Macca

Yes we need all our good players available rjay and they all need to play well every week if we're going to be any sort of finals threat But Goodwin is going to have to throw some talent forward. I'm reasonably confident that he will too. What have we got to lose? And what has Goodwin got to lose? (apart from his position) Gawn looks dangerous playing deep forward and Petracca was easily our best forward in 2019. Viney is a likely candidate forward but for whatever reason he only ever seems to play on the ball. Steven May forward would really worry opposition defenders (and the opposition coaching staff) Goodwin's biggest fault is not knowing where his best players are ideally suited (in terms of the best chance of winning games) Yes we might be robbing Peter to pay Paul but what if we don't win anyway? What will it matter? Swing the onfield positional changes I say but those positional changes need to make sense For instance, Goodwin playing Harmes on a half back flank and Brayshaw on a wing (for any number of games) didn't make sense when it was happening and still doesn't make sense A forward line consisting of any 2 NQR talls (who don't get near it) combined with any 3 NQR little blokes (who don't get near it) hardly inspires. Fritsch floats in but can't kick for goal whilst Melksham doesn't hit the scoreboard either (and doesn't get to enough contests) None of them would get a game in a good team

We've relied on any number of NQR's in our forward line for far too long. It isn't working and if we want to play finals a change up is required Players like Gawn, Petracca, Viney and even May could play forward (not all 4 at once but maybe 2 of the 4) Jackson can ruck for a time, we've got enough midfielders to cover for Viney (again, for a time) Ditto for Petracca and against certain teams May could go forward with T-Mac, Petty, Smith and 1 or 2 others covering in the backline May & Gawn are the only 2 players on the list who can take contested marks. Lever as well but not as a forward A forward line that constantly rotates (with an injection of genuine talent) would have to work better than what we've got now If Fritsch could kick straight he'd be our only relied-upon forward. After that who is there? Ben Brown if he can recapture his form and not much else It takes 14 wins to guarantee a finals spot and to achieve 14 wins requires a functioning forward line The better opposition teams flood our forward line knowing we can't take contested marks (amongst numerous other faults) whilst pressuring our midfielders into kicking towards the boundary line in our forward line And we've got no answers because our forward line lacks class & ability If we just leave things as they are we'll get about 10 wins

Viney would be a terrific small forward (defensive & opportunistic) But we need his attack on the ball & aggression in the midfield ... his decision making is questionable though In an ideal world we'd have another fierce midfielder type which would allow the Viney to play forward. His kicking for goal is quite good compared to most of our other forwards. But more importantly, he knows how to get the ball

He does and I would have vanders in the side mainly because he can put in the hard yards consistently as a forward (playing as a tall option) Ben Brown when fit is another. The rest ... doesn't happen The rest of them are in a general sense not playing as forwards should do ... fundamentals ignored and that's why we don't win enough games It's fair to say the AVB is not blessed with a lot of talent but he is best suited as a forward as he often gets the ball in the hot spot (our other forwards won't venture to that area often enough - getting crunched in the hot spot probably doesn't appeal) People here should watch where our forwards are positioned today when the ball goes into our forward line. Do we utilise the hot spot? Playing in front of our opponents? 2nd & 3rd efforts? Do we make multiple leads and present to the midfielders? Are we capable of retaining possession of the ball in our forward line? Every game I watch with great intent as to how our forward line functions. I urge others to do the same especially when premiership points are at stake And if we don't do enough of the above it won't matter how many touches our midfielders get.

That's right We haven't has a functioning forward line since '06 (apart from one aberration season - 2018) Yet somehow the midfielders keep getting blamed for the 'perceived' poor delivery. These people keep pointing at the DE stats for our midfielders (those stats become largely irrelevant when considering they have no one to kick it to) As a midfielder about to deliver to our forward line you'd see stagnant forwards who won't make position, won't lead, wont put their bodies on the line. When they do lead they head towards the safety of the boundary line. Not enough 2nd efforts, poor kicking for goal and our forwards often don't even make a contest But somehow, that's the fault of the midfielders? I often wonder how many people watch our games intently I suspect they've got their heads stuck in the stats sheet specifically looking at the DE numbers In the 70's we had a premier midfielder ... Wells, Alves, Flower & Fowler were stars. But we couldn't win games because we had a poor forward line. History repeating

