Tiger talls set to forge power forward line (Age)

[the claw]

seems to me to have a power forward line you need power forwards. the only porential power forwards on our entire list are gourdis and griffiths no mention of them from that silly reporter.

[Mr Magic]

Wallace had the last say in ALL recruiting, end of story.

Very sad. Always was clueless about building lists.

Before Polak had his accident,his stats werent very flash and was on the verge of being delisted.

Agree re your Polak comments also.

He was an ordinary kick for goal (ordinary.) before the injury.

He's done remarkably well to get back to where he is and I praise him entirely for that but to suggest he's going to be a mainstay in our 'power' forward line in 2010 makes me weep for Richo all the more.

I imagine Polly will largely be used as a mature bodied battering ram at CHF in 2010 until the younger KPPs come on. Don't want to be wrecking the young Posts, Astbury's and Griffiths in the key possies.
Not much wrong with that strategy as this year is a write off anyhows.

Longer term..

[The Glove]

If my post was the "silliest" yours must be a very close runner up, IMO, please go and read some other posts on the forum I think you will find there are posts out there a little bit more special than mine.. . Polo knows whats going on does he, please go around to WP's (William Polo... ) house and watch some footage of Polo like I have been doing here, he gets caught a hell of a lot and I have recently watched the Freo game and he turned the ball over a lot in that game. Tuck on the other hand..... well I have said what I have said about him.

I quite enjoy Mr Powell's posts.   Your post however is still silly 

Smart and Tuck are not words you use in the same sentence.   Oops!

Dont sweat it WAT, time will tell the tale!

I do note there are negative sentimenets re Dean.  I think they reflect more on the poster than the player!

[Stripes]

I would actually like to see Tuck up forward along side Polak, Riewoldt and Polo. I don't think you would classify either Polo or Tuck as KPP but Tuck would have the muscle to bring the ball to ground at least and take a nice grab and slot it through at best. He's good at stoppages too so would be able to win the ball and feed it out to our more nibble forwards in the F50.

I think ultimately Polak and Tuck would be short term fixes but Polo could carve out a position their if he steps up. You would hope eventually Astbury and Griffiths step into the 2 top spots with Riewoldt the 2/3rd option.

My beginning of 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Tuck       Polak            Nahas

HF  Polo         Riewoldt      Morton


My end-year 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Griffiths/Taylor      Polak         Nahas/Polo

HF  Astbury            Riewoldt     Morton


My future forwardline would be -

FF    Taylor          Griffiths           Nahas/Roberts

HF   Riewoldt       Astbury           Morton/Polo


Stripes

[Penelope]

Watched the drawn game from last year against North over the week end. (the first half and last 10 minutes to be truthfull  ) Polo seemed to be playing as a forward and did quite well. The defensive pressure of the forward line was quite good during the first half and Tuck used the ball reasonably well in the first half as well.

Obviously it all went poo in the second half, for nearly everyone involved. Wasn't in the mood to stomach that.

[Judge Roughneck]

Watched the drawn game from last year against North over the week end. (the first half and last 10 minutes to be truthfull  ) Polo seemed to be playing as a forward and did quite well. The defensive pressure of the forward line was quite good during the first half and Tuck used the ball reasonably well in the first half as well.

Obviously it all went poo in the second half, for nearly everyone involved. Wasn't in the mood to stomach that.

I watched the 2nd half.

 

[Penelope]

Masochist!

[the claw]

I would actually like to see Tuck up forward along side Polak, Riewoldt and Polo. I don't think you would classify either Polo or Tuck as KPP but Tuck would have the muscle to bring the ball to ground at least and take a nice grab and slot it through at best. He's good at stoppages too so would be able to win the ball and feed it out to our more nibble forwards in the F50.

I think ultimately Polak and Tuck would be short term fixes but Polo could carve out a position their if he steps up. You would hope eventually Astbury and Griffiths step into the 2 top spots with Riewoldt the 2/3rd option.

My beginning of 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Tuck       Polak            Nahas

HF  Polo         Riewoldt      Morton


My end-year 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Griffiths/Taylor      Polak         Nahas/Polo

HF  Astbury            Riewoldt     Morton


My future forwardline would be -

FF    Taylor          Griffiths           Nahas/Roberts

HF   Riewoldt       Astbury           Morton/Polo


Stripes

hmm not bad but i believe griffiths will play almost from the start and rightly so.he will play and when he struggles  astbury will get a game these two imo will be rotated in and out of the side all yr.

okay polo as a forward. the options and who are the better ones.
well we have 3 tall forwards who will play most weeks. i believe morton is a lock in and while im one who does not rate him based on his efforts last yr nahas is going to get a decent go. to me it leaves one spot and with so many mids who are easily in our best 22 i belive one of these mids will get the gig, to me the logical choice is cotchin imo there is no place for tuck or polo forward because i believe one of roberts taylor nason  will get a go for development purposes if cotchin doesnt play there.

