Prediction Fixing our forward line

[Smegger]

Are you talking about Casboult or in general?

I think the individual coaching has improved immensely under Bolton Barker Fraser & Co. Sometimes players just simply aren't good enough and I feel we have a lot that fall into that category

We do. Sound technique in the basics is something to be addressed in junior footy. So if there's serious problems i see it more of a recruiting issue. The exceptions are international rookies and other non-footy playing athletes as they're basically a blank sheet to work with. Even if years of bad technique is successfully changed they're still coming from a long way back and prone to revert to old ways under pressure.

 

[therubbernub]

You guys know that there is another team playing right? We are not playing footy in a vacuum . All of these "basics" are much harder to do when you have skilled defenders closing down space, intercepting, double/triple teaming etc etc.
The best forwards setups have a combination of skills , smarts, experience, and fitness. We certainly are lacking in the experience department as they simply are too young or havent been playing together long enough. The younger players are also challenged in the fitness department. Levi has one skill just kicking is not one of them. We dont yet have a player like a nick riewaldt to run the opposition off their feet.
I personally think that we need Weitering to play forward this year to give us some much needed structure and reliability.
We seemed to have unearthed a creative small forward in Pickett
McKay will have to be given time up forward to learn his craft and he may surprise- due to his height
Jack is smart and creative and if he kicks 1-2 per game and maintains forward pressure -and he seems to be doing this then he will be handy
It was reported by others that smedts was unlucky not to have kicked a few goals
Charlie could rotate up forward and midfield and provide some unpredictability.
Can Jaksch be given time ? He seems destined to be played in the 2's yet he has the ability. Perhaps its his defensive pressure?

Once the match committee settle on a starting line up and the players know where they are going to play , i think we will get incremental improvement each week in our forward line. I know every side is doing the same , its just that we have so much inexperience that it pertains to us the most

 

[Jabba73]

Levi playing at FF is like throwing 20 spanners into a well-oiled machine and then acting surprised when the only way to get it working again is to forcibly remove all the spanners.

Having Levi is like picking up a battered Datsun 180B from the wreckers to race against guys who get newer cars.

Levi is tuned up the best he can be, however the sponsors wonder why he won't get to 100 in less than 5 seconds and why he steers hard left under acceleration.

One day, after everyone getting sick of him driving off the road constantly, Levi gets taken to a mechanic who manages to temporarily fix the steering and advises he needs to come back after each race to realign it.

After a while, the team boss thinks that Levi is driving okay so stop taking him to the mechanic then seem surprised he starts to steer hard left again.

The old pit crew kept putting on the wrong tyres, occasionally use a different fuel mix and kept the same race strategy because that was how he had always done it and it had worked on other race tracks.

The driver was the biggest concern. He was able to show up and decide how hard he wanted to work each race. Sometimes he would fight through traffic and other times he would fumble the gear changes, only accelerate downhill and didn't know how to overtake to Levi's advantage. He would simply throw Levi into a cornering contest and hope he could smash his way between all the other cars. For a long time no one blamed the driver, they simply complained about Levi.

To the relief of sponsors, Levi has had a change in pit crew and now has a better chance of being competitive. The mechanic is back however the driver still lacks the ability to overcome Levi's issues and give him enough chances to win races.

Some sponsors want to go and get another driver from another race crew to see if they are any better while others want to throw Levi away and start again with the shell of a Monster Truck they picked up at the car auction a couple of years back. Neither are necessarily wrong but both will take time to change the race results. Levi maybe has a couple of race seasons left before his engine packs it in, not sure if he gets given the chance to continue.

All the practice sessions have been held at a secret location so no one is sure how the new season will take shape.

The crew boss is still talking about rebuilding.

 

[huddler]

LeBois McKay Pickett
Silvagni Charlie Jaksch

All good kicks. So much potential. Jeez I'd love to see it.

 

[Metalcrusher]

Just read this article .... nearly cried again ....

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/ade...l/news-story/2c05d387442c0697ec0a1d562ffc3054

189 goals in three seasons ........ FMD.

