Strategy How can Bev salvage our season?

[Braybrook Son]

Now we all know Bev is big on versatility, but I think his versatility mantra only includes a certain proportion of our squad such as midfielders resting forward and vice versa or key forwards pinch hitting in the ruck.

We really are yet to see defenders thrown around in midfield or up forward or vice versa on a regular basis, Eade did this regularly with Lake, Gilbee, Welsh, Hahn and Murph over the years with mixed results but at least he tried, can Bev do similar with JJ, with Roughy, with Hunter, with Roberts, with Hamling?

With our mounting injury toll and the fact we are brought undone regularly by teams who pressure our ball carriers coming off half back and through midfield which stagnates forward moves, can trying a few different things add a different dynamic that will ultimately see us find easier avenues to score which has been an issue all year as we are just far too predictable and lack options with no Crameri or McLean and you can add Redpath now to that list.


Options I think are worth trying

Roughy starting games as a permanent defender playing on the gorillas: Roughy took Bruce to the cleaners once he went back and was our safest pair of hands behind the ball, Brian Lake was the same for years with us, best pair of hands behind the ball, if Bev can trust Minson and Campbell can this work against the right opponent? Hawkins potentially looms as an opportunity for this as Roberts was ragdolled by him last time.

Hunter to half back and JJ moved further forward: We have seen Stringer moved into the guts regularly when he can't get into the game and all we use him in there for is his speed, if Jong can't provide it then why not JJ? Stringer is vital up forward for us now with no Redpath, I don't think we can throw him into the guts or Bontempelli forward much more from now on, it's just robbing Peter to pay Paul as Stringer is a better forward and Bont is a better midfielder. Hunter has spent quarters this year behind the ball, imo he's the obvious candidate to drop back if JJ pushes up where we can use his speed and linebreaking ability.

Stringer to centre half forward: We need someone who hits up, I'd rather Stringer roaming around and presenting and using his brain where he can make an impact. He has speed, he has power, he's fast on the lead and is rarely beaten on the lead, use his strengths in an area we are deprived in, when s**t hits the fan coming out of defence because we are pressured and go wide/turnover the ball,why do we turn it over? It's because we have no outlets to kick to, Stringer has to provide this outlet, McCartney used him at times in this role and I know he can play it. The only hit up type we've had all year has been McLean, McLean has got injured playing this sort of role the last two years from impact injuries trying to mark the ball and imo his body can't handle it yet, I'd rather Jake present and we know he can kick 55-60m bombs, he will still get on the scoreboard in this role imo.

Hamling or Roberts as a leading forward: Well if Bev doesn't want to play Stringer in this role then why not one of these two? Nothing to lose imo.

Jong in the guts as a linebreaker from a clearance/stoppage: We know he has linebreaking ability as shown in our VFL premiership campaign, our midfield lacks this type of burst from a clearance player which St Kilda exposed us last night with Jack Steven as Stringer has been thrown into the guts for speed at times, can Jong be used in this role in bursts if Libba or Bont or Macrae etc are feeding him the ball.

Using Picken as a key player again and not a jack of all trades between the arcs type: With Wallis and Redpath down I really think Bev needs to turn to his most experienced midfielder and use him either as a crash and bash midfield extractor like he was last year when Libba went down, or as a key small forward who will help give us another forward option to help our lack of spread. What is it Bev? He's our most versatile player on our list who can play back, forward, midfield or tag, utilise him please.

Tom Boyd playing 100% forward: Bev needs trust in Minson and Campbell for this to happen, but with Redpath down we need a target up forward 100% of the time so when we start bombing it in we aren't constantly outmarked by defenders peeling off as happened in all of our losses this year except the Hawthorn loss. Tom dropped a few last night but most importantly he wasn't beaten in the air when he was forward, once he gets some confidence and consistency in a role he will start to deliver imo. For structural sakes Bev has to put his stubbornness aside and find a way to nullify Minson's and Campbell's deficiencies and use their strengths to our advantage. Nothing more gets me infuriated than getting outmarked constantly inside 50 which means we can't score, give me guys who if they can't catch it, they bring it to ground and aren't beaten in the air, Boyd and Campbell have this ability even if they are slow and immobile.

