Any one else worried about our small forwards and the ability to kick goals?

[bornadog]

Watching the match yesterday I came away with no confidence we have the right small players to kick goals. The only player that looks like kicking a few every week at this stage is still Lloyd who has kicked 3 + 3 in the two Marsh matches.

Dale is still inconsistent, Mclean hasn't shown anything in the forward line for along time, Wallis could but doesn't get his hands on the ball a lot, Dickson is injured again and other than no one has put up their hand.

Is anyone else worried?

[macca]

Watching the match yesterday I came away with no confidence we have the right small players to kick goals. The only player that looks like kicking a few every week at this stage is still Lloyd who has kicked 3 + 3 in the two Marsh matches.

Dale is still inconsistent, Mclean hasn't shown anything in the forward line for along time, Wallis could but doesn't get his hands on the ball a lot, Dickson is injured again and other than no one has put up their hand.

Is anyone else worried?

Good observation . One thing I noticed how easy it was for oppositions to cleared it from our defence once the ball went to ground . We don’t seem to have the small players who have brute strength to bump oppositions off the ball . An example in 2nd quarter ball kicked forward to Wallace direction , it fell slightly short and it ended up being a 2-1 situation and Wallace got bumped off and fell to the ground . Ball gets cleared and in next second ends up the ports fwd line . We are going to get a lot of goals scored against on the rebound like this . We don’t seem to have the Martin type player who can trap the ball and really tackle oppositions .
Seeing Georgiadis yesterday his huge for an 18 year old and looks to have good strength
We need a tougher edge from our fwd smalls

[josie]

Yes - I am.

Give West a go. He is tough and determined, tackles well and performed well in seniors when given a chance. I know Weightman is our small forward eventually but I think he needs to be consistent at vfl level first. I was hoping Cavarra might make it but seeing as he did not play in marsh matches he seems low down pecking order. Hope he, West and Weightman perform well at vfl level and bang the door down.

I like Lloyd’s accuracy but he is more of a marking rather than crumbing type, also not quick and has not shown that gritty tenacity to keep ball in F50. Dickson similar and injury prone. I like Wallis too but also think he is too slow - hope he proves me wrong.

What position did Maclean play in preseason matches? I went to first one but cannot recall where he played. He is a smart enough player and not slow. Could he still make it as a small forward or do others think his skills do not suit it? He was such an important part of our 2016 finals campaign - especially the preliminary. Perhaps Maclean is worth a separate post.

[Danjul]

. An example in 2nd quarter ball kicked forward to Wallace direction , it fell slightly short and it ended up being a 2-1 situation .

This killed us last year. I have seen foot passes miss the target by 20 metres.

This must be the number one skill priority.

[macca]

Picken and Clay , hardness and tackling pressure are really missed . They bought fear to the oppositions . I can’t really seeing this in anyone in our forward line . If an analogy of state presence, Dixon vs Scache, Dixon demands the ball and crunches packs . Schache has been in the system Long enough now to stamp his physical presence.

Richard small fwds: rioli , castagna, baker, stack , caddy and Martin, show desperation and find ways to get and keep the ball
If castagna could kick straight he would have kicked 40 + last year

And yes our fwd deliver was ordinary too often yesterday

[Mantis]

More concerned that none of them can defend.

[Bulldog4life]

Yes - I am.

Give West a go. He is tough and determined, tackles well and performed well in seniors when given a chance. I know Weightman is our small forward eventually but I think he needs to be consistent at vfl level first. I was hoping Cavarra might make it but seeing as he did not play in marsh matches he seems low down pecking order. Hope he, West and Weightman perform well at vfl level and bang the door down.

I like Lloyd’s accuracy but he is more of a marking rather than crumbing type, also not quick and has not shown that gritty tenacity to keep ball in F50. Dickson similar and injury prone. I like Wallis too but also think he is too slow - hope he proves me wrong.

What position did Maclean play in preseason matches? I went to first one but cannot recall where he played. He is a smart enough player and not slow. Could he still make it as a small forward or do others think his skills do not suit it? He was such an important part of our 2016 finals campaign - especially the preliminary. Perhaps Maclean is worth a separate post.

I also think we would be a better mix if one of these 3 played against Collingwood. Bevo did say there were a couple of VFL players pushing for selection. Weightman played well I heard. Might be the one to shine on a big stage too.

[Twodogs]

This killed us last year. I have seen foot passes miss the target by 20 metres.

This must be the number one skill priority.

