Strategy 3 tall forwards vs 2 tall forwards

[The Nostradamus]

^incorrect majority of teams are playing 3 genuine talls plus the ruck be it 2 KPF and 2 rucks
Or 3 talls and ruck

Us, saints and cats the exception atm (and cats don’t really count as they have Blicavs as the extra KPP who does some pinch hit ruck then plays everywhere)

And hawks due to injuries

 

[shintemaster]

Winners are grinners though Nostra. I think you have to play the talent you have available. If a borderline extra tall means we drop Konstanty or RHJ on face value today that's a net loss. Very early days though. I think if we had another very good tall ready to go it would be a different proposition.

 

[roospur]

Ball movement well and truly trumps height, not even worth arguing the point. Who makes way for a very limited player like Teakle or CCJ? You're acting like we have some gun tall that we're leaving out of the side?

 

[roospur]

Winners are grinners though Nostra. I think you have to play the talent you have available. If a borderline extra tall means we drop Konstanty or RHJ on face value today that's a net loss. Very early days though. I think if we had another very good tall ready to go it would be a different proposition.

Bingo!!! He'll disagree of course cos this is his new infatuation. Our forward line has looked the best it has in years (a low bar I know) why mess with that. Truly bizarre. I'll ask again, besides Adelaide what team has 3 genuine talls that are killing it and making their team formidable atm?

 

[The Nostradamus]

Bingo!!! He'll disagree of course cos this is his new infatuation. Our forward line has looked the best it has in years (a low bar I know) why mess with that. Truly bizarre. I'll ask again, besides Adelaide what team has 3 genuine talls that are killing it and making their team formidable atm?

i'll answer again, majority of teams are playing 3 talls and a ruck

every club bar Us, saints and cats the exception atm (and cats don’t really count as they have Blicavs as the extra KPP who does some pinch hit ruck then plays everywhere)

And hawks due to injuries

 

[roospur]

i'll answer again, majority of teams are playing 3 talls and a ruck

every club bar Us, saints and cats the exception atm (and cats don’t really count as they have Blicavs as the extra KPP who does some pinch hit ruck then plays everywhere)

And hawks due to injuries

Yeah you've said that at least 5 times now. Who are the teams that are dominant due to playing 3 bigs? There's a lot of teams stinking it up atm so you're argument is fairly awful. You give nothing but blanket statements. Which players man, come on just one besides the crows.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Yeah you've said that at least 5 times now. Who are the teams that are dominant due to playing 3 bigs? There's a lot of teams stinking it up atm so you're argument is fairly awful. You give nothing but blanket statements. Which players man, come on just one besides the crows.

its not about them being all dominant

its that is the structure most teams use

it spreads the workload and allows one or 2 to get off the chain, ensures not leaving a kpf one out when the second kpf pinch hits ruck and that then creates a domino effect

14 arguably 15 teams out of 18

 

[roospur]

its not about them being all dominant

its that is the structure most teams use

it spreads the workload and allows one or 2 to get off the chain, ensures not leaving a kpf one out when the second kpf pinch hits ruck and that then creates a domino effect

14 arguably 15 teams out of 18

Most teams look freaking awful! This is a really weird hill even for you. We've scored more than we have for years and you want to change it??? And the main point about it is we do not have a proven tall commodity to bring in anyway!!

 

[The Nostradamus]

Most teams look freaking awful! This is a really weird hill even for you. We've scored more than we have for years and you want to change it??? And the main point about it is we do not have a proven tall commodity to bring in anyway!!

did you see the first half of last year vs the second half of last year when we had the extra tall with teakle in?

And i'd rather xerri, darling and larkey not burnout as a result of having one less tall to share the load

 

[roospur]

did you see the first half of last year vs the second half of last year when we had the extra tall with teakle in?

And i'd rather xerri, darling and larkey not burnout as a result of having one less tall to share the load

Yep of course i saw last year. My hands were so sore from clapping at the huge scores we racked up. The last 2 rounds in particular were phenomenal, we kicked 6 and 7 goals and were torn to shreds. Couldn't get over the line against the Eagles and were desperately lucky to beat Richmond. Remarkable stuff, thank jeebus we had 3 talls

 

[roospur]

The burnout thing is a fair concern but I'd argue we'd be resting Darling a couple of times during the year and someone else will get a look in. If playing an extra tall means we'll revert to bombing it inside 50 instead of lowering our eyes and spreading the play like we have been then I don't want that at all!

 

[shintemaster]

did you see the first half of last year vs the second half of last year when we had the extra tall with teakle in?

And i'd rather xerri, darling and larkey not burnout as a result of having one less tall to share the load

We have Darling in though - is he not playing the extra tall role?

 

[The Nostradamus]

We have Darling in though - is he not playing the extra tall role?

he's the second tall so no not the extra tall

but he has to cover the role of an extra tall yes which might be ok now while he is fresh but is not sustainable

 

[Sphynx]

Teams that are generally playing 2 rucks are because their rucks aren't very good.