 

[The Smoking Gun]

I'd be interested to know which signs off the field are pointing to the club going back to its old ways.

For another thread msr, but I will address it.

 

[Soapy V]

Just read this article .... nearly cried again ....

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/ade...l/news-story/2c05d387442c0697ec0a1d562ffc3054

189 goals in three seasons ........ FMD.

Look at it this way Metal. He wouldn't have kicked that many with our midfield and we had to hit rock bottom before finalising realising what we need to do to go back to the top. Losing Betts was part of it.

 

[BlueGum]

Having Levi is like picking up a battered Datsun 180B from the wreckers to race against guys who get newer cars.

Levi is tuned up the best he can be, however the sponsors wonder why he won't get to 100 in less than 5 seconds and why he steers hard left under acceleration.

One day, after everyone getting sick of him driving off the road constantly, Levi gets taken to a mechanic who manages to temporarily fix the steering and advises he needs to come back after each race to realign it.

After a while, the team boss thinks that Levi is driving okay so stop taking him to the mechanic then seem surprised he starts to steer hard left again.

The old pit crew kept putting on the wrong tyres, occasionally use a different fuel mix and kept the same race strategy because that was how he had always done it and it had worked on other race tracks.

The driver was the biggest concern. He was able to show up and decide how hard he wanted to work each race. Sometimes he would fight through traffic and other times he would fumble the gear changes, only accelerate downhill and didn't know how to overtake to Levi's advantage. He would simply throw Levi into a cornering contest and hope he could smash his way between all the other cars. For a long time no one blamed the driver, they simply complained about Levi.

To the relief of sponsors, Levi has had a change in pit crew and now has a better chance of being competitive. The mechanic is back however the driver still lacks the ability to overcome Levi's issues and give him enough chances to win races.

Some sponsors want to go and get another driver from another race crew to see if they are any better while others want to throw Levi away and start again with the shell of a Monster Truck they picked up at the car auction a couple of years back. Neither are necessarily wrong but both will take time to change the race results. Levi maybe has a couple of race seasons left before his engine packs it in, not sure if he gets given the chance to continue.

All the practice sessions have been held at a secret location so no one is sure how the new season will take shape.

The crew boss is still talking about rebuilding.

Wrong thread

 

[The Smoking Gun]

Just read this article .... nearly cried again ....

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/ade...l/news-story/2c05d387442c0697ec0a1d562ffc3054

189 goals in three seasons ........ FMD.

He only gets the 4th or 5th best defender playing in the Crows forward line, whereas he'd cop the 1st or 2nd playing for us. People conveniently leave that stuff out.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

He only gets the 4th or 5th best defender playing in the Crows forward line, whereas he'd cop the 1st or 2nd playing for us. People conveniently leave that stuff out.

He's their number 1 small... He'll get every teams number 1 small defender every week.

 

[The Smoking Gun]

You guys know that there is another team playing right? We are not playing footy in a vacuum . All of these "basics" are much harder to do when you have skilled defenders closing down space, intercepting, double/triple teaming etc etc.
The best forwards setups have a combination of skills , smarts, experience, and fitness. We certainly are lacking in the experience department as they simply are too young or havent been playing together long enough. The younger players are also challenged in the fitness department. Levi has one skill just kicking is not one of them. We dont yet have a player like a nick riewaldt to run the opposition off their feet.
I personally think that we need Weitering to play forward this year to give us some much needed structure and reliability.
We seemed to have unearthed a creative small forward in Pickett
McKay will have to be given time up forward to learn his craft and he may surprise- due to his height
Jack is smart and creative and if he kicks 1-2 per game and maintains forward pressure -and he seems to be doing this then he will be handy
It was reported by others that smedts was unlucky not to have kicked a few goals
Charlie could rotate up forward and midfield and provide some unpredictability.
Can Jaksch be given time ? He seems destined to be played in the 2's yet he has the ability. Perhaps its his defensive pressure?

