Crows' forward thinking on McLeod

[AC07]

Did anyone see this article? Your thoughts? I love seeing macca all over the ground. I am getting excited. Not long now.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21124476%5E19761,00.html

ANDREW McLeod is poised to set Adelaide's forward line alight in 2007.

After spending the majority of last year as a running half-back, the Crows speedster is looming as coach Neil Craig's wildcard inside the attacking 50m arc.
The dual Norm Smith medallist was used heavily as a forward during structural drills at Max Basheer Reserve on Wednesday, an example of what has been happening during the past fortnight.
"He's (McLeod) done a bit of work this week and last week up in the forward line," Crows forward Nathan Bock said.
"Along with a lot of other guys like Thommo (Scott Thompson), Goody (Simon Goodwin) and Brent Reilly, they've all done a rotation through that forward line.
"It's just about introducing a few different blokes into that forward line and getting that forward line knowledge so if the opportunity arises they're able to play that role."
Trying to establish himself up forward, Bock said McLeod's flexibility was going to be used more this season, by virtue of regular goal-scoring cameos.
"It would be good to see him play a bit of footy up forward this year, most definitely," Bock said.
"I think he can play any position on the ground really so wherever you put him he's going to be a handy contributor to the team."
Bock missed much of last season with a back injury.
"I'm just looking forward to playing footy and getting back out there," Bock, 23, said. "Obviously having such an interrupted year last year was pretty frustrating.
"The last half-a-dozen games last year I finished up playing in the forward line and at the moment I'm hoping I can play up forward.

 

[- PC -]

So how does that fit the structure?

Bode and Welsh would be concerned. VB , Porplyzia and Vince to learn defence?

I dont mind it just wondering how it will work. One would suggest a 9 man centreline with a rotation from hbf to wing to hff

 

[Drummond]

So how does that fit the structure?

Bode and Welsh would be concerned. VB , Porplyzia and Vince to learn defence?

I dont mind it just wondering how it will work. One would suggest a 9 man centreline with a rotation from hbf to wing to hff

Vince needs to learn something, anything quick smart if you ask me…

 

[KUNG FU]

If this is the case, which I think could be a good idea, I see our backline structure as this:

B: Bassett, Rutten, Torney
HB: Johncock, Stevens (maybe McGregor), Massie/Doughty/Edwards/Mattner/Pfeiffer/Thompson

with Pfeiffer & Massie the most comfortable in that role and the others as resting mids.

McLeod always had an innate ability to slice through some crucial goals earlier in his career. Our greatest weakness is our forwardline by far.

 

[macca23]

Vince needs to learn something, anything quick smart if you ask me…

Vince is a clever footballer who struggled with the tempo of the game at AFL level last year IMO after rising so rapidly from country footy.

I wouldn't be at all surorised to see him go up quite a notch or two in his performances this year.

 

[RoosterLad]

Yeah Vince is alright, he went from Stansbury to Eagles to Crows pretty bloody quickly. He is a class act and has already shown a lot with the Eags and even a bit with the Crows... he will come good.

 

[maccas_no1]

So how does that fit the structure?

Bode and Welsh would be concerned. VB , Porplyzia and Vince to learn defence?

I dont mind it just wondering how it will work. One would suggest a 9 man centreline with a rotation from hbf to wing to hff

Its called hit and miss stuff, as Craig has realised our forwardline is second rate.

If plan A doesnt work we go to plan B and if plan B doesnt work we will goto plan C and so on, until we get some of our young potential forwards playing (and this is where my threoy that the rebuild has already begun) then it will be a 'hit and miss' forwardline, we will be robbing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak and could in some situations get get caught out, either our game plan will suffer due to our structure not working, especially against good sides and who move the ball quickly.

 

[Crow-mo]

Vince needs to learn something, anything quick smart if you ask me…

funny, he said the same thing about you

 

[swanfan]

Its called hit and miss stuff, as Craig has realised our forwardline is second rate.

