Chris Tarrant - our new CHB

[silverscope]

Are you all like this?

Everyone seems to be paranoid, I've been on here for a couple of days and already I have been accused of being another poster.

WTF?

Well obviously from that reply you must know who he is talking about... sus much??

Maybe a better response would have been 'I'm sorry i don't know who you are taking about'

 

[Chops_a_must]

I got an email the other day about first club to get 10k members on here gets a prize.

With all the various aliae proclaiming to be Freo fans - none are mine of course - and Pav, we should be shoe ins.

 

[FarmersWife]

Hayden Tarrant Grover
Dodd Johnson Gilmore
Mundy Pavlich Ibbotson
Headland Campbell Palmer
Murphy McPharlin Mayne

R: Sandilands
Schammer
Hasleby

I: Drum
Bradley
Browne
Solomon

E: Peake
Thornton
Ballantyne

Doesn't look too bad. Murphy isn't as bad as people make out. Yes, I agree he can't find his own ball, but he is a true full forward. He's not meant to find his own ball. We're meant to put it on his tit. He's been a FF as the 3rd option, so not surprising he's been tacky since Tarrant came aboard.

Moving Tarrant up back and the new slim Pavlich into the midfield full time, will give us the opportunity to play both Campbell and Murphy together in the positions they are best in. I like the look of this team and it completely covers the experience holes that last years oldies exodus created.

With a greater understanding of the game plan, we'll be fine next year. top8 contenders.

Grover will play down back. As many have said, Harvey was joking when he spoke about Grover forward.

 

[dominguez]

In case everyone has missed the point here, tarrants role at CHB is for the NAB CUP only, same with grover going forward.

I think some have short memories about asking for a change of roles at the club (not neccesarily taz and groves) and now it has happened not many ppl want to see what happens

But if he's going to CHB in the NAB Cup the coaching staff are obviously hoping he can fill that role for season proper. You don't just chuck a guy down back for three pre-season games then return him to his usual position, what would be the point in that?

I don't have a problem with Tarrantula going to CHB for the NAB Cup aslong as Harvey and Co are willing to say okay, that didn't work, move him back to a HFF for round one. How long did it take for Connolly to shift Croad to CHB, Medhurst to the WAFL, Schammer out of the back pocket, etc.

With Tarrant at CHB and Pav in the middle there will be plenty of pressure on Campbell to carry the forward line. When you factor in Farmer too we'll be missing 600+ games of experience and about 8 All Australian jumpers from our forward line.

 

[dominguez]

Hayden Tarrant Grover
Dodd Johnson Gilmore
Mundy Pavlich Ibbotson
Headland Campbell Palmer
Murphy McPharlin Mayne

R: Sandilands
Schammer
Hasleby

I: Drum
Bradley
Browne
Solomon

E: Peake
Thornton
Ballantyne

Your line up's too top heavy, especially considering that Bradley will play predominantly forward. Crowley in, Murphy out.

 

[IbbosBFF]

Tarrant has all the attributes a good CHB needs. I reckon Harvey will leave him in defense for most of the NAB Cup, and if he plays well, it'll be more like he has another string to his bow.

Then we could play Tarrant like McPharlin... but in reverse. Play mostly in the forward line but for games with 2 very good talls like Brisbane, Hawthorn or Essendon he can pinch hit down back if we get overrun early.

The only problem I have with Tarrant going to CHB is that it is hindering the development of Marcus Drum... someone we paid a 1st rounder to groom into a key position back.

Having Tarrant go back and play there means he will push out a young so-so key position player that needs game time to prove himself (Like Spud in 07 + 08)

 

[Undertaker]

Tarrant has spent the last two seasons playing between high half-forward and full-forward, as required by the team set-up. His 2007 season was disrupted after surgery to both calves and his 2008 season by a neck/shoulder injury.:

This a very thoughtful and factual quote, when Tarrant came to Freo in 2007 he was suffering from shin splits and also had problems with both calves. Collingwood new this and that's why they traded him. Last year 2008 he injured his neck and shoulder early in the season which inhibited his ability to take overhead marks. This year 2009 he is fully fit and has had a great preseason, it would crazy for us to play him anywhere other than forward where he won AA. This year will / must be his year I am predicting 40- 60 goals, with Tazz & Pav up forward it means third best tall defender for the likes of Murphy / Campbell & with Balla you will see a very potent forward line. Freo would be better advised to develop Drum as our next CHB he has been at the club long enough and it is now a make or break year for him or he could end up being another 1st round draft pick failure.

