We all know Hampson held down FF for us a bit this season, and times he looked good and other times completely out of his depth. In essence, an athletic ruckman who the coaches were trying to turn into a forward...but in my view, he's just a ruckman who can rest in short stints forward and it will not work out as they'd planned. It's also been said ad-nauseum that ruckmen don't always translate into world-beater forwards.

How have you seen the forward line since Hampson went down with his unfortunate injury? Is there a place for him up forward next season, considering Rowe will be on the comeback, Casboult continues to improve, Mitchell given big wraps by many and, touch wood, if Waite can stay on the park?

I'm not so sure there will be. Yes we need to be patient with him and it can pay off handsomely...but looking at the other options, particularly Casboult who has been given his opportunity and done well so far (hope it continues), it may see him back in the ruck in 2013.

Thoughts?

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"GIBBS."

I think we'll still rest a ruckman up forward, but not as a key forward. Casbault has done well, but we're still a little short at times. Having hammer and Kreuzer resting down there will be hugley beneficial.

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I've always been of the philosophy that 3 big men can work as long as they are mobile & 2 are geniune KP forwards.
For mine a forward line of say Waite, Casboult & Hampson/Kruezer would work.
We can have the rock at ff with Waite & Hampson the mobile forwards playing further up.
Imagine if we had a Henderson & Jamison with Laidler down back in the one team as well!!!!!
Not bad.

..rucks can be dangerous as tall fwds yes.. ..either resting, or pushing fwd when on ball.. ..but they're not automatically key fwds just by being tall.. ..i think Hendo is our best CHF prospect, i reckon Levi is very raw but shows good signs, like him as a deep FF type.. ..Waite works best as a tall flanker..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

With our current forward structure it doesn't matter who's in the fwd 50 cuz nine times outta ten its going to Eddie....

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We have the players, its how we use it, structure up and bring the ball in.

With players such as Henderson, Waite, Walker, Hampson, Kruezer, Thornton, Betts, Garlett, Casboult, Mitchell, Rowe (plus Mids rotating through) all as options we should be able to set up several different ways dependant upon opposition/conditions/and state of the game.

I still believe the talent is there.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

So do I!!!!

However I don't think we know or at least fully understand how to use that talent.

Betts has been playing as a CHF
Jeff has been pushed up the ground into the midfield
Hendereson - is he a CHF or CHB?
Walker - Wing / Mid / FF???

Kreuzer / Hampson & Warnock - Do we play one of them or all at once? sometimes in the forward?


Personally I think last year worked best with Walker playing as a forward in the pocket (56 goals) Jeff and Eddie roaming the crumbs (98 goals between them).

Kreuzer has been pretty good coming back from the knee averaging 20+ hit outs per game so i think we all aggree we should leave him there.

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

IMO you should only ever play one ruckman in a game with back up from a Casboult type.

The reason is that the extra rotation through the midfield is absolutely vital these days and if we go to a 2 + 2 bench it will mean even more.

Guys like Kruezer, Hampson can "pinch hit" some times up forward and snag a goal and catch oppositions off guard but should NEVER be used as a permanent option.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

How does all this work when we supposedly have Cloke coming in as well?

Does it mean we'd trade Hampson or Warnock?

If not, how does it affect Hampson, and his team role?

Does it mean that Rowe,Mitchell & Bolt won't get as much field development time?

Is it purely being done to try and grab a flag in the next 2 years? (If it is happening)

Could we win a flag in that time frame anyway?

Could that money be better spent?

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The worst thing we could do is get Cloke. Personally I think he is going to Richmond.

Given SR's comments I cant see it happening. Thank Goodness.

Rather use the money on Boak & Toy and recruit some more gun kids.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Completely agree with all of this

Just a few short weeks we were saying that 9/10 times it would go to the oppositions spare defender, so at least something has improved with our forward structure. It has a very 2011 look about it now, Waite is the difference.

Snow Waite and the 2 "Dwarves" (Eddie and Jeff?)? Hi Ho?

I really like what Casboult brings to the team. I've liked him since his VFL days especially last season.

I think he could well be the answer. For a guy who has played less than 5 AFL games I reckon he is looking alright!

I hope that he has a strong career. It'll be interesting when we have him, Mitchell and Watson all available/playing at the same time.

Do you think we get good results out of going to eddie? I am interested to hear. I know it is unconventional but i see it as quite effective and not deserved of the negative feedback the tactic gets.

He is very rarely outmarked or rebounded against . He takes inside fifty marks, makes good position, doesnt lose his feet, recovers quickly, chases and harrasses , and kicks accurately at goal.

It is infact a high % play. With Armfield, Walker and Garlett all about we are not really losing from it. Not saying we dont need a tall or two in the arc but kicking the eddie is fine by me.

Laurie Nash was a 5' 8" CHF

Asked who was the greatest footballer of all time he used to say I see him in the mirror every morning

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Bawditawaba

Spot on Psych.
With Henderson leading then we have Kreuzer, Mitchell and Casboult we have enough talls that have shown some form and could hold down another possie.
Then we have Waite and Hampson. One is our best KP the other full of potential and also a ruck.
How do you balance the lot without losing the future, still develop and also go for the flag?
Unfortunately for Rowe I think he might have missed his chance ( Just guessing ) and I think that Thornton will be gone at the end of the year.
If Waite can stay fit and healthy for most of the year and Casboult and Mitchell also stay healthy and with a full preseason our main problem will be the our kicking for goal.
By that time I hope these players straighten us up and we have a more logical entry into the forward line.

+1.

People see the obvious - such as a good mark or a goal from the second or, (gasp), third ruckmen. What isn't so obvious, but is actually more significant, is how much less rest our runners get by having to share the load between fewer players. Less rest ultimately leads to less Carlton players at the contest.

..with a bit of time and space, betts is an excellent midget key fwd.. ..but when the fwd line gets congested [or the opposition's spare loiters], you usually need a genuine key fwd to be the high bomb target.. ..eddie is dangerous cosw he can play as a key fwd target, or a crumber,, and so he's hard to get the match-up right against..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Forget about recruiting any gun kids - if we grab Boak and Toy we will have to trade for them and won't have a pick until the 4th round!

If we grab Cloke, we will still have picks 10, 30 and 48 (approx) to land some quality young talent and as another poster mentioned, we may trade a ruckman giving us a further top 30 pick.

IMO Henderson is our best key forward. Unfortunately he is also our best key defender. I am always of the opinion that a forward is harder to find than a defender. If you have a NATURAL forward play him there.

Henderson just knows what to do and where to go. He brings others into play by running to the right spaces and makes the ball come to him on the lead.

HF: Robinson/Collins Henderson/Thornton Armfield/Yarran
F: Betts/Garlett Casboult/Mitchell Waite/Walker

Plus Kruezer Hampson Duigan White Dale Buckley Ellard plus mids.


If we can't develop a potent forward line out of this we do have problems!

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015