If plan A doesnt work we go to plan B and if plan B doesnt work we will goto plan C and so on, until we get some of our young potential forwards playing (and this is where my threoy that the rebuild has already begun) then it will be a 'hit and miss' forwardline, we will be robbing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak and could in some situations get get caught out, either our game plan will suffer due to our structure not working, especially against good sides and who move the ball quickly.

When I hear you say something positive about our side, I might fall out my chair.

 

[macca23]

Its called hit and miss stuff, as Craig has realised our forwardline is second rate.

If plan A doesnt work we go to plan B and if plan B doesnt work we will goto plan C and so on, until we get some of our young potential forwards playing (and this is where my threoy that the rebuild has already begun) then it will be a 'hit and miss' forwardline, we will be robbing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak and could in some situations get get caught out, either our game plan will suffer due to our structure not working, especially against good sides and who move the ball quickly.

That's it. You've convinced me.

We are totally stuffed, the coaches have no idea what they are doing, we have no game plan, we have no structure, we have no forwards, we are not a good side, we move the ball slowly.

We are rubbish.

We haven't even won one game this year.

Fk it, I'm barracking for Carlton from now on!!

 

[Alex99]

Its called hit and miss stuff, as Craig has realised our forwardline is second rate.

If plan A doesnt work we go to plan B and if plan B doesnt work we will goto plan C and so on, until we get some of our young potential forwards playing (and this is where my threoy that the rebuild has already begun) then it will be a 'hit and miss' forwardline, we will be robbing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak and could in some situations get get caught out, either our game plan will suffer due to our structure not working, especially against good sides and who move the ball quickly.

You put up such a persuasive argument that it's very hard to argue with.


Sighs – can we please re draft Randle Bone?

 

[maccas_no1]

When I hear you say something positive about our side, I might fall out my chair.

Mate I'm asessing the situation as I see it, that is how I see it.

Perrie and Welsh are both injury prone, Welsh is a good forward and crumbs the ball well, Perrie has struggled his whole career with injury and form, he proved in the 2006 PF how bad he really is dropping easy marks, his kicking for goal isnt accountable, and put it this way if he was lining up to kick a goal after the siren, I wouldnt be too confident.

Riccuito is a great forward and will continue to play there for the rest of his career.

Burton needs to play at FF this year, this is what suits him best and where he plays his best footy, have him lead out of the goal square, let Mattner/Reilly play on the wings.

Bode a good crumbing forward but once again suffers from form slumps and tends to go in and out of the game.

Bock is a an option but is better suited to CHB.

McGregor well geez his form last year was terrible, whether that was due to an injury or what, Im not sure, but can play well but still question marks as to what sort of day you will get out of him.

Then well you just go through the list and go well lets try this person in this position see how it goes and it all becomes hit and miss stuff.

Thats how I see it anyway.

Our forwardline is our real weakness and with the loss of Hentschel it makes me even more worried about how we will kick big scores.

 

[maccas_no1]

That's it. You've convinced me.

We are totally stuffed, the coaches have no idea what they are doing, we have no game plan, we have no structure, we have no forwards, we are not a good side, we move the ball slowly.

We are rubbish.

We haven't even won one game this year.

Fk it, I'm barracking for Carlton from now on!!

Macca, Im really surprised you have stooped to the low level of comment such as the one above, I thought at least yourself and I would be able to get some sort of rational discussion and feedback on issues the AFC face this year and in the future, seems its not the case.

Until the AFC over come the forwardline woes, and etheir develope a good couple of forwards out of our young players or draft a ready made quality forward then we will not win the premiership.

 

[macca23]

Macca, Im really surprised you have stooped to the low level of comment such as the one above, I thought at least yourself and I would be able to get some sort of rational discussion and feedback on issues the AFC face this year and in the future, seems its not the case.

Until the AFC over come the forwardline woes, and etheir develope a good couple of forwards out of our young players or draft a ready made quality forward then we will not win the premiership.

Maccas, you've missed my point entirely.

You haven't seen one internal trial, one external trial, one pre-season game, one match played for points, yet every thought you express is negative, negative, negative. At this stage, it is nothing more than your opinion based on absolutely nothing.

Yet you can't understand why we don't want to join in wringing our hands, gnashing our teeth and saying, oh woe is us!!

