Our Forward Line

[DOCKER MAN]

ATM i would say when McPharlin is in defence we have one of the top backlines in the competition, our midfield is no going well with Pav in it and Sandilands is dominating the ruck. Our forward line however has fallen apart, with the loss of Pav to the midfield and Tarrant to defence the Forward line appears to have very little structure. It was evident tonight that we could get it in there enough however we just seem to fall apart once we get into the foward 50.
IMO for a forwardline to imrpove we need Murphy to stand up and consistently kick his 2-3 goals a game at full forward, Headland to comeback in playing mostly as a forward. And with Mayne and Ballantyne hopefully coming back after the mid season break perhaps our forward line will regain some respectability. Thoughts?

 

[E Shed]

Murphy was piss weak tonight when it counted. Need some grunt in there.

 

[dugrene]

Murphy was piss weak tonight when it counted. Need some grunt in there.

He goes to ground too easy. Dropped a couple of grabs that he is suppose to take.

Bloody shame. He's got it all, just cant take his game to next level.

 

[skirk34]

Johnson stood up tonight in the second half, but Murphy just wasn't good enough. I dont think we have a good key position forward apart from pav who obviously is playing through the midfield...

 

[believe_it]

He goes to ground too easy. Dropped a couple of grabs that he is suppose to take.

Bloody shame. He's got it all, just cant take his game to next level.

Spot on he always ends up on his butt. If we had kicked half the goals we should of, we would have walked it in . Unbelievably bad in front of goal .
Hawthorn kicked just about everything they should of and got some that they shouldnt have . A game we should have taken squandered!!!

 

[Rob]

Yeah, the problem is that we don't have anyone to replace the guys there currently. Murphy and Mundy are our 2 softest players by a country mile, and when they make up the bulk of our forward line the ball gets rebounded so easily far too often.

At the start of the year I had Campbell ahead and having seen none of him with West Perth, I can only assume he's playing like a grandma, because he'd certainly be a lot harder at the ball than Murphy. But who else? Ballantyne and Mayne are the 2 that i'd like to see running around inside 50.

 

[Selggad]

I reckon Murphy showed quite a bit in the first quarter and half. Not enough yet, but he did some great body work early on and seems to be improving. I'm not an apologist: he should be doing more, but he was involved in several passages of play early where he laid bumps, tackled hard and put his body in. I'm more inclined to keep him after tonight than I have been for th rest of the season

 

[E Shed]

He can't take a contested mark. Just never splits a pack & drags one down

 

[paul8241]

I agree with you selgad. To many blazed at goal and didn't reward the leading forward. Murphy should be the priority target because he is the best set shot kicker. Very few passes were to his advantage.

 

[E Shed]

To be fair on Muroh he was pushed in the back (blatantly) on the lead a couple of times in position A if the kick was given. Could have finished with 4. I would probably persist a bit longer at least till we have a better option.

 

[DCFCFAN84]

Im hoping our foward line improves when Ballantyne, Mayne and Campbell come back in.

 

[Sman-21]

Since Pav isnt there an Campbell isnt doing enough to earn a spot Murphy is our only option.
I agree he no where near does enough.
But its more than mcpharlin or thornton do

Also our delivery needs some work a few too many long bombs but maybe can be put down to pressure and inexperience

 

[Silk_44]

Is Ballantyne playing for Peel tomorrow?

 

[surfsup]

I think Ballas will be playing for Peel next weekend.

 

[Selggad]

Im hoping our foward line improves when Ballantyne, Mayne and Campbell come back in.

Ballantyne and Mayne are small and mid-sized forwards respectively. Campbell is very unlikely to be a key AFL player, probably will always be a fringe/depth player.

Maybe Keplar is our best bet as a key forward? He's go the height and general size, is quite a good grab and although his kicking style is awkward, his accuracy is pretty good. Even so, a key foward would have to be high on our list of draft needs.

 

[Chops_a_must]

At the start of the year I had Campbell ahead and having seen none of him with West Perth, I can only assume he's playing like a grandma, because he'd certainly be a lot harder at the ball than Murphy. But who else? Ballantyne and Mayne are the 2 that i'd like to see running around inside 50.

Im hoping our foward line improves when Ballantyne, Mayne and Campbell come back in.

Campbell has been playing AWFULLY Rob and DCFCF.

I wouldn't mind seeing MiJ play a full game at CHF and experiment with Clarke and Sandi rotating through FF.

Clarke is a good kick, good on the lead, and has great hands.

 

[ImperialPurple]

FF - DJ Headland



ooohhh yeah!!

 

[Selggad]

FF - DJ Headland



ooohhh yeah!!

Still need some one with some size down there

 

[Chris25]

Sometimes you just need to disregard WAFL form. Murphy is great in the WAFL, but goes missing in the real stuff. It's time Campbell got his chance, regardless of his WAFL form. He offers something up forward that none of Murphy, Johnson or McPharlin can - a big body. That is exactly what we've been missing without Pavlich up forward. Murphy has had a month and hasn't done enough to cement a spot, it's time for someone else.

Bring in Headland to play solely up forward, and it wouldn't hurt to give Walters a chance before Mayne and Ballantyne are back. Along with Johnson, Sandilands and Pavlich rotating through the forward line, in my opinion that's a much more potent forward line.

 

[Belnakor]

it was a tough night for the forwards, Tarrant got away with blue murder a couple of times.

 

[TBoyleSuperstar]

I reckon you are harsh on Murphy. I thought he was good last night. Belnakor said, bad night if you were a forward. Not sure what the umpires were doing but they decided to throw the rule book out the window last night. Murphy keeps presenting and was a constant threat. I'm surprised in a way that, whilst Pavlich was dominating in the middle, that he didn't play more forward last night. We had no one to match him.

 

[cp3_jr]

We definately need to draft a big forward in the next draft. Murphy is definately not the answer and mcpharlin is just not a good kick and much better down back. Johnson has been Ok but still is not a key forward target IMO.

I would stick with Murphy for now as he is getting a couple of goals each week and basically we have no one else. Campbell i not the answer and I dont think ever will be. Need better delivery inside the 50 aswell.

Maybe a developed Sibosado may be the answer in the next couple of years...hasn't shown much yet but is still very young and can take a mark.

 

[VolgaBoatman]

I think the forward line is going ok without setting the world on fire. McPharlin could have had 4 goals last night, except for his kicking, Johnson did well, apart from his kicking, Sandi did ok (apart from his kicking !)

Murphy is doing better than I expected, he is making a contest and following up with second efforts. Deserves to stay in at the moment. 2 goals average a game is ok - as long as other players are chipping.

However I would like to see Mayne, Ballantyne and Headland in there. I think that could be exciting, also from all reports (and half a WAFL match I saw), Zach Clarke could be a good prospect as well.

 

[Split Personality]

I dont think the problem is necessarily the big guys, although communication is lacking majorly as we seem to spoil ourselves more than often.

We NEED A SMALL CRUMBING FWD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We bring the ball to ground so often and nobody is there. At times like this we really miss the Wiz.

 

[DRDGroup]

I agree with Chris25, Harvey needs to give Campbell a go. Play him a couple of games and see how he goes. His physical presence and crashing of the packs may open up more goals for us. Murphy has been given too many opportunities. Give Campbell a shot or otherwise he will be gone end of year.