The Black Opal Stakes is on at Canberra today - as well as a couple of other listed feature sprint races (race 5 & race 6) A number of the horses today are still to qualify for the Slipper so horses like 'Construct' would need to win the Black Opal you'd reckon. J-Mac & Bowman are riding a couple of likely candidates as well (Kalashnikov & Bourban Flyer) And tomorrow the Adelaide Cup will be held at Morphettville (Along with the CS Hayes Cup & Morphettville Guineas) Canberra races again on Monday with the $250k Canberra Cup being held (The listed Canberra Guineas is race 6) And when in Rome do as the Romans do ... just a few 'quinellas' only at Sha Tin today (and there's some value about as well) Here's a few links that can help if you're playing (the first link which provides the video preview of each race is very good) Expert Video Preview (Each Race) Odds & Fluctuations (Available 2 or 3 days Prior to Raceday) Comprehensive Form Guide (HKJC Website) Form Guide (Racenet.Com) All The Tips - Available 9pm The Day Before Raceday (Tom Biddington & RacingPost - 2 of the Best)

Was flat-chat at work again today ... how did you go? I was on Anamoe so started really well ... got a few decent quinellas (including R6 Randwick) throughout the day so ended up in front Could have been a bumper day ... was on Bivouac & Personal with bonus bets and just missed the quinellas in the Newmarket & Australian Cup (I had Zoutori & Holmsman included) ... excellent dividends though And as is often the case a number of the short priced favourites at Flemington & Randwick failed to salute. I often wonder why they attract so much money

Good get Gorg! I made a few bucks from your selection North Pacific ran last ... probably got an issue I reckon

Great report PF ... descriptive, comprehensive & enlightening But we need to know who this mysterious man in grey is? One of the Pinkertons?

I've had a quinella in the race including Samadoubt Gator's tips are up on Racing.com (and Sportsbet) ... he got 3 winners last week and they all shortened quite a bit in the lead up I like quite a few tomorrow but they are all very short ... so have taken a few doubles & trebles with some bonus bets I need to use up

Trialled brilliantly and has good first up form ... hasn't raced for nearly 18 months but its a real chance

But the team has yet to show that more aggressive & physical approach so we need individuals to do that. Just keeping it real May does it in the backline and Viney does it out of the middle (a physical approach) but our forward line is mostly insipid. And unless we fix things we won't be playing finals AVB adds that physicality to our forward line but if he can't get his fitness right we'll need other options

There's room for one stay at home big forward ... but not 2 unless you're a team like Richmond who are clearly superior with regards to their rapid ball movement Reiwoldt gets up the ground a bit anyway Players like T-Mac & LJ are best suited to using their athleticism anyway so at least we don't have to train them up to playing elsewhere up the ground

The team is a bit soft both physically & mentally so I'd be playing AVB if he can get himself fit and healthy We need 2 or 3 players of his ilk ... they don't have to dominate the stats sheet either. 3 physical types in the 3 main areas of the ground (as long as they can play of course) Melksham can play a lot better and needs to get to more contests but if he can return to his best form he plays as well ANB is wasteful and I put him in that small forward type bracket (and you can't have too many of those types in the same team)

I wouldn't necessarily be playing too many of our listed small forward types unless they can be relied upon to play well Jones will take up a spot at half forward and if Goodwin thought a bit more creatively he'd use Viney as a defensive forward or as a straight small forward That would allow Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes & Petracca to play where they are best suited ... on the ball and at the stoppages. And Petracca may well have stints forward as well So with 2 KPF's (pick any 2 out of T-Mac, Ben Brown, Mitch Brown, Weideman, Petty or Smith) Fritsch, Melksham, Jones and maybe even Viney and LJ forward periodically, 1 other small forward is all that we might need. Bench players are often midfield players as part of our rotations We've played 2 or sometimes even 3 small forwards previously where none had an impact. Liabilities as it turned out If Jones doesn't play then maybe you'd play 2 other smalls but I'm inclined to believe that Viney will spend time in the forward line which then probably means that only one of Pickett, Spargo or Chandler plays. None of the 3 are bona-fide AFL standard players just yet anyway ... the future holds the answer to whether they make it or not And if ANB plays then we could easily end up with too many smalls in the forward line who aren't impact players Not sure we can play Jones, ANB, Kozzie along with Spargo (or Chandler) in the one team. And if Viney was playing forward I'd be only playing 2 of the 5 aforementioned in the same team If Hunt can't hold down a spot across half back he'd be out the team as well ... another one who doesn't impact games often enough

He'll play at some stage and that was the basis of my point. Or have you ruled him out completely?

