Small/medium forward

[strobe00]

I suspect I'm not the only one, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Balla, Mayne and Mellington all playing in the forward line at the same time.

The tackling pressure these guys provide is great, and would make it a nightmare for the opposition trying to rebound from our forward 50. Mellington was apparently a very good kick for goal in the junior comps, but hasn't done as well this year. Could be fatigue or yips... who knows, but I back the bloke to fix it up over the next couple of seasons.

Mayne's finishing is still a bit of a liability, but he can take a good grab and works his a*se off. Balla is a dead-set champion and has the class, pace and smarts to really hurt teams on the scoreboard, along with the obvious commitment to tackling. The extra pace he has would also make the opposition even twitchier, as he can close the gap quicker than most in the comp. I think Mello will fall somewhere in between the two in terms of scoring, but time will tell, and (from the short time I've seen him) has the same attack on the ball.

Playing two of these guys in a pocket and one on the half forward line, and potentially rotating them through the positions depending on requirements would (to my mind anyway) give us a great forward line set-up. Preference would be that Mayne not be played as a FF, as I don't honestly think he has the height. Marks well for his size, but not quite enough against a decent, tall FB.

Are there any issues to having all three of these guys in the forward line at the same time? Issues with balance or structure? Particularly if we play Pav at HF and either a rotating ruckman or Kep at FF?

 

[malpaso]

Sounds good to me.

Pavlich, Bradley/Johnson/Anthony/Clarke/Griffin/Sandilands as the other three and we look good.

 

[apuchar]

I suspect I'm not the only one, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Balla, Mayne and Mellington all playing in the forward line at the same time.

The tackling pressure these guys provide is great, and would make it a nightmare for the opposition trying to rebound from our forward 50. Mellington was apparently a very good kick for goal in the junior comps, but hasn't done as well this year. Could be fatigue or yips... who knows, but I back the bloke to fix it up over the next couple of seasons.

Mayne's finishing is still a bit of a liability, but he can take a good grab and works his a*se off. Balla is a dead-set champion and has the class, pace and smarts to really hurt teams on the scoreboard, along with the obvious commitment to tackling. The extra pace he has would also make the opposition even twitchier, as he can close the gap quicker than most in the comp. I think Mello will fall somewhere in between the two in terms of scoring, but time will tell, and (from the short time I've seen him) has the same attack on the ball.

Playing two of these guys in a pocket and one on the half forward line, and potentially rotating them through the positions depending on requirements would (to my mind anyway) give us a great forward line set-up. Preference would be that Mayne not be played as a FF, as I don't honestly think he has the height. Marks well for his size, but not quite enough against a decent, tall FB.

Are there any issues to having all three of these guys in the forward line at the same time? Issues with balance or structure? Particularly if we play Pav at HF and either a rotating ruckman or Kep at FF?

I think it depends a lot on whether you have smalls at the feet of your talls. Guys like Mayne and Balla are often our leading target and our midfield doesn't always run as hard as some other teams so there is no small at the fall of the ball in our forward line. So you either mark it or the opposition run the ball out. A better understanding of what is reguired from our smaller fowards and a harder running midfield might allow the 3 talls structure. Other teams seem to be using that structure with reasonable success. It really stretchers opposition backlines. Those more knowledgeable than me about structures and pressers may highlight the flaws in my arguement.

 

[Nickos66]

Absolutely no issue at all in having those 3 in our forwardline from me. People like those mentioned by Malpaso would fill the other possies as well as 1-2 on the bench.

 

[Higs]

I like playing Mellington as the sub at the moment, it adds that extra run and pressure in the forwardline late in the game when other guys might be out on their feet a bit. Has a bit of a dangerous presence about him that we need. He's still unproven at AFL level at this stage, but he seemed to slot in pretty well in his first 2 games so promising signs.

 

[FREO81]

Like what your saying but i would prefer Walters ahead of Mellington. My foward set up would be,

Fyfe Pavlich Mayne
Ballas Johnson Walters.

 

[Man of Men]

Like what your saying but i would prefer Walters ahead of Mellington. My foward set up would be,

Fyfe Pavlich Mayne
Ballas Johnson Walters.

I completely agree with this, but i'd also have mellington as the sub

 

[Scham]

I believe Hayden will also play forward when Suban returns, so we may have to wait for next year for this to happen on a regular basis.

 

[Freo88]

Like what your saying but i would prefer Walters ahead of Mellington. My foward set up would be,

Fyfe Pavlich Mayne
Ballas Johnson Walters.

I don't rate Walters personally- hasn't shown anything yet to suggest he deserves a spot. Lacks pace and is selfish with the footy. Mello in front of him every day of the week

 

[malpaso]

I don't rate Walters personally- hasn't shown anything yet to suggest he deserves a spot. Lacks pace and is selfish with the footy. Mello in front of him every day of the week

Walters has got a lot to work on that Mellington already has, namely ATTITUDE.

Sure Walters might pull out the odd freak play, but Mellington will be there for 4 qtrs doing the DeBoer type things and he can kick goals as well.

 

[Clay Davis]

I think Mellington will be the pick of our last draft, but I'd hesitate to write off Walters in preference to him.

 

[strobe00]

Sounds good to me.

