http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-01-02/who-has-the-best-forwards-we-rank-every-club

Now this one is a bit of a dogs breakfast....

Freo, Geelong & St Kilda above us for a start. I don't think so...

...not convinced with Sydney, Port or the Dogs forward lines either.

 

Seems the formula is:

do they have a superstar forward

did they do well last year

i don't think they have looked at forward units, but rather the superstar sum of parts.

GWS looks scary.  

The dogs should get marked down for adding Choke.

Hawks - a lot depends on Roughie coming back strong.  Cyril is always Cyril, and their other forwards are more medium types that do well on the back end of superb midfield delivery ( which may not be there this year).

Gald we are not Carlton.

If Hogan was a superstar, rather than a potential superstar, we would be a lot higher.

Also, we don't yet know how Goodie will play.  Maybe he will have spencil in FP as rotating ruck (I doubt it, but who knows what he is thinking ??).  Of all the teams, with a new coach and potential to burn, we are probably the hardest to judge.

For me, the only reason to look at that article was to have another chance to laugh at how horribly Mick Malthouse screwed up.

Carlton, indisputably bottom ranked for forwards, and yet...

Kennedy, Waite, Betts, Garlett, with Jacobs resting forward ruck and Troy Menzel on the bench.

I think this is about right for our unexpected forward line. 

We might look a little better placed at the end of this season. 

Edited January 2, 20178 yr by ILLDieADemon

Did they list GWS as the top of every category?

Wow the AFL website says "The Giants' forward line is, quite frankly, absurd." And yet they so needed all of the draft and academy picks...

 

The rankings aren't an easy task, I don't think we are too far ahead of 12th really but at the same time I think we are getting closer to having a very functional forward line. 

We didn't bring in a best 22 player like we did for the backline and midfield but we did use our 2 national draft picks and then grab a mature age rookie so that might be an indication the list managers see room for depth improvement and personnel changes.

It's certainly a very young group, with only Watts and Garlett as experienced players with the possibility of Pedersen over Weeds.

I'm not sure what roles Goodwin will have for the forwards this year and how much emphasis he puts on defensive pressure, how heavily he'll try and rotate players forward/midfield and if he'll favour skilled forwards with more upside or if he'll go for the extra mids in the team.

 

19 hours ago, rjay said:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-01-02/who-has-the-best-forwards-we-rank-every-club

Now this one is a bit of a dogs breakfast....

Freo, Geelong & St Kilda above us for a start. I don't think so...

...not convinced with Sydney, Port or the Dogs forward lines either.

 

St Kilda have a better forward line than us on paper.

A forward line of Membrey, Bruce, McCartin,  Riewoldt, Weller and Billings looks fantastic to me.

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

St Kilda have a better forward line than us on paper.

A forward line of Membrey, Bruce, McCartin,  Riewoldt, Weller and Billings looks fantastic to me.

Annoying...but true. 

With regards to rating team for their forward line, St.Kida would have to be rated above us purely because they to date have the wood over us. Geelong and Hawthorn in the past have had long winning streaks or losing streaks against each other. GWS,SYDNEY,HAWTHORN,WB and ST.KILDA would be rated higher than the DEES. Petracca and Hogan will improve along with our midfield and defence.My concern is CHF/FF if Hogan doesn't fill one of those spots. However Hogan may play further down the ground at times. Geelong will drop,don't think much of Vickery and Hawkins is becoming a dinosaur. ESSENDON,ADELAIDE,WEST COAST and FREO will have the next best forward line after the Dees. KANGAS,PIES,G.C, etc

3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

St Kilda have a better forward line than us on paper.

A forward line of Membrey, Bruce, McCartin,  Riewoldt, Weller and Billings looks fantastic to me.

Reiwoldt was on the wing in the quoted article.

Without him they have a pretty ordinary forward line I would think.

2 'B' grade forwards in Membrey and Bruce, some promise with McCartin if he can get on the ground. Billings yet to deliver on his promise and disappointing to date. Weller another C/B grader.

Hardly fantastic.

4 minutes ago, rjay said:

Reiwoldt was on the wing in the quoted article.

