Roast Collingwood's Backline

[BEEG]

Been to all games this year except Pies vs Port

Now people might think im being unfair but our backline everytime the ball comes in quick shit themself

Alot different watching live then on TV and you can just see our guys lose there footing and are always looking behind to see who is coming as the ball comes in with the flight

Now i have never seen our backline ever do this which worries me when we play a team like Hawthorn

Reid - Dont no what is going on with him but i see him constantly lose his footing and result in him losing one on one's now late last year he was a rock and would never be unbalanced

Tarrant - I actually thought for the first time this year he looked good on Riewoldt but he has not been great i believe his real strength is matching up on small forwards

OBrien - Has been up and down has made alot of mistakes and seems to also be struggling at times when the ball is coming in quickly

Maxwell - Was moved off every forward he was on Friday night every player he went to had a impact in that third term

What are people's thoughts

 

[jonesy86]

If the opposition play a 3rd tall forward against us, I'd like to see Toovey take that tall.

In the last qtr he killed Vickery who is ruckman size. Maxwell has struggled against talls and is better suited to mid/small forwards.

 

[Liljohnz]

On average we are conceding 75 points a game (Hawthorn is at 74.75, and Geelong at 55.5). I don't think this is too bad, if you can maintain this throughout the season, however we haven't played any team yet with a particularly potent forward line and attack.

Carlton have a attacking style of game plan when they get their ski's on, but against good teams, they struggle to kick large scores.

If our back line is put under the same pressure when we play Geelong, or Hawthron both with two big power forwards who can take strong marks, then I think it we will be in a bit of trouble.

At the moment, we have been able to cover for our back lines poor performances by getting midfield numbers back, deep in defence and working the ball out through sheer weight in numbers.

However, strong forward lines will score a lot quicker one the ball is in there, if our back line isn't switched on.

I don't know if this is because our shorter pre-season, or if it is taking a bit of time to get use to Tarrant and Leon being down there, or even just some complacency, but I would like to see a really strong performance from our back line against Essendon, who love to move the ball quickly, and put pressure on the backs.

 

[Shutty05]

I think you are searching for somthing wrong, not a issue ATM. While it would be good to win every 1 on 1 contest every week, its not going to happen. Martin took 2 1 handed grabs/tap down against Harry, maybe he also is skilled?

cant wait till the bye, the new threads are going to be funny with so many bored pies supporters

 

[daics cousin]

I know we have gotten away with things on our backline ATM.

But i did have concerns since Nat Brown got injured,cause i am still trying to think who can take the gorilla forwards.Mainly the likes of Reiwoldt and Buddy............Pavlich to a degree.

Tarrant is good but gets outmuscled when he is on a gorilla type forward.
Reid could a possible but he plays too looose.

Keefe i reckon could be the answer.He is 204 cm tall and is quite agile and quick.But we cannot afford to let him languish in the AFL.
Goldsac is 192-93 CMS but a Reiwoldt or a Franklin would trouble him.Pity about Brown he was the one that we needed.

This could pose a problem for us i reckon,I know Malthouse is very keen to get games into keefe fasolo and a couple more of our kids....Do it Malthouse so we can keep our depth in place.

 

[MagpieJoel]

To be honest, I've been a bit concerned with Maxwell's form since he returned. But, he may need a couple of weeks to get back into it.

Apart from that, I think the backline performs very well for the most part. However, at times, we do seem to struggle with the high ball coming in. I think that may be partially due to Maxwell returning from injury, and probably not being the third man up as often as he has in the past.

 

[mdc]

Maxwell and Harry will always struggle against quick ball because they play 10-20m in front of their opponents most times. It's a structural thing.

That said, Maxwell was very poor last week, but he'll no doubt bounce back against the Bombers.

 

[Optimax]

If the opposition play a 3rd tall forward against us, I'd like to see Toovey take that tall.

In the last qtr he killed Vickery who is ruckman size. Maxwell has struggled against talls and is better suited to mid/small forwards.

Agree

Is 190cm and was used as a full back as a junior, against most third talls around the 193cm mark is probably our most capable medium to play on them.

To do this you would need Harry, Heath/Johnno, and Maxy covering the smalls well though

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Can only agree with the worries expressed here. The backline has looked fragile and Keefe has to be a strong possibility against Hawthorn and the like, because our backline talls are looking a bit shaky. Mind you, Keefe did his chances no good on the weekend with a poor game against Werribee. Much as I like Toovey I would not want him lining up on talls week after week. Maxwell could have recaptured his form in the VFL rather than coming straight back into the team. What is the story with Buckley?

 

[Jesus Baulks]

Maxwell and Harry will always struggle against quick ball because they play 10-20m in front of their opponents most times. It's a structural thing.

Agree fully with this.
It's quick ball movement higher up the field that makes our backline look vulnerable. Changing the personnel back there wouldn't achieve anything. We are selecting by far our best back six at the moment, they just get hurt when teams manage to break open our press and opposition players get the chance to push forward really hard into all the open space. Makes life pretty difficult for a defender. Still I do think Tarrant is finding his feet in a new outfit, Reid has been slightly off the boil and Maxwell obviously coming back from injury was a bit out of touch. We've got time on our side in regards to these guys working into form though.

Teams seem to have broken us open a bit more easily this year though it must be said. Not sure whether it's because our forwards aren't working hard enough defensively (Macaffer was good in this area, replaced by Krakouer who struggles a bit defensively. Delayed pre-season as well might have an effect) or maybe because opposition teams are a bit more clued onto on workings. I personally think it's a little bit of both. Whatever it is I'd like to see us working particularly hard on reestablishing our dominance in that area because I had really come to enjoy watching opposition players look like newborn giraffes when they attempt to run the ball out of our forward half.