Our entire strategy is and should be maximising Xerri's time in the middle, because he dominates absolutely everyone now.

We don't need a second ruckman.

Taking a B+ forward to chop out in the ruck is absolutely the right call. You reap the benefits for the next 100 minutes when he's not chopping out, because he is a genuine forward.

Fremantle are a side who have 2 extremely good ruckman, who play 2 ruckman, with one of them being an athletic freak. It's still a structural disaster that's been costing them for the last 30-40 games.

They should have traded Darcy 2 seasons ago.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Teams that are generally playing 2 rucks are because their rucks aren't very good.

Our entire strategy is and should be maximising Xerri's time in the middle, because he dominates.

We don't need a second ruckman.

Taking a B+ forward to chop out in the ruck is absolutely the right call. You reap the benefits for the next 100 minutes when he's not chopping out of a genuine forward.

get that the issue is then that second forward is covering the role of the extra tall which i dont see being sustainable for darling

and when that second forward pinch hits ruck you are leaving larkey one out vs multiple key defenders if you don't have that extra tall forward/ruck

 

[Sphynx]

get that the issue is then that second forward is covering the role of the extra tall which i dont see being sustainable for darling

and when that second forward pinch hits ruck you are leaving larkey one out vs multiple key defenders

Well Curtis and Zurhaar are both medium/hybrids. They aren't small forwards.

LDU has been resting much more down there this year, which I like. He causes havoc with his size and pace.

I think Duursma is probably our trump card in the long term regarding this.

He's a guy that can rotate out of half forward or the middle to deep forward, to cover off when someone like Darling moves to the center to chop out and provide a genuine aerial presence from the goal square.


You also don't build your forward structure around something that occurs for 5 minutes a quarter vs the other 25 mins...

 

[The Nostradamus]

Well Curtis and Zurhaar are both medium/hybrids. They aren't small forwards.

LDU has been resting much more down there this year, which I like. He causes havoc with his size and pace.

I think Duursma is probably our trump card in the long term regarding this.

He's a guy that can rotate out of half forward or the middle to deep forward, to cover off when someone like Darling moves to the center to chop out and provide a genuine aerial presence from the goal square.


You also don't build your forward structure around something that occurs for 5 minutes a quarter vs the other 25 mins...

i'd rather not have any of those ever be matched up on a kpd over 191cm

and again the structure worked better last year with the extra tall

 

[roospur]

i'd rather not have any of those ever be matched up on a kpd over 191cm

and again the structure worked better last year with the extra tall

How can you possibly say we functioned better last year? What are you watching man?????

 

[The Nostradamus]

How can you possibly say we functioned better last year? What are you watching man?????

Second half of last year vs first half of last year

 

[roospur]

Second half of last year vs first half of last year

Last year was an unmitigated disaster. What on earth has that got anything to do with our 1st two games this year?

 

[Shazeezal]

I doubt whether Clarko is wedded to two talls OR three talls.
That said, our forward line has looked more potent in the first 2 rounds than it did in the entirety of last year.

• R1 perfectly matched our second best score of 2024 - 14.13 97 (but against WB rather than dogsh*t WC)
• R2 was 7 points better than our best score in 2024 (v Pies) but a whopping 7 more scoring shots.

Zuurhar and Curtis are effectively sharing the 3rd tall role and doing it very well (in the case of Zuurhar, looking the best he has for a long while).

The only way you mess with that is if some tall is banging the door down in the VFL ... and I'm not sure anyone is even knocking on the door right now.

 

[perplexed]

I doubt whether Clarko is wedded to two talls OR three talls.
That said, our forward line has looked more potent in the first 2 rounds than it did in the entirety of last year.

• R1 perfectly matched our second best score of 2024 - 14.13 97 (but against WB rather than dogsh*t WC)
• R2 was 7 points better than our best score in 2024 (v Pies) but a whopping 7 more scoring shots.

Zuurhar and Curtis are effectively sharing the 3rd tall role and doing it very well (in the case of Zuurhar, looking the best he has for a long while).

The only way you mess with that is if some tall is banging the door down in the VFL ... and I'm not sure anyone is even knocking on the door right now.

The only real option we have for a third tall at the moment is to swing Comben forward. But after his second half yesterday, he'll be staying back.

 

[The Nostradamus]

The only real option we have for a third tall at the moment is to swing Comben forward. But after his second half yesterday, he'll be staying back.

Finnbar/teakle to play that third tall/second ruck

 

[Shazeezal]

Finnbar/teakle to play that third tall/second ruck

If we play either of those guys our forward 50 defensive pressure will suffer (and it has been a big part of our improvement this year).
Not against playing one of them at some stage, but they'll need to be in white hot form to warrant changing our current mix.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Surprise surprise Nostra is flogging a dead horse yet again!
Zzzzzzzz