Tom McDonald as a forward

[What 18,810]

Anyone think this should be a permanent move?

He would be an interesting CHF, he has a massive tank and can take a grab. There is the one slight problem - he is a terrible kick. But that might be less of a hindrance to us if hes at least sending the ball inside our forward 50 rather than turning the ball over in the opponents forward line.

No doubt we need another key forward next to Jesse (Dawes is not AFL standard).. so if T Mac is the answer, it still leaves us with the question of how we would replace him in the backline.

[Coup Cooper 610]

I can seeing this happen.. If he hands off every set shot to jones watts or vince!

[bush demon 2,202]

A la Brad Miller!

[beelzebub 23,390]

Yeah.....NAH !!!!

Able to hit the side of barn...occasionally by accident.

Prefer he just got his Backman mojo back. Was playing terif...now naf

[dazzledavey36 55,983]

Brought it up last week after the WC game. Id personally like to see him start there next weekend. Has a huge motor and would run defenders off their legs.

Only problem is the kicking for goal..

[beelzebub 23,390]

A la Brad Miller!

id prefer my cohunas on the line with Frosty kicking than TMac !!!

Mac could do a lot worse than watching Dannihers (j) kicking action. Was a treat to watch i hate to confess.

Macs greatest skills are (were )negating someone else.

No one should be in the fwd arc who cant kick ;It's bad enough anyone who cant even being on the pitch !!

A team must maximise its scoring...see melb v ess 11/7 as example need good kickers up front. Its not a negotiable for mine

[Nasher 33,617]

I'd prefer we didn't start stuffing around with him. Flexibility is a good thing, but he's a young player still who needs to become elite in one position first. I don't want to end up with a player who is a little bit good at everything but not great at anything - ala Lynden Dunn until age 27.

Permanent defender for mine, to be used in other positions only when times are desperate, like yesterday.

[Coq au vin 755]

He could practice his kicking for goal. I doubt he's been doing too much of that recently as a career back man

[titan_uranus 25,209]

Easy to forget how great he was in the first six weeks, isn't it.

He's a defender. He's not in form, but if we keep moving out of form players into new positions we'll never settle as a team.

[JV7 2,375]

His form in the first half of the year down back was All australian, I think Cloke getting ahold of him has rocked him confidence. He hasn't been the same since. He was good up forward yesterday but we can't really afford to move him from defence. People will say Fitzy can take his spot but no. We need him down back more then we need him down forward, maybe if Frost was fit you could look at it. He would have the tank to burn off defenders ala Nick Riewoldt, I saw him yesterday burn off a couple in long surging leads but just don't think we can afford to move him

[CBDees 3,167]

Anyone think this should be a permanent move?

He would be an interesting CHF, he has a massive tank and can take a grab. There is the one slight problem - he is a terrible kick. But that might be less of a hindrance to us if hes at least sending the ball inside our forward 50 rather than turning the ball over in the opponents forward line.

No doubt we need another key forward next to Jesse (Dawes is not AFL standard).. so if T Mac is the answer, it still leaves us with the question of how we would replace him in the backline.

We replace him with Fitzy and Frost (and in a few years with his young brother). But first and foremost > kicking lessons (1.2 is not anywhere near good enough return from four set shots)!

[stuie 7,374]

Classic Demonland thread.

No, just no.

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

I would prefer him down back however, Ive always liked that Harry Taylor style drift up forward occasionally during a game. Catches a lot of teams off guard.

[Deespicable 2,886]

I think next week v Brisbane is the perfect opportunity for Tom Mc to play forward - Brisbane has a smallish defence and with Martin back, Leunberger and him will rest a fair bit in the forward line, which is a great match-up for Fitzy, provided he doesn't blow it by hurting himself in VFL today.

Because of Tom Macs mobility, it means we can play an extra big without being top heavy up forward, and it puts the pressure right on Hoges and Dawes to rediscover Tom's workrate.

