Analysis Do you have Wood going forward, or is it a massive flop?

[Dogsman16]

Apart from Dickson who do we have who you could describe as having natural forward instincts?

Redpath perhaps? Dale? Schache? Probably not Tom Boyd. All of our other small-medium forwards are contrivances of necessity, even Picken.

Redpath really and that’s about it. Despite his flaws at least he runs to the right spots in the forward line. And subsequently midfielders lower their eyes accordingly. Hard to lower you eyes if no-one is presenting the lead up option.

 

[Mattdougie]

Apart from Dickson who do we have who you could describe as having natural forward instincts?

Redpath perhaps? Dale? Schache? Probably not Tom Boyd. All of our other small-medium forwards are contrivances of necessity, even Picken.

Stringer

 

[dogwatch]

Stringer

No doubt.

 

[bontshow]

Apart from Dickson who do we have who you could describe as having natural forward instincts?

Our team is a lot like Freo 2013. Fyfe their best forward and their strength was the number of players that could go through the midfield

 

[Contador]

Our forwardline was looking so good in 2015 when we were really belting some teams. Like that Melbourne game where we were up 76-2 or something. Stringer, Crameri, Dickson, Redpath, the exciting potential of Boyd. All proper forwards. So dynamic. Oh well.

 

[Leon]

Wood has to play back.

I said it in the game day thread - I don’t mind experimenting in pre season but he didn’t show anything to suggest he’d be a dangerous forward.

Against GWS we’ll likely have a KPD trio of Cordy, Adams and Naughton - all young and inexperienced - against their monster forward line of Patton, Cameron, Lobb (all C U Next Tuesdays, but unfortunately good C U Next Tuesday’s).

Easton needs to be back there for both organisation and to help out with double teaming and going 3rd man up.

 

[Golden_6]

Wood has to play back.

I said it in the game day thread - I don’t mind experimenting in pre season but he didn’t show anything to suggest he’d be a dangerous forward.

Against GWS we’ll likely have a KPD trio of Cordy, Adams and Naughton - all young and inexperienced - against their monster forward line of Patton, Cameron, Lobb (all C U Next Tuesdays, but unfortunately good C U Next Tuesday’s).

Easton needs to be back there for both organisation and to help out with double teaming and going 3rd man up.

Lobb will be in the ruck. Himmelberg will be their third tall and is a lot more manageable at 194cm. Although Patton is a big worry.

 

[Mofra]

Lobb will be in the ruck. Himmelberg will be their third tall and is a lot more manageable at 194cm. Although Patton is a big worry.

There is no such position as "third tall" given every team plays 2-3 KPF sized forwards and mixture of ~190cm mid sizers.
Wood is 186cm, he's not KPP size.

I want Wood back but who do we leave out to do it? Biggs is a best 22 lock, Williams looks set to earn his spot, Crozier is playing well and Suckling won't get dropped and we're playing three tall backman because Bevo seems to want us to intercept mark as much as possible.

 

[Golden_6]

There is no such position as "third tall" given every team plays 2-3 KPF sized forwards and mixture of ~190cm mid sizers.
Wood is 186cm, he's not KPP size.

I want Wood back but who do we leave out to do it? Biggs is a best 22 lock, Williams looks set to earn his spot, Crozier is playing well and Suckling won't get dropped and we're playing three tall backman because Bevo seems to want us to intercept mark as much as possible.

Wood Adams Naughton
Biggs Cordy Crozier

Suckling or Williams on the bench. Could potentially play both if one gets pushed to the wing.

 

[Yojimbo]

Ok was Wood's volume up to standard as a forward ?
Probably well definitely not. Is that a good look for
the captain and known huddle maniac, probably not.
Still three goals in two games equates to a 1.5 a
game average or 33 goals over a 22 game season.
It is important to note also that both Hawthorn and
Collingwood are well stocked with good tall backs
not all sides do though so that goal figure could
creep up to 40 to 50 for the season which would
be pretty smick. What we really need is for one of
our glamour talls to remove the digit and demand a
place in the side and give Easton a better match up.

 

[TiAn_]

There is no such position as "third tall" given every team plays 2-3 KPF sized forwards and mixture of ~190cm mid sizers.
Wood is 186cm, he's not KPP size.

I want Wood back but who do we leave out to do it? Biggs is a best 22 lock, Williams looks set to earn his spot, Crozier is playing well and Suckling won't get dropped and we're playing three tall backman because Bevo seems to want us to intercept mark as much as possible.

Williams for mine. Disposal hasn’t been sharp enough in the the JLT.

