Have we officially found our full forward?

[monoccular 17,431]

13 hours ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

The thing I loved most yesterday which maybe was more noticeable due to my sitting behind the goals with the Demon Army. How great it was to see two key forwards working in continual motion offering multiple leads not just pointing for it to be put on their heads. 

It was joy to watch - movement up forward.  Have been waiting a long time to see this, and I hope it is here to stay.  Both Petty and JVR are very mobile for their height,

[DeeSpencer 25,713]

2 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

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.

Plus ANB.

The big question is do we have enough midfield rotations with only 7 on ballers.

JVR will ruck, Tracc will spend a decent period of time on ball, but ideally we’d need a couple more rotations.

It will probably be ANB on the wing. I’d like to see Pickett and Chandler both trialled on ball. And as I’ve said a million times I want to see Fritsch take some wing minutes to keep pressure with our smalls up forward and provide a different pathway for ball movement by having a winger who can take a contested mark and spear a kick in. 

[monoccular 17,431]

8 hours 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. 

Petty and JVR are both fierce and aggressive contestants.  They make defenders think twice and doubt what will happen next.

31 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.  

Exactly.  Petty's aggression and his defensive skills are as important up forward as down back. 

David Neitz #2 ??

That said, and it is of course a big IF, if Jefferson develops as quickly as JVR has, by 2025 perhaps Harry will be able to move back to cover when May is finishing up.

13 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. 

Am I right in saying that Glenn Swan's career was another victim of Leigh Matthews unconstrained thuggery?

Edited July 31, 2023 by monoccular

[Dr. Gonzo 24,219]

13 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. 

That was 50 years ago! Plenty of better examples you could cite, Carey/Longmire, Brereton/Dunstall, Lloyd/Lucas, Lynch/Brown, Franklin/Roughead

Neitz/Schwarz!

[Tolstoys Nudge 1,660]

1 hour 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.  

King kicked 5 doing this on Andrew’s LW

[layzie 33,808]

11 hours 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.  

And also being defenders they would be used to being accountable and can do a job watching opposition intercept defenders! 

[Kent 2,910]

14 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Makes me think of Greville Street and lousy hair dresses.

never seen a dress made form hair must be a northern hemisphere cold climate style😁

[Red and Blue realist 2,051]

While I think it's too early to make a call that he's a forward for the rest of the year - let along his career, one of the most pleasing aspects was it was such a big breakout performance. If he just kicked 2 or 3 goals, then it can pass by as a good game. But with 6, that makes opposition teams put more effort and work into him, which should then hopefully free up JVR and Melk (and then Fritta) if they see Petty as the main man. The Tigers move Balta onto him, but they actually started with Young who's only played the 15 games, Balta was on JVR and I assume they wanted him more involved with intercepting. 

So we know Petty will compete and position himself well, but if it allows more freedom for some of the other forwards (as compared to BBB who looked slow and allowed his man to help out other defenders), this will be a big plus particularly with Pickett and Chandler back in form. 

[leave it to deever 17,511]

23 hours 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 

Hopefully he's our new Tom Mac. A gun  tall who can be swung back in defence if needs be. And like a Tm he's a very accurate shot at goal. With Jvrs athleticism Id prefer he be our Chf and Petty at Ff. His first full and propper game as a forward and boy he smashed it. And what a time to make his mark. Bbb and Tmac bodies seemed to have stopped them both and Schache didn't excel in the role and Fritta sidelined. I didn't mind Smith fwd but now it seems redundant. Which is good because I think Smith is a good defender and also the perfect sub who can fill many roles. The good dilemma now is if we can play Fritta alongside Melksham. I think we can. So I would have...

Chandler......Petty...........Fritta.

Melksham.......Jvr ............Kozzie.

Edited August 1, 2023 by leave it to deever

[leave it to deever 17,511]

59 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

While I think it's too early to make a call that he's a forward for the rest of the year - let along his career, one of the most pleasing aspects was it was such a big breakout performance. If he just kicked 2 or 3 goals, then it can pass by as a good game. But with 6, that makes opposition teams put more effort and work into him, which should then hopefully free up JVR and Melk (and then Fritta) if they see Petty as the main man. The Tigers move Balta onto him, but they actually started with Young who's only played the 15 games, Balta was on JVR and I assume they wanted him more involved with intercepting. 