Pre-season is a time for optimism for the supporters of all 16 clubs, Carlton included. That's what footy is all about. Without hope, there would be no supporters.

At least let us have that pre-season pleasure, whether it be proven right or not.

 

[tinman]

Yeah Vince is alright, he went from Stansbury to Eagles to Crows pretty bloody quickly. He is a class act and has already shown a lot with the Eags and even a bit with the Crows... he will come good.

And given the rapid rise I would suspect that last year's pre-season would have almost killed him. Remember Huddo's first pre-season?

He has had some minor injury hassles, but should be coming off a better fitness base this year. It will be interesting to see how he progresses.

 

[maccas_no1]

Maccas, you've missed my point entirely.

You haven't seen one internal trial, one external trial, one pre-season game, one match played for points, yet every thought you express is negative, negative, negative. At this stage, it is nothing more than your opinion based on absolutely nothing.

Yet you can't understand why we don't want to join in wringing our hands, gnashing our teeth and saying, oh woe is us!!

Pre-season is a time for optimism for the supporters of all 16 clubs, Carlton included. That's what footy is all about. Without hope, there would be no supporters.

At least let us have that pre-season pleasure, whether it be proven right or not.

I have never said Im not looking forward to the season, but after the dispaoint of the last two years and stupidly seeing it all through rose coloured glasses, Im now looking at it all in a different perspective, yes Im being negeitive, yes I could be wrong, but if it saves me expecting something I anit going to see delivered then I would rather express that now.

What do you want me to say 'ohh geez our list is fantastic we are unbeatable the flag is in the bag'????????

Our list this year as in available players is worse than the last two years we didnt win the flag then yet people think we are a fair dinkum crack at it this year

Realistically take a look at it macca???

Im all for looking forward to how our young players develope this year, thats my interest this year not Premierships, as they are away down the track at the moment, that may seem harsh but in reality that is where the AFC is at.

 

[Dandy_GO]

Our list this year as in available players is worse than the last two years\.

Is it really that much worse than last year?

This year we're missing: Clarke, Biglands, Hart, Hentschel
Last year we were missing: Hudson, Welsh, Bock, Torney

Torney and Hart play similar roles in our team, so we're not that much worse off there. Hudson was our number 1 ruckman, Welsh was our best forward in 2005, Bock was our first choice CHB. At the time these were considered very big losses. It's not like we came into 2006 without problems. Bernie Vince was getting a game! I don't see how we're so much worse off than we were at the start of last season - especially when you factor in that Ricciuto didn't have a pre-season. Only having 1 experienced ruckman is a worry, but beyond that I'm not so sure our missing players will be as crippling as your suggest they will be. We'll manage. Who would have thought at the start of last year that Scott Stevens would go so well at CHB in the absence of Bock, or Massie would be able to hold down Torney's spot, or Bode would pop up as the decent small forward we'd been looking for? Nobody would have picked that - but they happened - which is why I'm not concerned about our missing players this year. Christ, if the team was as negative as you we'd be up ******** creek without a paddle already.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I have never said Im not looking forward to the season, but after the dispaoint of the last two years and stupidly seeing it all through rose coloured glasses, Im now looking at it all in a different perspective, yes Im being negeitive, yes I could be wrong, but if it saves me expecting something I anit going to see delivered then I would rather express that now.

What do you want me to say 'ohh geez our list is fantastic we are unbeatable the flag is in the bag'????????

Our list this year as in available players is worse than the last two years we didnt win the flag then yet people think we are a fair dinkum crack at it this year

Realistically take a look at it macca???

Im all for looking forward to how our young players develope this year, thats my interest this year not Premierships, as they are away down the track at the moment, that may seem harsh but in reality that is where the AFC is at.

What most are saying is to have a balanced view - somewhere in between the negativity of we have a totally crap list & will finish last - & geez, we are so good, we will win every game this year.

 

[Cap]

go the crows

 

[conVINCEd]

Its called hit and miss stuff, as Craig has realised our forwardline is second rate.

When you call our forwardline 'second rate', do you mean 'second best in the league'?

