Strategy Regenerating our forward line

[Ugene41]

With question marks over the futures of Elliott, Mihocek, Hill, McStay at the Pies plus the retirement of WHE and potentially Cox I think the time is right to have a major refresh of our forward line to give it a completely new look.

I'm actually quite excited for this as every time we've made a major challenge for the flag, it's coincided with a major re-imagining of our forwardline:

2018 - Moving from a stale forward line of Moore, Fasolo, Elliott, JDG, WHE, Reid Blair/Goldsack to a mosquito fleet forwardline of Stephenson, JDG, Thomas, WHE, Mihocek and Cox

2023 - Introduced Hill, McCreery, Ginnivan, McStay plus Elliott back fit

If we look at our prelim forward line of Mihocek, Cox, Elliott, Schultz, Membrey, McCreery, Lipinski and it's quite clear how slow and stale it is. I was actually surprised to see we only scored 1991 total points in the H&A season despite dominating for a long stretch compared to 2023 when we scored 2142 points with one less game whilst being similarly miserly in defense. My perception was that we were ekeing out <1 goal wins that year but it was clear our dangerous our forward line was.

A forced reset of our forwardline might actually be a good thing if it means we're not afraid to introduce some debutants to give the forwardline more energy. Or it forces our game plan to change to allow for more space and chaos in our forwardline instead of the current kick long to contest and lock the ball in with pressure forwards that's more suited to our current personnel.

 

[Run n Spread]

Got to get Charlie West Will Hayes and Harvey Harrison in as a matter of urgency.
Harrison West Hayes
Schultz Mcstay Elliot/degoey
suddenly looks a lot more potent.
McReery is turned into an inside mid over preseason

 

[NQPieman]

I'm still in favour of playing de goey FT forward or 80/20. Why they don't do this is beyond me. He has brilliant smarts one v one and can always make something happen. You obviously need fast ball movement to assist him which we went away from this year to the patient build up before pulling the trigger but I'd like to see this happen. Open the forward line up sometimes for him, the clear him roam up field and work back. Hoping he can finally be a FT AA calibre mid now is folly. But he still has plenty to offer in other ways.

 

[Ugene41]

Got to get Charlie West Will Hayes and Harvey Harrison in as a matter of urgency.
Harrison West Hayes
Schultz Mcstay Elliot/degoey
suddenly looks a lot more potent.
McReery is turned into an inside mid over preseason

Agree. JDG and McCreery should be interchanging centre bounce attendances. We'll also have Jack Buller coming in this year.

I was hopeful of the rumours that we've been working on Ben King as FA next year but that's looking increasingly unlikely with Gold Coast becoming a finals contender. He's either likely to stay or we'll be forced to trade without having enough collateral.

I'm also beginning to think he might not be the right KPF target for us. Looking at MMM + Cox this year and it's clear our KPFs are all slow and lumbering. We need some speed and athleticism like a Jezza/Curnow type. Looking at the FAs next year, I actually think Joel Amartey might be the right target. If Sydney finish low again, he'll be gettable via RFA and his athleticism will provide a welcome point of difference if we think our future is West and Buller.

 

[Peters_Nuts]

I'm strangely not concerned with our forward line. I think we have firepower across the board and we just need to get our mix right. What I would like to see at the start of pre season:

HF: Schultz West Bobby
FF: Elliott McStay DeGoey

Depth: Membrey, Harrison, Buller, Hayes, Howes.

I think there's good competition too so we don't see complacency.

• Hayes / Harrison competing for the spot on the interchange
• McStay, West, Buller all fighting for the CHF and FF spots
• Membrey fighting for that 3rd tall spot. Sounds harsh given his year though I think DeGoey could play a more versatile role if we move Beau to the middle
• Howes is potentially depth at best though if he trains hard he'll be keeping the talls accountable

 

[Ugene41]

I'm still in favour of playing de goey FT forward or 80/20. Why they don't do this is beyond me. He has brilliant smarts one v one and can always make something happen. You obviously need fast ball movement to assist him which we went away from this year to the patient build up before pulling the trigger but I'd like to see this happen. Open the forward line up sometimes for him, the clear him roam up field and work back. Hoping he can finally be a FT AA calibre mid now is folly. But he still has plenty to offer in other ways.

I think it's cause we're still desperate for a midfield foil for Nick. We can't just have Nick as the only midfielder that can burst away with a clearance.

I agree it's where JDG will end up in the last years of his career like Buckley but for now we still need him to get fully fit and be a midfield match winner.

 

[JLC]

I posted something similar a week or two ago.

The time is right to start a fresh. Jaidyn in 2018 transformed our forward line and made it work

Mason signs a 1 year deal and is a solid back up for the ruck and or forward or if his form warrants it.

Buller is your first choice forward /back up ruckman.

West is your other forward or Howes. If we can get someone better than great.

I want a similar spark and freshness from someone in 2026.

 

[Robroy22]

I'll chuck a few out there, but for mine we have to think a bit more laterally.

