Ted Richard looks to bump Bazza out

[Mark Busuttil]

I thought you said countdown was wrong - are you going to fix 59 days to what it should be?

[goswannie14]

Originally posted by Mark Busuttil
I thought you said countdown was wrong - are you going to fix 59 days to what it should be?

Problem is they said 2 weeks early which makes it Christmas Day...don't think the docs will want to do a planned caesar then Once we know the date I will change it accordingly.

[Jeffers1984]

"We see him as a really important member of the forward line who can pinch-hit down back as well, so I think our structure is looking really solid for next year, particularly with the bigger body of Richards coming in and another ruckman."

Paul Roos.

[punter257]

Originally posted by Jeffers1984
"We see him as a really important member of the forward line who can pinch-hit down back as well, so I think our structure is looking really solid for next year, particularly with the bigger body of Richards coming in and another ruckman."

Paul Roos.

interesting to say the least..............

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Jeffers1984
"We see him as a really important member of the forward line who can pinch-hit down back as well, so I think our structure is looking really solid for next year, particularly with the bigger body of Richards coming in and another ruckman."

Paul Roos.

Similar comments in yesterday's Herald Sun.

There isn't room for Hall, O'Loughlin, Richards, O'Keefe and Davis in the same forward line, surely. Especially not with Goodes and probably Doyle drifting in and out.

We already have the best forward line in the competition - we just don't give them a lot of opportunities to score. I don't see how playing Richards forward is actually going to improve our line-up.

Put him in defence on the third opposition tall, and let him graduate to a key role over the year. I love the idea of Leo being on the opposition's third string forward... leaving Bolton to pick up the fourth and Kennelly the fifth. All, of course, assuming that Richards a) plays down back and b) turns out to be half-decent.

[Lucky Knickers]

Originally posted by Charlie
We already have the best forward line in the competition - we just don't give them a lot of opportunities to score. I don't see how playing Richards forward is actually going to improve our line-up.

It will help if he can kick straight. IMO the goal kicking from the best forward line in the competition was crap this year.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by singaporeswan
It will help if he can kick straight. IMO the goal kicking from the best forward line in the competition was crap this year.

They weren't crap, they just weren't above the rest of the competition. Here's the top 40 goalkickers in 2005.

Barry Hall 80.41 66.1% (13th for accuracy)
Fraser Gehrig 78.49 61.4%
Russell Robertson 73.30 70.9%
Matthew Richardson 65.46 58.6%
Warren Tredrea 65.45 59.1%
Mark Williams 63.35 64.3%
Matthew Pavlich 61.25 70.9%
Stephen Milne 61.20 76.3%
Matthew Lloyd 59.29 67.0%
Scott Welsh 58.27 68.2%
Kent Kingsley 57.40 53.3%
Nathan Thompson 52.29 64.2%
Michael O'Loughlin 52.26 66.7% (=11th)
Scott Lucas 51.24 68.0%
Brendan Fevola 49.25 66.2%
Saverio Rocca 43.28 60.6%
Daniel Bradshaw 42.21 66.7%
Brad Johnson 42.23 64.6%
Adem Yze 41.34 54.7%
David Neitz 39.23 62.9%
Shannon Grant 39.24 61.9%
Ian Perrie 38.31 55.1%
Corey Jones 38.32 54.3%
Nick Davis 38.21 64.4% (18th)
Phillip Matera 38.28 57.6%
Jarred Waite 36.23 61.0%
Chris Tarrant 36.27 57.1%
Ashley McGrath 35.15 70.0%
Jeff Farmer 35.16 68.6%
Luke McPharlin 34.12 73.9%
Blake Caracella 34.19 64.2%
Nathan G. Brown 34.19 64.2%
Nick Riewoldt 33.36 47.8%
Robert Murphy 33.19 63.5%
Jonathon Brown 33.19 65.5%
Ken McGregor 31.18 63.3%
Matthew Robbins 31.13 70.5%
Kayne Pettifer 31.17 64.6%
Quinten Lynch 31.22 58.5%
Ryan O'Keefe 31.33 48.4% (39th)

So...
- The most obvious conclusion is that Ryan O'Keefe has some work to do. I won't deny that.

- Other than ROK, the others are all around the mark without being exceptional. There are five players with exceptional percentages in the 70s, but other than that there is little that separates our players from those ahead of them. I don't think that kicking is a concern for any of Hall, O'Loughlin or Davis on average. Certainly, in some matches it can be. But not overall.

- In terms of forward line options and overall number of goals from our forward line, we were very good in 2005. Only one team has four forwards above our fourth forward (the Kangaroos), and in terms of overall goals we beat them 201 to 178. We also have the greatest number of goals overall from our top four goalkickers than any other club.