Without him they have a pretty ordinary forward line I would think.

2 'B' grade forwards in Membrey and Bruce, some promise with McCartin if he can get on the ground. Billings yet to deliver on his promise and disappointing to date. Weller another C/B grader.

Hardly fantastic.

Jeez Rjay, I love your passion for the red and the blue, but Membrey kicked 44 goals last year!  Does that make Watts (38 goals) a B grader or a C grader?   It's commonplace to look at Membrey through the spud lens but the fact of the matter is he got the job done last year well and truly (particularly against us).  Our forward line is a work in progress...we need consistency out of Kent, Garlett needs to return to his 40+ a year form (and I think he will with faster ball movement under Goodwin) and Petracca needs to become a weapon (which will require a vast improvement in his set shot routine amongst other things).  Hogan has been discussed ad nauseum on here - I think he'll up the ante significantly this year.

First line of ours is spot on:

A young, exciting forward line that oozes class, it could become one of the game's best in a few years. 

"young" "exciting" and "in a few years." 

St Kilda's forward line is a year or 2, possibly more, ahead of ours in development. I dont know why people are so bothered by that, their midfield and backline both lack depth compared to ours anyway doesnt matter how good your forwardline is if you cant get it there. I dont really have a problem with any of the teams listed above us. We have a young forwardline with only Garlett having played at a high level in enough years to be rated highly and last year wasnt fantastic. Watts showed 1 good year, he should follow up. If Kent and Hogan can find some consistancy this year I think you will notice us climb the rankings a little. Not many expectations on Tracc or Weid couple of good games each but not much more. 

Patience, I like what we have for the future of our forwardline but its not going to be what propels us up the ladder. I'm not sure our forward line will ever be the league's best but that doesnt mean it wont be good. I have more faith our midfield will be right up among the best in 2-4 years time.

I wouldn't have thought there's much debate over whether St Kilda's forward line is better than ours. IMO in 2016 it clearly was. 

However, it's not a vast difference and it's the only area of the ground where I'd say their list is better than ours.

1 hour ago, Copuchas said:

Jeez Rjay, I love your passion for the red and the blue, but Membrey kicked 44 goals last year!  Does that make Watts (38 goals) a B grader or a C grader?   It's commonplace to look at Membrey through the spud lens but the fact of the matter is he got the job done last year well and truly (particularly against us).  Our forward line is a work in progress...we need consistency out of Kent, Garlett needs to return to his 40+ a year form (and I think he will with faster ball movement under Goodwin) and Petracca needs to become a weapon (which will require a vast improvement in his set shot routine amongst other things).  Hogan has been discussed ad nauseum on here - I think he'll up the ante significantly this year.

 

1 hour ago, ArtificialWisdom said:

First line of ours is spot on:

A young, exciting forward line that oozes class, it could become one of the game's best in a few years. 

"young" "exciting" and "in a few years." 

St Kilda's forward line is a year or 2, possibly more, ahead of ours in development. I dont know why people are so bothered by that, their midfield and backline both lack depth compared to ours anyway doesnt matter how good your forwardline is if you cant get it there. I dont really have a problem with any of the teams listed above us. We have a young forwardline with only Garlett having played at a high level in enough years to be rated highly and last year wasnt fantastic. Watts showed 1 good year, he should follow up. If Kent and Hogan can find some consistancy this year I think you will notice us climb the rankings a little. Not many expectations on Tracc or Weid couple of good games each but not much more. 

Patience, I like what we have for the future of our forwardline but its not going to be what propels us up the ladder. I'm not sure our forward line will ever be the league's best but that doesnt mean it wont be good. I have more faith our midfield will be right up among the best in 2-4 years time.

 

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

I wouldn't have thought there's much debate over whether St Kilda's forward line is better than ours. IMO in 2016 it clearly was. 

However, it's not a vast difference and it's the only area of the ground where I'd say their list is better than ours.

Ok...seeing this is about 2017, lets revisit at the end of the season and see where the respective forward lines sit and who is right.

I think we will be well ahead of the Saints, you guys don't.

We will see...

