Is this too far fetched?  We are carrying on about forward lines, and also about how Max is below his best and too busy trying to share with Grundy...could this be an option?  Sure would make a good target!

Gawn is a better forward than Grundy, pretty easy to see. Id like to see a full game of Gawn forward and Grundy in the ruck the whole time. Grundy has played his best footy for us when Gawn was injured and he rucked the whole game surprise surprise. 

21 minutes ago, Lewis said:

Gawn is a better forward than Grundy, pretty easy to see. Id like to see a full game of Gawn forward and Grundy in the ruck the whole time. Grundy has played his best footy for us when Gawn was injured and he rucked the whole game surprise surprise. 

Can't ignore that Gawn rucking led us to premiership though...now maybe things have changed since then, but there's some chatter about Gawn being better off on his own, not sure if that's true but let's say it might be, surely just send Grundy forward and teach him to kick better, he'd make a decent tall target at least and Max can go back to doing his thing without trying to figure out some new ruck combo.

It wasn't broke, so why are we fixing it?

Just now, Young Angus said:

Can't ignore that Gawn rucking led us to premiership though...now maybe things have changed since then, but there's some chatter about Gawn being better off on his own, not sure if that's true but let's say it might be, surely just send Grundy forward and teach him to kick better, he'd make a decent tall target at least and Max can go back to doing his thing without trying to figure out some new ruck combo.

It wasn't broke, so why are we fixing it?

Gawn had Luke Jackson rucking a lot in our flag year ... 

2 minutes ago, Smokey said:

Gawn had Luke Jackson rucking a lot in our flag year ... 

Very true...is Grundy trying to replace Jackson's role or are they trying to have him ruck a bit more than Jackson was?

Lots of things worked a lot better that year, not just the ruck.

Gary Lyon was campaigning for Gawn to play the majority of minutes in the ruck, last night on "The Couch"

He obviously didn't say this but I got the impression from Lyon that if Grundy's forward craft didn't improve then Casey could be an option for Grundy.

42 minutes ago, Lewis said:

Gawn is a better forward than Grundy, pretty easy to see. Id like to see a full game of Gawn forward and Grundy in the ruck the whole time. Grundy has played his best footy for us when Gawn was injured and he rucked the whole game surprise surprise. 

Maybe Gawn is better at winning contested marks, but below average when taking set shots.

Grundy is better at kicking.

Which one we need the most?

the experiment isn’t working. Max is nowhere near AA form for the first time in 7 years years. neither can play fwd well. Especially now in the wet winter months we are exposed. 

Im tempted to drop Grundy and play Brown - an actual fwd who can lead and not get in the others way. 

massive call but it’s worth considering imo

17 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Gary Lyon was campaigning for Gawn to play the majority of minutes in the ruck, last night on "The Couch"

He obviously didn't say this but I got the impression from Lyon that if Grundy's forward craft didn't improve then Casey could be an option for Grundy.

Well that’s a wasted $600k…

We just need to commit to what was the intention - Grundy more ruck and Gawn deep forward. 

Then we need to move it to Gawn’s favour and allow Brodie to play like he is comfortable playing when in the ruck. 

Gawn holding up the team as he slowly saunters forward from the ruck because we are bereft of faith and trust in our forwards doesn’t help. Nor does our lack of a number 1 forward to make Gawn a point of difference in the pocket.

The ruck situation isn’t a problem in my eyes, we are dominating contest and ground balls against good teams and that was one of the worries of being too tall.

We just aren’t making the most of our opportunities when past halfway.

3 minutes ago, DubDee said:

the experiment isn’t working. Max is nowhere near AA form for the first time in 7 years years. neither can play fwd well. Especially now in the wet winter months we are exposed. 

Im tempted to drop Grundy and play Brown - an actual fwd who can lead and not get in the others way. 

massive call but it’s worth considering imo

Gawn remaining in AA form was never in the cards once Grundy was brought in. It is to add 3 years to his career and develop into a forward that can kick 35 goals a season.

1 minute ago, rpfc said:

Gawn remaining in AA form was never in the cards once Grundy was brought in. It is to add 3 years to his career and develop into a forward that can kick 35 goals a season.

problem is he’s not a fwd. he has 7 goals this season. i don’t think he will suddenly develop into one  i know he plays fwd only part time

i don’t care if Gawn is AA as such. it just highlights his diminished impact. As our captain i think it also impacts the team

Hi all, I’ve had a question gnawing at me.  (Please go easy- first time poster and not sure where else I could get an answer).  After the Collingwood match I heard a few say that Fritch going to Moore was a good tactical move. This I found confusing because I assumed that the defenders would dictate who they match up with.  Can anybody enlighten me? 

One thing I hate about Gawn's game this year is his propensity to grab the ball out of the ruck and hack a high kick straight up the chimney or at best to the edge of the centre square. What's the point of the midfield if not to tap it to them and get the ball moving quickly away from the contest and deep inside 50 while the forward line is one on ones due to 6-6-6?

