Can we cover the loss of tarrant ?

[toommy]

I don't think the loss will hurt much. A reduced output from a player who can kick accurately for goal will cover for Taz quite well, and won't halt our momentum so often as when a blistering piece of midfield play results in a Tarrant helicopter for a behind.

In terms of his on-field presence and the defenders he draws, yes, we will feel the pinch. I'm confident we can cover for him in the short-to-medium term and certainly the long term however.

a preferable strategy would be to have richards be able to hold down first ruck along with bryan which in turn would free up fraser to fill the void left by tarrant. but that will never happen, could it? na!!

 

[taz@freo]

I believe that Collingwood will struggle with a forward line structure this season for a few reasons,
1) Tarrant took one of the top defenders everytime.
Therefore freeing up players like Cloke, Buckley even Didak to a lesser extent to take a lesser defender.

2) Medhurst isn't a player who fits a forward line structure. He simply leads where he wants to lead and unfortunately I believe this was his undoing at Fremantle. He cut in front of Murphy, Longmuir and Pav when he played deep.

As much as I don't believe Tarrant has the ability to change a whole team he is an extremely talented player and has now been in the system for 10 years. He knows what it takes to play AFL and has the body to do so.

Looking forward to seeing him play at Freo this year

 

[toommy]

I believe that Collingwood will struggle with a forward line structure this season for a few reasons,
1) Tarrant took one of the top defenders everytime.
Therefore freeing up players like Cloke, Buckley even Didak to a lesser extent to take a lesser defender.

2) Medhurst isn't a player who fits a forward line structure. He simply leads where he wants to lead and unfortunately I believe this was his undoing at Fremantle. He cut in front of Murphy, Longmuir and Pav when he played deep.

As much as I don't believe Tarrant has the ability to change a whole team he is an extremely talented player and has now been in the system for 10 years. He knows what it takes to play AFL and has the body to do so.

Looking forward to seeing him play at Freo this year

sometimes you just have to cut your losses, get what you can out of it and start fresh. but chances are he will play in a premiership if paul williams and mal michael are any guide

 

[nick_savo]

I believe that Collingwood will struggle with a forward line structure this season for a few reasons,
1) Tarrant took one of the top defenders everytime.
Therefore freeing up players like Cloke, Buckley even Didak to a lesser extent to take a lesser defender.

2) Medhurst isn't a player who fits a forward line structure. He simply leads where he wants to lead and unfortunately I believe this was his undoing at Fremantle. He cut in front of Murphy, Longmuir and Pav when he played deep.

As much as I don't believe Tarrant has the ability to change a whole team he is an extremely talented player and has now been in the system for 10 years. He knows what it takes to play AFL and has the body to do so.

Looking forward to seeing him play at Freo this year

So do I.
To be honest I would like to see him do well he has all the pontential to do well but just could do it at Collingwood. I hope he releases that potential at Fremantle. I am not saying he was a bad player for us, but he could of been better.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

It remains to be seen though – as does the development of Reid. Maybe it is really Brown because we may well have taken Reid with 10 and missed out on Brown.

Or if we didn't have pick #8, Brown might have been taken at #8 by whoever had the pick...

Hopefully they are both guns in a few years and we can say it was a great move.

I hope so too - It's been 10 years since we got a young Anthony Rocca, the last young gun KP who could kick.

 

[luvlicca]

We can't cover the ground he covered, if you get my drift

i said this already!! why does nobody listen to me!!

 

[didaka]

I think a better question is can Rusling and Cloke have a bigger impact in 2007. If so Tarrant is covered. Tazz was a 100+ games player and it is not easy to cover that instantly. But with the contribution of Tarrant over the past 2 years you would say it is quite possible as his impact was limited on games. I think Medhurst can cover his goal tally (30 odd), but it's up to Cloke to provide the taget across half-forward that Tarrant made. If it creates a better work ethic for someone like Cloke, as he needs to step up, it is already a win for the pies.

I believe that Rusling has the ability to develop into a better player than Tarrant at any rate. Tarrant had been played very deep in the forward line for much of his career and always lacked the ability to put the score on the board. He had always been overated and barring one season had only produced glimpses of his ability. 1 more under-achieving year at the pies would have been a disaster for us more so than Chris Tarrant. I will take the prospect of developing another highly rated kid (maybe 4 years away from decent footy) than seeing a player waste his career by a mile, just because some 16 year old girl kicks up a stink due to the fact she thinks he's hawt. Good ridence, and good luck Mr. Tarrant.

