Have we officially found our full forward?

[Jaded No More 68,915]

9 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

I think Goody moved Petty back to defense through the period of the season when he knew we weren't running at our best and would be trying to grind out low scoring wins in wet weather.

With the boys coming out of the loading phase and the skies clearing he's more comfortable with a higher scoring game and hence more talent forward of the ball. Makes sense as to why it was agains the Saints, under the roof at Marvel that we started to see Petracca forward more 

That is an excellent point!

[Emerald 1,744]

Going back to his Casey days, I always thought of Petty as a quiet achiever. Even on his bad days I've never faulted his effort.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,396]

24 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

It will be Taj I think with a bit of a shuffle around of the other forwards. Risk is it may take Melksham out of his most effective role, at least some of the time. 

Melksham and Fritsch makes me think of Gunston and Bruest.

[sisso 2,580]

Petts is a gun player when he's fully fit at either end of the ground....not sure you can categorically ever rule him out of playing in defence again might be the ultimate swingman rather than a 100% guaranteed permanent forward 

[DeeZone 9,842]

I didn’t get to the game or get to watch live as we were out at a family catchup all afternoon but have watched the replay twice and the last 13 minutes several times as well. Our forward line looked very very strong and versatile and Harrison Petty had one out of the box and opened the forward line up for the rest of the group. I say Yes we have found our full forward I don’t expect Harrison to play that well each week but the group really jelled yesterday against a strong and proven defence. I think that at 197cm Petty has the height, just needs to work out in the gym more to build his core strength and resilience. Having 71 inside 50’s certainly helped our case.!!!

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

30 minutes ago, sisso said:

Petts is a gun player when he's fully fit at either end of the ground....not sure you can categorically ever rule him out of playing in defence again might be the ultimate swingman rather than a 100% guaranteed permanent forward 

I think the beauty of having Petty and Smith in the team (and previously McDonald) you have options at your disposal to change things up when it's not working in game.  Probably my only real criticism of Goody is that he previously didn't do enough of this in game  - but there's a tension between that and backing your players and planning in (and also our fitness levels) for things to change over time.

Having the option of switching Petty / Smith in game is a real weapon going forward.

[old dee 23,791]

11 hours ago, A F said:

It felt like Petty helped JVR to lift today too. I might be imaging that, but JVR seemed a different player today too.

He was not getting the number 1 defender and they were double teaming Petty which means somewhere else a forward is free.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Is he participating in training these days?

He is. Yesterday I saw videos of him on a treadmill and he’s running really well. The treadmill appears to be an ordinary one but as Pauline explained, it has these jets of air coming up from below that you can’t see that are adjustable and that give the effect of a certain percentage of his body weight being used. Right now while he’s running he’s effectively bearing 80% of his body weight, which is more advanced than expected at this point in time. He’ll soon be at 100%. Again, ahead of time.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Frittata clan have this genetic thing of healing way ahead of time and healing really well. Besides that, Bayley is a coach’s dream. He strictly abides by everything he is told, almost to a point of obsession. He also has a fierce determination to be back to 100% fit. He’s currently super happy about his level and speed of recovery. He almost wills himself better. It’s so impressive to see. 

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

14 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

I think Tomlinson's not up to it. Too slow. I'd prefer Smith at CHB with Hibbo as the sub. Melksham is the 3rd tall forward we don't need Smith forward.

Best team we can get on the park.

B: Bowey, May, Lever

HB: Salem, J.Smith, Rivers

C: Hunter, Oliver, Langdon

HF: Petracca, van Rooyen, Neal-Bullen

F: Fritsch, Petty, Pickett

FOLL: Gawn, Brayshaw, Viney

IC: Hibberd, Sparrow, Harmes, Melksham

SUB: Chandler

EMERG: McVee, Jordon, Woewodin

Casey

B: McVee, Tomlinson, Adams

HB: Howes, D.Turner, D.Smith

C: Woewodin, Dunstan, Laurie

HF: Spargo, McDonald, Moniz-Wakefield

F: Schache, B.Brown, Jefferson

FOLL: Grundy, Jordon, Munro

IC: White, Verrall, Sestan, K.Turner, K.Brown

A bit harsh on McVee but I think Hibbo is a better player.   

