forward line changes

[greatwhiteshark]

You are spot on. I know that we will struggle no matter what we do as we have noone to carry the ball through the midfield except Kerr who gets tagged out of it. IT will make a difference however if we let the forward line settle and build some confidence.

This would also help the midfield develop.

We have to go back to the basics while the young players develop. Lynch is the best full forward option we have. Not many other clubs have better. Notte will be good and could slot in on a flank as he is a pretty smart footballer and you can swap when the occasion demands. Don't put Lynch on the ball as although he has played a couple of good games there he is lost most of the time.

Put Hunter back to half back where he plays his best football. Keep Cox rucking and rest him off field. Maybe try McNamara as a crumbing forward? Give the young guys some licence to be attacking rather than purely defensive.

Dead right Winky, I was thinking earlier how a young bloke like Ebert who to this point has not shown us that much yet he is one player that seems to of played in numerous positions. One week half back, the next on a wing, the next in the midfield, the next half forward and he has only played a small amount of football. We all know players must be flexible but there must of been a reason we recruited Ebert as an example? Was a midfielder? A backman? A forward? Something must of made us stand up and say we want this guy.
Lets say for arguements sake it was as a forward? Then that is where he should play in his formative years a majority of the time. There will be times he has to change but generally if he has been recruited to play forward then in my view he should be given a majority of his first 20-30 games as a forward. because I would say 80-90% of the time most players after 20-30 games that play in a familiar role to what they were recruited based on will either make it or they won't. You will know soon enough.
I am finding it very hard to judge many of our young recruits because they play a different role every week. settle them down, the experianced players can fill gaps, give the kids an open licence to just go for it and show us what they got. if we are rebuilding then this should be a priority.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Could even be a case of trading Lynch to someone like the Bulldogs.... I know its bad I shouldnt say it for fear of being eaten but unless he starts to perform to the standard we know he can play he is going to be dropped when Naita and Notte come into the team end of this year or begining of next. And I would hate to see the big guy become depth in our team for young players when he can have some finals success in a really good team and become a "lynch" pin there.

well lynch also has massive yips kicking in front of goal so a trade wouldnt be such a bad thing. a pick or a midfielder would be a good idea.

 

[BOND 007]

Lynch is not the best shot at goal but I have seen plenty worse. He does however demand the ball and generally leads straight and hard - hitting a contest with some vigour. The eagles have such a poor conversion because the leading forwards (the short people of lecras and mcKinley) HAVE to lead wide because
a) it is the only space given the length of time taken to move the ball forward and b) the opposition's big men have dropped into the space directly in front of goals.
Lynch is best suited to FF - leave him there - he will offer WC something.
Note - I have watched Brown play several games now and he is certainly not a natural backman - I think he could be the perfect fit on a HFF slotting into CHF allowing Kennedy to lead up more - like Hansen did. The eagles need 2 players to kick at when coming out of HB - at least they may be a chance of hitting one.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Well yeah. Notte is one of the better contested marks in the team so ideally you would want him roaming inside the F50.

Not sure if he's ready yet.


As for Lynchy.... at least he looks like he is trying. Which is more than we can say for others.

The Less Lynch tries the better he plays.

 

[bwrussell]

I'm starting to wonder whether Hunter's days as a Backmen are over if his shoulders are that bad. Unable to grapple and out muscle opponents. Probably best suited now to playing a roaming half forward role where he can run and jump and take marks. With Glass, Mckenzie, Brown, Spangher. Hurn etc he may not be required down back regardless. Interesting to see how many games he plays this year and where they play him.

 

[Winky]

I'm starting to wonder whether Hunter's days as a Backmen are over if his shoulders are that bad. Unable to grapple and out muscle opponents. Probably best suited now to playing a roaming half forward role where he can run and jump and take marks. With Glass, Mckenzie, Brown, Spangher. Hurn etc he may not be required down back regardless. Interesting to see how many games he plays this year and where they play him.

He played back in the last half last week and the side played better for it. He ran forward, privided and accepted handpasses and targetted players upfield. This gave confidence to our youg backs. Very different to Nikoski who panics, gets caught, gives away free kicks and generally just pumps the ball forward without looking. If any body should be half forward it should be him. Also, Brown looks a bit lost on the flank. He looks a lot better at CHB and maybe MacKenzie could be freed up a bit to run. If that doesn't work then Brown has to go forward.

 

[bwrussell]

He played back in the last half last week and the side played better for it. He ran forward, privided and accepted handpasses and targetted players upfield. This gave confidence to our youg backs. Very different to Nikoski who panics, gets caught, gives away free kicks and generally just pumps the ball forward without looking. If any body should be half forward it should be him. Also, Brown looks a bit lost on the flank. He looks a lot better at CHB and maybe MacKenzie could be freed up a bit to run. If that doesn't work then Brown has to go forward.

I don't think Mckenzie needs to go any further up the ground. I can't see him being a damaging player running forward and using the ball forward of centre. Much pefer to see the ball in Hurn's etc hands. EMac is a solid player and a dependable defender but can't see him being used in a creative half back role. At least not at this stage of his career. Wouldn't mind see Brown going forward in the next few weeks just for some variety. Nicoski plays in the backline or not at all.

