Analysis Best forward lines of 2024

[Lsta062]

The Hollands brothers? Ollie is a winger and Elijah has been struggling at VFL level, never mind the top level. Their third best forward is Fantasia for 3 games a year, then Jack Martin I guess. Middling forward line at best.

Doesn't Elijah play a half-forward role though? That's why I said that. I think he'll start to find his feet in 2024 as a medium forward. OK, I concede that I probably exaggerated including Oliver in this, but that's where my thinking was at.

Even if their forward line doesn't have strong depth, it's hard to ignore them based on Curnow and McKay alone (provided that McKay fixes up his set shots).

 

[Lsta062]

Honestly it's still Geelong and by a long way

Key talls: Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins
Mediums: Oliver Henry, Gary Rohan
Smalls: Brad Close, Tyson Stengle, Gryan Miers, Shaun Mannagh

S tier: Geelong
A tier: Brisbane, Richmond, Collingwood, Adelaide, GWS
B tier: Carlton, Sydney, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn
C tier: Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Gold Coast, Essendon
D tier: Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fremantle
F tier: West Coast

Agree with much of this. However, I personally would have Adelaide as an S-tier forward line alongside Geelong.

They don't have the results that Geelong's forward line has yet, but a forward line including Rankine, Fogarty, Walker, Thilthorpe, and Rachele has a lot of potential. A good mix of talls, smalls, and medium-sized players, making them difficult to stop. Only knock is that they need to be better finishers in front of goal. Could've kicked more if it wasn't for that.

 

[adammania9]

Doesn't Elijah play a half-forward role though? That's why I said that. I think he'll start to find his feet in 2024 as a medium forward. OK, I concede that I probably exaggerated including Oliver in this, but that's where my thinking was at.

Even if their forward line doesn't have strong depth, it's hard to ignore them based on Curnow and McKay alone (provided that McKay fixes up his set shots).

If Harry gets back to his best then you have an argument he has 74 goals in his last 40 games (large sample size) so right now, he's not performing like a top line forward should. Elijah Hollands I wouldn't bank on reaching his potential. It's rare we see players like him struggle at VFL level like he has only to come good eventually. Their other small options are Fantasia (perennially injured), Martin (okay/inconsistent), Owies (fades in and out of games) and Motlop (on his way to being a great player).

It's a good enough group, but it's overhyped based on the key forwards. The support at ground level is far from elite, and the game has never relied on speed and pressure inside forward fifty more than it does now.

 

[adammania9]

Agree with much of this. However, I personally would have Adelaide as an S-tier forward line alongside Geelong.

They don't have the results that Geelong's forward line has yet, but a forward line including Rankine, Fogarty, Walker, Thilthorpe, and Rachele has a lot of potential. A good mix of talls, smalls, and medium-sized players, making them difficult to stop. Only knock is that they need to be better finishers in front of goal. Could've kicked more if it wasn't for that.

Would be awesome if Tex was 2 or 3 years younger. They'd love him to be firing when the list is peaking.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Try getting some goals!

Prophetic given the Sydney game lol.

 

[Bald]

Our forward line should be one of the better ones, but so should our midfield.

 

[LordLucifer]

I was debating on whether to put them there, but I ultimately chose them because of a couple of factors. The first is that they have two Hollands brothers. I suspect they both will improve this year. The second is their second half of the season. McKay wasn’t the best, but Curnow and the other forwards did pretty well.

But, I’m open to hearing other people’s view on how they rate Carlton’s forward line.

 

[kreuze_missile]

Our forward line should be one of the better ones, but so should our midfield.

Its kinda like Carlton's if you downgrade all the A graders to B/C graders.

That goes for your forward line as well as your overrated midfield too.

 

[Bolly]

Agree with the sentiments around Brissy, Carlton, Crows and GWS. All pretty stacked and either keep showing up in Brisbane's case or are really building something strong in terms of those remaining 3.

I personally have a hard time reading the tiges at the moment. Lynch going down is obviously a huge knock to our effectiveness as would removing any side's key forward. Should he play I think we're decent but certainly a rung below those teams listed. The addition of Jacob Koschitzke is unknown too. Anything would be an improvement on Jack's output last season (the odds were admittedly against him). Time will tell

 

[RUNVS]

Our forward line should be one of the better ones, but so should our midfield.

I think the Bulldogs forward line is at serious risk of becoming way too top heavy. It will be interesting to see how your coaches handle it.