Once the match committee settle on a starting line up and the players know where they are going to play , i think we will get incremental improvement each week in our forward line. I know every side is doing the same , its just that we have so much inexperience that it pertains to us the most

Nice post trn

• We bitch & whinge that we don't have any quality forwards and when we do get one we shove him in the midfield for a return of 13 disposals @ 56% efficiency averaged over 2 games and people here say how well he's doing. That's Buckley-type stuff...it's bullshit. Did we really use a first round pick on a bloke who was expected to go top 5 simply to reduce him to the level of a two-bit hack??? If the point of the experiment is to teach the kid to hold his feet after attempting to mark and then find and hunt the ball on the deck in a contested situation under pressure then I can go with that, but not on a permanent basis based upon what I've seen.
• Putting Charlie in the middle destroys the structure and balance of the forward line to such an extent that we're forced to put our gun once-in-a-generation defender into the front half to restore that structure and balance.
• Weitering as a CHF doesn't work for me especially if he has to go up to the wings to the majority of his marks and possessions. The opposition doesn't care if he gets the ball 70+ metres from goal because he can't hurt them from out there. That's Henderson-type stuff. If he's going to play forward then it's at FF or GTFO. He can get the ball on the wings by playing at CHB and following up his defensive work to provide another option through the middle.
• Putting Weitering up forward also requires restructuring the defence to point where we need to play the likes of ASOS. My point being between moving both Charlie and then using Weitering to cover for him, we rob Peter to pay Paul not just once, but twice.
• We actually do have a player like Nick Riewoldt to run the opposition off their feet. Meet Charlie Curnow. At 194cm with a huge tank, can take a mark, a big jump at the ball and plenty of pace, has anyone ever thought to play Charlie Curnow as a mobile CHF??? Might be worth a shot I reckon. Might just let us keep Weitering where he does his best work too.
• I agree with you re McKay, but I also agree with Stig O'Hara. He's bloody raw, but given that I'm unlikely to get much of a return out of Jaksch, Gorringe or Jones then I'd rather invest at least 11 games into him this season.

 

[The Smoking Gun]

He's their number 1 small... He'll get every teams number 1 small defender every week.

Lost count how many times Dustin Fletcher towelled up Betts.

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Nice post trn

• We bitch & whinge that we don't have any quality forwards and when we do get one we shove him in the midfield for a return of 13 disposals @ 56% efficiency averaged over 2 games and people here say how well he's doing. That's Buckley-type stuff...it's bullshit. Did we really use a first round pick on a bloke who was expected to go top 5 simply to reduce him to the level of a two-bit hack??? If the point of the experiment is to teach the kid to hold his feet after attempting to mark and then find and hunt the ball on the deck in a contested situation under pressure then I can go with that, but not on a permanent basis based upon what I've seen.
• Putting Charlie in the middle destroys the structure and balance of the forward line to such an extent that we're forced to put our gun once-in-a-generation defender into the front half to restore that structure and balance.

Having a crack at Charlie's output in the middle (over a couple of preseason practice matches no less), while suggesting he's integral to the balance & structure of our forward line is mind boggling. That output you're bemoaning isn't dissimilar to his output in the forward line so far. Because he's a 19 YEAR OLD FFS

• Weitering as a CHF doesn't work for me especially if he has to go up to the wings to the majority of his marks and possessions. The opposition doesn't care if he gets the ball 70+ metres from goal because he can't hurt them from out there. That's Henderson-type stuff. If he's going to play forward then it's at FF or GTFO. He can get the ball on the wings by playing at CHB and following up his defensive work to provide another option through the middle.

We've spent 10 years bombing the ball into the forward 50 to opposition defenders; safe to say that experiment hasn't worked. Our best field kick getting the ball 70+m from goal certainly can hurt the opposition. He also kicked 1.1 so he clearly got the ball closer than 70+m out several times.

 

[The Smoking Gun]

Having a crack at Charlie's output in the middle (over a couple of preseason practice matches no less), while suggesting he's integral to the balance & structure of our forward line is mind boggling. That output you're bemoaning isn't dissimilar to his output in the forward line so far. Because he's a 19 YEAR OLD FFS

We've spent 10 years bombing the ball into the forward 50 to opposition defenders; safe to say that experiment hasn't worked. Our best field kick getting the ball 70+m from goal certainly can hurt the opposition. He also kicked 1.1 so he clearly got the ball closer than 70+m out several times.

