I know we've got Preuss/Gawn/Smith and of course Weideman to piece together the 50 or so needed, but would we need to draft or recruit another player? At least as depth to fight for a spot with Tim Smith?

Are people forgetting about a fella called TMac?

Petracca, it wont come from one player it will be a combination of players

3 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Are people forgetting about a fella called TMac?

He played forward all year and contributed significantly? I just mean there will now be extra pressure on the others to contribute the amount of dependable goals we've lost now that Hogan has moved on.

Weed will kick 40, dont worry bout that.

I wonder if GWS would be willing to let Cameron go for a third/fourth rounder?

It will be interesting to see who kicks goals in big pressure games, which is when Jesse seemed to struggle most.  

3 minutes ago, drdrake said:

Petracca, it wont come from one player it will be a combination of players

Spot on.

They hope Weideman takes the lions share of those goals, but Trac, T Mac, Fristch, Hannan, Melksham, Oliver, Spargo etc. etc. will also share the load a little as well.  I'm not worried about it at all.

With May back , it gives us the flexibility to try Joel Smith forward and maybe even OMac or Frost.

Tim Smith another option.

2 minutes ago, drdrake said:

Petracca, it wont come from one player it will be a combination of players

And this is what we want.  All our Forwards and Mids working backsides off, and kicking goals.

Shut one down, another pops up.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjvrYvq0YzeAhXHR30KHavgByIQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Flookhere3.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fcat-gifs%2F&psig=AOvVaw3QXi-AtnkOgSeYoMnWesAq&ust=1539836942091667

 

Hogan: 8 goals in 6 games against top 8 opponents
Weid: 8 goals in 5 games against top 8 opponents from round 22 onwards

We'll need to find a back up. I think Preuss or Tim Smith can do it short term. Add another scrap heap or VFL option but draft for long term.

2 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Spot on.

They hope Weideman takes the lions share of those goals, but Trac, T Mac, Fristch, Hannan, Melksham, Oliver, Spargo etc. etc. will also share the load a little as well.  I'm not worried about it at all.

With Preuss coming in, he or Max can spend some time forward when Preuss is in the side. I am surprised that not much has been said about bringing in Preuss, I think it’s a much better get than most seem to realise

Opinions please.

4 minutes ago, Deevout said:

With Preuss coming in, he or Max can spend some time forward when Preuss is in the side. I am surprised that not much has been said about bringing in Preuss, I think it’s a much better get than most seem to realise

Opinions please.

Although it was done much earlier in the Trade period, it always seemed to me that Preuss coming in was a sign that the club knew that Hogan would be leaving. It now makes sense that Preuss and Gawn can play in the same side with McDonald and Weideman. 

We also have the Cat B rookie Walker, being lined up as a developing tall forward.

Vanders can also play forward.

Deceptively tall and a strong unit with a huge kick on him.

As much as I am impressed by Hogan and think he will give something extremely valuable to Freo, I don't think we'll miss him structurally a whole lot.

May coming in means Gawn drifts forward more than back, which has been shown to be good for clunking a goal a game. The rest is easy to picture.

We're looking at having a dynamic, unpredictable and intimidating forward line. Speculatively, the 'compulsory 6' at centre boucnes might look like;

F:          Hannan      Weideman    Preuss/Gawn

HF:       Petracca       McDonald      Melksham

with Spargo, Vandenberg, Fritsch, and Neal-Bullen all ready to roll through.

There's a good dose of contested marking, marking on a lead, goalsneaking, bullocking and forward-50 pressure in that. Not weak in any area at all.

I think we'll have no trouble being the highest scoring team in the game again in 2019, and we'll do it while also having a fair bit stingier defence.

All is well. No tears here.

 

23 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

We also have the Cat B rookie Walker, being lined up as a developing tall forward.

You do realise he's only 184cm tall..

In my opinion, TMac has developed into a better key forward than Jesse (in 2018). Not accounting for future potential of the player Jesse could turn into of course.

I am not particularly worried, we slaughtered the Cats and Hawks in finals footy without him.

We'll always have good delivery into the 50. Now that our backline is shored up a bit, I expect us to only improve from here.

In 2012, May kicked 3 goals and took 12 marks against Hawthorn.  Could he, when match-ups permit, play a swinging role?

The good thing is we have flexibility with Melksham, Petracca, Hannan, ANB, Spargo and even Clarry with our talls. All working together the goals will come.

with good consistent delivery into the forward line we'll kick enough goals. We have Tmac and Weed to break packs and compete when required.

14 minutes ago, The Chazz said:

In 2012, May kicked 3 goals and took 12 marks against Hawthorn.  Could he, when match-ups permit, play a swinging role?

He was a forward as a Junior.

I have it on good authority that the club is training Spargo to grow taller.

Gawn will definitely float forward more often than back, like he did in 2017. Better spend the preseason practicing getting them between the big sticks Maxy.

Didn't Fritta kick 30 or 40 goals in the VFL for Casey in 2017? Could be an option.