So we know Petty will compete and position himself well, but if it allows more freedom for some of the other forwards (as compared to BBB who looked slow and allowed his man to help out other defenders), this will be a big plus particularly with Pickett and Chandler back in form. 

I don't think it's too early to make that call. If anything there's no more time left to be changing much. There are four games left until finals and we need to be settled in our structure. And as you adroitly pointed out by kicking six it was more than a pass. Also with Fritta sidelined, it puts more pressure on getting things sorted now rather than trying someone else in a couple of weeks.  Ideally he claims and dominates the job next season as well but there's no time left anymore and to be frank nobody else to really try other than Smith. 

[DeeMee 873]

Have also been an advocate of this going into the future. Unfortunately BBB seems to have succumbed to injury and TMac is not the future. A forward line using Petty, Kossie, Chandler, Melksham, Fritta, JvR looks potent. Trac rolling through makes it more scary. Woey will get his chances going forward and Melky is coming to the end of his career. We need to make sure we have the third tall in defence still whether that be Tommo, Turner, even TMac in short term. Long thought Smith is the ultimate sub.

Looking positive methinks.

[Hawny for Gawny 451]

On 7/30/2023 at 8:16 PM, Diamond_Jim said:

True but (is there not always a but) we might need to find a new May as well for 2025. At the same time Bulldogs desperately need new key backmen. It could be a hard search

They will always be hard to get but if I'm a top quality KPD Melbourne looks way more appealing

[Red and Blue realist 2,051]

53 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

I don't think it's too early to make that call. If anything there's no more time left to be changing much. There are four games left until finals and we need to be settled in our structure. And as you adroitly pointed out by kicking six it was more than a pass. Also with Fritta sidelined, it puts more pressure on getting things sorted now rather than trying someone else in a couple of weeks.  Ideally he claims and dominates the job next season as well but there's no time left anymore and to be frank nobody else to really try other than Smith. 

The only reason I say it's too early for this year, is as soon as there's an injury to May or Lever, I'd be betting that Petty goes back and they'll try again with Smith, BBB, TMac, Grundy or Schache. If the call was made then no matter what happens he'd stay forward, but the depth is better up forward then what we've got down back. I like that 6 goals will give him a licensee up there (provided we don't need to change for injuries) for the next 3 or 4 weeks to get it settled, even if he has a quiet week along the way. 

[leave it to deever 17,511]

42 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

The only reason I say it's too early for this year, is as soon as there's an injury to May or Lever, I'd be betting that Petty goes back and they'll try again with Smith, BBB, TMac, Grundy or Schache. If the call was made then no matter what happens he'd stay forward, but the depth is better up forward then what we've got down back. I like that 6 goals will give him a licensee up there (provided we don't need to change for injuries) for the next 3 or 4 weeks to get it settled, even if he has a quiet week along the way. 

Good point. I guess where we have been struggling to find forwards the cupboard is bearer when it comes to tall defenders. We really only have Smith. The club probably should have seen some of this coming. Tommo was injured and Tmac and Bbb have been showing signs for a good length of time now. Hibbo is getting past it and May will probably be around for only another couple of years or so.  Time to definitely go shopping for some tall key positional players this year. And time to face some cold hard facts and swing the axe.

[DeeMee 873]

I also reckon Grundy could be on bench to help Max in coming weeks as opposed to being forward.

[Deemac 136]

As good as Petty was I wouldn’t get overly excited just give it time and let it play out 

[layzie 33,808]

27 minutes ago, Deemac said:

As good as Petty was I wouldn’t get overly excited just give it time and let it play out 

I'll give it time, time up forward.

[monoccular 17,431]

5 hours ago, Kent said:

never seen a dress made form hair must be a northern hemisphere cold climate style😁

Vaguely recall the there is some biblical reference to dresses made from hair.

4 hours ago, DeeMee said:

Have also been an advocate of this going into the future. Unfortunately BBB seems to have succumbed to injury and TMac is not the future. A forward line using Petty, Kossie, Chandler, Melksham, Fritta, JvR looks potent. Trac rolling through makes it more scary. Woey will get his chances going forward and Melky is coming to the end of his career. We need to make sure we have the third tall in defence still whether that be Tommo, Turner, even TMac in short term. Long thought Smith is the ultimate sub.