I'm big on Will Parker next year, should have played the prelim, has the attributes to become our Tagger and another midfielder should he be given that chance. Next I'd like Fly and the coaches to desist with the McStay second ruck nonsense and train him up as swing man. I'd like to see them deploy McStay in the old Terry Daniher method....start at FF, rotate through CHF and whenever necessary move to CHB and rotate with Darcy Moore

30

Darcy Moore

Age

29

Ht

203cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.1

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

169.1

3star

D

13.9

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

4.9

5star

T

0.7

1star

MG

182.0

3star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.2

2star

HB

2.6

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

87.4

2star

going forward. I want more flexibility amongst our keys and more "threat" if one's not ON. Getting another key back....(yes even May), would also assist the Moore forward options and relieve the pressure thats been built up on our captain playing basically as the only tall defender for the past two years.

Up front if HH can get fit then I'd play him over Lipinski and give both HH and McCreery rotations through the midfield. The Key forwards need to be flexible so for mine its still a merry-go-round of Checkers (if he's fit and stays), McStay, West and Membrey as the back up (he's limited but he's good depth if one's injured). I've mentioned the Moore plan, like I say....we need more flexibility and threat at times and he could provide that.

Bobby Hill is imperative to a fast moving forward line. He represents DANGER to any defence, so too Billy Elliot, he's just about unstoppable.

Hayes and Howe are interesting but not there yet. The new bloke from Sydney might be handy but is untested just like Steen and Smit. I hope we keep Cox one more year just for those times when he can provide the difference we need (like he did against Adelaide in the semi final)

Jordy and HH are quick and powerful hybrid mid forwards and Schultz is a pressure forward....so we really have the weapons at our disposal to cover all contingencies.

Whats missing from our forwards is the quality entries we were getting earlier in the season, we really need a couple of quality MIDS.

 

[legendstatus]

Degoey - West - Billy E (assume he stays)
Buller - May - Shoota

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

If Elliott and Hill stay

Buller, West, Schultz
Hill, Elliott, McStay

If they leave

Buller, West, Schultz
De Goey, McStay, Harrison

 

[Kes1984]

CHARLIE FREAKIN WEST!

 

[PiCkLeJuiCe]

CHARLIE FREAKIN WEST!

I don't want to put unrealistic expectations on the lad, but if he doesn't kick 100 goals in the AFL next year, it'll be a disappointing year for him.

 

[manicpie]

JUH would fix our forward line. He can do pre season in rehab

 

[Aussie pie]

With question marks over the futures of Elliott, Mihocek, Hill, McStay at the Pies plus the retirement of WHE and potentially Cox I think the time is right to have a major refresh of our forward line to give it a completely new look.

I'm actually quite excited for this as every time we've made a major challenge for the flag, it's coincided with a major re-imagining of our forwardline:

2018 - Moving from a stale forward line of Moore, Fasolo, Elliott, JDG, WHE, Reid Blair/Goldsack to a mosquito fleet forwardline of Stephenson, JDG, Thomas, WHE, Mihocek and Cox

2023 - Introduced Hill, McCreery, Ginnivan, McStay plus Elliott back fit

If we look at our prelim forward line of Mihocek, Cox, Elliott, Schultz, Membrey, McCreery, Lipinski and it's quite clear how slow and stale it is. I was actually surprised to see we only scored 1991 total points in the H&A season despite dominating for a long stretch compared to 2023 when we scored 2142 points with one less game whilst being similarly miserly in defense. My perception was that we were ekeing out <1 goal wins that year but it was clear our dangerous our forward line was.

A forced reset of our forwardline might actually be a good thing if it means we're not afraid to introduce some debutants to give the forwardline more energy. Or it forces our game plan to change to allow for more space and chaos in our forwardline instead of the current kick long to contest and lock the ball in with pressure forwards that's more suited to our current personnel.

I noticed you didn’t bother saying who’s in this new forward line. Like they say with selection you can’t bring someone in unless you take someone out. Who’s your in and outs?

 

[Aussie pie]

I saw someone say that if May comes in we should move Moore forward. Now I’m against May coming in as he is not the right fit in flys culture but I like the idea of Moore forward/ ruck. Only if we have our defence fully covered.

 

[Ugene41]

I noticed you didn’t bother saying who’s in this new forward line. Like they say with selection you can’t bring someone in unless you take someone out. Who’s your in and outs?

I think it's time to inject youthful energy and the forward line is the perfect place to do it. West in for either Mihocek or McStay. HH in for much needed speed and I'd throw in Hayes/Saxena just to see what happens. Hoping we can find some rookie gem also this draft period.

Outs might be forced on us. But otherwise I'd push one of McStay/Membrey out and Lipinski

 

[No SPIN]

I'll chuck a few out there, but for mine we have to think a bit more laterally.

