Forward set-up

[chapmanmagic35]

With the amount of quality talls St Kilda have, I have a few questions to ask you St Kilda fans as you are all more qualified to answer this than I am:

- Where is Koschitzke's best position?

- If Koschitzke is used as a forward, do you see Riewoldt playing the tall roaming player/wingman role?

Thoughts?

 

[JeffDunne]

Kosi's primary role if fit will be as a ruckman rotating through the forward line. If needed he may have to fill in at CHB but that would be a stetch (IMO).

I think Roo will still play mainly at CHF. Depending on the opposition and the tactics they employ he will often be moved up the ground. Until Watts is capable of playing CHF then Roo is clearly the best option there.

 

[Kildonan]

JeffDunne is spot on.

Kosi is our ruckman, but he is more than that; he can play anywhere, that versatility affords Kosi a special role in our team. He becomes a mobile mismatch.
Thomas can move Kosi to positions on the field which either demands that the opposition coach respond by moving one of his talls onto him (thus potentially causing a mismatch elsewhere), or that he allows a mismatch which Kosi is very good at capitalising on.

Nick Riewoldt appears to be training for a more mobile role than CHF.
I think he will play part of his games on the ball, either from the wing or as ruck rover. I believe that Fergus Watts is being groomed for taking over CHF temporarily while Roo does this. We saw from the NAB Cup match against Collingwood that Watts has a way to go yet before he fills that role adequately, but this game is all about evolving and improving all the time and I'm sure that he will make it.
When playing CHF, Riewoldt is the focal point of our attack, he is hard to match up against due to his speed agility and marking ability.

Hamill is a vital cog in the St Kilda forward line machine.
He is inspirational when he is on song and he is due for a good uninterupted season. His forte is keeping the ball in the forward line when it seems likely to be cleared. His attack on the ball and the man with the ball makes him one of the most feared opponents for a defender to match up upon.

Fraser Gehrig is huge and demands the biggest strongest defender each week. This means that the other forwards get the second and third string defenders. He remains the most effective forward in the AFL and is the cornerstone of our attack.

Milne fills the small opportunistic forward role to a tee. He has aspirations of making it in the midfield and I hope that he can fulfill these ambitions, but I see him chiefly as a crumbing forward. He is the most effective small crumbing forward in the league averaging more than 2 goals per match for his whole career.

Resting on-baller: a role filled by many of our on-ballers now, although this has been only a recent addition to Grant Thomas's repertoire of tactics. Luke Ball seems to be filling this role ATM but this may be an OP precautionary measure. Nick Dal Santo has filled this role very successfully as have others.

Brendan Goddard is the next big thing in the St Kilda forward line. If the Saints can remain relatively undisturbed by injuries, the Saints will have the luxury of finding a permanent spot for Goddard. He will be a great attacking half forward flanker. He always looks impressive when he plays there. Unfortunately he has been needed to fill holes in the backline for most of 2005, but I expect him to make the HFF his own in 2006. He is one of the better kicks in the team, the first choice for "supergoals" when one is needed and his defensive experience will be invaluable across the half forward line.

 

[SaintBot]

HF: Hamill Koschitzke X.Clarke
FF: Milne Gehrig Watts

gives us the right balance of small fast crumbers and tall timber

 

[m.diddy]

Kosi seriously has the makings of one of the best players you'll ever see.

The guy takes anything that comes near him and was awesome when moving forward last year when riewoldt was out. That being said his best position for our side will be him playing ruck with Ackland rotating in the forward line and possibly the other dropping back. they will make an awesome team.

 

[ChrisL#12]

HF: Hamill Koschitzke X.Clarke
FF: Milne Gehrig Watts

gives us the right balance of small fast crumbers and tall timber

HF: Koschitzke Riewoldt Goddard
FF: Milne Gehrig Hamill

This type of Set-Up may be a little unconventional but to me it looks like a very solid mix on paper. What do you think?

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Fully agree with everything JB and Stkildonan said.

IMO, our forward line should be:

HF: Goddard, Riewoldt, Harvey
F: Milne, Gehrig, Hamill

I hope in the future Hamill plays deeper forward so he's not constantly running to the centre to kill himself, and just concerntrates on kicking a few goals and only killing one or two opposition players.

As for Harvs, I think he's in for a 30-40 goal season. He struggles to run out one quarter in the midfield, but is comfortable in the forward line and has drastically improved his goal-kicking. I believe if Harvs plays as a HF flanker, occasionally running back into the midfield he could average 20 possessions and two goals. As Stkildonan said, we're often playing a resting midfielder in the forward line, perhaps when that happens Harvs could switch places with them, then swap back in ten or so minutes.

Also, I can't see how anyone would put Watts in our best 22. He struggled badly on Sunday, and has a long, long way to go before he's even considered for selection. ATM the only senior players behind him would be Raymond and Sweeney.