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Forward 50 Entries Are Being Addressed

Demonland
Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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  • Demonland changed the title to Forward 50 Entries Are Being Addressed
 

As Mooney said... Believe it when I see it. But at least they have put it out there that they are attempting to fix it.

Round 1 was a real kick in the guts for the hope I had that this would be fixed over the preseason

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    As he said it's one game in so small sample size, but we had the whole pre-season (extra time than WC) to address and fix. But it looked exactly like last years entries for almost the entire game. It's one thing to get the ball in long and quickly, but know where to go with it, look for space to lead the forward to the ball, at least put it to their advantage. 

    Like everyone, I'll believe it when I see it.

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    Watching old games during Covid it has never stood out more to me that we need a key fwd that will crash packs and contest in the air at every opportunity, Neitz like, creates so many opportunities. 
    So often over the recent years the opposition marks our fwd entry with our so called tall fwds just watching on! 

    I don’t think TMac is the answer, nor is Brown... Play May forward. 

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    I tell you our next biggest problem, potentially worth its own thread, the playing of James Harmes as a defender. Watching the 2018 SF against Geelong this morning on Fox. He is a gun midfielder. Gets forward and kicks goals too. It is a criminal act to be playing him back. It will NOT work. He is an attacking player. You see how lost he is trying to find an opponent on transition. Another of Goody's dumb experiments that has potential to suck all the confidence out of one of our most improved players. 

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    26 minutes ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

    I tell you our next biggest problem, potentially worth its own thread, the playing of James Harmes as a defender. Watching the 2018 SF against Geelong this morning on Fox. He is a gun midfielder. Gets forward and kicks goals too. It is a criminal act to be playing him back. It will NOT work. He is an attacking player. You see how lost he is trying to find an opponent on transition. Another of Goody's dumb experiments that has potential to suck all the confidence out of one of our most improved players. 

    100% agree. We seem to have a playerstart playing well and then decide to move him somewhere else. So confusing!

    We can easily rotate Viney, Petracca, Oliver, Harmes and Brayshaw through the middle. 

    Trac plays forward when rotating.

    Viney plays forward when rotating.

    Oliver plays forward when not rotating.

    Brayshaw play half back when rotating.

    Harmes play half back when rotating.

    I'm not sold on our current coaching group, however I do think we need to stick with Goodwin for stability.

    I'd like to see a full sweep out of our assistants like the Tigers did and invest in the very best line coaches we can find.

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    28 minutes ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

    I tell you our next biggest problem, potentially worth its own thread, the playing of James Harmes as a defender. Watching the 2018 SF against Geelong this morning on Fox. He is a gun midfielder. Gets forward and kicks goals too. It is a criminal act to be playing him back. It will NOT work. He is an attacking player. You see how lost he is trying to find an opponent on transition. Another of Goody's dumb experiments that has potential to suck all the confidence out of one of our most improved players. 

    So true Leoncelli. Seems another of those decisions supporters are way ahead of the coach and co on. Harmes is a heart and soul player who you do not want to muck around with.

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    31 minutes ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

    I tell you our next biggest problem, potentially worth its own thread, the playing of James Harmes as a defender. Watching the 2018 SF against Geelong this morning on Fox. He is a gun midfielder. Gets forward and kicks goals too. It is a criminal act to be playing him back. It will NOT work. He is an attacking player. You see how lost he is trying to find an opponent on transition. Another of Goody's dumb experiments that has potential to suck all the confidence out of one of our most improved players. 

    Apart from most of Goody’s decisions, Harmes to the backline is one of the worst I’ve seen. As you said, he’s a gun midfielder. The mind boggles. 

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    3 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

    Apart from most of Goody’s decisions, Harmes to the backline is one of the worst I’ve seen. As you said, he’s a gun midfielder. The mind boggles. 

    He not only won his own footy against the Cats, but he smashed Selwood and stuck it right up him. I love that stuff and so should our coach. Right the wrong Goodwin. 

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    As much as Rd 1 was a fail, it can take time for players and teams to gain confidence in a new system.  Before that confidence is built, it is easy to default to old habits under pressure.  It took us half a dozen or so rounds to fully hit our straps and get going in 2018, but once we did, asides from a few notable (and costly) lapses we never really looked back.

     I'd like to see what our forward line looks like with Nathan Jones playing a half forward role on a regular basis which as absent from Rd 1.  And as much as guys like Kossie ooze raw talent, I still think it will take a good number of games to build cohesion.  It will also be interested to see what effect a truley small forward dangerous player like Kossie, Bedford and/or Bennell truely up and about could have on the psyche of opposition backlines.

