Forward Line

[yandb]

I thought I would pick over the scab and rewatch a few matches from this year.

I watched the Melbourne game from earlier this year and what stood out was that they had nullified our forward line very well.

Tacitly their coaching staff had worked out how to cut off our attacking forays and they rebounded quickly.

I hope that next season we have a different setup because it will be a long season otherwise.

Kicking it long to a pack 15 metres out from goals isn't going to cut it.

 

[daniel30]

Forward line was a mess last year no system whatsoever and affected the whole ground.George and Aarts big issues to.

 

[craig]

If we can do those two things and find a third forward who can be effective enough to control the plus one in the air, then we will be kicking good scores again pretty quickly I think.

Caddy ?

 

[Smoking Aces]

Caddy ?

That’s who immediately came to mind as well.

 

[graystar1]

Maybe it was the problem with our midfield that caused the malfunction of the forward line.
No secret we were hopeless most of the time and that needs to be fixed.
As Yan said long bombs don't cut it either.
Add to that Lynch was not that fit either.
Then again I am just an armchair expert.
Did not exactly star in my young days, in fact I was pretty awful.
That is why I took up tennis , golf and karate.

 

[Jonesracing82]

Lowering the eyes when kicking inside 50 once in a blue moon would help. Defenses (incl ours) love the long/high bombs

 

[DuD_Delist]

David Teague had an excellent rep as the fwd coach before taking the dead man walking job at Carlton.

 

[spook]

Balta. Stack. MoJu.

 

[French Tiger]

Teams were able to take away our chaos style of play resulting in slower entries inside 50, also enabling them to get more players back.

We always seemed to have a congested forward 50.

 

[ceehook2]

from the AFL

Bad stats​

STAT	2021 AVG.	RANK
Clearance Diff.	-6.5	#18
Contested Possession Diff.	-7.7	#16

 

[ceehook2]

we didn't win enough ball out of the centre

and contested ball all around the ground

its pretty much a function of the disruption thru injury
having new guys finding their way in the top grade
and as a club we did sag off in the last month , as most side out of the top 8 do

but even when those things weren't an issue as Dimma would say in post match interviews " our connection inside 50"

now was that our mids were hanging on to the ball for too long or kicking to the wrong spots
or were the forwards not setting up right
leading to the wrong spots or at the wrong times ?

probably a bit of all of them

the other thing is confidence or mojo
when you're winning and starting to do it consistently
your confidence is sky high , your are running on top of the ground , you take risks and first options and dont dwell on mistakes when they dont come off

and when you start losing , you doubt yourself and your teammates , you hang onto the ball looking for the perfect option , everything falls apart and your look like you are running in quick sand

I dont believe we have to rebuild entire game plans , just tidy things up a bit
3 or 4 wins from the first 5 games next year and the mojo will come back

 

[year of the tiger]

Personally I don’t see our forward line as an issue when we are playing OK with few injuries.

If you look at Lynch and Jack together with Bolton and Dusty at say 50% forward line - if we can’t build a winning score around those 4 players we have problems (assuming all are fit).

A problem for us during 2021 was that we were playing 3 players forward who collectively contributed bugger all - Aarts, George and Rioli were all out of form for most of the year. We solved the Rioli problem with his move to half back being successful.

Our weakness forward is having an agile medium half forward who can mark and goal and having small pressure forwards. Can Rioli jr step up next year, can a George find some form and kick between 25 - 35 goals is a key for us and could Stack play that third marking forward or is he needed down back.

I don’t see Caddy or Aarts playing that third marking target - we have seen their best and I think they are now past it and I can’t see Parker playing that role either, not long term anyway. I reckon Pickett is a better option to Parker.

Baker could be moved forward with success, could a Dow play that small crumbing role?

Admitt we will need to select a young KPF and another elite small forward along with some attacking midfield grunt to replace a Lambet / Grigg during the next 2 drafts.

Our problem is that we have lost our depth.

 

[Sintiger]

To me, our biggest needs are for Lynch's body to allow him to play as a connector from 30 - defensive wing and to find a couple of lower offensive gears.