Pavlich, Bradley/Johnson/Anthony/Clarke/Griffin/Sandilands as the other three and we look good.

Was thinking just the two talls... rather than three. Maybe having the resting ruckman going to FF might affect the stability of the forward line, but the thought of having two ruckmen that can compete at FF to mark and/or palm the ball down to our small/mid forwards is pretty appealing.

Fyfe Pavlich Mayne
Ballas Clarke/Griffen/Sandi Mellington

This setup (partially poached from Freo81, with a few changes) would allow Fyfe to play high half-forward and drift into the midfield. Allow Mayne to apply pressure through the midfield and keep him further away from goal (and the expectation of having to kick them). And allow Ballas and Mellington to apply pressure in the forward line, crumb and kick opportunist goals. I think Mello probably has more of a natural ability to do this (early days I realise) than Mayne seems to.

I know that Walters is potentially a very dangerous small forward on his day, but there are still the attitude and tackling pressure questions to be answered. Hopefully he does answer them and provides us with another option as a small forward, which we've been fairly short on this season and last. Having a young guy doing well as a forward pocket would surely provide some extra motivation for Sonny to improve his game.

I can see Mellington turning into a very good player, and I don't think we're going to have to wait too long to see him showing it. Would like to see the kid get a full run against Sydney.

EDIT: Just realised this doesn't leave a place for Kep. Will need to ponder that for a bit.

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

Mellington has really impressed me and I hope he travels over to Sydney, as locking it in the forward 50 will be crucial given how easy it is to kick from one end to the other

Pav, hopefully, will spend some time in the middle and kick some 50-60m goals and rest in the forward line

Interesting (according to the sunday times) Pav has spent more time the forward line, since Mundy went down - Broughts has really been freed up with the return of a couple defenders and has been good in the middle

Ballantyne showed us all how much of a livewire he is and really showed us how much we need him fit and firing - the X factor he has, as well as his in-your-ear niggle, his speed and his ability to actually kick goals will really help our revival from here on in

Mayne just needs to find his goal-kicking boots, as his form in front of goal hasn't been too falsh hot of late, although his forward pressure has been great. The week off would have done him the world of good with his knees in the condition they are

Pav in top form is gonna do wonders for the teams morale

 

[apuchar]

Was thinking just the two talls... rather than three. Maybe having the resting ruckman going to FF might affect the stability of the forward line, but the thought of having two ruckmen that can compete at FF to mark and/or palm the ball down to our small/mid forwards is pretty appealing.

Fyfe Pavlich Mayne
Ballas Clarke/Griffen/Sandi Mellington

This setup (partially poached from Freo81, with a few changes) would allow Fyfe to play high half-forward and drift into the midfield. Allow Mayne to apply pressure through the midfield and keep him further away from goal (and the expectation of having to kick them). And allow Ballas and Mellington to apply pressure in the forward line, crumb and kick opportunist goals. I think Mello probably has more of a natural ability to do this (early days I realise) than Mayne seems to.

I know that Walters is potentially a very dangerous small forward on his day, but there are still the attitude and tackling pressure questions to be answered. Hopefully he does answer them and provides us with another option as a small forward, which we've been fairly short on this season and last. Having a young guy doing well as a forward pocket would surely provide some extra motivation for Sonny to improve his game.

I can see Mellington turning into a very good player, and I don't think we're going to have to wait too long to see him showing it. Would like to see the kid get a full run against Sydney.

EDIT: Just realised this doesn't leave a place for Kep. Will need to ponder that for a bit.

Nup not for me. Have to keep in mind a CHF will not always be in the forward fifty so it only leaves one tall at times. I consider a tall to be 192cm plus not 188cm like Mayne.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

i like mellington, he offers more grunt and has the hardness that you really cant teach.

i wonder what we are going to do with our forwardline. i personally think we have to keep griff in the side when sandi comes back, but im also of the belief that with the sub rule, you need to have as many runners on the bench as possible, meaning that griff and sandi would have to rotate through the forwardline which would de-rate the very forwardline pressure that we are trying to build... its a balancing act, i just hope harves continues to find a spot for griff, because he has been nothing short of sensational. and if we had the B&F based on only the games he has played in he would probably win it..

and then there is zach clarke, god knows what we do with him

 

[strobe00]

Nup not for me. Have to keep in mind a CHF will not always be in the forward fifty so it only leaves one tall at times. I consider a tall to be 192cm plus not 188cm like Mayne.

How about someone between 201 and 211?

Was suggesting that the resting ruckman be played at FF, with Mayne at HFF, not at FF. The ruckman would be the tall target left in the forward line.

 

[apuchar]

How about someone between 201 and 211?

Was suggesting that the resting ruckman be played at FF, with Mayne at HFF, not at FF. The ruckman would be the tall target left in the forward line.

I would like a leading full forward at 192 cm plus who is a good kick for goal, the ruckman resting in the forward pocket for the long kick to the goal square and a CHF. Mayne i prefer up the ground and use another two smaller forwards to mainly feed off the talls and put on forward pressure (Mayne could rotate though that area with Balla and Mellington maybe). Might not work in practice, but from an outsider looking in it seems logical. My type of logic anyway.