Joker in the pack: Easton Wood forward. The bloke is so good in the air, can this be used to our advantage? We probably can't do this with Morris out, but if Morris is only a 1-2 weeker I'd like to see this tried against Essendon or Fremantle, who knows how this could go come finals as a YOLO option.

There's a few more options out there but these were the main ones off the top of my head, are there any other moves or gameplans Bev could try to give us a different element as I feel we are too predictable. IMO men of mayhem has a place in our team (seen what pressure does to us by Geelong and St Kilda), but will Bev revert back to this style?

Won't happen. Bev has been unbelievable for us, but he has to start working on his faults. He WILL not make enough moves i.e. try some of the things mentioned here. We'd all love to see them, but us fans don't have any say in the coach's box!

 

[Mofra]

Won't happen. Bev has been unbelievable for us, but he has to start working on his faults. He WILL not make enough moves i.e. try some of the things mentioned here. We'd all love to see them, but us fans don't have any say in the coach's box!

Boyd to the backline
Picken/Wallis as forwards
Libba resting forward
Roughy back to the ruck
Tom Boyd to the ruck
Ayce Cordy on the field
Brett Goodes in the ruck

I think he's tried quite a few different things as coach personally.

 

[Braybrook Son]

On Sat night, I saw the ball come in 3 times in the first qtr to Clay Smith 1 on 1. Why is this happening? How many coaches do we need out there?

 

[BRWB]

Boyd to the backline
Picken/Wallis as forwards
Libba resting forward
Roughy back to the ruck
Tom Boyd to the ruck
Ayce Cordy on the field
Brett Goodes in the ruck

I think he's tried quite a few different things as coach personally.

Yep you can add in playing Jong in the ruck against Sandilands. (Ayce was on the field that day and matched up well on, but was just beaten by a goal post in a tight battle IIRC)

 

[Braybrook Son]

Hurley could play fwd.

We don't have any AFL standard KPDs either unless you count Adams who is more a second or third tall IMO.

And we have two ok rucks who held all the best rucks earlier this yr.

KP wise, we are literally spineless at present. Hurley, an AA KP, is a good start and I can't see how we can be critical of the club for going after him.

Adams has been our best tall defender all year. And we've missed him and struggled big time when he's been injured. Adams and Hurley next year as our KPD's for mine!

 

[Braybrook Son]

Yep you can add in playing Jong in the ruck against Sandilands. (Ayce was on the field that day and matched up well on, but was just beaten by a goal post in a tight battle IIRC)

Yeah, and with us not tagging Fyfe that night, he tore us a new one with nearly 50 possessions!

 

[go you pups]

Yeah, and with us not tagging Fyfe that night, he tore us a new one with nearly 50 possessions!

He 30 and 3d

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

Brian Lake kicked 34 goals, 32 of which were with the Bulldogs those
are Tom Boyd numbers. Worked only one time pfft. The major thing
different to Tom Boyd was the fact that he was also getting 20
plus possessions at full back. Over 20 of those goals came in the
period the move was first suggested.

Pfft...
Lake moving himself forward of his own volition and turning / winning a game happened once and once only against Melbourne in the wet at the G.
Back to your stats

 

[Fossie 32]

Just saw a bit of an interview with Bob [360?] and he said 'We have to get the train back on the tracks and head on down the freeway.'

 

[VitalDread]

Kick more goals and stop oppo kicking goals

 

[dogwatch]

Just saw a bit of an interview with Bob [360?] and he said 'We have to get the train back on the tracks and head on down the freeway.'

His metaphors seem to have caught the wrong tram.

 

[BEaston]

Just have Minson as main ruck and Roughy resting back when not rucking. Boyd to stay forward.

Won't happen though.

How predictable Bev.