 

[Level_Headed]

I liked the run that Hunter provided when he went back last week. If he still has the required flexibilty in his shoulder to spoil and wrestle then i would leave him back and occassionally throw him forward to try and rustle up a goal.

I would also like to see Brown and Kennedy in the key forward posts. I reckon that they could rotate through FF and CHF as each player has slightly different skill sets and i think that they have the potential to unbalance planning by opposition coaches.

 

[Eagle Ant]

Its obvious that we are missing 1 small crumbing forward like Leon davis, Cyril Rioli and Milne.
To combat that maybe take a leaf out of Geelongs game plan.
They use Ablett as a crumbing forward when their midfield are at full strength like this:
C: Corey, Selwood, Kelly
RR: Ottens, Bartell, Ling

They then have a Forward structure like this:
HF: S.Johnson, T.Hawkins, P.Chapman
FF: G.ABLETT, Mooney, S.Byrnes


So maybe what we should try to do is this (Not this week but next)
C: Rosa, A.Selwood, Swift
RR: Cox, Masten, Priddis

Then set the forward up like this:
HF: Ebert, Kennedy, Embley
FF: D.KERR, Lynch, LeCras

We all know Kerr can kick a goal and we Know that he read the play so he can dominate as a crumber and then move in and out of the midfield taking the No1 tagger from the other team with him deep into our foward line. I cant see (using as an Example) Cam Ling stopping Kerr close to goal without the assistance from his other Mids like Corey and Chapman plus if Ling does grab Kerr like he would in the middle it will be a AUTOMATIC free kick and close to goal.

What do you reckon

 

[lewigie]

Would put alot of pressure on Ling, because if he gives away a free it's almost a certain goal..

Good plan, but I think we've tried doing that in the Hawthorn game, but the ball just never got into our forward line.

 

[bodazoka]

Robbing Paul to pay Peter (I think is the phrase) especially considering Priddis has been missing from a few games and Cockie has been de-elevated. In a team where Cockie and Priddis are playing we would be able to chuck Kerr in the forward line however this hasent happened frequently.

I would like to see Kerr in the forward line purely because I know Kennedy would be the only bloke willing to stick up for him. It may not be at clearances doing the blocking work for him but Kennedy wouldnt mind chucking the knee out in a "marking contest" or running through Kerrs tagger if he had the oppertunity. I think Kerrs future as of round 1 next year will be in the forward line as a crummer with 1-2 quarters playing midfield, Masten, Ebert and Scooter will have another pre-season under there belts with bigger bodies, Cockie may be elevated. So the kids should be able to take care of thereselves in a clearance by round 1 next year, I could also see Staker as a blocker/tagger for them in the middle also.

 

[PRANKSTER666]

Robbing Paul to pay Peter (I think is the phrase) especially considering Priddis has been missing from a few games and Cockie has been de-elevated. In a team where Cockie and Priddis are playing we would be able to chuck Kerr in the forward line however this hasent happened frequently.

I would like to see Kerr in the forward line purely because I know Kennedy would be the only bloke willing to stick up for him. It may not be at clearances doing the blocking work for him but Kennedy wouldnt mind chucking the knee out in a "marking contest" or running through Kerrs tagger if he had the oppertunity. I think Kerrs future as of round 1 next year will be in the forward line as a crummer with 1-2 quarters playing midfield, Masten, Ebert and Scooter will have another pre-season under there belts with bigger bodies, Cockie may be elevated. So the kids should be able to take care of thereselves in a clearance by round 1 next year, I could also see Staker as a blocker/tagger for them in the middle also.

I disagree he should be played out of position in the forward line where he will still get a hard tag and will not be effectively used.

We are paying him insane amounts of money. We need to persist with him through the middle and hope he can learn to handle the tag better and start getting some help from other team mates both directly and indirectly as they mature with more games under their belt.

Unfortunately he just needs to suck it up week in week out, that's what we are paying him to do and that is what he does best. It really hurts that our most damaging player doesn't get the chance or space to stamp his influence on the game but I do believe it will come with time...

Head down thumbs up!

 

[greatwhiteshark]

I disagree he should be played out of position in the forward line where he will still get a hard tag and will not be effectively used.

We are paying him insane amounts of money. We need to persist with him through the middle and hope he can learn to handle the tag better and start getting some help from other team mates both directly and indirectly as they mature with more games under their belt.

Unfortunately he just needs to suck it up week in week out, that's what we are paying him to do and that is what he does best. It really hurts that our most damaging player doesn't get the chance or space to stamp his influence on the game but I do believe it will come with time...

Head down thumbs up!

Could not agree more, he is supposed to be an A Grade player, suck it up and find a way to have an influence as Judd, Ablett, Mitchel, Cousins etc etc can.
Kerr is good enough and yes he needs some help but he has to find a way. Moving him to other positions is a sign of weekness.