this leads one to ask just where do tuck and polo fit in.

lets look down back. again i expect we will go with three talls. the likely ones are thursfield. post. rance. and mcguane.at least one of these 4 will miss it could be two missses and moore becomes the third tall.
  clearly tuck wont be going back so polo goes into competition with, webberley.tambling. connors. farmer. newman. dea. moore. for one of three spots. imo tambling newman and more are the front runners but i believe all of farmer webberley connors will stake strong claims and i think dea will get games as well at some stage for development purposes i cant see polo in front of any of these players for some pretty basic reasons.

it leaves midfield on ball.

with tuck i believe hes in competition with thomson i believe one of these two will play most weeks. my money atm is on thomson but im not overly confident. either way we need more big bodied exrtactors.
okay polo thru the midfield. to me he is now in competition with jackson especially if its true hes significantly bulked up in the off season.
 like jackson he lacks skills  and yea its my opinion im sticking to it okay. what he does have is some footy smarts something jackson is clearly lacking in  a genuine mid  who can find the ball. in many ways wallace did stuff this bloke around. anyway to cut it short i think hes in comp with jacko as a run with player.if hes not well its what i would do with him.
8 talls  3 med/sml backs, 2 med/sml forwards,  leaves 9 spots. we need to fit in for sure  collins cotchin cousins deledio foley martin.  jackson probably gets the tag job and thomson gets the inside mid job.  to me these two are competing with many for what is two final spots. personally id give those spots to younger players.edwards connors dea taylor farmer  webberley all in front of those two.

[Stripes]

My personal belief is that Tucky will struggle to get a game this year especially if Thomson firstly play well in the NAB and then follows that form on in the season proper. From what I have seen of him I believe this is a likely scenario. The problem is that we are crying out for big bodied players which Tucky is but conversely we are equally wanting players with good decision making and disposal skills which he isn't. Placing Tuck in the forwardline would be a good fit because it highlights all his strengths while hiding much of his weaknesses. Tucky is a good mark and kick for goal and has the body strength to compete and work off a big backman. Forwards do not need to be as concerned about poor disposals or decision making as they are usually kicking for goal or kicking to a lead. Yes forwards are expected to be much more defensive and work with each other to create space etc but Tucky could be a great fill-in in the forwardline until the likes of Griffith and Astbury gain the sufficient size to become KPP.

Do I think this will happen - unlikely, but it is an option I would at least attempt in the early stages of the year.

 Polo as a forward is a given. He has been training as a forward all summer and has shown some excellent signs in the position. The coaches have spoken in glowing terms about him in the role so regardless I believe the move is already a reality.

Is it a long term change....possibly given his age and ability but he will need to show consistent success in the role for him to claim a place in the F50. I think you will also see him moving into the midfield at times too as part of the center rotations but I would be surprised if he took Jackson's place as a tagger. Polo has a great deal of upside to his game and, I believe, the skill and decision making to succeed in the game. I believe, like Lids/Bling/Pattison/Post and many other developing talent, they were thrown around all over the ground by Wallace which made it difficult for them to develop and gain confidence to fulfill their potential. Polo showed in his first game he had the potential to be a star much Like Bling did in his first NAB game. I believe he will come on from this point if he is allowed to use his natural attacking, creative game.

Stripes

[Ox]

Seems like Hardwit has a game plan that cant be implemented by the team, due to shortcomings in the talent pool.

Polak will give 100 percent but i doubt if it will be enough.
Jak is a eff en dud  - if he's the future of our forward line then get used to low scores.
Polo.........

no FF
No FB
No real Ruck

Nothing has changed-the joint is stuffed.



Edit: swear filter

[Stripes]

Seems like Hardwit has a game plan that cant be implemented by the team, due to shortcomings in the talent pool.

Polak will give 100 percent but i doubt if it will be enough.
Jak is a eff en dud  - if he's the future of our forward line then get used to low scores.
Polo.........

no FF
No FB
No real Ruck

Nothing has changed-the joint is stuffed.

I agree with your analysis here Oxy but at least we have attempted to draft quality talent into the club to hopefully fill these voids in the future. If all goes to plan and we can develop them properly then Griffiths will be our FF, Rance our FB and Vickery our Ruck. We have a few more holes around the ground as well to be honest too.

Players such as Polak and King are stopgaps until these young fellows can come on - nothing more.

Stripes

[the claw]

My personal belief is that Tucky will struggle to get a game this year especially if Thomson firstly play well in the NAB and then follows that form on in the season proper. From what I have seen of him I believe this is a likely scenario. The problem is that we are crying out for big bodied players which Tucky is but conversely we are equally wanting players with good decision making and disposal skills which he isn't. Placing Tuck in the forwardline would be a good fit because it highlights all his strengths while hiding much of his weaknesses. Tucky is a good mark and kick for goal and has the body strength to compete and work off a big backman. Forwards do not need to be as concerned about poor disposals or decision making as they are usually kicking for goal or kicking to a lead. Yes forwards are expected to be much more defensive and work with each other to create space etc but Tucky could be a great fill-in in the forwardline until the likes of Griffith and Astbury gain the sufficient size to become KPP.

