When posting in a similar topic after the win against the Dogs I lamented the fact that we still let 20 goals in ourselves, to which I was told that you can't have it both ways. If you score a lot you give away a lot, it's just the natural order of things. However you only need to look at Geelong to see that this isn't necessarily the case. They're the only team to kick more points than us yet have given away the fewest also (or pretty close to it anyway). So this tells me that it IS possible to have a strong attack and defense at the same time.

So my question is, how can we tune our own backline to reach this level while the forwards continue to do their job? Could we still manage to build an elite backline while scoring 20 goals every week?

I still like playing Santy down at FB and believe he can do the job on most of the KPP's.....Waite giving us an edge down forward means we need another key defender/CHB...I dont see Thornton in that role and believe he is better suited to handpicked opponents on a week by week basis.

Mark Austin needs to step up next year and play some senior footy IMO....has been hampered by injuries and made a slow start but appears the Michael Sexton type of player who may take slow but steady progress and need some patience.....I also would like to see Flint get some senior time this season as well.
Flint is a bit different as he is more the dour defensive stopper and I think there is a spot on the list for that type of player even though some posters want to delist him..
You need variety/options and depth down back and I belive we have the players but they dont have the experience as yet....another three years wait and I think there wont be many teams kicking big scores against us...

i dont see a quick fix unfortunately.

like synbad has said, the first thing i would do would be to get whitnall and saddington the hell outta there. Last night their lack of pace was glaringly obvious.

bring in Hartlett to play down back and also bring in flint. from what i have heard flint is a decent size and can also run and carry.

i would also look at getting houlihan out of the backline and swinging him forward, dropping either bentick, blackwell, kouta or lappo and playing houlihan up forward with fev, fish, waitey, eddie, and jk.

bring Benjamin in to cover houlihan's spot on the back flank and also bring joey in to the back line as well....this is how i picture it looking:

Anderson O'Hailpin Hartlett

Benjamin/Flint Thornton Scotland

that gives us a good mix of size and speed. In a pinch, Flint could be played down there as well so we can swing santy into the ruck or onto the ball with his brother taking the ruck. then the team would look like this:

Anderson Hartlett Flint

Benjamin Thornton Scotland

Simpson Murphy Gibbs

Houlihan Kennedy Waite

Fisher Fevola Betts

R: A. O'hAilpin S. O'hAilpin Stevens

Int: Hampson Austin Blackwell Carrazzo



thoughts?

BUMP in the wake of our horrific performance tonight. I again pose the question to you all.

There is one thing I think we could do immediately that would help the situation.

At the moment, we are playing a long, direct game of footy, which I love. However, IMHO, the final entry into the 50, and the structure inside 50, still aren't right. What tends to happen is that on most occasions, we are bombing to contests inside 50. If we take a mark, great. Occasionally we get the crumb, and our scoring efficiency when this happens has actualy been very good.

However, too often the ball comes to ground, and is run out by the defense. As we have been attacking, the opposition has loose players, and it often ends up in a scoring opportunity for them.

If we change the balance of players inside 50, to include an extra small or two, then when the ball hits the deck inside 50, we will have a better chance of getting our hands on it. With Waite, Whitnall, Fevola and Fisher up there, it's not overly quick. Nor are Wiggins and Lappin for that matter. Makes it failry easy for the opposition to run it out without pressure. Murphy has helped when he has been in there. Betts too, although he simply needs to do more (when playing) than being involved in 10 pieces of play a game). Gibbs would be one to consider rotating through there at times, great reader of the ball, and fantstic tackler.

Remember the days of Jonno and Buzz? We used to say we had the best defense in the league, and the second best (our forward line).

Also, we need to get more system going forward. Having more leading options to try and hit. It's ok to bomb every now and then, but all the time hurts us on the rebound. If half our bombs went instead to leading targets, then I reckon we'd be cutting out at least 2 or 3 rebounds a quarter, which could translate to cutting out 1 goal a quarter against. That's a massive difference already.

So, in answer to the question, in order to first help out the defense, look to our forward line.