 

[Bay Pie]

Tarrants all round game will be a loss.

The thing for us is we weren't going to win a flag with Tarrant in our forward line.

We cut our losses and traded away.

This move will hopefully fast track T Cloke and Rusling, maybe not this year but we'll see the benefits in 2008.

We have also become alot less predictable. We played through tarrant quite regularly. Who dod the oppo target now with Pens at FF??

Bucks, Rusling, T Cloke our even Medhurst.

At least it will be exciting to see us play a slightly different way.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

i said this already!! why does nobody listen to me!!

You didn't turn it into a deliciously clever pun*...



*"Deliciously clever" may be a massive overstatement.

 

[Stakerz]

Rocca, Buckley, Rusling, Egan, T cloke, Fraser? Davis & More?

We will be fine mate. Very fine with Bucks in there, I can't wait to see the Great Man play.

Porbably his second last year, let's really appreciate his footy this year and hope he doesnt get injured.

 

[taz@freo]

The thing for us is we weren't going to win a flag with Tarrant in our forward line.

I disagree, I think you could've won a flag with Taz but also some better players around him.

I don't follow Collingwood but at any stage did any 3 of Rocca, Cloke, Tarrant, Davis and Didak fire at once consistently.

I think this comparison will be interesting to see how he goes with Pavlich, Longmuir/Sandilands, Farmer, Murphy, Soloman around him.

 

[Dead Eye Didak]

I think that Taz was a very good footballer for us, eventhough I think we never really saw the full potential of taz, wether that was injuries or just the mind games he used to play on himself. I always thought he was a better footballer than he thought he was. We will miss his marking ability, he had a powerful set of hands, and was terrific on the lead. Remember he was AA back in 2003 (or 2002), so he was more than your average player.
But on the upside l look forward to the developement of Rusling, Cloke the opportunities this will give them, hopefully they will take it. Medhurst will be important, he is a proven goalkicker, and is very good overhead. Leon was in terrific goalkicking form before he got injured last season, so we have that option, also didak, Bucks l think will play more full forward next year and if that's the case could kick 50-60 goals, and of course Rocca has the ability to kick around 60-70 goals. I think we will be okay, and will cover Taz, but in some ways he will be missed.

 

[Stakerz]

OMG and Didakkkkkkk!!! woooo

 

[Magik]

He may be missed on the field but deff not off it. He was the sort of character they've been trying to eliminate.

Mark my words, Collingwood's decision will be vindicated in the short term.

 

[luvlicca]

i dont think anyone could disagree he wont be missed off season, thats a given i think.
i think taz would have been useful for us if he had of been played up field more permanately like he wanted. he obviously didnt want to be a ff and there lies the problem perhaps?? just my opinion.
i hope he does do better at freo, but i think in the end the clubs decision will prove to be a good one.
as much as i was shtty he was traded at the beginning, i think it will work out for everyone.

 

[magpies42]

yeah we definetly need to find someone to kick the points, i reckon i could do that.

 

[Parallel Andy]

I disagree, I think you could've won a flag with Taz but also some better players around him.

I don't follow Collingwood but at any stage did any 3 of Rocca, Cloke, Tarrant, Davis and Didak fire at once consistently.

I think this comparison will be interesting to see how he goes with Pavlich, Longmuir/Sandilands, Farmer, Murphy, Soloman around him.

Didak not consistant?
He was selcted for AA.
He also played on the HFF and in the midfield.

 

[Parallel Andy]

I do not see why we can't cover him.
The only thing we will miss is the around the ground work.
Not that he was leading much to the wings anyway.
Rusling will kick his goals. I know it's pressure on the young guy, but really it is only 36 goals.
Cloke needs to step up and kick a goal a game.
Buckley is superb in the forward line.
Played there consistantly he could kick over 60 goals for the season.
Medhurst is just a bonus if he plays well.

Tarrant was more of a problem than a solution.
He took up space in the forward line, taking marks and not converting them into goals.
Forget his around the ground play, I want to see Josh and Didak leading up to the wings.
I think we will see a fresh structure from Mick this year with Tarrant gone and Richards fit.