Do I think this will happen - unlikely, but it is an option I would at least attempt in the early stages of the year.

 Polo as a forward is a given. He has been training as a forward all summer and has shown some excellent signs in the position. The coaches have spoken in glowing terms about him in the role so regardless I believe the move is already a reality.

Is it a long term change....possibly given his age and ability but he will need to show consistent success in the role for him to claim a place in the F50. I think you will also see him moving into the midfield at times too as part of the center rotations but I would be surprised if he took Jackson's place as a tagger. Polo has a great deal of upside to his game and, I believe, the skill and decision making to succeed in the game. I believe, like Lids/Bling/Pattison/Post and many other developing talent, they were thrown around all over the ground by Wallace which made it difficult for them to develop and gain confidence to fulfill their potential. Polo showed in his first game he had the potential to be a star much Like Bling did in his first NAB game. I believe he will come on from this point if he is allowed to use his natural attacking, creative game.

Stripes

so you are saying tuck is in a battle with thomson for a midfield role which i agree with, but on the other hand then say because of size issues we will play him forward.
im sorry but i disagree. with jack polak and griffiths the talls will all this yr have genuine size. add morton who has gone from 80kg to close to what he needs to be at 84kg.  he is the logical player tuck would be competing with for a spot and rhe forward half will not lack for size.
the only player who will lack size is nahas and he performs a role that tuck polo  cannot. what the forward line is screaming out for is quality and class and unfortunately tuck and polo just cant provide this. players like taylor who will need developing roberts and cotchin and connors  do provide whats needed. they imo are clearly better forward line options.  

as for playing them thru the midfield. at this stage all of collins cousins cotchin deledio foley martin thomson jackson and edwards would be in front of both polo and tuck. add in possible mid field rotations in tambling newman farmer where do you play all these blokes at coburg.

all i can say is if polo is already a lock in for the forward line  hardwick is not as smart as many give him credit for.

polo made AA  as basically a defensive mid he racked up possesions and was very good defensively. motor work rate and competetiveness around packs was his strength .i think he won the powers b&f as well.

he slipped to pick 20 because of footskills.  and there was a few of us who thought he would go much later because of these deficiencies and thought definately a wasted pick where we took him.
 i had a mate who was very irate about this.

we have a junior  AA defensive mid on our hands who  we will play forward who lacks polish and a yard of pace for the role we are now going to ask him to play.

i have no doubt if he is to survive it will be as a defensive mid hence the observation that i think him in competition with jackson.

[Stripes]

I'm not sure if you read my passage correctly claw. I said I can see the benefit from Tuck playing forward for the reasons I mentioned but I believe it is unlikely. His time in the midfield is limited.

Polo as a forward is a given and time will tell if Hardwick is or isn't as smart as you think he is. I personally believe it is a inspired move.

Stripes

[mightytiges]

I would actually like to see Tuck up forward along side Polak, Riewoldt and Polo. I don't think you would classify either Polo or Tuck as KPP but Tuck would have the muscle to bring the ball to ground at least and take a nice grab and slot it through at best. He's good at stoppages too so would be able to win the ball and feed it out to our more nibble forwards in the F50.

I think ultimately Polak and Tuck would be short term fixes but Polo could carve out a position their if he steps up. You would hope eventually Astbury and Griffiths step into the 2 top spots with Riewoldt the 2/3rd option.

My beginning of 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Tuck       Polak            Nahas

HF  Polo         Riewoldt      Morton


My end-year 2010 Forwardline would be -

FF   Griffiths/Taylor      Polak         Nahas/Polo

HF  Astbury            Riewoldt     Morton


My future forwardline would be -

FF    Taylor          Griffiths           Nahas/Roberts

HF   Riewoldt       Astbury           Morton/Polo

Yep that's the way I see it too Stripes. The young newbies won't have the experience, size and endurance yet to hold down 2010 spots for the whole season. It's unrealistic at this stage to have Griffiths and Astbury in key forward positions week in week out. Even if they exceed expectations they're going to have periods at Coburg even as a "rest" for sore young bodies. So there's going to be a mixture of old names and newbies and eventually the old names who aren't part of our future will be replace in the next couple of years as the younger guys with ability mature in mind and body to last a full season. So the likes of Tucky, Polly and possibly Polo despite their deficiencies will be used moreso than the cubs in 2010. It's a transition year.

[WA Tiger]

Good on you Polly.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/improved-polak-on-fast-track-forward-20100210-nsfh.html