PTizzle
Brownlow Medallist
ZoBlitz threw it out there in the Vent thread that this might be a good idea for a thread of its own and I agree. Have found the discussion and analysis from the posters on here very interesting on this topic and I reckon it'd be good to have one place where people can put their thoughts out and have a bit of friendly debate (if needs be!).
Personally, it's an interesting one for me as while I believe Merrett is probably the best option up front and we're very light on experience in general up there, I also believe his current level of play isn't good enough to just leave things as they are. So what are the options?
I won't cover everything here, but I reckon we can boil it down to a few broad decisions:
1. Leave it as is. Merrett showed in 2012 (26 goals in roughly 18 games up forward) and the latter half of 2013 (14 goals in roughly 8 games) that he can be an effective forward, he's just struggling at the moment without a foil to take the first KPD and remove pressure. Back him in to improve after poor showings against two strong KPDs in Rance and Mackenzie.
2. Move Merrett into the second ruck role and get him involved in the game that way. Let Close be the more 'stay at home' forward and bring in some support for him.
3. Drop Merrett to get confidence up and bring in...someone. This is where I'd be interested in hearing responses - if you want Merrett out, who do you want in? Lisle, Michael and Paine are probably the options unless you want to take a punt on the likes of Freeman.
4. Move Merrett into defense and switch another defender forward. Heard this one mentioned a few times in the gameday thread. You'd be looking at Maguire moving up front I think, but I'd be loathe to do this given Sauce's famed 'adjustment time' when moving positions and Maguire's form down back. Patfull was another one mentioned as an option. Probably not a popular choice, but it's an option.
5. Drop/move Merrett and play 'small ball' up front. This one hasn't been mentioned as much recently but it has been brought up in the past. I'd say it's almost saying that we don't have a strong enough main target, so we bring in multiple smaller leading targets to try to cause trouble for the defense and present more options. An example would probably be something like Paine as the 'big' FF with McGrath and Mayes presenting as leading/marking forwards. Gives extra mobility up front too, but you're obviously giving up some contested marking and physical presence with this option.
There's of course other options, but that's just some food for thought. I'd personally like Merrett to move back into the second ruck role to get him more involved in the contest. I'm not into dropping him given how much experience we're missing, but I can see why the argument could be made for sure.
Personally, it's an interesting one for me as while I believe Merrett is probably the best option up front and we're very light on experience in general up there, I also believe his current level of play isn't good enough to just leave things as they are. So what are the options?
I won't cover everything here, but I reckon we can boil it down to a few broad decisions:
1. Leave it as is. Merrett showed in 2012 (26 goals in roughly 18 games up forward) and the latter half of 2013 (14 goals in roughly 8 games) that he can be an effective forward, he's just struggling at the moment without a foil to take the first KPD and remove pressure. Back him in to improve after poor showings against two strong KPDs in Rance and Mackenzie.
2. Move Merrett into the second ruck role and get him involved in the game that way. Let Close be the more 'stay at home' forward and bring in some support for him.
3. Drop Merrett to get confidence up and bring in...someone. This is where I'd be interested in hearing responses - if you want Merrett out, who do you want in? Lisle, Michael and Paine are probably the options unless you want to take a punt on the likes of Freeman.
4. Move Merrett into defense and switch another defender forward. Heard this one mentioned a few times in the gameday thread. You'd be looking at Maguire moving up front I think, but I'd be loathe to do this given Sauce's famed 'adjustment time' when moving positions and Maguire's form down back. Patfull was another one mentioned as an option. Probably not a popular choice, but it's an option.
5. Drop/move Merrett and play 'small ball' up front. This one hasn't been mentioned as much recently but it has been brought up in the past. I'd say it's almost saying that we don't have a strong enough main target, so we bring in multiple smaller leading targets to try to cause trouble for the defense and present more options. An example would probably be something like Paine as the 'big' FF with McGrath and Mayes presenting as leading/marking forwards. Gives extra mobility up front too, but you're obviously giving up some contested marking and physical presence with this option.
There's of course other options, but that's just some food for thought. I'd personally like Merrett to move back into the second ruck role to get him more involved in the contest. I'm not into dropping him given how much experience we're missing, but I can see why the argument could be made for sure.