Rambo to go Forward?

[Dave The Man]

Watching the last 2 games with Rambo struggling at CHB while Presti is at FB.

Then MM pushed Rambo forward and he played very well with Presense and Pressure on other Forwards. Also got as good as Kick at JA for Goal.

Just seems he Stuggles with more Moible and Smaller oppents and I thought pushing him Forward was a Great Idea and he showed he can play up there.

Your Thoughts?

 

[Optimax]

Nope

we need key defenders, he has shown he can play key defender. Give us nothing more up forward the an in form reid, dawes, rusling rocca but provides more then all of them down back

Brown will be our long term CHB/FB as we have no one else right now

 

[shawthing09]

Good short term thinking poor long term thinking. Our KPD stocks long term are short as it is. If Rambo develops as a foward we literally have no one developing in that role and Presti is close to the end of his career. It is more an issue of needing another more mobile defender then it is an issue of taking Brown out of defence.

 

[mdc]

He struggled because he was played against a medium leading forward, rather than a big forward.

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see Brown ever being able to play on a Brad Miller. That's ok though, given he we have Harry, Maxwell, Toovey etc...those are the guys that should have been playing on him from the start.

 

[hotpie]

Happy to swing him forward to bring him into the game and keep his confidence up. It great to have versatile talls.

But no, he is a development key defender and thats where he needs to spend most of his time. In fact on horses for courses basis, there may be need to rest Presti during the year to ensure Brown has a role on game day.

 

[Dave The Man]

He struggled because he was played against a medium leading forward, rather than a big forward.

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see Brown ever being able to play on a Brad Miller. That's ok though, given he we have Harry, Maxwell, Toovey etc...those are the guys that should have been playing on him from the start.

I agree with this here and I think you are spot on - If Rambo is not playing on a Big Forward then the Smaller Forward with more Mobilty gives him Trouble

 

[Optimax]

He struggled because he was played against a medium leading forward, rather than a big forward.

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see Brown ever being able to play on a Brad Miller. That's ok though, given he we have Harry, Maxwell, Toovey etc...those are the guys that should have been playing on him from the start.

He still shouldnt have been cut up like he was, he was four or five meters away from miller at all times

After 2 early easy marks he should of been sticking to him like glue

 

[hotpie]

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see Brown ever being able to play on a Brad Miller. That's ok though, given he we have Harry, Maxwell, Toovey etc...those are the guys that should have been playing on him from the start.

I dont know about never, but right now you are correct. Funny how we were complaining last week about too many half back flankers in the side and this week they dont get used in their rightful positions on the small and medium forwards!!!!!

 

[Dave The Man]

Good short term thinking poor long term thinking. Our KPD stocks long term are short as it is. If Rambo develops as a foward we literally have no one developing in that role and Presti is close to the end of his career. It is more an issue of needing another more mobile defender then it is an issue of taking Brown out of defence.

I think we have only 1 developing Tall Defender in Thoolen but Hopefully we can fix this in the Off-Season

 

[Optimax]

I think we have only 1 developing Tall Defender in Thoolen but Hopefully we can fix this in the Off-Season

Reid is both forward and back at the moment

 

[Palmer Stoat]

He struggled because he was played against a medium leading forward, rather than a big forward.

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see Brown ever being able to play on a Brad Miller. That's ok though, given he we have Harry, Maxwell, Toovey etc...those are the guys that should have been playing on him from the start.

Hey Pessimistic,

Miller gave Nate a fair walloping in the opening minutes. His lateral movement seemed to catch Brownie out. But at 194cm and close to 100kg, I think Miller is the type of player who Nate ought to be able to play on. Nate is still relatively green, and prone, IMO, to getting wrongfooted by clever leading. I don't see this so much as an athletic failing, but more the result of inexperience.

And to be fair, our entire backline was split right open in the first quarter. All of our defenders looked cod ordinary, not just Nate. No doubt that's partly them being beaten, fair and square, by their men, but a lot of it is to do with the complete absence of any pressure through the midfield. Our defensive pressure through the middle when Melbourne had the ball was nonexistent, and actually reminded me of the first Carlton match last year.

If you give mids, even Melbourne's mids, time to get balanced, pick a target, and execute under negligible pressure, more often than not they're gonna hit their targets. No coincidence that our defence started to look better when we started to win the midfield battle.

 

[Dave The Man]

Reid is both forward and back at the moment

Well that's 2 then but that is it

 

[hotpie]

I think we have only 1 developing Tall Defender in Thoolen but Hopefully we can fix this in the Off-Season

Crap.

We have Thoolen, Reid, Brown. Plus Anthony and a whole bunch of tallish defenders like Cox Goldsack Maxwell and O'Brien who can all play kp if required. And Rusling might be reinvented back there. And isnt Reed a kpp type?

And we have Presti as the rock and L Brown as the experienced back-up.

Theres enough there, albeit Anthony might be write-off as a defensive option because he has shocked everybody with his succcess at full forward. Things change quickly, never say never, Anthony may yet spend most of his career in defence.

 

[Optimax]

Well that's 2 then but that is it

I think Scott reed who is 190+cm maybe being groomed as a key defence role ala Chad cornes and Blight the same

 

[King Woodie]

Crap.

We have Thoolen, Reid, Brown. Plus Anthony and a whole bunch of tallish defenders like Cox Goldsack Maxwell and O'Brien who can all play kp if required. And Rusling might be reinvented back there. And isnt Reed a kpp type?

