So what do we think of Tony McGuinness this week?

[Portia]

Possibly one of our most cohesive forward line structures since Bowen Lockwood was decent, and thats with an injury wrecked side.

Thoughts?

 

[portentous]

I believe that he's very hairy and shouldn't wear Speedos.

 

[*PAF]

Possibly one of our most cohesive forward line structures since Bowen Lockwood was decent, and thats with an injury wrecked side.

Thoughts?

It looked good didn't it?

 

[Port01]

Still concerned we have barely had a crumbing goal in two weeks. If our tall forwards dont hold marks we are going to struggle to kick a score if it continues.

 

[Sandola]

Yep, solidest forward line I can remember seeing. Not so much of that fingernail-biting, heart-in-mouth, cobbled-together stuff that our patchwork forward lines usually produce. Nice mix of small and tall, marking and powering away the opposition (I like Ebert's marking so much that I don't mind if he isn't crumbing). Is it McGuinness, or just that we finally have the right men for the job?

 

[Santos L Helper]

Less Tony McGuiness, more players coming into form. I wish he wasn't at our club....fullstop! He is a hack when it comes to people skills and imparting knowledge, and that's from the horses mouth.

 

[Sheeds]

Less Tony McGuiness, more players coming into form. I wish he wasn't at our club....fullstop! He is a hack when it comes to people skills and imparting knowledge, and that's from the horses mouth.

So I take it you are Tony McGuiness?

I just picked that up from your horses mouth comment.

 

[crazy_big_al]

Less Tony McGuiness, more players coming into form. I wish he wasn't at our club....fullstop! He is a hack when it comes to people skills and imparting knowledge, and that's from the horses mouth.

I think that it is a pretty fair assesment. White and Tredders hitting their straps. His people skills are not the best, i know i used to work for him

 

[Paralowiepower]

I have liked him ever since he elbowed that crow trainer in the head at the MCG when they played Richmond a few years back.

 

[Groove]

If it is his idea that Tredrea goes back and plays in defence when we should be attacking no I dont think much of his strategy. Otherwise the structure did look good.

 

[blackdiamond]

The jury is still out.

When Mark Williams sells the club in the hope of attracting new members he advertises us for being a team that wins lots of games and for kicking lots of goals (he stipulates twenty goals but thats neither here nor there).

In seventeen games last year we scored over one hundred points, each of these games we won including the Grand Final.

So far this year our forward line has given us scores of 53 and 75, sure injuries have hit us a little hard but at this stage his appointment is a failure.

 

[PJ Power]

I don't think too much can be made of the way our forward line is coached just yet - good or bad.

Last night, we didn't really hit our straps up front until the third term. In the second quarter, wind and all, we actually brought the ball in quite wide with Damon taking those two marks deep in the pocket.

The best part of the forward performance was the defensive pressure that White and Tredders applied and the way that Ebert hunted the ball - he regularly got some sort of touch on the footy across the 50m line to make it hard for the Lions' defenders to clear it cleanly. I know people have criticised Brett's handball and some of his left-sided finishing, but for mine he was instrumental in the way we played in the 2nd and 3rd terms.

 

[portly]

Jury is still out. I didn't like the way the ball ended up in the forward pockets so much, even though there were mitigating factors. If we do that next week then you won't be able to tell us apart from the Crows.

 

[Andre]

The difference between last and this week is :
a) Not losing a key KPP And small forward for more then half the match
and
b) having a functioning midfield - with players getting back to match fit

With the second part being the most important - witness the last 15 minutes when the underdone players ran out of puff.

A real indication of our forward line will have to wait. Though that said given Brisbane had pretty much their best defense out there (their outs being forwards and midfielders) I was happy with the effort. The 8 tall setup is still going to be a very big risk until James, Francou (and Ebert I suppose) all get back to fully match fit, though.

 

[Toots Hibbert]

Possibly one of our most cohesive forward line structures since Bowen Lockwood was decent, and thats with an injury wrecked side.

Thoughts?

I agree with you that our forwards looked very organised on Saturday night. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall to understand how much influence McGuinness has. Surely he would be playing second fiddle to Williams and Bailey.

Watching Damon White looking lost during the trial game and Wizard cup made me wonder whether he was a victim of bad coaching by McGuinness so seeing how things fell into place against Brisbane was encouraging. The last couple of outings against the Lions have shown that they are vulnerable against our tall forwards. It will be interesting when we play them again to see whether they will be able to come up with an alternative to Darryl White.

The same setup will not work against all teams or in wet conditions. Can McGuinness come up with setups that solve different problems?

You've posed a very interesting question. Given the number of people who can't stand McGuinness I think we'll be debating this one all season. At this stage I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. As a Toby skeptic I hope Damon White can build on this great performance and provide Tredrea with the sort of support he has so often lacked.

If he does it's going to make McGuinness look good isn't it?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

I guess it really depends on what the role of the forward coach is. Tredders used to talk about Clarkson scouting opposition defences and giving dossiers on opponents to the forwards. I read McGuinness in the Sunday paper talking about the emphasis on video, so I assume this would be a role. And I’m guessing that he would prepare variations on forward set ups – mixes of two, three four talls/smalls, rotating players thru positions, and the best mix of players to counter the opposition defences and score. The forward players would discuss this in team meetings and train in these variations in competitive work on the track and under the watchful eye of Choco. And on match day he would have say based on review on match up changes if a player is struggling.

Then of course he’s at the mercy of the vagaries of the game like weather and injury and coach’s tactics. He can’t be blamed for two on ballers going down injured, which affected the forward set up, both in terms of structure and delivery. He can’t be blamed for Tredders dropping loose in defence – the players are empowered to take that responsibility on, and if Choco goes the flood, then he can’t be held responsible for few numbers in the forward line. I imagine there would be contingency plans in place at least for the flooding, but you’re more than ever at the mercy of how the ball is delivered.

On Saturday night the tall set up looked good, but we still only kicked 11 goals. When we get a couple of onballers back and can get Wangas and Byron into the forward mix more, the scoring should improve. Also getting some lesser opposition would help too!

 

[Crow-mosone]

I have liked him ever since he elbowed that crow trainer in the head at the MCG when they played Richmond a few years back.

all class.