 

[dogwatch]

There is no such position as "third tall" given every team plays 2-3 KPF sized forwards and mixture of ~190cm mid sizers.
Wood is 186cm, he's not KPP size.

I want Wood back but who do we leave out to do it? Biggs is a best 22 lock, Williams looks set to earn his spot, Crozier is playing well and Suckling won't get dropped and we're playing three tall backman because Bevo seems to want us to intercept mark as much as possible.

At first glance the answer seems obvious. Williams makes way for Wood, since MC seem to view Suckling as untouchable. (Having recruited Crozier in the off-season and played him in JLT 1&2 I doubt we'd start Hayden in the VFL.)

However it's not quite that black and white. Williams isn't the same quality intercept marker or spoiler as Wood and may never be, but he already accumulates more possessions than Wood has averaged over his career and I think his possession rate is only going to increase over the next 1-2 years. What he needs to do is improve his decision making and effective use of the ball.

To add to the problem, Wood's disposal and marking stats (avg/game) have declined by 10% for each of the last two years since his stellar AA year. So in 2017 he was actually 20% down on those stats compared to 2015. (His 1%ers - which cover spoils - have remained steady however).

So if Williams makes way for Wood we could lose something in distribution. (Suckling has much higher possession stats than Wood BTW, and has done so for quite a few years. What Suckling lacks of course is the athleticism, the ability to intercept and put his body on the line like Wood does.)

What clinches it for me is that Williams is still stuffing up his distribution, so in terms of effective disposals he currently has no real advantage over Wood. However if he reduces his error rate it might be a different matter, especially if he starts improving his ability to intercept.

On current form up forward I have Wood in the range 18-22 in the side, although his potential is obviously much higher. He won a CSM after all. If he weren't captain we could even be having a discussion whether or not he even plays ...

Therefore, if MC persists with Wood in attack and if he continues to struggle in that role we lose twice out of it. Something has to change. Either Wood starts to click up forward or we move him back in the hope he'll recapture his best form. Williams can cool his heels and refine his craft in the twos for a while. He will get more opportunities soon enough.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

Apart from Dickson who do we have who you could describe as having natural forward instincts?

Redpath perhaps? Dale? Schache? Probably not Tom Boyd. All of our other small-medium forwards are contrivances of necessity, even Picken.

Clay Smith, before he fell off the cliff.

 

[Tommycash]

Definitely has more impact playing in defence. Send him back.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Our forwardline was looking so good in 2015 when we were really belting some teams. Like that Melbourne game where we were up 76-2 or something. Stringer, Crameri, Dickson, Redpath, the exciting potential of Boyd. All proper forwards. So dynamic. Oh well.

Worth noting we did pinch a flag so not all wasted.

We kicked some cricket scores in 2015 no doubt but that was largely because of our freewheeling style at the time. It also meant teams occasionally scored quickly against us so we changed things.

In 2016 and our forwards found life a lot tougher because the ball wasn’t coming straight up the middle into space anymore. The reality is though that our ability to control the footy and keep the ball in our half of the ground helped us win it, notwithstanding that it made our forwards look crap. Stringer thrives on space and often found he had none in 2016-7.

It’s true that we now lack genuine forwards but I am far more concerned with how we move the ball. Wood could work as a forward but he’s found it tough at least in part because of poor movement into the forward line in the JLT. I think that’ll improve when the real stuff starts but it’s a question of how much.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Clay Smith, before he fell off the cliff.

It’s sad the way that’s played out. Hard to know if it’s attitude or the fact his knee is wrecked. Looked great late 2016 but he might have just been coasting in adrenaline knowing it was his last roll of the dice.

It’s a pretty bad sign he can’t get a run and I wouldn’t be banking on him making an impact. It’s a shame because by finals he looked like a bloke who could average two goals a game and contribute in the middle.

 

[Contador]

Clay Smith and Zaine Cordy kicking multiple high degree of difficulty goals with almost perfect accuracy was one of the more baffling elements of that finals run to me. I'm still not really sure how it happened.

I've always thought Clay lacked so many of the attributes of a successful footballer, but he has proven me wrong in the past with good performances. I mean he's slow, a pretty rubbish kick, short, doesn't have particularly good hands or marking ability. He's mostly just very committed and a good tackler. Not sure why people are writing him off though. Could be a number of reasons he didn't play the pre-season games.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

 

[Anja_Nees]

Flop. Won’t defend it anymore.

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

Flop. Won’t defend it anymore.

He doesn't even look Like a footballer
He makes mason cox look like a superstar

 

[charcoalchicken]

Failed experiment send him back and leave him there where he's actually a decent player.

 

[dish licker]

Wood was our worst player, not a forward ? or sulking ? should at least try.