I always think we are going well when I see Tom or Jack coming up taking marks 70-80 metres from goal and leaving the other one closer to goal but you are right in the sense that if that happens we need someone to engage the intercept marker from the opposition.
When I see both Tom and Jack within 35 metres of goal and static I know we aren't playing well

 

[Tigerhealer]

Maybe it was the problem with our midfield that caused the malfunction of the forward line.
No secret we were hopeless most of the time and that needs to be fixed.
As Yan said long bombs don't cut it either.
Add to that Lynch was not that fit either.
Then again I am just an armchair expert.
Did not exactly star in my young days, in fact I was pretty awful.
That is why I took up tennis , golf and karate.

i agree graystar1,
i hope Teague makes jack lead one way and tom the other, its too easy for both to be covered when the ball is bombed in and both go for the pack mark

 

[123cups]

Teams were able to take away our chaos style of play resulting in slower entries inside 50, also enabling them to get more players back.

We always seemed to have a congested forward 50.

All about how quickly you get it in vs how quickly the opposition can setup.

 

[Leysy Days]

The guy Leysy would be moving further up the ground either to a wing or forward line to hopefully generate some momentum is Jayden Short.

Between Rioli, Syd, Mansell and Chimp we can cover him down back now. In fact could argue by replacing his constant long down the line kicks and average one on one ability we could fine someone to take his role and we'll be better off.

It will also make him earn a living. He played his junior footy forward so certainly not foreign to him.

Would give it a go.

 

[mrposhman]

All about how quickly you get it in vs how quickly the opposition can setup.

It is and I think a lot of that was due to where we won the ball back. Seemed to be a lot deeper rather than in our attacking half that was so important to the way we played particularly in 2017-2019.

I think a lot of that was down to the lack of continuity we had in our midfield. You look at the games missed from our midfield group and it was significant.

Dusty - Played 16, missed 6
Prestia - Played 9, missed 13
Cotch - Played 17, missed 5
Lambert - Played 13, missed 9
Edwards - Played 16, missed 6

Total for those 5 players, played 71, missed 39. They missed just over 1/3rd of games on average.

Throw in others like Nank (missed 6), Vlas (missed 10), Balta (missed 8) and Houli (missed 10) and the lack of continuity of our Best 22 was huge. I'd guess that we were probably worst hit when you factor in Best 22 missed games in 2021. We only had 8 players that played 20 or more games in 2021. We had 13 in 2019.

 

[Dyer'ere]

Dusty - Played 16, missed 6
Prestia - Played 9, missed 13
Cotch - Played 17, missed 5
Lambert - Played 13, missed 9
Edwards - Played 16, missed 6

Yes, MrP. But it was worse than that. Numbfoot Martin couldn't kick for ten of the games he played. Prestia couldn't walk. Cotchin couldn't run. Lambert couldn't work. And Edwards couldn't sweat.

So often when I see a side underperforming it's because the injured players are on the park. Richmond 2021. A maimed list handled with desperation when the players didn't heal to programme.

But why play hoppled players? They wanna play. And RFC has bills to pay. We gotta field a side and make the eight. To keep the cherished membership and pay the bills.

Some years are better than others.

 

[Dyer'ere]

Back to the forward line thing I still think it's a legitimate concern. We will have to reinvent the thing. There's some work to be done here.

In the Melbourne game, the Dees were disappointing against a non-event Richmond. But they did lift and had they met that version of Richmond in the GF they's have won by something in the order of 20 goals.

Liam Baker is not a #2 mid, even at North.

 

[tigerdell]

Yes, MrP. But it was worse than that. Numbfoot Martin couldn't kick for ten of the games he played. Prestia couldn't walk. Cotchin couldn't run. Lambert couldn't work. And Edwards couldn't sweat.

So often when I see a side underperforming it's because the injured players are on the park. Richmond 2021. A maimed list handled with desperation when the players didn't heal to programme.

But why play hoppled players? They wanna play. And RFC has bills to pay. We gotta field a side and make the eight. To keep the cherished membership and pay the bills.

Some years are better than others.

We were exhausted Mr D.
That much has been made known for the public records.
Is that a way of saying we carried too many underdone players?
Or that they were still carrying injuries and niggles from 2020?

Excuses need to be banished for 22