Because thats exactly what we were in 2006 based on points scored during the H&A season.

So we've lost Hentschel, but we have Bock and Welsh both ready to go as replacements.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Is it really that much worse than last year?

This year we're missing: Clarke, Biglands, Hart, Hentschel
Last year we were missing: Hudson, Welsh, Bock, Torney

Torney and Hart play similar roles in our team, so we're not that much worse off there. Hudson was our number 1 ruckman, Welsh was our best forward in 2005, Bock was our first choice CHB. At the time these were considered very big losses. It's not like we came into 2006 without problems. Bernie Vince was getting a game! I don't see how we're so much worse off than we were at the start of last season - especially when you factor in that Ricciuto didn't have a pre-season. Only having 1 experienced ruckman is a worry, but beyond that I'm not so sure our missing players will be as crippling as your suggest they will be. We'll manage. Who would have thought at the start of last year that Scott Stevens would go so well at CHB in the absence of Bock, or Massie would be able to hold down Torney's spot, or Bode would pop up as the decent small forward we'd been looking for? Nobody would have picked that - but they happened - which is why I'm not concerned about our missing players this year. Christ, if the team was as negative as you we'd be up ******** creek without a paddle already.

Good post. At this stage injuries/losses are even compared to last year - much will depend on our injury run this year. ie. can't afford Hudson to be out with a long term injury.

It will be hard to expect that Edwards, Goodwin, Roo & Macc will improve & are likely to go backwards in contribution ... so we need the younger guys such as Thompson, VB, Maric & Meesen to improve ... so we improve overall.

We will need an even contribution from the forward line to cover the big Hentschel.

 

[- PC -]

Does it matter if our forward line is non-functioning?

Going by the MM method that you only have to kick more goals than the opposition so you strengthen your backline, it would seem Adelaide are more than adequate

When you have a percieved or real weakness you strengthen other areas and adapt

I am sure this will be the philosophy once again this year. Boring? Probably, but it wins games

 

[maccas_no1]

Is it really that much worse than last year?

This year we're missing: Clarke, Biglands, Hart, Hentschel
Last year we were missing: Hudson, Welsh, Bock, Torney

Hudson was easy to cover in 2006 as we had Clarke and Biglands both experienced ruckmen, now this year we have lost both Clarke and Biglands and now look at Hudson who yes is a fantatsic ruckman but also has been out of the game for some 18 mths, is now nearly two years older than what he was and we dont know at this stage if he will re catpture his form before his knee injury, I hope he does perform well because he is a a fantastic player. As backup we have a our two new ruckmen in Meeson and Maric, who have next to no AFL experience, and I hope both this year show what they have got, but there are stiff what if's about the ruck area.

Welsh is now one of our best forwards and will have to stay on the park all season, but he is injury prone unfortunately, Hentschel is not going to be easy to cover he is a our standout forward and we now have to find from somewhere the 40-60 goals he would have kicked this year, Perrie isnt the answer and Mcgregor well if they are looking at playing Bock forward he will have to play at CHB.

 

[- PC -]

One word

Opportunity

 

[Mad Dog]

Is it really that much worse than last year?

This year we're missing: Clarke, Biglands, Hart, Hentschel
Last year we were missing: Hudson, Welsh, Bock, Torney

Torney and Hart play similar roles in our team, so we're not that much worse off there. Hudson was our number 1 ruckman, Welsh was our best forward in 2005, Bock was our first choice CHB. At the time these were considered very big losses. It's not like we came into 2006 without problems. Bernie Vince was getting a game! I don't see how we're so much worse off than we were at the start of last season - especially when you factor in that Ricciuto didn't have a pre-season. Only having 1 experienced ruckman is a worry, but beyond that I'm not so sure our missing players will be as crippling as your suggest they will be. We'll manage. Who would have thought at the start of last year that Scott Stevens would go so well at CHB in the absence of Bock, or Massie would be able to hold down Torney's spot, or Bode would pop up as the decent small forward we'd been looking for? Nobody would have picked that - but they happened - which is why I'm not concerned about our missing players this year. Christ, if the team was as negative as you we'd be up ******** creek without a paddle already.