 

[jonesy86]

Reid apparently suffered a slight shoulder injury on the weekend.

I wouldn't be against resting him for a week and giving Lachie Keefe a run on the big stage. He'd be a good match-up on Ryder.

 

[Markfs]

Someone already answered the thing about looking over their shoulders. Obviously, this is going to happen when they standing metres in front of the forwards and the ball in coming into the opposition's forward line quickly.

Tarrant is still finding his feet. Maxwell was in hospital for his injury so it wasnt like it was just a smack on the chops. He was hit pretty hard. Anyone criticising Harry must be spending a lot of their time at the footy eating pies, because his form has been very good. Reid hasn't been quite as good as last year but other teams have spent all summer working out plans for him... and for the rest of the backline too.

I think the whole team has been cruising in games at times and it looks very bad if you do it in the backline. I wish Brown was back but I also say my prayers every night that Rusling is going to resign next year......

 

[Slattery_20]

Defenders play worse under pressure? Interesting...

 

[Rustin Cohle]

Rewind to this time last year and I think you'll notice the same thing. Our defence tightened up progressively as the year went on.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Tarrant was excellent against Riewioldt last week. Improving slowly.
Shaw's in good form. Got benched once due to the sub rule.
Toovey has been benched twice in the past two weeks due to the sub rule.
O'Briens been in reasonable form.
Maxwell had a serious kidney injury and was probably rushed back too soon.
Goldsack had illness in the off season and is behind in his preparation.
Reid has been great but was off his game against Richmond. He also copped a shoulder injury which may have affected him. Also subbed once.
Keefe was in great form in the preseason and will get his chance soon.
Davis has played back but also has been injured and/or subbed.

Backlines not in peak form but they are doing their job. In our efforts to maintain midfield rotations the defenders have been copping a lot of the short-straw on the sub bench. And with Maxwell seriously injured and Tarrant new to the club, that has had a slight effect on their stability and reliability. Nothing serious though.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Reid apparently suffered a slight shoulder injury on the weekend.

I wouldn't be against resting him for a week and giving Lachie Keefe a run on the big stage. He'd be a good match-up on Ryder.

Maybe. The other option I'd consider is bringing Jolly in but keeping Wood, and dropping Leroy back to defence. That way we'd have a better matchup agaisnt their rucks, especially if they select Hille.

 

[Angelus512]

I agree with the OP. I was considering posting a similar thread. Backline seems nowhere near as good as last year.

 

[The Get Up Kid]

Maxwell may not have been as good against Richmond (didn't notice him, so maybe he was chasing tail) but against Carlton he was super important and made some outstanding plays. Especially the smother in the third which got us a goal when we under a bit of pressure.

Tarrant has been a bit down but I thought he beat reiwoldt for 95% of the game. His mark and kick to Thomas turned the game back in our favour.

Reid is still learning, what do some people expect? All-star CHB every week when he hasn't played 50 games?

Also, Toovey's importance was probably shown by him being the sub.

Don't be too worried, our midfield needs to be a bit more defensive and we'll be fine. The MCG is a hard ground to defend on.

 

[mdc]

Maybe. The other option I'd consider is bringing Jolly in but keeping Wood, and dropping Leroy back to defence. That way we'd have a better matchup agaisnt their rucks, especially if they select Hille.

This would be a solid plan if Leigh Brown wasn't a complete liability in the backline. I'd prefer to give Keefe a game if that's the alternative.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

This would be a solid plan if Leigh Brown wasn't a complete liability in the backline. I'd prefer to give Keefe a game if that's the alternative.

Fully agree. Rather Keefe than Brown in the backline.

 

[Dr Pool]

If we lose the premiership this year, it will be because of our backline.

Which was our strength last year.

When teams move the ball quickly, our defenders panic and seem unable to play one on one contested footy any more.

Maxy is way off the pace and if he wasn't captain, he would be playing a few Magoos games.

 

[Swooop]

I think 'the press' makes life really easy for the backline in general.

We don't seem to have employed it as much this year, though very happy to be told that's wrong by people at the game, as not that easy to judge otherwise.

Assuming the press is having a slight rest, there may be more one on one, and yes agree, they do look way less comfortable.

Taz finding his feet, Reid not quite where he was late last year, Maxy still working into match fitness...there's a few links there, not quite as strong as last year.

Nathan Brown / Presti out is hurting a little more than we realise I suspect.

 

[Heater39]

I think people are just starting to expect too much of this side. We are 1st, we have by far the biggest % and our defence is ranked in the top 4 in the league (attack is 1st by a mile). Yet despite this, there is still plenty of criticism on this board. Personally I'm very happy with our start to the year.

 

[Forgotten Legend]

I agree with the few saying that people are complaining over nothing. The thing is other teams develop, other teams also have excellent players. We may be the premiership side but we are far from perfect and have many weaknesses. Last year most of the forum (during the middle part of the season especially) said our defense was a greatest part of the team and that our forwards were struggling, now it seems its the other way around? We have Maxwell who came off a serious injury, Tarrant who is slowly understanding how our team functions, Reid who is getting back to form and N. Brown + Presti out of our defensive line. After a few weeks they will come good, but don't expect miracles from our defense. They are only human and will make errors and to the credit of the other teams, they also have some stellar players who are MEANT to be kicking goals.

I think its just overreacting on nothing. We have massive improvement in the whole team but I hardly think our defense is our worst aspect atm. Personally I'd be more concerned in our midfield from the last two games.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

If we lose the premiership this year, it will be because of our backline.

Which was our strength last year.

When teams move the ball quickly, our defenders panic and seem unable to play one on one contested footy any more.

Maxy is way off the pace and if he wasn't captain, he would be playing a few Magoos games.

JAYMIN, you've been outed