against Hawthorn, the ball went in long towards Grant. Robbo was in front of the ball drop. Rather than turning to face the pack and wait for the ball to hit the ground, Robbo backed into Grant's space, bringing his man into the contest with him, because he was focussed on taking the mark himself. This meant Grant had to contend with 3 other people, and when the ball inevitably hit the deck, we had nobody down.

This is only one incident, but it illustrates a problem i first mentioned on this board a few weeks ago. All of our forwards at present see themselves as primarily marking targets, so none of them concentrate on getting to the fall of the ball, which hurts us at times. I think we should change the balance slightly. Not neccassarily in terms of who plays there, because the desired result could possibly be achieved by simply directing the guys currently in there to focus more on getting to the fall of the ball.

Thoughts?

[Dog Town]

This may sound odd to some people given we have such a short forward line set up, but i think we can get better at ground level inside 50.

At the moment we use short forwards, and sometimes Chris Grant. At one point against Hawthorn, the ball went in long towards Grant. Robbo was in front of the ball drop. Rather than turning to face the pack and wait for the ball to hit the ground, Robbo backed into Grant's space, bringing his man into the contest with him, because he was focussed on taking the mark himself. This meant Grant had to contend with 3 other people, and when the ball inevitably hit the deck, we had nobody down.

This is only one incident, but it illustrates a problem i first mentioned on this board a few weeks ago. All of our forwards at present see themselves as primarily marking targets, so none of them concentrate on getting to the fall of the ball, which hurts us at times. I think we should change the balance slightly. Not neccassarily in terms of who plays there, because the desired result could possibly be achieved by simply directing the guys currently in there to focus more on getting to the fall of the ball.

Thoughts?Yeah it happened all day and I think I said something about it in the player and game thread.The forward line actually worked better once Grant went down back and not because Grant was playing badly but because we just had no avenue to goal other than one of Johnson,Robbins and Grant pulling in a mark.Once he went back it sort of eliminated the crumbing problem because Johnson and Robbo had more space and one on one chances.Robbins did what you pointed out about 5 or 6 times.

It is a big problem when Grant is forward and we really dont have any genuine crumbers.Eade is probably reluctant to play someone like Faulkner because the second that we go to the smaller set up then crumbing players are not as important unless we get our space crowded.The lack of crumbing still is a problem when we go short if we dont have plenty of space to work up the ground into.

It is easy to tell the guys like Johnson and Robbo to stay down but the are instinctive players who want to launch.Not really sure what the answer is because we dont really have alot of great crumbers that play forward for very long.Missy looks a good goal sneak but he played up as a bit of a CHF for alot of yesterday didn't he? Perhaps it is a case of just getting an even contribution from everyone and being a bit more unselfish and aware when going to a contest.Probably not going to slay sides with our crumbing but if we can improve it a little bit it will help atleast until we get some sort of regular structure in place.

[Wind Sock]

We're not going to be in a position this year where players like Robbo aren't marking targets. That means they're going to have to make a snap judgment each time the ball comes in whether to contest or crumb. I think it's inevitable that they'll get it wrong occasionally. Good forwards of all sizes know to get front and square whenever they are close but not close enough to the fall of the ball.

[jd hot stuff]

Its actually is a good thing all our forwds are being targets as it does give us options in the 50. I think one way to help this problem if maybe we play farren as a crumber in the forwdline at diffrent time durring the game.

[ErnieSigley]

We're not going to be in a position this year where players like Robbo aren't marking targets. That means they're going to have to make a snap judgment each time the ball comes in whether to contest or crumb. I think it's inevitable that they'll get it wrong occasionally. Good forwards of all sizes know to get front and square whenever they are close but not close enough to the fall of the ball.
What he/she said.
Welcome by the way

[Raw Toast]

Probably one of the areas where a team like Adelaide - even when they go fairly small up front - are much better organised than us.

Most of our forwards are good at taking their turn as marking targets but don't do all the blocking and working for each other as much as they could. Not sure how much Wellman works on this but probably also reflects the unsettled and constantly changing nature of our forward set-up.

Very nice to see Higgins stay down a few times and get the ball - seems like he might be a natural crumber who can get the his own ball as well.

[Wind Sock]

What he/she said.
Welcome by the way

Thanks Ernie. I'm the male variety of wind sock.
:D

[Wind Sock]

Probably one of the areas where a team like Adelaide - even when they go fairly small up front - are much better organised than us.

Most of our forwards are good at taking their turn as marking targets but don't do all the blocking and working for each other as much as they could. Not sure how much Wellman works on this but probably also reflects the unsettled and constantly changing nature of our forward set-up.

Very nice to see Higgins stay down a few times and get the ball - seems like he might be a natural crumber who can get the his own ball as well.

To be fair to the coaches and players, no sooner do we get a good working forward structure than we lose another to long term injury who we can't just replace. There's nobody we can slot into the Murphy role that I could name so I guess it's back to the drawing board. We've just got to be a bit patient while they sort through the options.

Yeah, I know, since when have fans been patient?

[Sedat!]

This may sound odd to some people given we have such a short forward line set up, but i think we can get better at ground level inside 50.

At the moment we use short forwards, and sometimes Chris Grant. At one point against Hawthorn, the ball went in long towards Grant. Robbo was in front of the ball drop. Rather than turning to face the pack and wait for the ball to hit the ground, Robbo backed into Grant's space, bringing his man into the contest with him, because he was focussed on taking the mark himself. This meant Grant had to contend with 3 other people, and when the ball inevitably hit the deck, we had nobody down.

This is only one incident, but it illustrates a problem i first mentioned on this board a few weeks ago. All of our forwards at present see themselves as primarily marking targets, so none of them concentrate on getting to the fall of the ball, which hurts us at times. I think we should change the balance slightly. Not neccassarily in terms of who plays there, because the desired result could possibly be achieved by simply directing the guys currently in there to focus more on getting to the fall of the ball.

Thoughts?
It's probably a by-product of our small forwards actually being our key marking targets, despite their collective lack of height. They all tend to play like KP forwards and not like crumbers, which means that they occasionally get in each other's way. Robbo is probably the most effective "crumbing" type we have up forward, although Hahn has been good in this area most of the season. Higgins showed on the weekend that he is also adept at getting to the fall of the ball.