look at the top sides they all have good small forwards, we have 1, who now struggles with injury and form 

RICH won it with 3 genuine small forwards and have since recruited even more 

that year they played ADE in gf who had E BETTS and C CAMERON in their side

WC won it with W RIOLI , J CRIPPS and L RYAN

COLL have J DEGOEY, J STEPHESON( more medium size but have same skills and leg speed) J ELLIOT

GEE have this year added G MIERS, and plonked non other than G ABLETT with him and now sit on top of ladder

GIANTS not so much but still have T GREEN

HAWKS had C RIOLI, L BRUST, P POPPY in their prime in their good years

M WALTERS and J CAMERON have both had outstanding years and have helped lift their sides up the ladder this year

last time MELB played off in a GF in 2000 we had J FARMER who kicked 76 goals that year and won AA

Now look to the bottom half of the ladder and there are not as many good small forwards among the bottom 10 teams (except maybe ess , tippa and fanta) though I do like Gresham, Brust and papley

So while I understand we also lack in other positions, but can we PLEASE draft or trade for some ready made SMALL FORWARDS who kick goals 

 

Richmond have the following small pressure forwards on their list: Castagna, Rioli, Baker, Buttler, Bolton, Higgins. Not all of them are stars but they can’t all fit into their 22 and all would be an upgrade on what we have. One of these would be a good start.

Agree. We desperately need a dangerous small forward who can apply pressure. Not sure Bedford and Chandler are ready this year or next. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had one lined up in he mid season draft but realistically Dunkley was too good to pass up. 

Recruiting a couple of these small forwards needs to be a priority along with someone with speed who can use the ball on the outside. 

 

38 minutes ago, Tough Kent said:

Richmond have the following small pressure forwards on their list: Castagna, Rioli, Baker, Buttler, Bolton, Higgins. Not all of them are stars but they can’t all fit into their 22 and all would be an upgrade on what we have. One of these would be a good start.

Yep agreed. I’m getting concerned we also need a tall forward as weird and tmac and smith define the word mediocrity this year. Do they get better? Who knows. We also desperately need  outside run. Suddenly it looks like a real list overhaul. 

I think our entire forward line is a shambles.

We may have kicked less goals in other games this year, however last week (V Brisbane) our forward line was at it's most dysfunctional.

Our entire forward line is a real concern going forward, and certainly agree with the OP that our list is sorely lacking a competent small forward.

Edited July 2, 20196 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

Our lack of crumbing on Sunday was as bad as I’ve seen for a while. We definitely need someone ready to go for next season. 

Jetta is looking likely to play restricted minutes at Casey this week according to Misson. When he’s ready to come back to AFL, why not throw him forward for the remainder if none of Spargo, Chandler and Bedford manage to get a game. He did play forward early days, he’s not quick but might add some maturity, leadership and toughness down there. I think our defence has been ok without Jetta. A bit left field, I don’t know anymore, just thinking out loud.

Even just a medium size forward who can rip a ball off the pack and kick a goal. Melksham is the closest we've got and he's not getting any younger.

Melksham is sorely missed at the moment, but last year we had Spargo, ANB and Hannan all playing better football than they have this year (along with TMac of course).

The combined loss of form of TMac, Spargo and ANB, plus Hannan's injuries/form struggles, plus Melksham's injuries, and even the loss of vandenBerg, have turned our forward line into a mess.

But I don't think we're as far off as others might.

2 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Melksham is sorely missed at the moment, but last year we had Spargo, ANB and Hannan all playing better football than they have this year (along with TMac of course).

The combined loss of form of TMac, Spargo and ANB, plus Hannan's injuries/form struggles, plus Melksham's injuries, and even the loss of vandenBerg, have turned our forward line into a mess.

But I don't think we're as far off as others might.

Agree with this, plus we've been able to maintain our high inside 50 rate, so it's something we should be bale to turn around rather quickly. It started to look much better against Freo, looked alright in the first quarter and half against Brissy then fell away. I don't think Jeffy will go on next year, and we lost Kent and didn't really replace him, so we've still got holes with real energetic small forwards, but I think we're not as far away as most suggest. 

16 hours ago, Paulo said:

look at the top sides they all have good small forwards, we have 1, who now struggles with injury and form 

RICH won it with 3 genuine small forwards and have since recruited even more 

that year they played ADE in gf who had E BETTS and C CAMERON in their side

WC won it with W RIOLI , J CRIPPS and L RYAN

COLL have J DEGOEY, J STEPHESON( more medium size but have same skills and leg speed) J ELLIOT

GEE have this year added G MIERS, and plonked non other than G ABLETT with him and now sit on top of ladder

GIANTS not so much but still have T GREEN

HAWKS had C RIOLI, L BRUST, P POPPY in their prime in their good years

M WALTERS and J CAMERON have both had outstanding years and have helped lift their sides up the ladder this year

last time MELB played off in a GF in 2000 we had J FARMER who kicked 76 goals that year and won AA

Now look to the bottom half of the ladder and there are not as many good small forwards among the bottom 10 teams (except maybe ess , tippa and fanta) though I do like Gresham, Brust and papley

So while I understand we also lack in other positions, but can we PLEASE draft or trade for some ready made SMALL FORWARDS who kick goals 

 

Been calling for this for the last 5 years.  You have my vote paulo.