Value Bet (Randwick Saturday) Race 7 No.3 North Pacific 9.00/2.50 More so the exotics and place multi, I'm confident the horse can get into the finish and 3rd up has been primed for this race

Super Saturday coming up at Flemington on the weekend and a super days racing coming up at Randwick as well. Group & Listed races aplenty along with 4 big Group 1 events. I'm mainly playing the exotics and even the quinella's could pay well with such depth to the racing. Quite tricky coming up with a best bet or 2 as well. So far, nothing is jumping out at me Flemington Fields, Form & Odds Randwick Fields, Form & Odds

They might place Gawn back when LJ is on the ball and LJ as a floating forward when Gawn rucks The key is getting Big Ben fit & firing and T-Mac into form If that were to happen then Fritsch & Melksham can slot into their roles whilst the small forwards can battle for 1 or 2 spots (Kozzie, Spargo & the kid Chandler)

I'd be promoting LJ as another but the crowded forward lines these days aren't necessarily suited to a raw 19yo He'll play no doubt because the kid has talent (he doesn't have a look around when attacking the ball) so being used as a utility is his go for now For the early part of the season we might have to make do with a more mobile forward line but Gawn & LJ can't both play on the ball (at least not all the time) so do we rotate the big fellas forward? Maybe

With T-Mac we've got to get him into the game early ... once he's had a number of touches he can go forward and become a real target Otherwise he tends to go cold as a mainstay forward and gets double-teamed out of the game We need to keep the opposition coaching box guessing so the slant should be to use our versatile players properly. If fit Vanders can be a bit of a swingman as well. The team needs to exert a bit of vigour from time to time and that can't be understated. Fearless football was the early mantra from Goodwin so we need to see it if we're going to get into contention

I want to see Ben Brown & T-Mac as a combo with LJ floating in swapping roles with T-Mac from time to time. The wing or high half forward with stints deep forward (in the middle occasionally as well) for T-Mac & LJ with Big Ben as the mainstay up forward Versatile players need to be used in a versatile way and we've got more than a few of those types on the list The Weid as back-up but the lad needs confidence more than anything else. He's got the raw ability to be a good player But above all else all the likely candidates that can play tall in the forward line all need to get healthy & fit to be available for selection Agree on the midfielders but we need a number of others to have one of their better years in the same year! That's what happened with the Bulldogs in 2016 so it's all possible I like your optimism 58er ... tough task around here (that includes yours truly) but keep it up!

I watch the game intently and tend to have the volume down and just tune in to the chatter whenever I feel the need. For some the commentary plays a big part but for me it doesn't (I'm listening in a selective way) So it depends on how you view the whole package. For instance I can't stand Huddo because he screeches too much (which defeats the purpose of having the volume down) McAvaney's knowledge is 2nd to none though (in my view) so that's what I listen to in a selective way We're all different so it's ok to agree to disagree. In the end, the game needs to entertain us

As stated earlier it's not like the club hasn't tried to address our forward line issues in the last decade or more. It just hasn't worked out! The club must have thought that after the 2018 finals that all we needed to do was add in some medium sized forwards and small forwards to Hogan, T-Mac & the Weid But again, all 3 possible/probable mainstays are no longer playing their part to how we'd want it to be played out (Hogan is gone of course) Right now we have loads of potential but nothing is resolved yet. If & when it is resolved we will be a dangerous opponent Hopefully it all develops this season but Stafford has a big task as the forward line coach

Who said anyrhing about 1994? Tigers, Cats & Eagles have 2 traditional type key forwards and Collingwood would dearly want 2 high calibre KPF's All 4 teams continue to feature heavily at the pointy end of the season Not a coincidence You often deep dive when a more obvious way of analysing footy (especially our team) is staring you in the face In other words scale it back when applicable Ain't going to happen now but we could have recruited Lynch & Cameron. In fact, the club should always be on the lookout for decent KPF's And the club has gone down that path in more recent times ... Cook, Hogan, Dawes, Clark, Watts, Weideman, Brown etc etc. We even had a nibble at Jono Brown Put Lyon & Neitz types into our forward line right now and we are genuinely challenging for a top 4 spot (ongoing)