Sounds like Howey will be out, so the Fitzy in, Tom Mc forward is an easy fix.

As to how long the experiment lasts, my guess is just one week - Fitzy ain't going to be able to play on Riewoldt v St Kilda and that's when Tom Mc will go back.

[Skuit 10,031]

Let's one by one move all our backmen forward and then out the door through free agency so we can replace them with inexperienced compo picks in a self-regenerating cycle of eternal cellar-dwelling.

[ucanchoose 1,816]

He's got the biggest tank in the team

I'd play him CHF and let him run like a gazelle. There would only be a handful of people in the league that could keep up

[John Crow Batty 8,886]

I'd prefer we didn't start stuffing around with him. Flexibility is a good thing, but he's a young player still who needs to become elite in one position first. I don't want to end up with a player who is a little bit good at everything but not great at anything - ala Lynden Dunn until age 27.

Permanent defender for mine, to be used in other positions only when times are desperate, like yesterday.

Like when Garland went forward a couple of years ago when we upset Essendon. He did well but it never worked again afterwards.

[stuie 7,374]

He's got the biggest tank in the team

I'd play him CHF and let him run like a gazelle. There would only be a handful of people in the league that could keep up

More run is needed out of the backline than the forward line in modern footy. It baffles me that people think we should put our fittest players in the forward line.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

no, no, no. He is good as a swing and that's it.

We need to recruit a forward. Dawes is quite useless most of the time, let's face it.

We are missing Pedo, and Dean Kent out there. Albeit Pedo isn't the solution to our long term forward woes.

[titan_uranus 25,209]

I should say, I don't think it's a bad thing that we have some versatility in the side. Throwing McDonald forward every now and again for 10 minutes or a quarter might be a nice boost. Geelong did it with Taylor, Hawthorn sometimes does it with Lake, Fremantle does it with Johnson. Before that, West Coast had Hunter who used to be a key swingman.

However, McDonald's a defender and we need to continue to get him learning and developing in that role.

[rjay 25,345]

Play him forward pinch hit in the ruck like Blicavs...Dawes to Casey and off we go.

Frost &/or Fitz back, maybe pick up Tomlinson.

Yeah.....NAH !!!!

Able to hit the side of barn...occasionally by accident.
Prefer he just got his Backman mojo back. Was playing terif...now naf

If he was able to play against us I'm sure he would kick somewhere between 5 & 7 straight...

[Generation dee 1,336]

Probably not relevant, but he did kick close to 100 goals playing for edenhope/apsley in his last year there before heading to north Ballarat. As a 16 year old playing u/17s. I think he is too hard on himself which is hindering his ability to do the basics right now. He looks a little lost. Whilst he is a very confident young man, he isn't arrogant. But I think his drop in form has been due to putting too much pressure on himself. Playing Brisbane next week, I'd bring in Fitzpatrick to play full back, and use tom on the wing or up forward. Let him get a free run and find his MOJO again. Unfortunately dawes just can not offer enough and I've made excuses for him every year, but it's just not worthwhile having him in the team anymore.

[deeflog 679]

Anyone think this should be a permanent move?

Ah no

Show hogan the tape of toms last quarter to show him how to present and compete

[Little Goffy 14,791]

A great bonus to his game but he has shown he can be a truly exceptional tall defender and I'd hate for him to end up going down the Jake Carlisle path. Or is that up-and-down the Jake Carlisle path?

Keen to see him regain form and see our defensive group remain stable for a few years. It has been a long time since we've had a group of defenders playing together long enough to build a really cohesive unit and I'd hate to throw that away on forward-line experiments.

The last time we looked like having a stable defensive group it included Whelan, Nicholson and Broadbridge.

Let our defence grow naturally. Recruit/develop another mobile tall forward. Personally I think Aaron Francis looks like the perfect companion to Hogan.

Also, don't forget we've got another McDonald coming through! Maybe we should keep one at each end?

[Gorgoroth 13,188]

Just what we need, another player who can't kick putting it into our f50