Weakness in Forward line

[Hartijon]

The Swans really need Bradshaw to play. Apart from TDL who may not be picked,he is the only "natural" gifted goal sneak in the side. When the pressure is really on natural forwards like Bradshaw can find the goals whereas makeshift forwards miss.
White is a work in progress and certainly not one you would bet on to kick the winning goal after the Siren.
Goodes is a great player but the jury is out on him as a key forward..I think it will work. Jack, Moore ,McGlynn, Bevan are tough defensive forwards who can crumb a goal but Mc Glynn is a lousy kick under pressure.Bevan is the most accurate of them but likely to go crashing back into forwards leading up.I can't see him pulling out to let White or Bradshaw through as he has played in the backs too long.Jack looks the ideal crumber at this stage.Moore has been tried and tested before and sprays it under pressure. Jetta should be up the wing running the ball down or long bombing it through from 50 metres out.
We need the smooth as silk class of Bradshaw for the lead ,mark , kick a goal play that looks so easy when it is executed by a star forward. I would play TDL as well. We need players who with only 3 kicks can get 3 goals.
Otherwise the current forward line may not be able to kick a winning score despite getting enough chances.We need Bradshaw and his class!

[Go Swannies]

We need Goodes to step up. White is an encouraging work in progress. Bradshaw offers class we haven't had for years but if Goodes plays as well as he has at CHF in the past we'll have one of the most potent forward lines in the comp. But if he doesn't, the defence will be able to sit hard on Bradshaw and White and their age and inexperience (respectively) will be evident.

[RogueSwan]

I think Goodes is in the 3 kicks 3 goals category. His accuracy last year was almost 70%!.
I would expect him to able to execute the

"lead ,mark , kick a goal play that looks so easy when it is executed by a star forward"

[TheHood]

In a pressure situation, if we were down by a goal or so and the only reason why was because of a disfunctional forward line or constant stoppages, then I would back Jetta to roam the the packs. He looks dangerous on the wings and it would not be ideal, but he's nimble and an excellect kick.

[AnnieH]

Why don't we wait until at least Round 4 or Round 5 before we write off the forward line?

[Hartijon]

Why don't we wait until at least Round 4 or Round 5 before we write off the forward line?

Not writing it off by any means,just saying that we need Bradshaw.He is the key and without him we lack the smooth class of other teams. I also agree that if Goodsey cracks it at CHF (and I indicated that I think he will) and Bradshaw plays alongside White and I hope TDL,then we will have one of the most potent forward lines in the business.

[big bear]

Not writing it off by any means,just saying that we need Bradshaw.He is the key and without him we lack the smooth class of other teams. I also agree that if Goodsey cracks it at CHF (and I indicated that I think he will) and Bradshaw plays alongside White and I hope TDL,then we will have one of the most potent forward lines in the business.

Any team could use a player of Bradshaws ability. eg St Kilda and Geelong. He has a beter conversion rate than any of their forwards.I do believe however that we are not one trick ponies and will have multiple options as long as our midfield deliver.

[Asterix]

Whoever plays up there though will need a few games to gel properly. We've got multiple options that need to be bedded down, so I'm not going in my expectations too high. Beating St Kilda by a point will be fine!

[Big Al]

Whoever plays up there though will need a few games to gel properly. We've got multiple options that need to be bedded down, so I'm not going in my expectations too high. Beating St Kilda by a point will be fine!

Not for my blood pressure it won't. A 10 goal win would be much preferred.

[AnnieH]

Not for my blood pressure it won't. A 10 goal win would be much preferred.

Percentage, percentage, percentage.

[Jewels]

Not for my blood pressure it won't. A 10 goal win would be much preferred.

Wouldn't that be bloody brilliant!! That would certainly shut the idiots in the Melbourne press up for a week or two.
Though having said that, in their eyes a big win by our boys wouldn't be because we played well, it would be because of problems at St Kilda

[Go Swannies]

Wouldn't that be bloody brilliant!! That would certainly shut the idiots in the Melbourne press up for a week or two.
Though having said that, in their eyes a big win by our boys wouldn't be because we played well, it would be because of problems at St Kilda

"Swans win despite losing brilliant Bulldog Barry Hall" or "Saints falter and lose to interstate team"?

[Nico]

The Swans really need Bradshaw to play. Apart from TDL who may not be picked,he is the only "natural" gifted goal sneak in the side. When the pressure is really on natural forwards like Bradshaw can find the goals whereas makeshift forwards miss.
White is a work in progress and certainly not one you would bet on to kick the winning goal after the Siren.
Goodes is a great player but the jury is out on him as a key forward..I think it will work. Jack, Moore ,McGlynn, Bevan are tough defensive forwards who can crumb a goal but Mc Glynn is a lousy kick under pressure.Bevan is the most accurate of them but likely to go crashing back into forwards leading up.I can't see him pulling out to let White or Bradshaw through as he has played in the backs too long.Jack looks the ideal crumber at this stage.Moore has been tried and tested before and sprays it under pressure. Jetta should be up the wing running the ball down or long bombing it through from 50 metres out.
We need the smooth as silk class of Bradshaw for the lead ,mark , kick a goal play that looks so easy when it is executed by a star forward. I would play TDL as well. We need players who with only 3 kicks can get 3 goals.
Otherwise the current forward line may not be able to kick a winning score despite getting enough chances.We need Bradshaw and his class!

The jury is out on Goodes as a forward! Strewth he is 30 years old, it must be the longest trial in history.

He will never play as a true forward. Think about this: We now have Bradshaw as a leading forward who leads straight up the ground and White who looks to play deep in the forward line.

Get a piece of A4 paper and draw an oval and put the goals and points at each end. Now draw a circle in the middle to replicate that on the ground, roughly to scale.
Get a ruler and measure out 25% from each end of the oval and mark it with a cross. This represents the true, traditional CHF. Most CHf's start on the centre square line at the bounce these days.
Now visualise the running half backs kicking the ball long to a leading Bradshaw. One guess as the where he will lead. You got it, right on that cross.
So will Goodesy be standing there at CHF, I think not. He is more likely to be working up the ground and back playing in essence as a midfielder. This appears from the North blog last week to be what he was doing. With a bloke like Bradshaw the space must be created for him. More so at the SCG.

[ShockOfHair]

Kennelly's back, Malceski's back, McGlynn and Kennedy are in, Hannes and Bird are a year older and stronger, and Jetta is going to play a lot of senior footy this year. The point is, there'll be a lot more ball coming into the 50 and it will be coming in faster.

We didn't struggle to kick goals in the preseason and with Bradshaw, White, CUrrie, Goodes, Bevan, TDL, Rohan and Seaby, we don't lack for options.

Most defences are going to be stretched just dealing with Braddo and White-Goodes. Bring it.

[UglyDuckling]

in terms of weakness in the forward i think we are sweet for tall forwards goodes at centerhalf is an athletic running machine who will take a heap of marks, kick goals and have a lot of inside 50's. White and Bradshaw will make a formidable full forward combination with those two playing out of the goal square our forward line looks particularly dangerous and should be able to take a lot of marks inside 50.

The real weakness is in terms of a genuine goal kicking small forward. At the moment we see a lot of midfielders rotating through that small forward role or guys like moore, beavan, mcglynn etc who arent genuine forwards. It would be good to see a genuine small forward with loads of pace, evasive skill and goal snagging ability to make it super dangerous when one of the big fellas dont mark the pill. For this i nonimate Rohan, TDL and vezzy if one of these blokes can have a standout year and kick 20-30 goals and apply a heap of pressure it would really add to our forward line.