We do need to seriously re-jig the list and gameplan, but I'm still hesitant to play Richo outside the forward 50 for reasons already mentioned here and elsewhere.
FB Newman Kellaway Humm
HB J Bowden Deledio Raines
C Hyde Coughlan Tambling
HF Jackson Hall P Bowden
F Pettifer Richardson Hartigan
Foll Simmonds Tuck Johnson
IC Brown Foley Stafford Krakouer
Looks strange on paper perhaps, but bear with me...
Starting from the back:
We don't have a natural full back...whoever we play there (with three tall defenders out) will get beaten in the air...except Hall and we need his run, height and carry elsewhere if we're to use him to advantage. Kellaway is pretty good at ground level and has a cool head under siege - he needs to use his smarts to try and play from in front of his opponent where possible. Humm looks more likely as a defender - if he can't be a useful back pocket we may as well promote a kid like White - Newman is generally a pretty good user of the ball, has toughness and courage. I've named Hartigan in the forward pocket, but he would come into defense alternating with J Bowden as the spare defender who cuts off the leads from the bloke who will more than likely be too big for Kellaway in the air. Sides who can't match Richo 1 on 1 in defense have done it to us for years...it's time we did the same given our lack of tall backmen. J bowden is too slow/short to beat attackers in the air, but he does have good judgement and has shown courage backing into contested marking situations before. We know Hartigan has courage, both of them can rebound...though in different ways (run and carry and line breaking from Hartigan, shrewd delivery from J Bowden) which give us some flexibility with either one spare.
Deledio at CHB - no, it's not a misprint(!) - he has the pace, leap and bulk to do alright there for the time being I think...an attacking CHB in the Cornes mould...may give away a few goals, but has the talent to hurt the opposition going the other way. This way we keep him in the corridor as much as possible and invariably give him an opponent he can cut up going the other way. He'd appreciate the ball coming to him, not being tagged out of the game and being given a role where he just has to shut someone else down. We need to get Raines into the attacking HBF position and out of the back pocket whenever possible.
Centre line is pretty self-explanatory as is the followers - though I would qualify that Johnson will be best in a tagging role...I'd rather free up the likes of Tambling and Hyde who can run, carry and deliver...getting better at it the more they get the chance to be designated ball carriers.
All the half forwards have big motors, thumping kicks, can beat their opponent on a lead and can bring the ball from wing into attack. Hall would be kept exclusively to the corridor and told to run his guts out between CHB and CHF all day following the play and getting to as many contests as possible (in the air preferably).
Richo would have a ton of space to work in up forward just as he likes it, with Pettifer playing in front of him...he can deliver precisely and he's a reasonable crumb and snap opportunist type forward at his best. He, P Bowden and Jackson need to get to as many contests as possible and bottle the ball up once it hits the ground. Hall would hang back and try to pick the ball off coming back out.
Bench is pretty self-explanatory I think, although I would qualify Tivendale's ommission for Krakouer's inclusion by saying they both have similar downsides, while Krakouer has more upsides IMO. Brown and Stafford need to be used purely as impact players in short bursts to nurse them through the rest of the year. When fit Stafford will hammer most 2nd ruckman, Brown can be used to really throw the cat among the pigeons if he choose his match-ups and not the other way round.
It's a bit out of left-field in some respects and would obviously adjust to suit whoever we're facing, but a line-up like the one above can score more heavily than others we might go with IMO.
FB Newman Kellaway Humm
HB J Bowden Deledio Raines
C Hyde Coughlan Tambling
HF Jackson Hall P Bowden
F Pettifer Richardson Hartigan
Foll Simmonds Tuck Johnson
IC Brown Foley Stafford Krakouer
Looks strange on paper perhaps, but bear with me...
Starting from the back:
We don't have a natural full back...whoever we play there (with three tall defenders out) will get beaten in the air...except Hall and we need his run, height and carry elsewhere if we're to use him to advantage. Kellaway is pretty good at ground level and has a cool head under siege - he needs to use his smarts to try and play from in front of his opponent where possible. Humm looks more likely as a defender - if he can't be a useful back pocket we may as well promote a kid like White - Newman is generally a pretty good user of the ball, has toughness and courage. I've named Hartigan in the forward pocket, but he would come into defense alternating with J Bowden as the spare defender who cuts off the leads from the bloke who will more than likely be too big for Kellaway in the air. Sides who can't match Richo 1 on 1 in defense have done it to us for years...it's time we did the same given our lack of tall backmen. J bowden is too slow/short to beat attackers in the air, but he does have good judgement and has shown courage backing into contested marking situations before. We know Hartigan has courage, both of them can rebound...though in different ways (run and carry and line breaking from Hartigan, shrewd delivery from J Bowden) which give us some flexibility with either one spare.
Deledio at CHB - no, it's not a misprint(!) - he has the pace, leap and bulk to do alright there for the time being I think...an attacking CHB in the Cornes mould...may give away a few goals, but has the talent to hurt the opposition going the other way. This way we keep him in the corridor as much as possible and invariably give him an opponent he can cut up going the other way. He'd appreciate the ball coming to him, not being tagged out of the game and being given a role where he just has to shut someone else down. We need to get Raines into the attacking HBF position and out of the back pocket whenever possible.
Centre line is pretty self-explanatory as is the followers - though I would qualify that Johnson will be best in a tagging role...I'd rather free up the likes of Tambling and Hyde who can run, carry and deliver...getting better at it the more they get the chance to be designated ball carriers.
All the half forwards have big motors, thumping kicks, can beat their opponent on a lead and can bring the ball from wing into attack. Hall would be kept exclusively to the corridor and told to run his guts out between CHB and CHF all day following the play and getting to as many contests as possible (in the air preferably).
Richo would have a ton of space to work in up forward just as he likes it, with Pettifer playing in front of him...he can deliver precisely and he's a reasonable crumb and snap opportunist type forward at his best. He, P Bowden and Jackson need to get to as many contests as possible and bottle the ball up once it hits the ground. Hall would hang back and try to pick the ball off coming back out.
Bench is pretty self-explanatory I think, although I would qualify Tivendale's ommission for Krakouer's inclusion by saying they both have similar downsides, while Krakouer has more upsides IMO. Brown and Stafford need to be used purely as impact players in short bursts to nurse them through the rest of the year. When fit Stafford will hammer most 2nd ruckman, Brown can be used to really throw the cat among the pigeons if he choose his match-ups and not the other way round.
It's a bit out of left-field in some respects and would obviously adjust to suit whoever we're facing, but a line-up like the one above can score more heavily than others we might go with IMO.