 

[theGav56]

Tarrant has all the attributes a good CHB needs.

One of the attributes he lacks is experience as a CHB. All good one shave it. They get played in the position and learn how it works. I think you could expect that to take at least two seasons. He may be able to shorten that, but I also would not expect him to drop into the position, be able to suspend all of his forward line training and instincts, and perform at AFL CHB standard immediately.

 

[dominguez]

One of the attributes he lacks is experience as a CHB. All good one shave it. They get played in the position and learn how it works. I think you could expect that to take at least two seasons. He may be able to shorten that, but I also would not expect him to drop into the position, be able to suspend all of his forward line training and instincts, and perform at AFL CHB standard immediately.

What will work in his favour Gav is that new zonal defence that Hawthorn plays which looks like taking off throughout the competition. If Tarrant is defending a zone instead of playing tight on an opponent there's less chance of him being out smarted or turned inside out.

Hawthorn lost their only true key defender early in the grand final and still went on to win.

 

[IbbosBFF]

The only real "backline experience" Tarrant really needs, is to make sure he doesnt put his hands in the back of leading Centre Half Forwards.

Other than that i think he has spent enough time around football to understand general defensive positioning and when he has the chance to run off a man.

 

[Palmervich]

Spent a fair bit of his junior football in defence I believe, and was earmarked early on at the pies for a defencive roll. Obviously a fair while ago, but he does have some history there (albeit lower levels)

 

[PavLike]

This discussion is quite interesting... Can forwards go back? can backs go forward? I cast my mind back a couple of Seasons ago when James Clement played for us and went forward - I'm pretty sure he bagged a few in concession. The way I see it - A talented footballer is a tallented footballer. If Tarrant is good enough (which I think he is) CHB would be a great position for him.

Grover might relish the chance to play forward and kick goals. I always believed that a Backman always had to be quicker than their forward in order to prevent them from marking the ball...

As for Medhurst - Great player, had the talent, we just confused the poor fella. One minute he's the second strongest to weight ratio, next a midfield role, then what? Then again - please remind me how he went in Round 22 2008?

 

[pistol17]

But if he's going to CHB in the NAB Cup the coaching staff are obviously hoping he can fill that role for season proper. You don't just chuck a guy down back for three pre-season games then return him to his usual position, what would be the point in that?

I don't have a problem with Tarrantula going to CHB for the NAB Cup aslong as Harvey and Co are willing to say okay, that didn't work, move him back to a HFF for round one. How long did it take for Connolly to shift Croad to CHB, Medhurst to the WAFL, Schammer out of the back pocket, etc.

With Tarrant at CHB and Pav in the middle there will be plenty of pressure on Campbell to carry the forward line. When you factor in Farmer too we'll be missing 600+ games of experience and about 8 All Australian jumpers from our forward line.

I think Harvey and Co think Tarrant could play down back and the best way to find that out is in the NAB cup. Harves also mentioned he would be rotated through the middle so he wont spend 100% of the time at CHB. If the experiment doesnt work it doesnt cost us anything.

In regards to the forward line I think we can be potent enough without Pavlich down there. Campbell has showed some good signs and i could be wrong with this but he usually is still running laps around this time of pre-season, good sign that he is joining in the main group this early. Wouldnt be surprised if Drum was moved forward permanently either.

 

[theGav56]

Yes he may be able to play a defensive zone, but we are actually discussing CHB; in other words,if he were playing us he'd line up on Pavlich. Most oppositions play a man on Pavlich (CHB) as well as having someone zoning/double teaming.

Yes he may have played some defense in his junior years ten years ago. Most players would do a bit at either end of the ground.

I am not actually saying he couldn't do it, and when his goal kicking deficiencies were identified that may have been a good move. But our structure up forward looks impotent without two capable tall players. And given we probably need to forget about Slimline Pav up there, we look shyte.

I am especially worried that we may end up with MacPharlin up forward. We are much better with him back, occasionally going forward.

 

[theGav56]

I think Harvey and Co think Tarrant could play down back and the best way to find that out is in the NAB cup. Harves also mentioned he would be rotated through the middle so he wont spend 100% of the time at CHB. If the experiment doesnt work it doesnt cost us anything.