I would be ecstatic if we got two!  Farmer and Ricky my all time favs but both seem a lifetime ago.

Another massive MFC recruiting fail over the last 17 years (Jeffy ok but never able to stay on the park and not at a level high enough to worry the opp or the scoreboard in a big way consistently).

11 hours ago, Hunt29 said:

Agree. We desperately need a dangerous small forward who can apply pressure. Not sure Bedford and Chandler are ready this year or next. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had one lined up in he mid season draft but realistically Dunkley was too good to pass up. 

Recruiting a couple of these small forwards needs to be a priority along with someone with speed who can use the ball on the outside. 

We had Fritsch but they put him down the back. Likewise with Jeremy Howe who was banished to the back line for nearly two years and who left for Collingwood. 

56 minutes ago, Skin Deeamond said:

We had Fritsch but they put him down the back. Likewise with Jeremy Howe who was banished to the back line for nearly two years and who left for Collingwood. 

I agree that Fritsch is a better forward than a beckman, but I wouldn't call him a small forward.

Would Jay Lockhart, or JKH fit the rôle?

Agreed that a player like Eddie Betts (once in a lifetime player) or our own Jeff Farmer or Wonna (had he stayed fit) is desperately needed.

12 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Our lack of crumbing on Sunday was as bad as I’ve seen for a while. We definitely need someone ready to go for next season. 

Jetta is looking likely to play restricted minutes at Casey this week according to Misson. When he’s ready to come back to AFL, why not throw him forward for the remainder if none of Spargo, Chandler and Bedford manage to get a game. He did play forward early days, he’s not quick but might add some maturity, leadership and toughness down there. I think our defence has been ok without Jetta. A bit left field, I don’t know anymore, just thinking out loud.

Because he was absolutely horrible as a forward. Sending him to the backline was the only thing that stopped him from being delisted.

On second thought, he would fit in perfectly with our current forwards

Lockhart knows how to kick a goal. But I wouldn’t mind him becoming a small defender option. Similar to a Laird. He can take a mark and always seems to be able to find space. And Aidan tidy kick. 

Our list really lacks dangerous forward options. Especially when Melksham is out. 

Need to make an offer to Dan Butler from the Tigers. Maybe a 3 year deal would get it done. Aggressive type who knows how to hit the scoreboard. Also he stays on the ground. We usually have “3 up, zero down “ in marking contests. 

Also Ben Keays from the Lions may be worth a late draft pick 70s. Having a great year in NEAFL but cannot crack a game due to Charlie Cameron.  

On 7/3/2019 at 7:32 PM, Skin Deeamond said:

We had Fritsch but they put him down the back. Likewise with Jeremy Howe who was banished to the back line for nearly two years and who left for Collingwood. 

And the Pies play Howe where?

YYYAAAAWWWWWNNNNN

21 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

YYYAAAAWWWWWNNNNN

Mods seriously...

5 minutes ago, Stretch Johnson said:

Mods seriously...

I know right....

Spargo's position on the list is perfect to make way for a decent small forward

We had a small forward in dion Johnstone and we delisted him without giving him a game...Give Toby Bedford a taste, 

15 minutes ago, #36 said:

We had a small forward in dion Johnstone and we delisted him without giving him a game...Give Toby Bedford a taste, 

He was a spud

I thought we had been trying to find one, big time, Bedford, Lockhart, Chandler, Hannan, Melschem, Spargo, Dunkley to go with Garlett, ANB....

not sure how many we need but we do need a couple who can really play the role. I really like Lockhart and have hopes for Bedford and we know Hannan and Melk can play. But I don’t want to use too many more picks searching for another speculative one or two! 

Not a small forward but Colin Garland kicked eight for the North Hobart Demons yesterday  

18 hours ago, Earl Hood said:

I thought we had been trying to find one, big time, Bedford, Lockhart, Chandler, Hannan, Melschem, Spargo, Dunkley to go with Garlett, ANB....

not sure how many we need but we do need a couple who can really play the role. I really like Lockhart and have hopes for Bedford and we know Hannan and Melk can play. But I don’t want to use too many more picks searching for another speculative one or two! 

I think DUnkley may be a bigger small fwd. Lockart shows enormous promisw. ANB epiomises one ,but lacks any confidence(rightly) in his goal kicking. Melsham is not playing Hannan does not get enough ball.

SO I think we have got plenty, but just need someone to step up. Maybe Jetta /Viney to Fwd. Guaranteed they will provide a contest.