 

[Cyclops]

Can we cover the loss of tarrant ?

No. Tarrant ran and worked hard, he was a massive threat in the air and capable on the deck. He chased hard and fast, hurt opponents, kicked a few golas and set up a lot more.

We have no-one with the micx of skills: marking, pace, tackling, screening, who can threatebn close to goal and distribute well from up the ground.

He's left a hole in our structure we can't fill so we have to restructure. Maybe the new structure will be better, and maybe his replacement will be a better and/or more reliable player, but it'll be a new structure and probably a new player so our side will have to learn the new system before it becomes as effective as the old one was last year.

It was a good system. Tarrant Didak and Rocca, all injured, managed to carve the enemy up. Sydney's all out flood was humiliated, West Coasts all out attack was narrowly beaten, we matched the run of the Dogs and the height of the Hawks. We were fit and flexible enough to beat Port and Brisbane with 18 fit men, and powerful enough to turn winning positions into cricket scores against Carlton and Geelong.

I have faith that Malthouse can fit the new blokes into the system and tailor the system to fit the new blokes, but we can't expect the same results until the sides had a while to get used to the changes.

 

[lenny&carl]

Rocca, Rusling, Cloke, Buckley, Didak, Davis, Medhurst, Egan, Thomas, ...

That's enough quality forward options for one team. Let's see how they go.

 

[BoundforGlory]

Everyone who is not a collingwood supporter is dead certain that with the loss of tarrant,well the collingwood forward line is hopeless.Has tarrant's loss created a huge hole in our 2007 forward aspirations.I believe the loss of Tarrant will not effect our forward line at all.What do you guys think?

Easily, thank god the liability is gone! I am sure we can find someone to kick 1.5 & choke in front of goal 9 times out of ten!

 

[Jabso]

yeah we definetly need to find someone to kick the points, i reckon i could do that.

Could you also get in top 5 in the AFL for goal assists? Don't make stupid comments like that then.

Didak did end up #1 in the AFL though for whoever said Tarrant overtook him.

 

[luvlicca]

No. Tarrant ran and worked hard, he was a massive threat in the air and capable on the deck. He chased hard and fast, hurt opponents, kicked a few golas and set up a lot more.

We have no-one with the micx of skills: marking, pace, tackling, screening, who can threatebn close to goal and distribute well from up the ground.

He's left a hole in our structure we can't fill so we have to restructure. Maybe the new structure will be better, and maybe his replacement will be a better and/or more reliable player, but it'll be a new structure and probably a new player so our side will have to learn the new system before it becomes as effective as the old one was last year.

It was a good system. Tarrant Didak and Rocca, all injured, managed to carve the enemy up. Sydney's all out flood was humiliated, West Coasts all out attack was narrowly beaten, we matched the run of the Dogs and the height of the Hawks. We were fit and flexible enough to beat Port and Brisbane with 18 fit men, and powerful enough to turn winning positions into cricket scores against Carlton and Geelong.

I have faith that Malthouse can fit the new blokes into the system and tailor the system to fit the new blokes, but we can't expect the same results until the sides had a while to get used to the changes.

Here here!! Well said. Totally agree with everything you have said here. I would love to see taz do well at his new club, I only wish that he was prepared to do the hard yards off field with us too!!
I know there are a lot of people who are glad to see the back of him, but personally I think this will come back to haunt us, I dont care what anyone says, you will all be thinking it at some stage!!

 

[stui magpie]

Rocca, Rusling, Cloke, Buckley, Didak, Davis, Medhurst, Egan, Thomas, ...

That's enough quality forward options for one team. Let's see how they go.

You forgot one. Fraser.

With Frasers mobiliy, he could play CHF this year if Richards and/or Bryan can take the Ruck. That would live Pebbles in the square, Rusling leading out fom behind him, Cloke playing as almost a second CHF but running up to the wings and all the others floating thru various forward midfield roles.

Tarrent's value on the field will be missed but if we bett use what we have, we got the best out of the deal in the medium term for sure. If Tarrent is the icing that gets freo a flag in the short term, so be it.

 

[lenny&carl]

I was just coming back to this thread specifically to point out that I forgot one - Fraser.