Analysis 2020 Forward Focus

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BringbacktheBiff2005 said:
Was just looking where to post this.

I think Tex needs to get some more sleep.

I would love to see the delivery into the forward 50 and would provide a good link up, but where does that leave Lynch?

Most encouraging thing is that he has shed some KGs and is ready for a big pre season.

Big year next year for Tex, just not so sure it will be on the wing.
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Even if it doesn't happen the fact that it's even been spoken about is great IMO. We've been FAR too rigid in our "structures" of where people can play for too long. I'd love to see Fog/Tex get thrown through the middle to mix things up and provide a bigger body in the contest. Maybe the rigidity was a Campo thing?
 
spexau said:
Even if it doesn't happen the fact that it's even been spoken about is great IMO. We've been FAR too rigid in our "structures" of where people can play for too long. I'd love to see Fog/Tex get thrown through the middle to mix things up and provide a bigger body in the contest. Maybe the rigidity was a Campo thing?
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Let's hope so!

I never understood why Tex hasn't spent any time in a centre bounce to change things up as Pav used to do.

He is so good and clean in traffic, it would be interesting to see how he would go. Can drift back forward after the centre bounce, and something maybe to use to arrest momentum, but no, we stick to the same old 'back the boys in' attitude and watch the same result.

Fog is one I would do the same, only to put fear into the opposition midfielders. This guy is something special, just hope he has his head screwed on an is happy to do the work to realise his potential. He is the closest player I have seen that moves like Wayne Carey on a football field. Has a swagger like the King; let's hope he is half the footballer Duck was.
 
Even if it doesn’t happen it’s great to see Tex thinking a bit about his game and developing himself, even at this latter stage of his career.

Burden of captaincy removed, time to think about some basics. Back to pure footy.

For the record I don’t mind it. His field kicking is elite and could cut teams open with 60m passes I50.

May be an upgrade on Lynch in the Lynch position.
 

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Whilst I kind of think Tex is joking about a role on the wing, he does do his best work operating outside the 50arc. In old school terminology he is a CHF.

Move Lynch to midfield, and second Ruck. Have Tex take his role, a better weapon capable of spotting up Fog or kicking the goal from 60 out.

Dropping the kgs will help him with this.


My ideal forward line would be Tex, Fog, McAdam, Stengle, Murphy, resting mid (Sloane, McHenry, Jones). I like the concept of one big guy in the f50 with smalls at his feet.



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When Lynch is up and running and our structures are working he is great but when push comes to shove he goes missing. I hope we don't base our forward line around him performing the same role he has been for the past 5/6 years. Can he reinvent himself as a winger working forward and back? If so who does this push out?

He has performed admirably over the years but if he is standing in the way of youngsters and going missing in big/congested games, we shouldn't play him.

I love the sound of a Fog/Tex/Stengle/McAdam/McHenry/Galluci forward line with Himmilberg/Frampton floating in when not rucking.

Fog would be the deepest forward with Stengle nearby whilst the rest can push up the ground and put on extreme pressure when required. Tex can play the Lynch role and be less relied on to take those pack marks which he is hopeless at.
 
Golumless said:
The primary function of a third tall is to act as a second target in the forward line in a quick break and to force a better number situation in the forward line in these situations. Alongside, as acting as an outlet in a slower build up. Lynch is a liability in the quick break now as we lost McGovern (who covered that deeper target role and allowed Lynch to roam), and pretty solid in the second facet. The big issue though is you aren't going to score much if you can't capitalise on quick breaks and any side who doesn't plan on that being the main avenue to scoring will inevitably be exposed. You need to make the most of the situations where the odds are in your favour, especially as it is much easier to defend the more patient build-up style.

The ideal 3 tall structure right now is opting for a CHF to offer link play, as well as being a goal threat in the back end of a 50. Then you'd have your FF, and 3rd tall acting primarily as deeper targets with your main offensive small forward, with the intention of creating a 3 v 2 with one of the key forwards (assuming the small forward goes towards this contest), and a 1 v 1 with the other when on the fast break. The rest of your smalls should be focused more on the defensive side of things to shut down ball movement from the half-back line, though this should be positions that are heavily rotating with the midfield as a means to give a rest, create awkward matchups etc.

The fact Lynch floats around the midfield more is the exact reason he is a round peg for a square hole. He plays a CHF game to the extreme when we already have Tex providing that. You can see our forward structure break down every time we opt for Murphy as our deep target because he is covering for Lynch's roaming. Whilst, not the entire reason it broke down badly this year, it's certainly one of the key reasons why.