25 minutes ago, Roostwo said:

Hi all, I’ve had a question gnawing at me.  (Please go easy- first time poster and not sure where else I could get an answer).  After the Collingwood match I heard a few say that Fritch going to Moore was a good tactical move. This I found confusing because I assumed that the defenders would dictate who they match up with.  Can anybody enlighten me? 

I suppose it will also depend on the strategy that any given team uses. Could be that Collingwood prefers zone defence, in that case all Fritta needs to do is to stay in the vicinity of the area guarded by Moore. On the other hand, if a team prefers man to man coverage, you'd need to have very mobile forwards going up and down the field to confuse/attract the opposition defensive line and create the match ups that you want.

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Gary Lyon was campaigning for Gawn to play the majority of minutes in the ruck, last night on "The Couch"

He obviously didn't say this but I got the impression from Lyon that if Grundy's forward craft didn't improve then Casey could be an option for Grundy.

That's my reading too of Garry last night. I agree with everyhting he said , and the stats of Grundy being a target are a worry.  He seemed close to deperate in his plea to give back Max his dominant role.

This issue now smells a bit like petty going forward and de-stabilizing another strenght - our Flad standard defence.

I hope Goody and team have a plan and we don't see another wasted year for this group.

Gawn as the main ruck

Grundy as sub

BB back in for Chandler

Bowey for ANB

Genuine forwards when available pls.  No wanna bees like Grundy and/or Max as a regular option.  They just aren't effective enough, accurate enough (in the case of Max @ 44%) and take up the space of another player who could potentially add alot more value.

4 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Gawn as the main ruck

Grundy as sub

As you say if we had experienced key fowards this would be a worthwhile idea. Not every week but say one in three.

Edited June 27, 20231 yr by Diamond_Jim

48 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

As you say if we had experienced key fowards this would be a worthwhile idea. Not every week but say one in three.

Agree on that if we don't DJ.

BB appears ready and should be back in this week.

If Goodwin reads the tea leaves he will come to his senses and Grundy should be the sub to be utilised around 3/4 time or slightly before depending on when / if Gawny is cooked.

Maybe later if Gawn's managing much deeper into a match.

Grundy can also be unleashed for a tall forward if they get injured or having a shocker.  Or maybe played out of their skin, match in the bag and that player put into cotton wool in prep for the following week.

Imagine the oppo ruck getting mauled by Max for 2 to 3 quarters, then having to face a fresh Grundy in the last part of the game.  Terrifying prospect.

The tap bros experiment is unnecessary once the forward line is finalised and has a full compliment of genuine tall forwards.

Which it will have available starting this week on BB's return

Edited June 27, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

.

Edited June 27, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

2 hours ago, Young Angus said:

Lots of things worked a lot better that year, not just the ruck.

Maybe, but my memory is that there were a lot of questions about our forward line throughout the season

33 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Agree on that if we don't DJ.

BB appears ready and should be back in this week.

If Goodwin reads the tea leaves he will come to his senses and Grundy should be the sub to be utilised around 3/4 time or slightly before depending on when / if Gawny is cooked.

Maybe later if Gawn's managing much deeper into a match.

Grundy can also be unleashed for a tall forward if they get injured or having a shocker.  Or maybe played out of their skin, match in the bag and that player put into cotton wool in prep for the following week.

Imagine the oppo ruck getting mauled by Max for 2 to 3 quarters, then having to face a fresh Grundy in the last part of the game.  Terrifying prospect.

The tap bros experiment is unnecessary once the forward line is finalised and has a full compliment of genuine tall forwards.

Which it will have available starting this week on BB's return

Like this idea!

The problem is, both just aren't forwards. Bit hard to teach this late in their careers, you either have it or you don't.

Grundy sub...can't be worse than what's been going on let's try it!

1 hour ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Agree on that if we don't DJ.

BB appears ready and should be back in this week.

If Goodwin reads the tea leaves he will come to his senses and Grundy should be the sub to be utilised around 3/4 time or slightly before depending on when / if Gawny is cooked.

Maybe later if Gawn's managing much deeper into a match.

Grundy can also be unleashed for a tall forward if they get injured or having a shocker.  Or maybe played out of their skin, match in the bag and that player put into cotton wool in prep for the following week.

Imagine the oppo ruck getting mauled by Max for 2 to 3 quarters, then having to face a fresh Grundy in the last part of the game.  Terrifying prospect.

The tap bros experiment is unnecessary once the forward line is finalised and has a full compliment of genuine tall forwards.

Which it will have available starting this week on BB's return

There's no way we got Grundy and pay him what we do to play one quarter every week. I like the outside of the box thinking though, but can't see it happening.

Ron Barassi didn't break through as a gun player until a role was invented for him... that being ruck-rover.  This suggestion may be howled down etc  but why not play Grundy as a mid/ruck-rover? He could tag-team with Gawn then. The competition may never look the same. 

When one of these players gets tired they could rest in the back pocket, a la Ted Lees.  (https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pp-melbourne-demons--ted-lees