My thoughts exactly. We need to get our structure right and decide on best positions for our top 25 or so. Clearly we won’t challenge this year so we need to find out who to persevere with. As such, Gould needs to be given a couple of games and our coaches have to find a way to re-ignite Stephens otherwise he’ll remain a wasted talent.
Can a mod rename this to Round 15?
There was a section of Footy Classified with a discussion on Ladhams, as well as Buddy and our tall forward line. Matty Lloyd said it would be interesting to see our selection this week after taking Franklin, Reid and McDonald into the game last week. He thought we would or should drop Reid, but also seemed to imply that Reid would be cut this year to allow Franklin to play another year.
I didn't agree fully with his analysis since it doesn't take into consideration that most teams will have 4 or 5 talls if ruckmen and forwards are combined. Port had 4, same as us,or 5 if we count Georgiades as a tall. Brisbane take in 4 or 5. I would think 4 is average and about the right number for us.
There was also a short discussion about Franklin's declining form and if he should go on next year.
I've really like Amartey's improvement this year. He's jumped a notch in all aspects of his game. He always had great length on his kicks, but now his accuracy has shot up and has surpassed McLean in recent weeks. His marking was a strong point and continues to get better.
I prefer having 1 ruckman + 3 tall forwards, one of which is a relief ruckman. So it's usually going to be Hickey or Ladhams, but not both, unless we have injuries to our KPFs. I would start to structure our forward line around the McDonald-Amartey combo, + either Franklin or Reid. The way Reid has been playing of late, I would prefer Reid to Franklin. There's a 5 year age difference and it's Franklin who is showing his age more than Reid. It's difficult to get a fix on Reid because his career has had long periods of absence due to injury. I never hear anyone talk about Charlie Dixon retiring, yet Dixon is 1 year older than Reid.
Few want to drop Franklin because he's been one of the greatest players of all time. Individually, he is certainly our best forward, but the real question should be what combination of players comprise our strongest forward line. As for this question, I seriously doubt that Franklin should be in the mix. I think we function better as a group without Franklin. I wouldn't think it an insult to have Buddy as our sub.
It's another one of those queries about whether we focus on the present or the future, as well as on individual players versus team balance and cohesion.
Matthew Lloyd's concern for Lance Franklin's future - Footy Classified | Footy on Nine - YouTube
Looks like RWO may be ready to start a branch of BuddyAnonymous - A support group for those in recovery from Buddy addiction.
Brave Ludwig has gotten the ball rolling, who will be next to say: "Hi, I'm _______, and I'm a Buddyholic."
Conversely, are their still RWOers who will respond by screaming "Heresy"/"Burn Him"/He's "Not a True Fan"?
Last edited by Ruck'n'Roll; 22nd June 2022 at 07:45 AM.
Loose translation from the Latin is - I am tall, so I hit out.
Reid and Buddy are injury prone. McDonald still has a year or two before he becomes more consistent. Hickey & Ladhams are ruckmen
ie enough said. Amartey, the jury is still out on. If this is the extent of our tall contingent then I think we'll be needing all of them next year
(Head shakes)
Buddy kicked 5 against Richmond 2 games ago and won us the game
How they could question whether he has another year in him is laughable. Its one thing to talk about how good Hawkins is playing, he is playing alongside Cameron, Curnow/Mckay, Lynch/Reiwolt
Reid has jumped Amartey on form alone, he was a last minute back up signing like Sinks and has taken the opportunity with both hands.
I would play him in defence, we arent tall back there.
I think we can play tall, with 2 rucks as long as we dont play our only stay at home fwd that is Mclean
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