Our Tall Forwards

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,809]

I’m a bit worried that we haven’t recruited any tall forward prospects in the draft.I think we’re a “tall short” as far as forwards are concerned on our list.

We have TMac and the Weed, but who else? Tim Smith would be next, I guess, and I think Max will be free to play more up front now we’ve got the big Prussian. I would have liked to see us pick up a tall forward prospect for development.

If Frost can’t squeeze back into the backline, perhaps we should give him another go up forward for Casey, in case TMac or Weed miss through injury.

Does anyone know if there’s a  tall forward prospect in the rookie draft?

 

[Diamond_Jim 12,627]

King from GC in a couple of years if needed

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,809]

Have to ward off Saints with their high draft picks!

[rjay 25,084]

26 minutes ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

I’m a bit worried that we haven’t recruited any tall forward prospects in the draft.I think we’re a “tall short” as far as forwards are concerned on our list.

We have TMac and the Weed, but who else? Tim Smith would be next, I guess, and I think Max will be free to play more up front now we’ve got the big Prussian. I would have liked to see us pick up a tall forward prospect for development.

If Frost can’t squeeze back into the backline, perhaps we should give him another go up forward for Casey, in case TMac or Weed miss through injury.

Does anyone know if there’s a  tall forward prospect in the rookie draft?

 

2 x Smith, Fritsch & Petracca can all play a role.

Plus the 2 rucks and Bradtke...

Then we have Oscar who has played there as a junior, Keilty who has played there at Casey and Frost who can't play there but would be much better at it than any late round pick in this years draft.

No point picking a tall for the sake of it, that's how you end up with a Lucas Cook selection.

[jayceebee31 761]

I think this draft was poor, to much similar types..needed a tall forward and a ruck type in my opinion..

[Redleg 41,421]

3 minutes ago, jayceebee31 said:

I think this draft was poor, to much similar types..needed a tall forward and a ruck type in my opinion..

Bailey Williams at 198 cms and 95 kgs was available at a few of our picks.

 

[DubDee 26,117]

Key fwd and ruck depth/development are areas of some concern. I guess the club think we can change our fwd line structure if injuries come. 

Or maybe it was a poor draft for talls

[Adam The God 30,407]

Midfields win flags. We strengthened our midfield. Win. I'll trust our FD.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

If we were in a real bind, I recon you would look at Steve May down there.  Our backline functioned ok against most sides this year with either May or Lever down back.  IF we were struggling for options up forward, it could be a case of where the greater need is for May in the context of the realitive strengths/weaknesses of our oppositions forward/backlines and who is dominating the ball out of the middle on the day.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

4 hours ago, rjay said:

2 x Smith, Fritsch & Petracca can all play a role.

Plus the 2 rucks and Bradtke...

Then we have Oscar who has played there as a junior, Keilty who has played there at Casey and Frost who can't play there but would be much better at it than any late round pick in this years draft.

No point picking a tall for the sake of it, that's how you end up with a Lucas Cook selection.

Still needs to open his goal kicking account as an AFL player.

[spirit of norm smith 16,587]

Yes thought Haydn McLean was a rookie chance.  Lots of key backs but only 2 key forwards.  Tmcd and Weid. Backups are makeshifts Preuss and May but their “shifts”.  

[MurDoc516 1,529]

we will handpass it through the goal or rugby scrum it over with all our hard contested midfielders.

[rjay 25,084]

5 hours ago, Redleg said:

Bailey Williams at 198 cms and 95 kgs was available at a few of our picks.

 

We obviously didn't rate him...

We've gone with best available and he wasn't it according to our recruiting team.

Would you prefer we draft for needs again & end up with the list we had under the previous administration?

That approach got us Lucas Cook at pick 12 because we missed Lynch who was taken the pick before.

[WERRIDEE 5,503]

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

Key fwd and ruck depth/development are areas of some concern. I guess the club think we can change our fwd line structure if injuries come. 

Or maybe it was a poor draft for talls

Taylor indicated it was a poor draft for talls.

[WERRIDEE 5,503]

2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Yes thought Haydn McLean was a rookie chance.  Lots of key backs but only 2 key forwards.  Tmcd and Weid. Backups are makeshifts Preuss and May but their “shifts”.  

Bradtke is a key forward

[Uncle Fester 2,848]

I'd rather 20 goals coming from 13 players than 20 coming from 5.

[Redleg 41,421]

8 hours ago, rjay said:

We obviously didn't rate him...

We've gone with best available and he wasn't it according to our recruiting team.

Would you prefer we draft for needs again & end up with the list we had under the previous administration?

That approach got us Lucas Cook at pick 12 because we missed Lynch who was taken the pick before.

You need to read my answer to a post, before assuming my intent. Below is the post and my answer. I merely named a player who was available, of a certain type of player, at our picks, in response to a poster who wanted that type of player.

Personally as it turns out, I would have liked to see more mix in our selections and felt we needed another key forward/ruck type and Bailey Williams was of that type.

I have also posted many times that I have faith in JT and admire his work, but that doesn't stop wish lists and opinions and clearly I accept mine are only mine and not necessarily JT's.

Here is what I said in response to what was posted:

"

  13 hours ago, jayceebee31 said:

I think this draft was poor, to much similar types..needed a tall forward and a ruck type in my opinion..

Bailey Williams at 198 cms and 95 kgs was available at a few of our picks.