 

[adammania9]

Pretty sure Rhylee West

14

Rhylee West

Age

23

Ht

183cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.3

3star

K

5.7

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.5

3star

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.0

3star

G

0.3

3star

D

13.0

4star

K

5.6

3star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

is the Bulldogs’ second best small forward. That says all you need to know about their balance

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I think the Bulldogs forward line is at serious risk of becoming way too top heavy. It will be interesting to see how your coaches handle it.

Naughton to CHB would give them better balance imo. Can swing him forward when needed.

 

[The 747]

Crows forward line for mine, they have heavily invested in it obviously, perhaps at the expense of other areas.

Cats forward line is very very good if we can get the ball down there.

Brisbane's forward line the best on paper.

But it is more about how the ball gets down there and game style so hard to isolate just the forward line in a team.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Agree with much of this. However, I personally would have Adelaide as an S-tier forward line alongside Geelong.

They don't have the results that Geelong's forward line has yet, but a forward line including Rankine, Fogarty, Walker, Thilthorpe, and Rachele has a lot of potential. A good mix of talls, smalls, and medium-sized players, making them difficult to stop. Only knock is that they need to be better finishers in front of goal. Could've kicked more if it wasn't for that.

Our 3 talls actually had decent goals to points conversion... but yeah our smalls conversion was atrocious.

Poor goal kicking cost us a few games which cost us finals.

 

[eth-dog]

Naughton to CHB would give them better balance imo. Can swing him forward when needed.

Disagree. He's a star CHF, keep him there. Let someone else play back

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Disagree. He's a star CHF, keep him there. Let someone else play back

He's not a reliable kick for goal though.

He could be a Moore type defender & really strengthen the Bullies defence.

JUH, Darcy & Lobb offer enough talls up forward.

 

[TryAnHit]

Another breakout year for Rayner and Brisbane on the cards to complete their forward line.

 

[adammania9]

Playmaking centre half-backs are just as if not more valuable than spearhead forwards these days. I agree Naughton would be a better defender than he is forward, and the Dogs have the luxury of having other highly rated forwards already at their disposal. They wouldn’t be robbing Peter to pay Paul

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Playmaking centre half-backs are just as if not more valuable than spearhead forwards these days. I agree Naughton would be a defender than he is forward, and the Dogs have the luxury of having other highly rated forwards already at their disposal. They wouldn’t be robbing Peter to pay Paul

Could liken it to GWS moving Himmelberg to CHB... where he was the difference in a few games.

 

[RUNVS]

Disagree. He's a star CHF, keep him there. Let someone else play back

Problem is they have Naughton, JUH, Darcy and now Croft. Realistically you only really want 2 of those 4 in the forward line, 3 at a pinch but even then it is super top heavy and you would not want the ball to hit the deck.

 

[eth-dog]

Problem is they have Naughton, JUH, Darcy and now Croft. Realistically you only really want 2 of those 4 in the forward line, 3 at a pinch but even then it is super top heavy and you would not want the ball to hit the deck.

Sam Darcy has 3 goals in 7 games. Let's be serious for a second, you aren't moving a guaranteed 45 goal/year forward for Sam Darcy at this stage who could easily be a CHB as well.

 

[CharacterFirst]

Problem is they have Naughton, JUH, Darcy and now Croft. Realistically you only really want 2 of those 4 in the forward line, 3 at a pinch but even then it is super top heavy and you would not want the ball to hit the deck.

And Lobb!!

 

[Corkintheocean]

Honestly it's still Geelong and by a long way

Key talls: Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins
Mediums: Oliver Henry, Gary Rohan
Smalls: Brad Close, Tyson Stengle, Gryan Miers, Shaun Mannagh

S tier: Geelong
A tier: Brisbane, Collingwood, Adelaide, GWS
B tier: Carlton, Sydney, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Richmond
C tier: Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Gold Coast, Essendon
D tier: Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fremantle
F tier: West Coast

You're selling West Coast a bit short I think. I'd rate them higher than the bolded teams for 2024.

Allen, Ryan, Brockman, Maric, Long, Reid is pretty dynamic.

Given a half decent midfield they'd be able to kick winning scores semi regularly.

 

[bungalow_bill]

Another breakout year for Rayner and Brisbane on the cards to complete their forward line.

Will be interesting to see how Brandon Ryan fits into our forward line. A break out year from Kai Lohmann would also add another dynamic

 

[adammania9]

You're selling West Coast a bit short I think. I'd rate them higher than the bolded teams for 2024.

Allen, Ryan, Brockman, Maric, Long, Reid is pretty dynamic.

Given a half decent midfield they'd be able to kick winning scores semi regularly.

It’s extremely unproven. Rating on what’s been dished up so far, it’s the league’s worst. Allen is a stud; Ryan’s best is sensational but we haven’t seen it for three seasons. Rest is all potential.