Cheesy D. Pun

The stuff about us not taking advantage of Max's taps is a bit overplayed. A good example - during the Brisbane game, our boys read and received just about every first tap but fumbled in dewy conditions. Brisbane were smart in the way they approached it but they sharked the ball from our mids, not the ruck contest. I don't think there is a prominent example where sharking Max's taps directly from the ruck contest has caused a genuine clearance win to the opposition. Our mids need to be on song and if it's wet, we need to be a little more circumspect when approaching the first possession, instead of going all guns blazing and fumbling to the opposition sweating on us.

Totally agree re: Bennell. Until he's ready to put his body on the line, we're only adding a passenger. I understand why he's be uncomfortable throwing himself around, chasing and tackling etc. but our game plan depends on effort from every single player on the field.

In 2018, McDonald was both. He would run his man up and back and either get involved on that journey, or find himself back inside 50 in a one on one with a tired opponent. He's still the same player, but needs to find that level of fitness to wear down his opponent. He's not a forward that can sit inside forward 50 and clunk marks without that extra work. I back him to get back to that with some continuity but would love some confirmation that he's not sore or feeling any long-term effects of recent injuries. He's never moved amazingly well but his lateral movement seems to be restricted a little more than normal.

It'd be a bold move to play no ruck against Grundy, even taking into account his average form.

These are interesting stats, but do you really think these two are battling for the same position?

Thanks mate - saved me some typing.

Love it!

Yes. We just have to accept that at least one of them will play a support role. I think that's what is being discussed here. At the moment, it's Brayshaw. Listening to press conferences, you get the feeling that Goodwin has been happy with Gus' output all year. It's just us supporters, who have the issue.

I'm not 100% sold on this. Being a good pressure forward is about knowing where to be at any given moment. It takes some significant training as well as good instincts. I'm not at all saying it can't be done, but I don't think the translation from see ball, get ball mid to small forward is a simple one. If you take a look at other mids (Dusty, Danger, Fyfe etc) who go forward, they generally don't play that small forward role. They play in a simplified forward line, usually isolated as a full forward coming out of the square.

This. It's a genuine conundrum and in bashing Goodwin, as some have done, there's a failure to acknowledge this.

Yep - agree there's no way he'd be traded. It would tear at the fabric of the club which further underpins the difficulty the coaches face in getting Brayshaw into the midfield.

Good post and I agree with pretty much everything you've said. However, I still think it's glossing over a difficult decision a little. Just throwing midfielders forward to help rotations sounds easy enough but it has knock on effects for our forward setup, not to mention we have no evidence to suggest any of those mids can play forward, other than Petracca. It would be experimental, at best, and would need to happen incrementally to work out who is capable of what. Gee, I wish we had another 1-2 genuine small forwards. It really feels to me like this is the missing ingredient that would have the ball living in our front half. Get that right and how many kicks Brayshaw and Harmes get, won't matter a pinch!

I actually agree with you to a certain extent. He's a super smart player and actually wins more contests than he's given credit for. He was certainly not consistent in his willingness to defend though. That said, I don't want to overstate this because I think the criticism of him over the years has been nothing short of ridiculous.

Yeah, I suppose that's an option and to be honest, I don't know the answer. I just think it's important that the questions are laid bare to show the enormity of the dilemma for the coaching staff. You can criticise Goodwin for a fair bit, but the positional stuff around the Brayshaw and Harmes is ridiculous.

You can't get away with only being a good kick though. 22 guys need to defend and win contests before you get that kick. It's why Bennell can't hold his spot in our side. For all the good things he can do with ball in hand, the rest of the team has to carry him defensively.

I don't mind this. We really only have 3 plausible choices here: 1. Play Viney forward 2. Trade Viney 3. Continue to play Brayshaw out of position You can see why the coaching staff have gone the way they have - it's a very tough call. Also, number 1 is a chance of causing number 2.

I've been really impressed with Langdon. Not many players combine speed and endurance the way he does and while he's not a beautiful user of the ball, he generally knows his own limitations and keeps it simple.

Not everyone can average 20+ touches. The fact that we have players who don't, but have the potential to do so, means we're heading in the right direction. If you're going to advocate for more midfield time for Gus or forward time for Harmesy, you've got to explain how you want that to happen - who are they replacing in those roles?

If I could choose one player in the comp to start a new team right now, Trac is the one. The way he extracts it from congestion and seemingly can't be stopped is a sight to behold. It's only a matter of time before he kicks a bag and really tears a game apart.

Tomlinson is really poor around the ball. Doesn't crash in and avoids contact. Watch the Richmond game - he was so poor that he was almost the difference in that game. He was in and out of the GWS side and while he can run all day, his inconsistency around contest makes him hard to trust. Playing him back comes across as an act of desperation from the coaching staff.

It's about balance. You could have three talls if you had 2-3 genuine small forwards alongside them. We rely on a range of mid-sized forwards and only one small forward, so 3 talls makes us far too slow and suceptible to the rebound. This off season is massive for us. We absolutely have to bring in more small forwards - our game plan has been designed for a fast, high pressure forward line but we're one or two players short of being able to execute it against good opposition.

Yep. They won't change the two talls forward line for the foreseeable future. Goodwin said as much after the Port game. TMac should stay as a forward. Our backline is functioning well without him. When he tried to play Max's role on the weekend and roll back to assist the defence, he just got in the way. If there's not a spot there for him up front, he stays out until form or injury forces a change. It's a good position to be in.

First thought is these look like the right changes. There's a couple I wouldn't have in our best 22 but we're pretty limited for choice and the balance looks right. This upcoming off-season is massive. We're still at least two genuine pressure small forwards short, especially with our game style.

I agree to a certain extent but you can see why the coaches might be reluctant to use a tagging mid as plan A. I still think there's a belief that we can become a really aggressive, attacking and dominant midfield. Having a tagger in there full time definitely hinders that. Used sparingly, It's great card to have up the sleeve. The Lions game is a great example - shutting down Neale could have shifted the balance in our favour. The Port game would have been wasting your time. We were gassed (or at least pretended to be) from the opening bounce.

Yep. Agree with that. I don't think he's a ready-made wingman but he's certainly got attributes that are better suited than the rest of our mids.