should we....

[pie time]

should we target a key forward at the end of 2010 during trade or to early to tell. i was thinking that taylor walker from adelaide might not get much of a game considering adelaide's forward line already could we target him?.
just interested in what everyone's thought are on targeting a tall forward? and yes we could use josh fraser but with his knee issues does it become a problem?

 

[knightwheelrqr]

should we target a key forward at the end of 2010 during trade or to early to tell. i was thinking that taylor walker from adelaide might not get much of a game considering adelaide's forward line already could we target him?.
just interested in what everyone's thought are on targeting a tall forward? and yes we could use josh fraser but with his knee issues does it become a problem?

At this stage it seems unlikely.

But ultimately will depend on whether Rusling makes a successful return. Whether Dawes developes or not. And whether or not we unearth another KPF talent.

If those things don't work in our favour, then chance, but only at a very good rate would it ever come under consideration.

 

[Wooljay]

Completely depends on the market available and how our 2010 season goes, I know this is the off-season so these thread do get made, but we don't even know how our forward structure is going to change this year with the addition of Rusling, and possibly Dawes and Fraser?

 

[pie time]

Completely depends on the market available and how our 2010 season goes, I know this is the off-season so these thread do get made, but we don't even know how our forward structure is going to change this year with the addition of Rusling, and possibly Dawes and Fraser?

i really do see dawes struggling for a game this year. with fraser it just takes away the need for him

 

[Wooljay]

i really do see dawes struggling for a game this year. with fraser it just takes away the need for him

Yeah I absolutely agree, I'm just saying that I hoenstly haven't a clue how our forward line is going to hold up this season.

 

[TradeDraft]

Need to Know the Prospects 1st to really see if there is any.

Would love Jack Darling but he be going to the Gold Coast

 

[knightwheelrqr]

i really do see dawes struggling for a game this year. with fraser it just takes away the need for him

Depends largely on his development. But at a club like Richmond, Fremantle or Carlton I certainly could see him getting better chances.

 

[TradeDraft]

Depends largely on his development. But at a club like Richmond, Fremantle or Carlton I certainly could see him getting better chances.

Dees might be another Team

 

[pie time]

Yeah I absolutely agree, I'm just saying that I hoenstly haven't a clue how our forward line is going to hold up this season.

not sure you will agree with this but i think we are going to tall if we are gonna have rusling,cloke,anthony and fraser. seems very stupid especially against hard running teams like the dogs. i would really like them to try it in the nab cup just to see how it goes.

 

[knightwheelrqr]

not sure you will agree with this but i think we are going to tall if we are gonna have rusling,cloke,anthony and fraser. seems very stupid especially against hard running teams like the dogs. i would really like them to try it in the nab cup just to see how it goes.

Not at all, due to rotations likely there will only be 3 talls (players mentioned above) on field at once. Otherwise we still have players in the forward roation including Medhurst, Lockyer, Didak, Davis and Thomas to make up the 3 smalls.

 

[HFF]

Probably need to add another one or two for depth but I think our top 3 a pretty good in Cloke/Jack/Rus.

Dawes is the wildcard. If he can get it together, our stocks are set.

 

[lozza63]

The thought of another tall is interesting - but i think we need one down back!
With Presti on the eve of his 32nd birthday and Max, Harry, Money-Bags not really considered as KPPs, Brownie needs assistance there. Leigh Brown probably isn't the full time answer - i guess we'll see how Presti feels at the end of this year!

 

[Swooop]

I think Lozza 63 is on the money. We have Cloke/Jack/Rus possibly Fraser/Dawes as forward tall options.
Apart From Fraser, all are young and hugely promising.
Can you imagine being young and talented, be playing in front of 60,000 or so, and having Nathan Buckley, your teenage years hero, coaching you??
They'll die for him if he asked them.
They'll learn so much from him.
They'll gain heaps of confidence from him and each other. He'll ( please God) teach Travis how to kick straight.
Hopefully, they'll be creative and maybe not so scared of making a mistake.
We'll be all good for tall forwards, I bet...
Backs would be more of a concern, esp with Presti in his later years, and as others have said, not too many other KPP options down back

 

[Bonuspoints]

Of course its too early...we've got a whole season to go through yet. Even NAB cup hasn't started! As far as forwards go we've got an injury prone Rusling and an unproven Dawes. Plus with Jolly, if Woods proves to be good, we've got three capable ruckmen and each being able to play up forward. I think we're in for an interesting season in seeing what the club does with its forwardline structure. Two talls and four smalls, a ruck and two talls, or three talls. Should provide us with a lot to jabber on about.

 

[soreplums]

I would say that we are missing a big power forward who we can rely on to take a big mark deep in the forward line and kick a goal. It's hard to tell without knowing what role fraser would have in 2010.