Come again??? McKay's pretty nimble for 204cm and has good pace so can we play him in the middle too??? Would you rather ASOS or Weitering as your gun KPD???

 

[Thrawn]

Out of our young defenders Weitering, Macreadie, Marchbank, Plowman and Glass-McCasker, Weitering will be our best player but IMO Macreadie has the skills to be the best forward out of the group.

You could say he's... MacReady to play.

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Come again??? McKay's pretty nimble for 204cm and has good pace so can we play him in the middle too??? Would you rather ASOS or Weitering as your gun KPD???

Or Cripps is 195cm better stick him at full forward? Or perhaps just wait for a player to develop a little before the melt downs start. Honestly this is embarrassing for me to be in this conversation now

 

[Jimmae]

Just stick them all at FF and build the setup around them

or the ruck

or the midfield

or at F... *smoke pours out of Jim's head*

 

[The Smoking Gun]

Or Cripps is 195cm better stick him at full forward? Or perhaps just wait for a player to develop a little before the melt downs start. Honestly this is embarrassing for me to be in this conversation now

You should be embarrassed. I haven't said that either of them can't play football or won't be good players. What I have said is that I think Charlie is a better forward than a midfielder and Weitering is a better defender than he is a forward. You really don't have the capacity to look at results objectively do you???

 

[Beer n Skittles]

You should be embarrassed. I haven't said that either of them can't play football or won't be good players. What I have said is that I think Charlie is a better forward than a midfielder and Weitering is a better defender than he is a forward. You really don't have the capacity to look at results objectively do you???

Yeah you did, you said playing Charlie in the midfield would "reduce him to the level of a two-bit hack".
You also didn't say that Weitering is a better defender than he is a forward, you said that him getting the ball 70+m from goal can't hurt the opposition.
Can you not even remember your own absurd hyperbole?

Perhaps Charlie, after not getting his chance to play midfield at TAC level, is still determined to have a crack at it. I doubt he'd change his mind. Maybe the club rewarded him with a chance to play there in some meaningless practice matches after a big preseason. Maybe they fully intend to play him forward during actual matches and this has all been for nothing?

 

[Iamcarlton]

How does anybody really know weitering is a better defender than forward hes spent only a small portion of his time forward .

So basing an opinion on this isnt sound as he has spent little time forward at the club .Of which he has looked good when he has .

I like him forward but its really only conjecture giving an opinion as to what position he is better suited too .

At the end of the day its what is better for the team with a bountiful amount of tall defenders in our side and coming through its probably clear that 1 or 2 of them were going to spend time forward this season .

Most were happy to experiment in the preseason seems that attitude has changed considerably now . Gun CHF FF are a hell of a lot harder to find than same for FB CHB .

Who knows he could be the next N Reiwoldt do we deny ourselves that chance to find out .

Hes way ahead of his age smarts wise he can and i think will take it in his stride if hes asked to be a swingman .

 

[bmaurizio]

LeBois McKay Pickett
Silvagni Charlie Jaksch

All good kicks. So much potential. Jeez I'd love to see it.

Love that line up for the Forward line , I'd fit in Kreuzer in somewhere for muscle and protection fr the youngsters.
Also not forgeting rotations from SPS too.
At least by year's end we'd know where we stand.
Go Baggers

 

[thylacine60]

Loving the Labour Day post-slam in here. We haven't had a leading forward since shitforbrains Fev left. Then Eddie became our FF. We will improve.

 

[thylacine60]

Guess I forget Waite. Funny how easy that was to do.

 

[Jabba73]

Lost count how many times Dustin Fletcher towelled up Betts.

Because he zoned off knowing we would bomb it on Eddie's head. Had about 2 feet extra reach on him too, we made Fletcher's job too easy for him.

 

[Smegger]

Wrong tread