Looking positive methinks.

Smith is an ideal sub, but can we really expect him to do this every week?  Though I seem to remember JJ doing it in 2021.

3 hours ago, Red and Blue realist said:

The only reason I say it's too early for this year, is as soon as there's an injury to May or Lever, I'd be betting that Petty goes back and they'll try again with Smith, BBB, TMac, Grundy or Schache. If the call was made then no matter what happens he'd stay forward, but the depth is better up forward then what we've got down back. I like that 6 goals will give him a licensee up there (provided we don't need to change for injuries) for the next 3 or 4 weeks to get it settled, even if he has a quiet week along the way. 

Which reminds me - is Disco Turner still injured?

[mo64 5,874]

17 hours ago, monoccular said:

Petty and JVR are both fierce and aggressive contestants.  They make defenders think twice and doubt what will happen next.

Exactly.  Petty's aggression and his defensive skills are as important up forward as down back. 

David Neitz #2 ??

That said, and it is of course a big IF, if Jefferson develops as quickly as JVR has, by 2025 perhaps Harry will be able to move back to cover when May is finishing up.

Am I right in saying that Glenn Swan's career was another victim of Leigh Matthews unconstrained thuggery?

You might be thinking of Peter Giles.

[Kent 2,910]

6 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

Hopefully he's our new Tom Mac. A gun  tall who can be swung back in defence if needs be. And like a Tm he's a very accurate shot at goal. With Jvrs athleticism Id prefer he be our Chf and Petty at Ff. His first full and propper game as a forward and boy he smashed it. And what a time to make his mark. Bbb and Tmac bodies seemed to have stopped them both and Schache didn't excel in the role and Fritta sidelined. I didn't mind Smith fwd but now it seems redundant. Which is good because I think Smith is a good defender and also the perfect sub who can fill many roles. The good dilemma now is if we can play Fritta alongside Melksham. I think we can. So I would have...

Chandler......Petty...........Fritta.

Melksham.......Jvr ............Kozzie.

no ANB?

 

[Tarax Club 3,916]

Understand the caution of anointing Harry the  Petty as the new forward King. But the orthodoxy of the thinking that in the Demon Kingdom, the cupboard was bare of ready made talent. Seemed so, as the old loyal standard bearers Sir Tom the ‘Tormented’ and Sir Ben the ‘Banged Up’, are beginning to seriously fray at the edges like over loved Paddington bears.

Is now suddenly turned down side up, as Harrison appears not unlike the metamorphosis of Wart in The Once and Future King, to take hold of the reigns of the power forward. Thrusting the pretenders out of the spotlight as he takes centre stage. 
 
An auspicious and promising performance 🎭. Time and opportunity will of course test this hypothesis, of an up and coming footballer on the threshold of the Neitz line. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Tarax Club

[Tarax Club 3,916]

2 minutes ago, Tarax Club said:

Understand the caution of anointing Harry the  Petty as the new forward King. But the orthodoxy of the thinking that in the Demon Kingdom the cupboard was  bare of ready made talent. Seemed so, as the old loyal standard bearers Sir Tom the ‘Tormented’ and Sir Ben the ‘Banged Up’, are beginning to seriously fray at the edges like over loved Paddington bears.
 

Is now suddenly turned down side up, as Harrison suddenly appears not unlike the metamorphosis of Wart in The Once and Future King to take hold of the reigns of the power forward. Thrusting the pretenders out of the spotlight as he takes centre stage. 
 
An auspicious and promising performance 🎭. Time and opportunity will of course test this hypothesis, of up and coming footballer on the threshold of the Neitz line. 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Tarax Club

[Left Foot Snap 2,403]

3 minutes ago, Tarax Club said:

 

You liked that post Tarax?

[Tarax Club 3,916]

17 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

You liked that post Tarax?

Yeah!  Double take was unintentional! Vagaries of posting from remote locations.

[John Demonic 5,796]

Yes. It's confirmed. 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by John Demonic