Ted Richard looks to bump Bazza out

[Bleed Red Blood]

Half forward flank then. By saying forward pocket doesn't mean he can't leave the forward fifty..

[elroy67]

I actually think that Hally is suited to starting from FF. He is far more damaging as a leading forward than when forced to mark overhead in a contest. When he leads from CHF he ends up taking a lot of marks on the wing.

[SimonH]

Squeezing out the very capable Vogels is just one of the problems with Richards playing forward.

Another is that it leaves Luke Ablett nowhere to play forward. He's a natural forward. Good mark, booming kick, just quick enough to lead and mark but not fast enough to go with a really quick opposition midfielder.

I'm not just having a go at his GF performance (although it doesn't hurt my argument)-- throughout his career, almost all of his best work has been done forward of the centre line. When we have:
? Moore, Malceski, Willoughby etc etc who are waiting in line to get a game in the middle, and
? Kirk, Crouch and Mathews (among others) meaning that our midfield ain't short of options to keep opposition stars accountable,
I'm at a loss as to why people think he should play in the centre.

He also plays a different but complementary role to ROK and so would be ideal to have on the opposite side of the ground.

[giant]

The way that article reads may need to re-write the thread tile to "Richards looks to bump ROK out".

[Lucky Knickers]

Charlie - I disagreed with your assessment of the best forward line and that Richards can't potentially improve things.

Only 3 of our team make it into the Top50 for average goals per game. That's not the best fwd line and I think we need a much better return. So rather than saying they were crap - I should say we need more goals to repay the excellent defence and hard tough work of the midfield.

5th Barry Hall Ave 3.08
16th Michael O'Loughlin Ave 2.26
39th Nick Davis Ave 1.65

No way should Hall play FF - he's much better roaming marking tackling and generally scaring the pants off the opp HBs.

[liz]

Originally posted by SimonH

Another is that it leaves Luke Ablett nowhere to play forward. He's a natural forward. Good mark, booming kick, just quick enough to lead and mark but not fast enough to go with a really quick opposition midfielder.

Must admit that I've never thought of Ablett as a natural forward, and I still don't, even having read your suggestion.

To be he is a classic, bullocking centreman. His major value is his ability to extract the ball from stoppages and kick it long and quick. He's certainly not up there with Kirk, Bolton or even Buchanan in terms of his clearance ability but he's still on a steep (hopefully) learning curve. It's what happens to the ball when he does get boot to it in the middle that excites me about what he can potentially bring to the team.

He's one player who I hope can quickly graduate from a "run with" player to a playmaker given licence to seek out his own ball more. Schmidt, Willoughby, Moore, Malceski and McVeigh can come in and do their senior apprenticeships in "run with" or forward pocket / flanker roles.

[mocaholic]

Without getting too comfortable, isn't it nice to have this problem?

One thing that amazes me is BBBBHall's discipline. IIRC he has not missed a game since 2002. Great stuff, however how long can that continue (cue J. Crouch)?

Magic can only go on for a couple of years at best. The way the game is played now it's pretty tough to have a FF specialty, although Frase & Lloyd go OK.

IMHO, our forward set up will consist of:

KPP: Hall, Richards, Magic, Goodes, Vogels.
Mid-size: O'Keeffe, Ablett, Malchy, Davis, Back-door Benny (in a pinch - he's not a bad set shot grudgingly), McVeigh
Smalls: Willo, Schneids, Moore, Monty (on the run, please!).

OK, I've chucked virtually half the team in the forward line. And in that mix I haven't included Joll & Doyle resting to create a mismatch.

Christ I'm starting to think back-to-back. Somebody hit me, please!

[ScottH]

Originally posted by mocaholic
One thing that amazes me is BBBBHall's discipline. IIRC he has not missed a game since 2002. Great stuff, however how long can that continue (cue J. Crouch)?

Forgot Barrygate already, could've been the biggest miss of his career.

[liz]

Originally posted by mocaholic

One thing that amazes me is BBBBHall's discipline. IIRC he has not missed a game since 2002. Great stuff, however how long can that continue (cue J. Crouch)?

His discipline has improved but he's not exactly been a saint ( ) over the past couple of years.

The Maguire incident is an obvious one, and regardless of whether it was worth missing a grand final for, it was a stupid and unnecessary act.

There was some scrutiny earlier this year of a scuffle involving the Pies' David Fanning where he was a bit more vigorous than he had to be.

And in 2004 we spent a couple of days sweating over what Chris Grant's interpretation would be of a certain incident that didn't get captured on tape.

(He was also, IIRC, sent to face the tribunal later in 2004 for a vigorous tackle of a Dees player, though that one was always a beat up charge that was going to get thrown out.)

Despite the improvement, I suspect that for as long as Hall dons the R&W, we'll always be on tenterhooks that a few match enforced holiday might just be around the corner.

[mocaholic]

Originally posted by liz
His discipline has improved but he's not exactly been a saint ( ) over the past couple of years.

ScottH
Forgot Barrygate already, could've been the biggest miss of his career.

Of course I ain't forgotten. Fact of the matter is that it wasn't.

His discipline has been such that he has been able to play every game for three years. He's not meant to be a saint, either (in ANY sense of the word!) - we need a strong intimidating presence on the park, particularly up forward. Think Tredrea, Lynch/Brown, Wallis/Barnard, Carey/Archer, Kernahan, Jako/Woosher in recent history - and further back Hawks/Bombers of the eighties.

(Adelaide...hmmmm....?)

This discipline has stretched to the training track, too.

I'm just saying that we can't continue to rely on it!!

[Jeffers1984]

First real Teddy Richards article

http://sydneyswans.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=237987

[Jeffers1984]

"My best position it to play as a tall player in the forward line and at Essendon it is probably their strength," Richards told sydneyswans.com.au.

Err...isn't it our strength too?

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Jeffers1984
"My best position it to play as a tall player in the forward line and at Essendon it is probably their strength," Richards told sydneyswans.com.au.

Err...isn't it our strength too?

It's all completely illogical, isn't it?

[SimonH]

Even if you ignore that BBBH is listed to play at CHF and pushes up the ground when needed, the ideal role that Richards describes for himself in the team is exactly the one that Adam Goodes already plays... or at least the one he plays when things are going well.

Where the hell is this boy gonna go? We really do have an embarrassment of riches, huh? Talk of getting priority picks in 2005 (and remember, this was a serious discussion topic) seems like about 16 years ago now!

[Foreign Legion]

Originally posted by Charlie
There's no spot for him up forward at the moment. The Swans haven't had as much class in the forward fifty since 1933. I will concede, however, to three Hall of Famers in Pratt, Nash and Matthews.

Ron Clegg was a fairly handy forward. An old fella told me that he'd play CHF when South were kicking with the wind and CHB when against it.

He also said he was "better than Skilts" - take it for what its worth but he must have been bloody good to play for Victoria in 1946 - his second season.

Of course Nashy would have told you he was better than the others.....he may have been right too.

Nashy also had a TEST cricket bowling average of 12 so he was pretty good at most things it seems. 10 wickets at 12.59 to be precise.