So, our goalkicking was mostly fine, without leading the competition (I can live with that, we came on top in something much more important )... but we got the most out of our forward line in absolute terms. Considering that we were one of the lowest scoring teams all year, that probably reflects how little we're getting from the midfield. Amon Buchanan, with 18 (and having spent a lot of time in a forward pocket) was our biggest contributor from the middle.

[robbieando]

Originally posted by Captain
[B]What's wrong with this forward set up:

O' Laughlin Richards Schneider
Davis Hall O'Keefe

Quite a lot so to speak.

O'Loughlin can hardly kick the ball 40 metres anymore and therefore is not capable of playing as a half forward, so needs to be kept as close to goal as possible. Davis and O'Keefe playing in the pockets just takes them from their natural positions and would impact upon their output.

Plus the biggest thing wrong with that set up is Hall at Full Forward, a position that he struggles in because of the opposition habit of dropping a second man back on him thus making it harder for him to live up to his current vain of form since Roos took over as coach and moved him to CHF thus making the dropping back of a second defender impossible to do because it frees up the rest of our forward line.

If Richards was to play forward I would use him at Full Forward rather than CHF.

As for Richards as many have said whats not to like about a 23 y/o K/P player who can play both ends of the ground and at the very least provide the depth in the K/P's that we lacked last season and were lucky not to have exposed thanks to our run with injuries.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Are you sure that isn't what Captain meant? I.e;

CHF: Davis Hall O'Keefe
FF; O'Loughlin Richards Schneider

[ScottH]

Originally posted by Bleed Red Blood
Are you sure that isn't what Captain meant? I.e;

CHF: Davis Hall O'Keefe
FF; O'Loughlin Richards Schneider

That was how I read it too.

[liz]

Originally posted by Captain


What's wrong with this forward set up:

O' Laughlin Richards Schneider
Davis Hall O'Keefe

The main thing wrong with it is the spelling of Magic's name.

More substantially, it would be nice to think that Davis and/or Schneider will be able to take their turns in the midfield rotation with increasing regularity. They may not be first rotation midfielders but can certainly add something there for short spells.

Allowing for the fact that Buchanan is also likely to rotate between the midfield, forward line and bench, it means that the forward set-up really includes at least 7 players, with at least one player on the bench able to come on and relieve existing forwards while they have a rest or play on ball for a while, or provide flexibility if match-ups aren't working or a player is struggling.

Vogels played this "bench forward" role with some success this year and, at worst, Richards would provide another option in this department.

It is also relevant that premierships are not won by teams of 22 players - they are won by squads of 30+. Even if Richards is only the 7th or 8th best forward line option, he could still land up playing 15 or 16 games and being a pretty important contributor.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by liz
The main thing wrong with it is the spelling of Magic's name.

After his 4th Q effort in the GF, maybe not.

[Sanecow]

Originally posted by ScottH
After his 4th Q effort in the GF, maybe not.

Meow!

[Bleed Red Blood]

Originally posted by liz
The main thing wrong with it is the spelling of Magic's name.

More substantially, it would be nice to think that Davis and/or Schneider will be able to take their turns in the midfield rotation with increasing regularity. They may not be first rotation midfielders but can certainly add something there for short spells.

Allowing for the fact that Buchanan is also likely to rotate between the midfield, forward line and bench, it means that the forward set-up really includes at least 7 players, with at least one player on the bench able to come on and relieve existing forwards while they have a rest or play on ball for a while, or provide flexibility if match-ups aren't working or a player is struggling.

Vogels played this "bench forward" role with some success this year and, at worst, Richards would provide another option in this department.

It is also relevant that premierships are not won by teams of 22 players - they are won by squads of 30+. Even if Richards is only the 7th or 8th best forward line option, he could still land up playing 15 or 16 games and being a pretty important contributor.

Schneider should be a forward pocket primarily (At least ninety percent) next year in my opinion. Unless we were to play someone like Schmidt or Willoughby in the crumbing specialist forward pocket role. Could Williams play this role? He certainly has the 'nous'.

Davis has to be a midfielder. 15 kicks from him into our forward line could turn out to be five goals. Who was our last midfielder that had the disposal Davis has? Schwass?

My forward line is;

O'Keefe - Hall - Williams
Schneider - Micky O - Richards*

Would prefer him in defense..But Roos reckons forward, and who am I to argue with him?

[Sanecow]

Schneider on the run outside 50m is too good a finals memory to banish him to the forward pocket permanently. Unless he turns back into the post-injury huffing-and-puffing version of himself.