Forward structure

[baba ganush]

Has Craig ever considered using a one-out forward structure with crumbers? Is it anathema to him?

I'm getting tired of this painful, jumbled mess in our forward line with Walker, Tip and Hentschel all competing for the same ugly high ball.

Surely we need to watch a Carlton or Hawthorn and see how they do it? We've got forward line talent, but our system is consistently dismal.

Oh - and enough of Douglas. Is a passenger and deserves to be in the SANFL.

 

[cmndstab]

To be fair, with the way St. Kilda play we were never going to be one-out with crumbers. There were always going to be loose men in defence, midfielders pushing back, and no space to lead into. With that sort of forward line in front of us the only real way to counter it is to either bomb it long (which we didn't do often enough I felt, especially with Walker and Tippett down there, and Porps making things happen), or to play a lot of forwards and try to force a ball up, and then score off the ruck clearance.


Don't know if Douglas should be in the SANFL but gee he was disappointing last night. At the very least he should have gone to the midfield and someone else up forward because he was doing nothing up there.

 

[smoovy]

The key is to have good crumbers. Not sure about one out forward line, because then all teams will have to do is drop a tall back to fill the hole. Need some talls to compete and bring the ball to ground. Last year I would have said no way as we only had Porps, but this year we can add Petrenko and Walker (also good in air but great on the ground) to that mix. Tippett also competes well on the ground.

Douglas just goes missing for vast periods of time. The 4 kicks and 5 handballs is typical of his output, been around too long now to keep dishing up that crap. Great SANFL player, AFL like rabbit in headlights.

 

[Vantz]

It is an interesting observation that Craig may dislike kicking to a contest any where on the field, especially into the forward 50. However i think our contested ball count was something like negative 30 last night,so you can understand that hesitation.

I've also noticed on occasions the crows have set up with no one in the forward 50 and then running back with a deep kick to about the 25m mark.

Honestly this is ridiculous and one of the worst tactics i have seen implemented by the crows in a long time.

 

[beartoo]

Part of the problem is the ring-a-ring-a'rosy handball before the ball comes forward. Last night the Saints had tons of time to set up before the ball came forward. As a consequence our forwards had no space to lead into. It was a mess, but not of the forwards making. I know it was only a practice match, but our fast movement forward was a feature of our game against the Swans a few weeks ago

 

[smoovy]

I have always wanted to see a side starting 3 forwards out on the left flank boundary line and similarly 3 on the right. Then everyone leading toward the middle. Might create some chaos, but it could be entertaining.

 

[Mego Red]

Don't know if Douglas should be in the SANFL but gee he was disappointing last night. At the very least he should have gone to the midfield and someone else up forward because he was doing nothing up there.

Both Douglas and Vince were playing as forward taggers last night, lessening their impact on the game in exchange for lessening St Kilda's run from the backline.

 

[Caramelas13]

Once we get it through our heads we are not Geelong and we can't run the ball from defence into attack by handball all the time, we might be a decent football team. We don't give our forwards a chance with the style of football we play. Too many turnovers, too many handballs under pressure etc...

Its not the players fault. They are instructed to play like that. Simple as that.

 

[Tails14]

The frustrating part of last nites game was the lack of penetration in kicking to a leading key forward and the reluctance to lead up the corridoe. Why not alter the theh structure and paln and use the options presented. Also it took a quarter before crows manned up with the loose man of st kilda in defence, which meant crows have some one behind the ball but bever seemed to find it ! Smashed at all stoppages and clearences as we appeared to be flat footed and not on the move.
It was so easy to criticise and look to blame but perhaps a moran will offer something at stoppages and around the ground and surely the knights experiment is work in progress.
The general lack of enthusiasm from last week was gone !