Pavlich, although 29 this year, is out of contract at the end of 2010. I'd try to throw up some sort of package using players like Rusling, Dawes, Toovey, Wellingham (both from WA) and either medhurst/Leon if we had to (as much as I love him), picks and it goes without saying cook and corrie if they'll take them.

Pav would be great at FF for 4 years for us while Anthony matures.

 

[Football God]

rusling had his first full pre-season since being at collingwood.. so hes 100% fit and ready him at FP and jack at FF, both leading out strong mark takers. both wrking toget will be unstoppable. cloke and dawes ou tall forwards further up the groun, both got big kicks ? (dont know much about dawes, please help lol) and both are strong marks.

i rekon we'll be fine with what we've got.

 

[Wooljay]

Regardless of his pre-season fitness, I have no confidence that he'll get through even half a season. Hoping to god he does, because I love his game and had a huge amount of hope for him. Jack and Sean in the same forward line is definitely feasible, and would be exceptionally potent - cannot wait.

 

[shawthing09]

Our need for an extra tall foward is over stated due to the rubbish year Cloke had.

Anthony played as a number 1 foward in his first full season in the ones and did well, he still has plenty of natural development to go.

Cloke well I am still unsure as too how much impact he is able to have without the pressence of Rocca but he is certainly a much better player then he has shown this year. An increase in form from Cloke makes the fowardline look better straight away and also will create more room for Anthony to work in / with.

On top of that Medhurst is far better then he showed this year and is the sort of foward who whilst small plays as a marking target.

Of course there is the unknown Rusling aspect too.

All of that without considering the fact that in the games our fowardline failed we failed up the ground aswell. I don't remember watching many games where we were failing to find a target inside 50. I remember a lot more games where we failed to win the ball in the midfield and got held up along the wing. The best way to avoid that is to play better in the midfield and move the ball up the field quicker / better.

 

[Return of the Pies]

It is interesting so many people see Fraser and/or the other rucks as forward options. I think this is rubbish. None of them are Ottens type players who have that natural forward instinct. Nor are they imposing pack crunching type players either. At best we might see one of them occasionally pushing forward to create a mismatch or stretch a defence, but you have to expect a 40-50 goal return from your KPFs and none of the rucks - Fraser included - can provide that.
Rusling is probably the only option to play as a 3rd tall forward, as he is less susceptible to being run off. Other than that, Dawes, Fraser, Wood, L.Brown etc. would only play KPF at the expense of Cloke or Anthony.

Oh, and on the OP, think we would probably wait at least a few rounds before thinking about trade period.

 

[TradeDraft]

Our need for an extra tall foward is over stated due to the rubbish year Cloke had.

Anthony played as a number 1 foward in his first full season in the ones and did well, he still has plenty of natural development to go.

Cloke well I am still unsure as too how much impact he is able to have without the pressence of Rocca but he is certainly a much better player then he has shown this year. An increase in form from Cloke makes the fowardline look better straight away and also will create more room for Anthony to work in / with.

On top of that Medhurst is far better then he showed this year and is the sort of foward who whilst small plays as a marking target.

Of course there is the unknown Rusling aspect too.

All of that without considering the fact that in the games our fowardline failed we failed up the ground aswell. I don't remember watching many games where we were failing to find a target inside 50. I remember a lot more games where we failed to win the ball in the midfield and got held up along the wing. The best way to avoid that is to play better in the midfield and move the ball up the field quicker / better.

Not on Cloke it's more to do with Rusling Injury Problem and Reid moving to CHB and Jack Carter was brought in as a Key Defender

 

[wicksy]

I watched the 2007 Semi final last night and these are the things I noticed:

- Cloke was brilliant! He marked everything that went near him. Ran, ran and ran!

- Rusling led constantly and was always in front of his man. Layed some pretty impressive tackles and never gave up. His marking was very off thought which meant he didn't have many shots on goal.

- Thomas... WOW! I hope he can capture his 2007 form again. That run in the last quarter where he took 4-5 bounces along the wing and drilled it to Maj was amazing!

- Didak won the game for us. Was suprised at how hard he was hitting the contest. Haven't seen him do that for a while.

- Swans kicking has improved out of sight!

- Richards/Bryan ruck duo was the worst ever seen in the 100+ years of the game! TERRIBLE!

- Worsfold lost the game for the Eagles... Ridiculous decisions to rest Cox and Glass late in the 3rd quarter saw us kick 3-4 quick fire goals!

 

[soreplums]

We have leading forwards. For our forward line to function well, we need to deliver the ball into them a lot quicker. When we play well and kick big scores it's because we create chances by moving the ball into the forward line quickly.

When we take too long to bring the ball in from the boundary line it gives all good teams (especially those with speed) too much time to block up the leading space and then they hurt us through the middle on the turnover because our players are out of position.

 

[TradeDraft]

I still think we can also Draft another Ruckman High in the Draft