PS. Drafting for needs by the way doesn't mean you get a crap list. I would trust JT to draft a type of player we need because of his skill and talent at the job. Are you telling me that we will always pick best available over need? So if we lose Preuss and Max we won't look for a ruck, come on. JT actually said we "need" more mids and defenders and he selected them. Personally I think we are now a bit top heavy on mids and defenders and light on one experienced ruck reserve and another developing key forward. Do you disagree?

Edited November 23, 2018 by Redleg

[Red and Blue realist 2,058]

1 hour ago, Uncle Fester said:

I'd rather 20 goals coming from 13 players than 20 coming from 5.

Spot on, we scored more than any other team last year based on multiple options not 1 or 2 dominate talls. The game plan seems to be moving towards just beating the opposition at the contest then getting the ball in as quick possible then lock it in. Not pretty movement in to leads

[Uncle Fester 2,848]

32 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

Spot on, we scored more than any other team last year based on multiple options not 1 or 2 dominate talls. The game plan seems to be moving towards just beating the opposition at the contest then getting the ball in as quick possible then lock it in. Not pretty movement in to leads

Our best games were when we had a flood of players lining up to kick, or to dish it out to someone in a better spot. I admit I was sad when it became clear that Jesse was going, but when looked at in the cold light of day, we are a better team without him. That is not denying his talent. Just that we always looked to Jesse focused. If he kicked 3.2, then it would mean 5 other times he was double teamed and the ball came straight out, and probably another 5 it was halved. That isn't even counting missed options as the guy with the ball waited for Jesse's lead while others stood unmarked.

We play better being unpredictable. And I think that is where the game is heading,  And even if it isn't, then I still like seeing us play that way. 

[Lord Travis 10,763]

I agree that we play our best football when we have multiple players kicking goals and a variety of options. However, our list is unbalanced at present with T McDonald and Weiderman our only tall forwards. We've just lost Hogan and Pedo. Some people have suggested T Smith, but at 192cm, 28 years of age, and yet to play a competent game as a forward at AFL level, I don't think he's a realistic option. He has played well up around the ball as a big bodied midfielder however. 
Weiderman is yet to prove he can consistently stand up at AFL (though I rate him and defended him on here in the past when others sank the boot in). If TMac suffered another long term injury like the foot injury he suffered, we'd miss finals. We need tall forward depth. Games are won in the midfield, but you will always need a tall target to kick too come finals time. Imagine having Fritsch or Hannan or Petracca as our marking option when play gets locked down come finals time. Though they're more than competent, they'd all get eaten alive if they had to wrestle a Talia, McGovern, Tarrant, Andrews type. 

Compare that to tall defenders where we have May, Lever, McDonald, Frost, Petty, Keilty. That's a good amount of depth to cover injury and form.

It's a shame we missed out on Bailey Williams, but our recruiters didn't rate him so I'm comfortable with that as the current group have a good track record. It's a shame there weren't many decent tall forward options at all outside the top 10 this year. Hopefully we can bring another quality one in next season, as while our list is in brilliant shape, it's definitely lacking tall forwards.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Lord Travis

[Gator 17,449]

A non-issue for me.  Most clubs would be over the moon to have a key forward capable of kicking 60 goals like McDonald, or a 21 year old key forward who's shown the ability to be best on ground in his club's first final in over a decade.

You've got Gawn, who has the luxury of having stints forward now the backline is sorted.

May and Petty can play forward, plus we've got numerous goal-kicking midsized players.

We were the only team to have 15 players kick 10 goals, or more, in 2018.  The next best was 13 while plenty had under ten.

Bradke played junior footy with the Kings, so just pretend we drafted him on Friday if you want to.

How many key forwards do you think Collingwood have ?  How many do you think West Coast have after Darling and Kennedy ?  Or Richmond after Riewoldt and Lynch ? 

We've balanced out our midfield depth, added to defence, brought in small forwards, and added pace.

Happy days.

Edited November 24, 2018 by ProDee

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Plainly the club is very happy with Weideman. He had a good finals series and is a solid character.

That said, I’m not sold on him over Curnow.

Next that said, I think we have the best (and most balanced) list in the competition. Our forward line is dynamic and has genuine diversity and agility.

 

[Gator 17,449]

1 hour ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Plainly the club is very happy with Weideman. He had a good finals series and is a solid character.

That said, I’m not sold on him over Curnow.

Next that said, I think we have the best (and most balanced) list in the competition. Our forward line is dynamic and has genuine diversity and agility.

 

Right now everyone would have Curnow ahead of Weideman.

But they are quite different players and it's too early to call.  We might not know for a decade.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

A non-issue for me.  Most clubs would be over the moon to have a key forward capable of kicking 60 goals like McDonald, or a 21 year old key forward who's shown the ability to be best on ground in his club's first final in over a decade.

You've got Gawn, who has the luxury of having stints forward now the backline is sorted.

May and Petty can play forward, plus we've got numerous goal-kicking midsized players.

We were the only team to have 15 players kick 10 goals, or more, in 2018.  The next best was 13 while plenty had under ten.

Bradke played junior footy with the Kings, so just pretend we drafted him on Friday if you want to.

How many key forwards do you think Collingwood have ?  How many do you think West Coast have after Darling and Kennedy ?  Or Richmond after Riewoldt and Lynch ? 

We've balanced out our midfield depth, added to defence, brought in small forwards, and added pace.

Happy days.

And we were pretty much the highest scoring team in the comp too yeah?

[Gator 17,449]

8 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

And we were pretty much the highest scoring team in the comp too yeah?

The ladder will tell you that.