Harmes? serioulsy? McVee before Harmes in a blink of an eye.

[AllMyTeamsAreWank 564]

Petty has a massive presence on the ground and looks imposing. I absolutely love seeing him giving it to the oppo fans and players. Saw an interview with him after the game and he looked like a little kid. Proper stoked for the guy. Long may it continue. 

[WERRIDEE 5,479]

1 hour ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Harmes? serioulsy? McVee before Harmes in a blink of an eye.

2 different players. One's midfield depth the other one is in the backline.

[Sydee 4,442]

6 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

As a burnt and long time supporter I’m feeling a wave of caution here. I remember ( too clearly lol) When Glenn Swan debuted in 1973 at FF. We had a great reserves team and he was knocking the door down in 72. In his 5th game in the seniors he kicked 8 goals and I’m pretty sure Jim Tilbrook kicked 6 that day as well. Forward problems were over for a decade…we all thought. Swan did pretty much nothing for the rest of the year and quit at the end of the season. 

It was a great performance yesterday but let’s wait a few weeks to pop too many champagne corks. 

[whatwhat say what 22,757]

1 hour ago, AllMyTeamsAreWank said:

Petty has a massive presence on the ground and looks imposing. I absolutely love seeing him giving it to the oppo fans and players. Saw an interview with him after the game and he looked like a little kid. Proper stoked for the guy. Long may it continue. 

the "i can't hear you" ear hold after he kicked his 5th was unreal

[Jaded No More 68,915]

Buddy saw Petty’s game yesterday and decided to retire

I can’t keep up with this star he was heard saying 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Jaded No More

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

There's a bit of water to go under the bridge before we can say for certain but what more evidence do we need that he has what it takes.

I've been big on Petty forward for some time and was more keen on it once i saw the form of Tomo at Casey as the year progressed there plus the form of Disco.  Of course circumstances have seen Disco's season curtailed for now.

This wasn't a recent view either as per my post at the end of last season below.  Although at that point i didn't know the Weid was about to move on.  Sydee also big on Petty going forward as were a number of other Landers.

On 9/20/2022 at 11:42 AM, Sydee said:

New recruit - yes I know we all think we need another tall forward but if Petty goes forward as I believe he should we may actually be better looking for a tall back - arguably easier to find than a tall KPF 

This is a possibility but would still like to see a relief ruck option here.

If we want Petty forward in 2023 and i believe we should see this from here, then the Weid is your man.

Yes most of my opinions are biased due to my "DO NOT GET GRUNDY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" outlook.  But there it is!

Edited July 31, 2023 by Demon Dynasty

[Turner 1,514]

i've have always been in the petty down back camp and that doesn't change even after his 6 as i think his reading of the ball and his aggression is still best suited to defence and he's our long term may replacement however for the rest of the season i'd leave him forward as we just cannot rely on any of the alternative options to give any sort of effort or output at the required level. the only reason i'd change that would be to go melky and fritta and jvr and play a smaller setup that's worked for us in the past at times. 

long term i just don't think he has the agility and flair to be a real threat forward in all facets of the craft

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,848]

17 hours ago, A F said:

The biggest problem I think we'll have going forward is that we'll need Harry in the back half too. Tomlinson showed today that he really shouldn't be the A guy, he's a B guy, which is to say Petty is an A guy.

I don't trust Smith to play a full game as a KPB, although he might be alright, I just can't see it being a reliable option in September, which you cannot afford in your back half. You need reliability and predictability, and Joel is super aggressive positionally, and not a great judge of when to zone off. I'd prefer Joel as a cameo man, but who the hell knows what the FD think now.

I think it's very simple to know what the FD think. And its been pretty easy all season quite frankly.

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,848]

9 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

I appreciate the history lesson that was mentioned regarding Glenn Swan back in 1972. It's important to be cautious and not get too ahead of ourselves.

Time will tell if Harry Petty is a success at full foward.

I do remain hopeful like the rest of us! Fingers crossed! 🤞

I think there are two more recent examples we can look at regarding Melbourne defenders becoming forwards.