And we have Presti as the rock and L Brown as the experienced back-up.

Theres enough there, albeit Anthony might be write-off as a defensive option because he has shocked everybody with his succcess at full forward. Things change quickly, never say never, Anthony may yet spend most of his career in defence.

No, there is not enough there. After another young ruckman, a developing TALL (196+) key position defender is the most urgent recruiting priority for Decker.

Thoolen will most likely not make it, Reid looks more comfortable as a forward, Anthony will most likely remain a forward now, and Rusling doesn't appear to have the tools to go back. Our half backs are good, but if faced with a dual tall forwardline (ie Hawthorn, North, Essendon, Geelong, etc), they are too small. And Reed is a half back flank type, not a key position type. We need someone who is at least 196cm, i believe and can run.

We addressed our midfield in the last draft, and added a small forward on the rookie list - now we need a highly rated (ie our first round pick) future CHB. We can get a ruckman with the next one.

 

[mdc]

Hi Fair,

If Brad Miller is 100kg, I'll eat my hat.

Regards,
Pessimistic

And yes, I think what you've said is mostly correct, although I'd suggest that Miller is athletically superior to Nathan Brown when we're talking about endurance/agility. I mean, Brown's been exposed here before a bunch of times, it wasn't a one off. I don't recall him having any success at all outside the 50m arc, maybe with the exception of the first Richo game.

Hey Pessimistic,

Miller gave Nate a fair walloping in the opening minutes. His lateral movement seemed to catch Brownie out. But at 194cm and close to 100kg, I think Miller is the type of player who Nate ought to be able to play on. Nate is still relatively green, and prone, IMO, to getting wrongfooted by clever leading. I don't see this so much as an athletic failing, but more the result of inexperience.

And to be fair, our entire backline was split right open in the first quarter. All of our defenders looked cod ordinary, not just Nate. No doubt that's partly them being beaten, fair and square, by their men, but a lot of it is to do with the complete absence of any pressure through the midfield. Our defensive pressure through the middle when Melbourne had the ball was nonexistent, and actually reminded me of the first Carlton match last year.

If you give mids, even Melbourne's mids, time to get balanced, pick a target, and execute under negligible pressure, more often than not they're gonna hit their targets. No coincidence that our defence started to look better when we started to win the midfield battle.

 

[Optimax]

Miller is 194cm and 94kg according to the MFC site

 

[hotpie]

We have enough there in terms of numbers. I wasnt really addressing the issue of quality.

Obviously if Thoolen doesnt make it or Anthony never returns to the backline, then we'll need to re-address that issue in November, especially so if the Rusling experiment (if it happens) bears no fruit.

But very few teams carry a bunch of 196 cm specialist key defenders on their lists. Most only have 2 or 3 at the most.

 

[Dave The Man]

I think Scott reed who is 190+cm maybe being groomed as a key defence role ala Chad cornes and Blight the same

Thanks forgot about Reed at 192cm is good and Seen him play FB in the VFL Practice Games

 

[Optimax]

Thanks forgot about Reed at 192cm is good and Seen him play FB in the VFL Practice Games

Yeah i like the look of him

Looks a neater version of the sack, i think he will be physically bigger too

 

[Dave The Man]

Yeah i like the look of him

Looks a neater version of the sack, i think he will be physically bigger too

and Better kick then Sack

 

[Optimax]

and Better kick then Sack

True

Sack i think is the better tackler, but i need to watch some more of him before i pass too many judgments

 

[Palmer Stoat]

Hi Fair,

If Brad Miller is 100kg, I'll eat my hat.

I said 'close to' 100kg. The site I looked at said he was 96kg, which, to me, seems about par for a mature 194cm KPP. But whatever the exact physical dimensions, Miller is a KF and Brown a KD -- I think he's exactly the matchup Nate has to make his bread and butter. Cos if he can't play on the likes of Miller, then he's far too limited as a KD (and I don't think he is).

As for Nate being exposed, well, probably you're right. He ran out of legs in the second half of last year, and he's a 20-game KD, and I doubt he's the reincarnation of Silvagni. But he's a good prospect, who I trust will learn from being drubbed a few times -- something even the best players have gone through at some point.

 

[mattys123]

In the short term, meaning until Presti retires or gets injured again, Brown has to become more versatile and be used as a leading forward.

Nathan Brown, quite simply, is out Presti replacement.

No offence to Presti, but he is near the end, and we have a ready made replacement at FB in Brown.

But the problem is, because we have built Brown up to be such a physically strong footballer, his speed off the mark and his agility have been sacrificed to the point where he cant handle th fast leading, medium to tall forwards like Miller.

So for the short term, play him up forward when the opposition only has 1 gorilla, but we have to be careful to still play him the majority of this year in the backline.

As far as drubbings go, I remember watching a stick thin FB in Mal Micheal get 10 kicked on him by Lockett, then years later watching the same player physically man handle big tall forwards of all size and stature.

Browny will play his best football from 2-3 years onward in the future.

 

[Old Spice]

I'm with MDC here I think re Rambo. I think he suits the power forward type, but maybe gets burned off on leads by less bulky forwards. Browns speed is actually at the top level in terms of sprints, but I don't know how his agility is. He's also a big lad and inertia is a powerful force. He's no QE2, but the turning power is probably better matched to a roughead type than someone like Miller.

In terms of the Geelong match, I imagine Presti will take Moondog, but I reckon Steve Johnson might be able to circle work around Brown. Could definitely take a Hawkins.