Forward Line

[Duskfire]

I know its only round 3 so theres nothing to be too worried about, but our forward line doesn't seem to be gelling so well together at the moment. Mooney and Johnson especially aren't getting as much of the ball as they used to, and usually end up kicking a point regardless. Hawkins is young so he is bound to be inconsistent.

Do you guys think its because of Nablett, and that his departure is a much bigger loss then it first seems?

 

[CF]

Maybe. But I do think Mooney has lost some form or confidence in kicking for goals. Dog is getting more tagging attention, Byrnes can't kick a goal to save his life, and Hawkins is still learning but shows promise. That means we require players like Gaz, bartel, Ling, Chappy, & Stokes to kick goals.

It could be losing nathan has upset the balance as Nathan used to draw a player out of the 50 quite a lot so the others had more freedom.

Also it doesn't help that Melb are flooding

 

[Brasil2007]

Mooney is badly out of form. Rookey is pretty poor too.

Mark Blake has now kicked one more goal in the last six quarters of footy than Mooney has!

Gamble or Pris definitely have a home in that forward line. Gamble in particular is a nice option close to the square.

 

[Hood007]

Seems like we're missing Gamble today.
Would help if we had've kicked a bit straighter today though...

 

[Brasil2007]

Seems like we're missing Gamble today.
Would help if we had've kicked a bit straighter today though...

They've been a bit lazy. Mooney set the tempo with that shot at goal in the first few minutes.

Mind you he has obviously not paid enough into the umpires benevolent fund - seriously he gets robbed for at least one or two obvious free kicks a quarter.

Jesus what a leap from Tomahawk!

 

[Hood007]

Love Hawkins' game.
5 goals, top effort.
The fella has some agility that's for sure...

 

[Herbs]

We played like shit, good thing that we weren't playing a top team. But on the positive, Hawkins did some great things. Oh and Nathan Carroll has the worst, most w***er-eske haircut that I have EVER seen. Shocker.

 

[thejester]

We were definitely missing Gamble...but also crumbers in general. Johnson was well held (often literally, bloody umpires) by Bruce this week and was tagged last week as wel, so he's clearly been identified as the danger man. Hawkins as was often stated in the commentary kicked more crumbing goals than ones from the mark, though his second half was encouraging. At the moment I'd think the answer is to keep Stokes down back more often. Also not convinced by Rooke as the link man, but in hindsight his time in the middle is probably limited by lack of fitness and this may change as the year continues.

The biggest single problem, though, is the refusal to take responsibility and kick a goal. So many times players dished off rather than have a shot, either from a bad angle (Hawkins and Mooney) or in a pack (Ablett, Chapman and SJ). It's part of our bigger problem of overpossession, but it's particularly telling there because forwards exist to kick goals but ours don't seem to want to.

 

[PoidaCat]

***shakes head***

do people watch the game?

It's not the forward line..

it's the midfield and half backs ____ing around with the ball..

 

[smelly cat]

***shakes head***

do people watch the game?

It's not the forward line..

it's the midfield and half backs ____ing around with the ball..

agreed.

Very lazy performance today, they weren't that hungry. But they did what they needed to with no injuries and without expending too much gas.

 

[Brasil2007]

agreed.

Very lazy performance today, they weren't that hungry. But they did what they needed to with no injuries and without expending too much gas.

I'd have to say that a lot of the stuffing around with the ball came because players ahead of the ball weren't working hard enough to create options.

Melbourne also played very, very well to a game plan that perfectly suited the ground and the opponent. They'd beat most teams in the comp with that effort, even though their skills at times were poor (at times they were very good though).

Lets face it though a couple of posters, Moondog's out on the full and miss from right in front, Ablett missing a couple he'd kick every other week - we had enough of the ball in the forward line to be at least another three or four goals up at half time.

Our forward line pressure was pretty poor at times too - the ball moved out far too easily.