Goddard has it too easy

[Gershwin]

Elite kick, strong mark, good football brain but not properly used.

Plays this 'quarterback' role from the back-line which does not result in enough goals IMO. Can get dragged too deep by the opposition and for a player of his reputation needs to be thrown into the thick of it more.

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

[SainterK]

I believe BJ has already said Watters may have him spending more times in the forward line this year Gershwin.

Liked that he attempted one of 'those' marks v WCE in the forward line, confidence is building.

[plugger66]

Elite kick, strong mark, good football brain but not properly used.

Plays this 'quarterback' role from the back-line which does not result in enough goals IMO. Can get dragged too deep by the opposition and for a player of his reputation needs to be thrown into the thick of it more.

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

Doesnt Hodge play a similar role. I think in todays footy the quarter back is nearly the most important player. Sets up the attacking moves and kicks the occasional goal. At the moment it doesnt matter who plays forward as they just dont get enough chances. If Rooy is struggling then my guess is BJ would struggle even more.

[stkildathunda]

I believe BJ has already said Watters may have him spending more times in the forward line this year Gershwin.

Liked that he attempted one of 'those' marks v WCE in the forward line, confidence is building.

Goddard - "Strength is can play down back or up forward. Will be doing that again. Play my best footy in midfield. Might spend bit extra time up forward with more rotations. But not much will change."

[whiskers3614]

I reckon Goddard/Riewoldt alternating between FF/HB/ruck roving would make forward line less predictable.
Kozi CHF, might get less of it than Riewoldt but woulk kick more goals from his limited opportunities.

[Junction Oval]

We need to do "something" new with the forward line this year. Will Wilkes play on the forward line tomorrow night. Is he capable of making a difference?

[Junction Oval]

Having just checked, to find that Wilkes was not even selected in the top 25 for tomorrow night, that says a lot about the recruiting decision

[nobhead]

Elite kick, strong mark, good football brain but not properly used.

Plays this 'quarterback' role from the back-line which does not result in enough goals IMO. Can get dragged too deep by the opposition and for a player of his reputation needs to be thrown into the thick of it more.

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

another 2 goddards would be nice . 1 down back ,1 in the middle and 1 up forward .

[Cairnsman]

So if Goddard is our "quarter back", who are the other quarter backs in the league. Ok so if Hodge was considered a quaterback in the era that saw the Hawks win a flag in 08. Who was Geelongs quarterback in 09 and 11? Was Maxwell the Pies quarterback in 2010?

[plugger66]

So if Goddard is our "quarter back", who are the other quarter backs in the league. Ok so if Hodge was considered a quaterback in the era that saw the Hawks win a flag in 08. Who was Geelongs quarterback in 09 and 11? Was Maxwell the Pies quarterback in 2010?

Shaw I would think for the pies and Enright for the Cats IMO. I think they may have been AA in the premiership years.

[Old Mate]

Get Roo out of the forward line and our offence improves. He cant help but lead to pockets/flanks. Plus he cant kick. His team mates cant help kick to him when hes in poor positions with three opponents on him. Put him on the wing or in the backline. Put Goddard forward.

[bigcarl]

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

Yep, he'd be a good full forward Goddard.

Good hands, knows how to use his body, beautiful kick and just knows where to run.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

Yep, he'd be a good full forward Goddard.

Good hands, knows how to use his body, beautiful kick and just knows where to run.

Agree, as I've been saying for a couple of years now.
I just hope that one of the times Watters puts BJ forward he kicks another bag, as he did plenty of times under Lyon (only to be whipped out of there ASAP, not to return for a fair while) and that Watters realises what an offensive scoring weapon he can be and plays him there more often. (Especially when Gwilt is back and possibly Raph). We also have a lot more depth around the ball now and could even play someone like Dal across HB, to use his kicking there as a weapon. Then Roo and BJ could possibly alternate between wing and the forward line. I think Roo would kick just as many goals from the wing as he did last year (if not more) and that he would do a lot more damage there than he did up forward last year and I'd really love to see what BJ would do up forward when he's in form and with quicker ball movement into the area.
BJ, with a bit of space to work in and the ball moving in there quickly, would be one hell of a handful.

[Teflon]

I like Goddard fwd on the centre also to use his foot skills into fwd 50...only problem....this years backline worries me...he may be needed there more than ever..

[Dan Warna]

I don't think goddard has it easy at all. He's targeted as the man to take out almost every game. The physical buffeting he gets is on par with what ball used to cop, and what Big Nick has to deal with every game. I love the idea of BJ at CHF, the problem is, he sets up 3 or 4 goals every game by creating opportunities from his long accurate passing. Sadly no one else on our team at the moment is that good.

Opposition know, if they can shut down goddard, the shut down a lot of our drive. Fisher and gram are probably are next best at drive out of the back line.

[spert]

Goddard should always have been in the forward line, and that's exactly where he should be playing for the rest of his career. I would play him as a small CHF and let Roo roam around closer to goal.

[saintspremiers]

Play him up forward in tandem with Riewoldt and really give the opposition something to think about. Has the ability to kick 3-4 goals a game and throw in Koschitzke for his height and Milne, Schneider and Saad for their speed, crumbing and pressure and we might kick a decent score.

Yep, he'd be a good full forward Goddard.

Good hands, knows how to use his body, beautiful kick and just knows where to run.

Agree no doubt he'd be a gun in that position, but he's to versatile and valuable to be kept soley up forward.

Perhaps he could rest deep forward in rotation with his normal quarter back role.

[gosaints]

We need him behind the footy at the moment. He is our best at reading the play and also setting up attacks from the back half.
Without Goddard back there we will get murdered by a good forward press.

[sunsaint]

grrrr
RL's use of Goddard was one of my pet hates with his tactics
most of the time you saw BG in the backline, he was being utilised as the designated kick-in with a dinky 20mt pass to the pocket followed by a 1-2 handball play. It killed me that out of all the players in our backline we had no-one of sufficient foot skill to kick a football with any precision. (yes I know Gwilt was pretty good at the long pass, but we missed him last year)
It was interesting when BG was badly out of form in the first half of 2011, Lyon gave him a free pass in the back 50mt. To me it was indicative of the malaise that had set in at the saints last year.
In response to BG being needed in the backline with the current trend of a "forward press", I disagree. The best defense against this play is a the long hard +40mt kick over the zone, (but not the Gilbert schank) and I believe with the batch of kids being introduced have the penetrating kick to do this.
It is time that Goddard truly proves his potential, a player that not only hurts the opposition with the ball but on the scoreboard.
And to do this he must be played forward of the center.