I was going off the AFL's stats page, so they may have rounded up some of the averages, and Cripps was an error on my part, he was right after Shuey in the table I was viewing and I must have counted Shuey's average against his.

That's still not a short list, and even the sides that have dominant forward groups (Hawthorn, West Coast and Sydney) still have a decent list of outside contributors.

Let's say the attacking midfield group is the following: Kreuzer, Kerridge, Buckley, Thomas, Murphy, Gibbs, Boekhorst, Graham and Cripps; 9 names.

Would 130 goals from those names, if they played all 22 games, be a ridiculous thing to expect in a successful season? Because that's about what I'm talking about, having settled into the maths and stats of it all.

That's working from the idea that the forward line isn't going to have multiple 40+ goal kickers, though that may happen in time. You're also hoping for 0.6/game from your better defenders like Tuohy and Docherty, then maybe a healthy 0.4 from Simpson and Byrne.

That leaves about 125 goals from the 'true' forward group of Wright, Casboult, Everitt, Walker and the one name we pick out of the rest, or about 25 goals a piece. If they outpace 1.2 goals per game per player, then the burden on the midfield and defence is lifted. If some of the others not mentioned (that would be regulars in the 22) bob up for a spare goal here or there, that's pressure taken off those expected to score.

If we're averaging 14 goals a game, we'll win more than we'll lose, especially with the new interchange rules. That's the long term target.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

It's not gonna be easy but i do expect them to go close....... at the very least 100+goals. We have too.

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

The premise that we need more goals from our midfield group is correct, it's the numbers I disagree with. 14 goals a game is an average score of about 95 points. I think we'll average closer to 75 points per game if I'm being honest, which is around 240 goals as a team for the year (we kicked 205 last year). I'll take 100 from a forward group of Walker, Casboult, Everitt, Wright and maybe Charlie Curnow. Leaving 140 for the rest of the list to make up.

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@cecil_anderson

I'm hoping for more than 11 a game, but yeah 14 goals is the long term target.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

We've probably sidetracked this topic enough, to link what I've been saying back to the game on Thursday, I think 11-12 goals will be competitive. I think it might leave us a little short, but if we get 11-12 goals we'll be right in it until the end.

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@cecil_anderson

Yeah you make a good argument.

11-12 goals on thursday would be a positive.

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

Carlton FC ‏@CarltonFC 1m1 minute ago

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

WEITERING

On him, while we're talking about goals, I think he'll have a small amount of time up forward too.

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Essendon-Only team to have ever been found guilty of salary cap breaches in a premiership year!

GET GOALS

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Did BYRNE train this morning ?

I have a feeling he could be like our David Neitz. Absolute gun CHB, but one of the very few in league history to be a gun forward - even when started down back. He will need a few years to mature physically down back before we can expect him to have to beat an opponent in the forward line

B: Weitering Jamison Tuohy
HB: Docherty Rowe Simpson
R: Kreuzer Cripps Curnow
C: Kerridge Gibbs Murphy
HF: Everitt Casboult Walker
F: Graham Phillips Lamb

IC: Buckley Boekhurst Wright White

Emg: C. Curnow Whiley Gorringe

This looks close. I reckon the other one to consider would be Byrne (maybe instead of White).

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I am as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!

Yes stormin. I made the Neitz comparison on his player profile page. Still though few, if any, are expecting him to play as the key defender for 23 rounds this year, so I think he'll be thrown around a bit to give him a break in his first year.

_________________
Essendon-Only team to have ever been found guilty of salary cap breaches in a premiership year!

Byrne is listed as 189cm, which was taller than I initially thought. Hope he plays above his height.

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Essendon-Only team to have ever been found guilty of salary cap breaches in a premiership year!

Was a pretty small group of players out on the track, I got there late so I didn't catch all the faces when it would be easy to pick up on them. So I can't really answer your question.

McKay was walking laps while talking with Fraser

Definitely saw: Casboult, Tuohy, Gibbs, White, Simpson, Wright, Lamb, Boekhorst, Kerridge, Rowe, Whiley, Ed & Charlie, Smith, Everitt, Phillips, Foster and I think Korcheck.

Plenty of others were out there though, but definitely not more than 30-35.

Notably I couldn't spot Kreuzer and I'm not sure Murphy was out there. I think Kreuze was on the sidelines in gym gear, taking it easy the day before the game.

Was paying more attention to skill execution once they rolled out a 2/3 low-pace match sim, and the in-play goal kicking drills. Charlie really does slot them easy from 50+ m out, while Whiley really does toe poke his longer passes, and it takes the sting right out of them.

Nothing to be read out of today's session other than hit and giggle, but I think we're really going to surprise everyone with our forward setup tomorrow night; I'm now convinced we only saw it for about 50 minutes the whole NAB challenge.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Was a pretty small group of players out on the track, I got there late so I didn't catch all the faces when it would be easy to pick up on them. So I can't really answer your question.

McKay was walking laps while talking with Fraser

Definitely saw: Casboult, Tuohy, Gibbs, White, Simpson, Wright, Lamb, Boekhorst, Kerridge, Rowe, Whiley, Ed & Charlie, Smith, Everitt, Phillips, Foster and I think Korcheck.

Plenty of others were out there though, but definitely not more than 30-35.

Notably I couldn't spot Kreuzer and I'm not sure Murphy was out there. I think Kreuze was on the sidelines in gym gear, taking it easy the day before the game.

Was paying more attention to skill execution once they rolled out a 2/3 low-pace match sim, and the in-play goal kicking drills. Charlie really does slot them easy from 50+ m out, while Whiley really does toe poke his longer passes, and it takes the sting right out of them.

Nothing to be read out of today's session other than hit and giggle, but I think we're really going to surprise everyone with our forward setup tomorrow night; I'm now convinced we only saw it for about 50 minutes the whole NAB challenge.

can you be more specific about the forward line set up jimmae

Can confirm both Kreuzer and Murphy were on the track too.

White goes straight to Dusty... Will offer a lot more the Byrne at this point in time.