One could argue that the problems we are having in the forward line are just as bad as those in defence.

So far this year we are second in the comp for inside 50's, yet fifteenth in the comp for marks inside 50.

How has our forward structure changed from the wiz up to now?

Effe, that's because Denis is adding an extra bod down back to bolster our defence, but it's resulting in an extra backman from the opposition in our forward line, un-attended. It's not helping our forward blokes at all.

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Galaxies in the grain...

I know we were pushing numbers back - but during the Essendon* game we were able to make Fletcher accountable in the last qtr.

Why couldnt we make Clement accountable?

It's been said before and will be said again.

It's laziness. The midfield refused to run in numbers to support each other and carry the ball.

Selfish play has led to players not giving Fev and Whits enough space in which to operate.

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"A good composer does not initiate. He steals."

- Igor Stravinsky

Good topic mate.
In the Wizzer Cup we were'nt taken seriously.
We placed players behind the ball and the opposition tried to man up to make our loose men accountable.
It worked well as it congested our opponents forward line and opened ours right up.

Come the real stuff, clubs did their homework on us.
North rolled the dice and backed their loose men in against ours.
Suddenly Colbert and Archer were filling the spaces in our forward line to great effect.

Your point about marks is the biggest issue.
Rocca and Thompson took 5 marks inside 50 in the last quarter.
Our problem is 193cm+ power forwards are required to beat a congested forward line and we dont have enough.
Our forwards need to work harder for each other.
The only defenders who should be loose are those we decide.
One of our forwards eg. Davies should have gone to Clement and followed him everywhere.
If the status quo remains, we have a 1 on 2 at worst.

The fact remains that we are kicking good scores but our backline is haemorraging severely.
Denis will keep Barnaby behind the ball until we get some key defenders back.
He rightly believes that the forwards can carry the extra load at the moment.
Our talent up forward is ok, we just need our players to control the structure better.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

BV, do you think that it's the midfield's fault as well in that they haven't manned up as well as they should have and therefore delivery from opposition midfielders and numbers at the fall of the ball should there be a contest (and therefore run off HB) has been quite poor?

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"A good composer does not initiate. He steals."

- Igor Stravinsky

As great as Stevens was Saturday our midfield killed us Saturday. Forward line didn't get the supply and backline was under immense pressure

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Generally agree.
We have scored over 100 points even with a loose man in defence making Whitts and Fev less potent.

Midfield should be dropping 'forward' to make their defenders accountable.

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

We look good when we try and our midfield/half back line run and flood forward ala wizard cup.

Its just a shame we don't try enough

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

We're winning enough ball, we just arent taking our chances.
We won the clearances, had nearly 60% of the centre breaks and had an excellent 64 inside 50s compared to collingwoods 56.
Our midfielders are running with minimal rotations and doing a phenomenal job.

If we get our hands on the ball inside 50, we have to finish properly.
Justin Davies has had 10 shots at goal this year for 2 goals!
Against the Roos he missed 2 shots from 15 metres out.
In the same game Bannister, Houlihan, Fevola and Waite missed gettable shots from inside 50 in the first quarter alone.
We had the same amount of scoring shots and got done.

Against Essendon* we were dominant early but bad kicking let them back into the game.
Whitnall missed some shots from directly in front that I could kick.

On Saturday we kicked 16.12 and had 6 shots out of bounds on the full.
Think of Lappin missing sitters from in front or Waite kicking OOF from 30 metres out.
We had more than ample opportunity to put them away.
Clubs wont kick 15.1 in a half against us often but we need to take our own chances.
They didnt kick them from the corridor more than us, they just took their chances.
We have matched our opponents for scoring shots in every game.

Momentum plays a huge part in footy and we are pissing it up against the wall with every missed shot.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Fair point - I still attribute the poor finishing to a lack of concentration, effort, hunger and desire on the boys part

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Yikes. I didn't realise there were that many OOFs.

That is bloody poor form!!! Kicking for goal is an old pet hate of mine, if the angle is such that the difficulty is there you can excuse it, but really, anything within 40m and 30° of goal in reasonable conditions should see a 90% conversion rate IMO.

However, it was interesting to note how poor the kicking at the Dome was in the Richmond/Dogs game, so maybe we could be worse!

I've only been to a couple of training sessions, so my observations may not be representative of the norm, but I've not seen anything even approaching serious attempts at goal kicking practice. Pot shots on goal as you're walking back into the rooms don't count!!!

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Out of the 8 winners on the weekend CB, only 4 had more scoring shots than their opposition.
It displays how important it is to take your opportunities.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Absolutely. No argument from me on that one BV.

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Does anyone think Big Setanta should be given, even a small runout, just to see how he's going, even if he takes a few big hits or is off the pace, jumping in at the deepend is the best learning process. Plus he would be a good target up front, pace, height and power, even in the first and second qtr of a game, where if it doesnt go to plan the rest of the game is there to rectiffy it??

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'Cause I'm J.U.D.D
I'm dynamite
J.U.D.D
And I'll win that fight
J.U.D.D
I'm a power load
J.U.D.D, Watch me explode

problem is getting setanta on the main list before we can get him on the ground

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.