They scored 9 more points than us last year. They scores 100 points more than us in the last round. 

I'm not worried. 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

Ok...seeing this is about 2017, lets revisit at the end of the season and see where the respective forward lines sit and who is right.

I think we will be well ahead of the Saints, you guys don't.

We will see...

The two aren't mutually exclusive - the article is ranking forward lines right now, not prognosticating which teams will have the best forward lines by the end of 2017. 

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

The two aren't mutually exclusive - the article is ranking forward lines right now, not prognosticating which teams will have the best forward lines by the end of 2017. 

Backtracking a little 'titan'???

It's ranking the forward lines going in to 2017. I would think ours is better placed and that will be proven by the end of 2017.

Edited January 3, 20178 yr by rjay

4 hours ago, rjay said:

Backtracking a little 'titan'???

It's ranking the forward lines going in to 2017. I would think ours is better placed and that will be proven by the end of 2017.

It's all largely semantics - IMO St Kilda's got the better forward line as we rank them right now, but that doesn't mean I think it will stay that way this year.

I know this is about forward lines but while we're on St.Kilda they too play with (most of the time) a sense of urgency more often than not. I struggle to understand why clubs including ours haven't worked it out yet. Hopefully this year is different.

6 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

I know this is about forward lines but while we're on St.Kilda they too play with (most of the time) a sense of urgency more often than not. I struggle to understand why clubs including ours haven't worked it out yet. Hopefully this year is different.

Leadership, consistency of game plan/coaching and solid core of reliable effort role players. 

Although they got belted on the road by Adel and WC and lost to Gold Coast easily as well. They aren't perfect.

On 03/01/2017 at 7:12 AM, titan_uranus said:

I wouldn't have thought there's much debate over whether St Kilda's forward line is better than ours. IMO in 2016 it clearly was. 

However, it's not a vast difference and it's the only area of the ground where I'd say their list is better than ours.

The ultimate KPI, winning games between the two competing teams, has them way way ahead of us. 

3 hours ago, monoccular said:

The ultimate KPI, winning games between the two competing teams, has them way way ahead of us. 

So ... we are about level with Hawthorn?

On 02/01/2017 at 11:25 AM, buck_nekkid said:

Seems the formula is:

do they have a superstar forward

did they do well last year

i don't think they have looked at forward units, but rather the superstar sum of parts.

GWS looks scary.  

The dogs should get marked down for adding Choke.

Hawks - a lot depends on Roughie coming back strong.  Cyril is always Cyril, and their other forwards are more medium types that do well on the back end of superb midfield delivery ( which may not be there this year).

Gald we are not Carlton.

If Hogan was a superstar, rather than a potential superstar, we would be a lot higher.

Also, we don't yet know how Goodie will play.  Maybe he will have spencil in FP as rotating ruck (I doubt it, but who knows what he is thinking ??).  Of all the teams, with a new coach and potential to burn, we are probably the hardest to judge.

 

I'm a sleeper agent, awaiting round 13.

As soon as the trigger word is uttered, I will remove my super secret footy glove and slap the entire bulldogs team with the force of a thousand miskicks.

On 2 January 2017 at 8:25 AM, buck_nekkid said:

Seems the formula is:

do they have a superstar forward

did they do well last year

i don't think they have looked at forward units, but rather the superstar sum of parts.

GWS looks scary.  

The dogs should get marked down for adding Choke.

Hawks - a lot depends on Roughie coming back strong.  Cyril is always Cyril, and their other forwards are more medium types that do well on the back end of superb midfield delivery ( which may not be there this year).

Gald we are not Carlton.

If Hogan was a superstar, rather than a potential superstar, we would be a lot higher.

Also, we don't yet know how Goodie will play.  Maybe he will have spencil in FP as rotating ruck (I doubt it, but who knows what he is thinking ??).  Of all the teams, with a new coach and potential to burn, we are probably the hardest to judge.

That's the thing our forward line is completely under the radar. Hogen and Watts could go to another level, then you have the Weed who could step out of the smoke and kick ass. Jeff could get back to his best with the help of Pratracca and Kent. 

Who knows where our forward line could be placed by the end of the season??