     Looking forward (pardon the pun) to Rd 2 and beyond to see what the team can put together this year.

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    What a cop out of a response. We did well in the pre season. Imagine hearing someone at Hawthorn say that. Anyone who did would be immediately spoken to. And an insult to supports when he said, 'sometimes you do bomb it in"  Yes josh, we can tell the difference between a occasional long forward entry and someone bombing it in and we are not refering to the former of the two cases. Pack your bags or do better.

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    As much as they are trying to address the issue listening to Mahoney speak about it being a territory game it seems we will continue with numbers around the ball and try to get it forward as quickly as possible. That tells me if our ‘big’ forwards can’t mark the ball at least create some sort of stoppage to lock it in. 

    Kossie needs to play every game to become that small pressure forward that also makes something out of nothing. Not sure how many games we will see this year but I would leave him in the side for the entirety purely for developmental purposes. He will be a great pick up from the small sample we have seen. 

    Do we play Jackson forward at some stage this year? Pretty nimble for a tall fella and looks above average even when the ball is on the ground. 

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    Bennell could be the key. A very dangerous small forward playing short stints in the midfield.  Bennell will attract the best small defender every week leaving Kosi a easier task.

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    Mahoney wasn't exactly very convincing was he? adding that 'territory game' caveat at the end.

    it all sounds ok, but too bad it doesn't work for us. most good teams seem to make us pay for doing it, easily intercepting then rebounding quickly, catching our midfield and defence out with quick transition.

    it really doesn't help when Goody insists on pushing a forward up to the contest which leaves us outnumbered inside F50 and makes it hard to score or even lock the ball in. instead it usually just flies straight back out again up the other end.

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    6 minutes ago, Demon Dude said:

    Mahoney wasn't exactly very convincing was he? adding that 'territory game' caveat at the end.

    it all sounds ok, but too bad it doesn't work for us. most good teams seem to make us pay for doing it, easily intercepting then rebounding quickly, catching our midfield and defence out with quick transition.

    it really doesn't help when Goody insists on pushing a forward up to the contest which leaves us outnumbered inside F50 and makes it hard to score or even lock the ball in. instead it usually just flies straight back out again up the other end.

    And what about when he said, "WC have good defenders"? Oh well, let us let our boys off the hook, they had good defenders. I have never ever sensed any Demon passion with Mahoney.  Pass the paycheck please.

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    there is just no pleasing some people

    i think it's great that he didn't dodge the question - it's clearly something we, as fans, know is an issue, and he says that we're trying to address it as best as we can given that we couldn't train for ages

    mahoney is a fantastic operator and continues to impress for mine 

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    2 hours ago, Vineytime said:

    Watching old games during Covid it has never stood out more to me that we need a key fwd that will crash packs and contest in the air at every opportunity, Neitz like, creates so many opportunities. 
    So often over the recent years the opposition marks our fwd entry with our so called tall fwds just watching on! 

    I don’t think TMac is the answer, nor is Brown... Play May forward. 

    T Mac 50 goals in 2018. You can't fluke a 50 goal season which puts him in the top group of goal kickers in the AFL. What we need is him back in form and confidence

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    I too have been watching old games (I've enjoyed a great season so far - we have won game after game and only lost one game this year, to WCE). 

    I agree with Vineytime - what stands out is that you need at least one big forward. Now maybe footy has changed and you can get away with a large number of highly talented smaller blokes, but it seems to me with a big forward you can do well with fewer or less talented smaller players.

    Edited by sue

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    Here's an out of the box idea: stop kicking long inside 50s directly to a tall opposition player!

    Watching R1 again, it's as if we picked them out on purpose

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    The decision to play Spargo and Bedford against West Coast was just appalling. Neither provides any defensive pressure, neither wins their own football and West Coast would not have a wasted a second of time thinking about them. We were at least one key forward short in that game, as well as someone to make Hurn and co accountable.

    Our inside 50 entries are often poor and the midfield need to work on this, but the structure of our forward line is simply unacceptable. We were the highest scoring team in the competition in 2018, now we struggle to kick a goal more than 10% of the time we go inside forward 50. How many times do our players bring the ball forward and have nobody to kick to because they are all clustered together. Finding a big bodied forward who can make a contest is our number one priority, and sadly Weideman is not the answer.

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    52 minutes ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

    there is just no pleasing some people

    i think it's great that he didn't dodge the question - it's clearly something we, as fans, know is an issue, and he says that we're trying to address it as best as we can given that we couldn't train for ages

    mahoney is a fantastic operator and continues to impress for mine 

    Big difference between a person having an opinion on a particular conversation than on a person never being pleased. 

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