The first being our games record holder and leading goal kicker David Neitz. One of my all-time favourites players is big "Neita"! Who was named both an All Australian Centre Half Back (in 1995) and an All Australian Full Forward (in 2002). The change from the backline to the forwardline in 1996 was definitely seen as a success (kicking 56 goals). I would definitely be inviting David Neitz back to the club to impart some forward wisdom to both Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen.

The second, more recent example, is Tom McDonald who would definitely be a tremendous help and is still a slight chance to break back into the Demons side once he recuperates from his injury. Tom McDonald was a "pretty good" key defender who transformed himself into a "pretty good" key forward.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is Harry Petty has two excellent examples he can emulate and that the "transformation" from key defender to key forward can work.

All I ask is that Harry Petty continues to work on his "forward craft" and do lots of extra goal kicking lessons with Mark "Choco" Williams from now on.

I wonder if it's possible to get ahead of ourselves if we begin in 1972.

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,848]

7 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Melksham and Fritsch makes me think of Gunston and Bruest.

Makes me think of Greville Street and lousy hair dresses.

[Tolstoys Nudge 1,660]

We found him 10m ago, but yes now it’s official!

special mention to all my fellow Petty for FF die hard, you Know whom you are.. those that went to sleep picturing those dukes doing exactly what they did Sunday evening & tearing a Defense apart, preying somewhat quietly that he get jsut one more chance to show it ergo he would’ve be Pies if not injured!!!

[Little Goffy 14,546]

I had let it go. I hadn't seen anything special from Petty all year when he was playing forward. The attitude was there, his trademark alertness and second efforts were there, but he didn't show any signs that he was going to have any great scoring power. I never stopped thinking he was a champion player but I really felt he was too important as an elite defender to be making use of him as an average up-the-ground forward.

Then he goes and kicks 1/3rd of his entire career's goals in one game and looks absolutely potent in every aspect of being a close-to-goal key target and spends the whole game clearly having a lot of fun.

So... now we've got Van Rooyen, Petracca, Melksham and Petty each offering a different shaped contested marking target up forward.

I suspect when Fritta comes back in he'll be heavily used for the link going inside 50, which he spent a bug chunk of time doing earlier this season, so I'm comfortable that his finals-eve return won't mess with the system.

F:     Melksham   Petty   Pickett

HF:  Petracca   Van Rooyen  Fritsch 

Plus Chandler named on the bench.

That's a genuinely multi-faceted forward line with a proper pirate crew vibe.

[Jaded No More 68,915]

53 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

I had let it go. I hadn't seen anything special from Petty all year when he was playing forward. The attitude was there, his trademark alertness and second efforts were there, but he didn't show any signs that he was going to have any great scoring power. I never stopped thinking he was a champion player but I really felt he was too important as an elite defender to be making use of him as an average up-the-ground forward.

 

You didn’t watch the first half of the Hawks game? 

[Skuit 10,031]

I've been asking this stupid question for a while now: why don't teams play an intercept defender in a forward role, doing exactly what they do down back by being in the right position and reading the flight of long bombs? It's crazy how many uncontested marks our game's top defenders take. While he offered plenty of movement, half of Harrison's marks yesterday felt like he simply read the ball better than his opponent and maintained good body position.  

[DeeSpencer 25,711]

10 minutes ago, Skuit said:

I've been asking this stupid question for a while now: why don't teams play an intercept defender in a forward role, doing exactly what they do down back by being in the right position and reading the flight of long bombs? It's crazy how many uncontested marks our game's top defenders take. While he offered plenty of movement, half of Harrison's marks yesterday felt like he simply read the ball better than his opponent and maintained good body position.  

Defenders zone off and let a forward go up to the stoppage or out of play. Hard to get a forward that same freedom, a defender isn’t letting them loose.

Melksham effectively tags intercept defenders which is a smart move.

And you’re right, at times Petty probably used his marking and lack of forward experience to his advantage by not trying to do too much on a lead and staying deep for the long bomb in.

I did love that he (and JVR) hit up on the lead well at times too. 

[Dingo 1,059]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:27 PM, BLWNBA said:

Insanely premature to make this call off the back of one game, particularly given he’s struggled (IMO) previously.

Yep - agree.Talk in 12 months