If anything, Lynch showed this year he's had that versatility beaten out of him. He's not a winger and has no chance of being a winger outside of an Embley cameo every now and then, no matter how much you wish it so.
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I caught a snapshot of Walker mentioning losing more weight since the end of the season and is looking at the option of playing further up the field. Possibly huff or wing .. didn’t hear it all, so not sure is he was serious or taking the piss

.. a bit late to this party
 
spexau said:
Even if it doesn't happen the fact that it's even been spoken about is great IMO. We've been FAR too rigid in our "structures" of where people can play for too long. I'd love to see Fog/Tex get thrown through the middle to mix things up and provide a bigger body in the contest. Maybe the rigidity was a Campo thing?
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Rigidity isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you have the right personnel up forward when we also had Cameron and McGovern in 2017. It only becomes a negative thing when the new mix isn’t clicking, which it seems obvious now after the 2019 season.

Hopefully there will be a lot of mixing and matching in 2020 so we can see who is the better fit up forward, and who are the players to best utilise (and convert) the forward entries.
 
Golumless said:
It is again, such a shame we didn't trade Lynch, albiet much more forgivable this year due to degree of difficulty and we did lose a lot others. Would have been a PR nightmare even if it is the right move.

After all he is a round peg for what is a very square hole.

Really the best forward line structure we could have in 2020 tall forward wise is:

Himmelberg/Frampton - Fogarty
Tex/Lynch.

Unfortunately that round peg who is paid a lot of money is going to be a millstone, again and played alongside Tex, despite being a terrible fit when there isn't four talls. Considering 4 talls would be an abject failure with what we have, I am certainly not suggesting that.
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Reckon Tex knows we need to go younger and why he will play up the ground.
Don't mind it either hes a good field kick when he gives himself enough room on the mark.....

Looks like Himmelburg and Frampton to fight out for the FF or CHF don't think you could play Fog, himmelburg, Frampton and Lynch, especially if the Tex experienment fails. Way too slow and top heavy

Would we structure up something like this?

Stengle - Fog - Murphy
Lynch/resting mid - Himmelburg/Frampton - McAdam/Resting mid
 
In 2017, our main forwards were:
- Tex
- Jenkins
- Lynch
- McGovern
- Betts
- Cameron

In 2020, do we stick with a similar formula? Or should we play more smalls or more talls?

If similar formula, then:
- Berg/Frampton to replace JJ
- Stengle to replace Betts
- Fog/McAdam to replace McGovern
- Murphy/Jones/Ned/Gooch to replace Cameron

If different formula, then taller or smaller would best suit us?
 
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It’s kind of like the ‘chicken and the egg’ argument. Were the forwards looking average due to our poor clearances or ineffective transitioning from defense? Or our forward entries appear disorganised because the forwards couldn’t beat their opponents? I’d say likely both.

Already we’re looking likely to inject a lot more youth and likely more speed into the mix. How this translates into onfield performance is anybody’s guess right now. Which to me, makes it interesting to guess what’s the best makeup of our forward line for 2020.
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not really. If the chicken is poor clearances, defence off the ball and transition then it’s the chicken first. 12th i50 by average And 14th by differential ain’t getting the forwards enough supply.

The Crows conversion of goals from inside 50s was 8th (22.84%), just below Tigers 7th (23.1%) and .01 ahead of the Lions 9th (22.83%). Room for improvement but not the difference.
 

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It’s kind of like the ‘chicken and the egg’ argument. Were the forwards looking average due to our poor clearances or ineffective transitioning from defense? Or our forward entries appear disorganised because the forwards couldn’t beat their opponents? I’d say likely both.

Already we’re looking likely to inject a lot more youth and likely more speed into the mix. How this translates into onfield performance is anybody’s guess right now. Which to me, makes it interesting to guess what’s the best makeup of our forward line for 2020.
[/QUOTE]

not really. If the chicken is poor clearances, defence off the ball and transition then it’s the chicken first. 12th i50 by average And 14th by differential ain’t getting the forwards enough supply.

The Crows conversion of goals from inside 50s was 8th (22.84%), just below Tigers 7th (23.1%) and .01 ahead of the Lions 9th (22.83%). Room for improvement but not the difference.
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To me, the stats you've shown points towards the need for global improvements all over the field. In other words, we sucked bad in 2019!

Having just watched the most recent Nicks interview, he mentioned he likes "character and speed" in players. So seems like he's leaning more towards a smaller forward line with more zip.
 
Not sure if anyone caught Nicks interview on triple m last week, but when asked, he revealed Fog is the new coach’s favourite. They referred it to the coach’s son.
This bodes well for him being a key piece.

He then went in to say, you are usually hardest on your “own son”. He said Fog has already been on the end of a few (words).
 
spexau said:
Get the feeling that Campo was pulling the strings quite a bit
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Best thing the club did was fire that bum Campo. Well along with Birdbrain. The full clean out I hope will come in 12 months.
 
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