I was driving past Whitten oval not long after Tom Boyd signed, looked out the window, saw a few players out on the ground and thought that I'd stop by and see what they were doing. There were three players. Tom Boyd, Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis and they were doing a simple drill where Mitch and Tom Libba would fight for possession of the ball in the middle of the ground and then try and hit up Tom Boyd on the lead. After they had taken turns in trying (and missing) to hit Boyd on the lead, Tom Libba missed him by about 20 metres and Boyd stood there and yelled "Oh for *!*!*!*!s sake!"

I remember thinking "mate you are going to earn those millions"

[comrade]

More concerned that none of them can defend.

I have the same concerns about our back 6.

[Rocket Science]

More concerned that none of them can defend.

+1

When the ball boomerangs out as quickly as it enters that's yet more defensive running for our mids and given the speed of current day transitions, more pressure on a (presently) iffy back six.

Our forward line's in a better state than it was last year but we desperately need one or two hungry, high-energy types at ground level. Weightman aside, I don't see that.

It's a good thing Bruce looks like he'll mark just about anything he gets a run at.

[mjp]

...inconsistent...

Well, small/medium forwards are going to be inconsistent.

I have several issues:

1/. Dale and Schache play the SAME POSITION (and just an FYI, it isn't as a small).
2/. Dickson and Lloyd play the same position (and again, NOT a small forward).
3/. Wallis and McLean play the same position - and in their case it IS small forward but both are mids who cannot get a game in the mid rotation.

I am not saying we need to copy West Coast or Richmond, but sticking some actual FORWARDS in the forward line would be a good start.

We recruited Cavarra. PLAY HIM. We recruited Weightman. PLAY HIM. A forward line that consisted of:

Talls: Bruce and Naughton.
Mids: [2 of] Lloyd, Dickson, Schache, Dale, The Fergus.
Smalls: One of [Wallis, McLean, West and whatever other mid gets spat out] and ONE of [Weightman, Cavarra] would be much better balanced.

What would I do? The talls pick themselves. As an aside, if Schache wants to play, he plays as one of these two or he plays at Footscray in one of the tall roles there and learns.

In the mid-sized bracket I play Lloyd and Dale. Those two are most likely. I give Fergus a shot if Dale shows some of his more worrying signs for more than a week.

I wouldn't play McLean. He is a good player but when was he last a good player in an actual game? Honestly, he needs a new role because small forward is not working for him - he isn't a forward. I would play Wallis and take your pick out of Cavarra and Weightman as I have no idea.

After that, you have one spot left as a rotator. I think that goes to a genuine mid who will be the one primarily responsible for giving Bont/Dunks/Macrae/Smith/et al a chop out when they need it but will have to sit forward say 25% of the day...

[comrade]

Well, small/medium forwards are going to be inconsistent.

I have several issues:

1/. Dale and Schache play the SAME POSITION (and just an FYI, it isn't as a small).
2/. Dickson and Lloyd play the same position (and again, NOT a small forward).
3/. Wallis and McLean play the same position - and in their case it IS small forward but both are mids who cannot get a game in the mid rotation.

I am not saying we need to copy West Coast or Richmond, but sticking some actual FORWARDS in the forward line would be a good start.

We recruited Cavarra. PLAY HIM. We recruited Weightman. PLAY HIM. A forward line that consisted of:

Talls: Bruce and Naughton.
Mids: [2 of] Lloyd, Dickson, Schache, Dale, The Fergus.
Smalls: One of [Wallis, McLean, West and whatever other mid gets spat out] and ONE of [Weightman, Cavarra] would be much better balanced.

What would I do? The talls pick themselves. As an aside, if Schache wants to play, he plays as one of these two or he plays at Footscray in one of the tall roles there and learns.

In the mid-sized bracket I play Lloyd and Dale. Those two are most likely. I give Fergus a shot if Dale shows some of his more worrying signs for more than a week.

I wouldn't play McLean. He is a good player but when was he last a good player in an actual game? Honestly, he needs a new role because small forward is not working for him - he isn't a forward. I would play Wallis and take your pick out of Cavarra and Weightman as I have no idea.

After that, you have one spot left as a rotator. I think that goes to a genuine mid who will be the one primarily responsible for giving Bont/Dunks/Macrae/Smith/et al a chop out when they need it but will have to sit forward say 25% of the day...

100% this, except I would play Bruce and Shache as our talls and send Naughton back.

Mids: Lloyd & Dale
Smalls: Wallis & Weightman (or Cavarra/West depending who is in form)
Rotator: Lipinski

[Twodogs]

100% this, except I would play Bruce and Shache as our talls and send Naughton back.

Mids: Lloyd & Dale
Smalls: Wallis & Weightman (or Cavarra/West depending who is in form)
Rotator: Lipinski

So not 100% then! ;)