I'm big on Will Parker next year, should have played the prelim, has the attributes to become our Tagger and another midfielder should he be given that chance. Next I'd like Fly and the coaches to desist with the McStay second ruck nonsense and train him up as swing man. I'd like to see them deploy McStay in the old Terry Daniher method....start at FF, rotate through CHF and whenever necessary move to CHB and rotate with Darcy Moore going forward. I want more flexibility amongst our keys and more "threat" if one's not ON. Getting another key back....(yes even May), would also assist the Moore forward options and relieve the pressure thats been built up on our captain playing basically as the only tall defender for the past two years.

Up front if HH can get fit then I'd play him over Lipinski and give both HH and McCreery rotations through the midfield. The Key forwards need to be flexible so for mine its still a merry-go-round of Checkers (if he's fit and stays), McStay, West and Membrey as the back up (he's limited but he's good depth if one's injured). I've mentioned the Moore plan, like I say....we need more flexibility and threat at times and he could provide that.

Bobby Hill is imperative to a fast moving forward line. He represents DANGER to any defence, so too Billy Elliot, he's just about unstoppable.

Hayes and Howe are interesting but not there yet. The new bloke from Sydney might be handy but is untested just like Steen and Smit. I hope we keep Cox one more year just for those times when he can provide the difference we need (like he did against Adelaide in the semi final)

Jordy and HH are quick and powerful hybrid mid forwards and Schultz is a pressure forward....so we really have the weapons at our disposal to cover all contingencies.

Whats missing from our forwards is the quality entries we were getting earlier in the season, we really need a couple of quality MIDS.

As much as I dislike Mitchell he's definitely ahead of the curve with the way he swings around the team. It's going to be a great weapon in the future and I agree that we also need to develop swing men.

 

[No SPIN]

Degoey - West - Billy E (assume he stays)
Buller - May - Shoota

i like this left field idea of MAY at CHF.
But only after he does some anger management and sensitivity training, and makes coffee's and tea's for the squad during the entire pre season.
His Reprogramming is essential.

 

[jmac70]

With question marks over the futures of Elliott, Mihocek, Hill, McStay at the Pies plus the retirement of WHE and potentially Cox I think the time is right to have a major refresh of our forward line to give it a completely new look.

I'm actually quite excited for this as every time we've made a major challenge for the flag, it's coincided with a major re-imagining of our forwardline:

2018 - Moving from a stale forward line of Moore, Fasolo, Elliott, JDG, WHE, Reid Blair/Goldsack to a mosquito fleet forwardline of Stephenson, JDG, Thomas, WHE, Mihocek and Cox

2023 - Introduced Hill, McCreery, Ginnivan, McStay plus Elliott back fit

If we look at our prelim forward line of Mihocek, Cox, Elliott, Schultz, Membrey, McCreery, Lipinski and it's quite clear how slow and stale it is. I was actually surprised to see we only scored 1991 total points in the H&A season despite dominating for a long stretch compared to 2023 when we scored 2142 points with one less game whilst being similarly miserly in defense. My perception was that we were ekeing out <1 goal wins that year but it was clear our dangerous our forward line was.

A forced reset of our forwardline might actually be a good thing if it means we're not afraid to introduce some debutants to give the forwardline more energy. Or it forces our game plan to change to allow for more space and chaos in our forwardline instead of the current kick long to contest and lock the ball in with pressure forwards that's more suited to our current personnel.

Losing Elliott, Hill and Checkers does not excite me.

 

[Kappa]

Got to get Charlie West Will Hayes and Harvey Harrison in as a matter of urgency.
Harrison West Hayes
Schultz Mcstay Elliot/degoey
suddenly looks a lot more potent.
McReery is turned into an inside mid over preseason

Hayes and Harrison are both VFL players right now

 

[No SPIN]

Hayes and Harrison are both VFL players right now

So was every other senior player in the AFL, before making it.

 

[Doc1763]

So was every other senior player in the AFL, before making it.

Nick wasn't

 

[No SPIN]

Nick wasn't

And Jesus would be the only other exception.

 

[VinnieB]

I'm strangely not concerned with our forward line. I think we have firepower across the board and we just need to get our mix right. What I would like to see at the start of pre season:

HF: Schultz West Bobby
FF: Elliott McStay DeGoey

Depth: Membrey, Harrison, Buller, Hayes, Howes.

I think there's good competition too so we don't see complacency.

• Hayes / Harrison competing for the spot on the interchange
• McStay, West, Buller all fighting for the CHF and FF spots
• Membrey fighting for that 3rd tall spot. Sounds harsh given his year though I think DeGoey could play a more versatile role if we move Beau to the middle
• Howes is potentially depth at best though if he trains hard he'll be keeping the talls accountable

I think West is a FF.
I also think Howes has the potential to surprise us when he’s ready for an opportunity.

 

[Kappa]

So was every other senior player in the AFL, before making it.

Sorry I should say, and they'll be VFL players in 2026 too. Both have a long way to go before being best 22.

I just hope Harrison can actually get back without ongoing issues. Hayes fell off badly in the second half of the VFL season