I actually think we lose quite a lot by fart-arsing around with the team structure;

* one of the best ways to develop the mid-field is to give them a forward structure they can deliver to with confidence. A forward line that has been coached well containing Pavlich, Tarrant and a third marking tall should be an awesome thing for a midfielder looking up and wondering what to do now that they have the ball.
* Tarrant is the archetypal "confidence" player, so time in the position he will play in is critical pre-season stuff for him. Imagine if he gets spanked at CHB, then has to front up forward because of the failure.
* We fail to give the next generation of KP backmen, notably Drum, the opportunity to grab the position and develop into it.
* We fail to give Tarrant the opportunity to play a different role in the forward line which is less dependant on his goal kicking accuracy.
* We don't give the Forward Coach the players who will make up the forward structure in the main season to groom and develop chemistry with.

The only way I would be doing it is if we had a heap of tall players up forward who are fighting over too few positions, or for short periods of play (10 minutes) just because it's the NAB and you don't have to take it seriously. We don't too many quality tall forwards. We have Campbell and Murphy who so far have not been able to fill the third tall role very well.

 

[FarmersWife]

Your line up's too top heavy, especially considering that Bradley will play predominantly forward. Crowley in, Murphy out.

Ouch! Can't believe I missed him out. I agree with you. Crowley in for Murphy.

Jeez, ya know you said we were top heavy and you're right there as well, but I guess they are the players that should be playing. I think of some other options, but there aren't really too many. Our team's aggregate height must be about the highest in the competition with all of the little fellahs moving on, i.e. Bell, Farmer, J.Carr, H.Black, McManus, M.Carr (not that short though), Cook the year before.

I think we'll be fine though, as a lot of our taller guys, are very agile. Tall players are all the rage these days as well.

Funny that nothing's been written on the exodus of the little guys, especially considering the grief we used to cop from the media.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

I have serious doubts that Underdog has ever seen Grover. I'm at a complete loss as to who he thinks he may be. I can't find any player at Fremantle, past or present, that I could compare to McDougall.

I can, his name is daniel parker

personally, i think harves should just leave grover where he is, he is a great defensive player, if a swap was to be made, for me, it would be des headland and tarrant.

Tarrant could be the big bodied, hard running, skillful winger that richo has become, and des has sublime skills, a natural attacking nature, a good mark, when you add that to the fact that he can really lay a tackle, i think you have a pretty dangerous forward.. thats just me

 

[Underdog]

A season on and this thread makes for some interesting reading.

Tarrant has been an outstanding success despite some hesitant fans - although, the impact on the forward line was obvious as predicted (although Mayne helped sure it up late) and the stifling of opportunities of Drum almost mirrored the Murphy story.

Grover was a dismal failure as predicted by most. I wonder if Greenred would like to retract some of his statements however...

Having said that - it's amazing to see the fall from grace of Grover. He's gone from being described as a great defender to being finished. Similar to Brett Jones at West Coast. Is he really done or did he just have a shocking year?

I even had him as a preferred candidate for the captaincy role pre-season I thought he'd develop in a similar mould to Nick Maxwell. How wrong was I!?

 

[4n20]

Interesting reading...what like this...

The players haven't run out with their jocks outside their shorts in the last 2 years, maybe they should give that a go too since wearing them on the inside hasn't worked?

Anyone who thinks Tarrant will be a better defender than Grover must be smoking crack IMO.

 

[Underdog]

Greenred's were better. He makes Grover playing forward sound like the next Carey

But as I said, it's been a massive fall from grace for Grover that I don't think anybody expected...

 

[4n20]

ahh, its just a discussion , though. People have opinions. No one gets everything right....not even the people at the clubs themselves.


edit: Have u made any big bold statements that have been way off the mark, Underdog??...i know i have, just not letting u know what they are

 

[E Shed]

Please read my beautifully reasoned contribution to this thread then leave the money on the fridge

As for Grover I don't think he's as finished as some would have him. Certainly the game is only getting faster and more unforgiving but I would still pick him in our best 22 quite easily. The difference between success and failure is really coming down to milliseconds these days and it may be that his reflexes are just that bit too slow now. I'd certainly be giving him a few games yet as a walk up start.

 

[Underdog]

edit: Have u made any big bold statements that have been way off the mark, Underdog??...i know i have, just not letting u know what they are

I admitted to it in the post above that I thought Grover would be a good choice as Fremantle captain! I thought he'd develop into a Nick Maxwell type

 

[4n20]

so u did, im not a good skim reader.

 

[DOCKERZ]

I admitted to it in the post above that I thought Grover would be a good choice as Fremantle captain! I thought he'd develop into a Nick Maxwell type

Unfortunately you got that one right! I think they both walked sideways last year..