We Need a Gun Up Forward

[Sainternist]

Membrey was our best forward this year, for the second year running. He is a second fiddle forward, at best. This speaks volumes of how ineffective our forward line has been.

We simply need another gun up forward and Josh Bruce sure as hell ain't that gun. Meanwhile, Paddy McCartin brings no guarantees.

Do we trade for a gun? If so, who do we trade and for whom?

Hmmm Trading the Bruce could be an option. We could also put the likes of Weller on the trade block (providing he still has enough value).

[ace]

I thought we had a No 1 draft pick and used it on a gun forward.
That's what most posters here insist.

Maybe they will change their minds once he announces his retirement due to concussion issues.

[SaintPav]

Tom Lynch wants out of the Gold Coast according to some reports.

[Sainternist]

Tom Lynch wants out of the Gold Coast according to some reports.

Sounds good. We should make a play for him.

[Proph3t of egan]

I thought we had a No 1 draft pick and used it on a gun forward.
That's what most posters here insist.

Maybe they will change their minds once he announces his retirement due to concussion issues.

Wow, he should announce his retirement immediately. You sure showed them didn't you boss?

[David-Lee]

Be careful mate you'll get your head bitten off for suggesting Bruce isn't Almighty and Paddy isn't Tidy.

I learned that first hand.

[parkeysainter]

Give Paddy a chance. He is 21 and in his 3rd year of goddam footy. He has had rotten luck. Give him another 3 years to prove himself when fit.

Bruce and Membrey are still good forwards and young. They will at least give you 30-50 goals a season.

[Con Gorozidis]

Give Paddy a chance. He is 21 and in his 3rd year of goddam footy. He has had rotten luck. Give him another 3 years to prove himself when fit.

Bruce and Membrey are still good forwards and young. They will at least give you 30-50 goals a season.

Is it really just 'luck'?

I heard the same thing about Kosi for 12 years.
'Kosi is just unlucky but next year he is going tear it up!'

How many times did we hear that?

[parkeysainter]

Give Paddy a chance. He is 21 and in his 3rd year of goddam footy. He has had rotten luck. Give him another 3 years to prove himself when fit.

Bruce and Membrey are still good forwards and young. They will at least give you 30-50 goals a season.

Is it really just 'luck'?

I heard the same thing about Kosi for 12 years.
'Kosi is just unlucky but next year he is going tear it up!'

How many times did we hear that?

He's not Kozi. Do you seriously think Paddy has wanted to get knocked out every time he has? Yes. It is bad luck. Some players have bad runs with injury. Its that simple. As I said, give him 2-3 more years then the club can make a genuine call.

[Jacks Back]

We won something like 8 out of 11 games when all three of Rooey, Bruce and Membrey played but when one of those was missing we didn't win any games from 8 attempts (or they said something like that on SEN).

We DO need a gun up forward now that Rooey has retired.

[parkeysainter]

We won something like 8 out of 11 games when all three of Rooey, Bruce and Membrey played but when one of those was missing we didn't win any games from 8 attempts (or they said something like that on SEN).

We DO need a gun up forward now that Rooey has retired.

Agreed. Would be great but they don't grow on trees and they're very hard to develop. We just struck pure gold with Nick. He was a once in a 15-20 year big forward a club picks up.

[Con Gorozidis]

He's not Kozi. Do you seriously think Paddy has wanted to get knocked out every time he has? Yes. It is bad luck. Some players have bad runs with injury. Its that simple. As I said, give him 2-3 more years then the club can make a genuine call.

Noone wants to get injured. I hope you are right. But there are plenty of red flags.

[Wayne42]

A gun up forward, Oh dear.
Is our new game plan going to incorporate shooting the opposition backmen so that our ordinary forwards have more opportunities to spray the the ball at the 4 sticks in
the hope they get a few between the Big Sticks.

[Moods]

Give Paddy a chance. He is 21 and in his 3rd year of goddam footy. He has had rotten luck. Give him another 3 years to prove himself when fit.

Bruce and Membrey are still good forwards and young. They will at least give you 30-50 goals a season.

Is it really just 'luck'?

I heard the same thing about Kosi for 12 years.
'Kosi is just unlucky but next year he is going tear it up!'

How many times did we hear that?

He's not Kozi. Do you seriously think Paddy has wanted to get knocked out every time he has? Yes. It is bad luck. Some players have bad runs with injury. Its that simple. As I said, give him 2-3 more years then the club can make a genuine call.

And Kos WANTED to get knocked out?

His last concussion indicated to me a lack of awareness, or a confidence problem. Either way if he continues to play the game like that the next concussion will be sooner rather than later. Personally I would trade Paddy whilst he has some value. It's becoming too risky to hope he'll become the player we need him to be.

[bigcarl]

Gresham will be a gun midfielder/forward.

Billings will be a gun forward if he can fix his kicking over summer.

Membreys' still young and has plenty of improvement in him. Potentially a gun, though another couple of inches would help.

Bruce? Well he's no Plugger or even a G-Train, but he's solid and durable, never stops working and always gives a contest. Also needs to spend summer kicking for goals.

Paddy? Who can say. We've all seen glimpses but he may never be able to string enough games together. We can hope.

Marshall. Battle. Maybe.

All in all, we're not badly placed. You don't necessarily need a champion key forward to win a flag, though it certainly helps.

[bigred]

I still think the answer to this is McCartin.

[ace]

I still think the answer to this is McCartin.

I can't wait long enough for that father-son pick, I'll be dead by then.
And besides doesn't Paddy have to play 100 games to create a father-son pick.

[bigred]

So much Paddy hate on this board.

[saintsRrising]

We need guns mids way, way, way before we need another key forward.

Gun mids will lift us all over the ground.

PS: Gun mids also tend to snag a few goals too.

[saintsRrising]

We need guns mids way, way, way before we need another key forward.

Gun mids will lift us all over the ground.

PS: Gun mids also tend to snag a few goals too.

[Sainternist]

Bruce? Well he's no Plugger or even a G-Train, but he's solid and durable, never stops working and always gives a contest. Also needs to spend summer kicking for goals.

Paddy? Who can say. We've all seen glimpses but he may never be able to string enough games together. We can hope.

If McCartin doesn't come good, we'll be without a proper full forward. I don't think Bruce is the answer to being a focal point up forward. Often spills many marks and is too unreliable in front of goal.

A gun up forward, Oh dear.
Is our new game plan going to incorporate shooting the opposition backmen so that our ordinary forwards have more opportunities to spray the the ball at the 4 sticks in
the hope they get a few between the Big Sticks.

You actually doubt it? Have you noticed how dysfunctional our forward line has been? If this team is going to improve, it needs a more cohesive forward line. We need a ready made full forward, plain and simple.

[MickThomas]

So much Paddy hate on this board.

Nobody hates Paddy.
Ppl are expressing an opinion that he has medical issues that will severely
restrict his senior career.
He might play 4-5 games in a row, but next time he gets injured, it's worse than the last time.
It is a contact sport, in case you needed reminding.

We don't expect him to get many games next year- we're hoping his health
improves, but...there are no encouraging signs. None at all

[carn_sainter]

It's partly a personnel thing, but it's more so the way we play. We need far better structure in the forward line and to move the ball far better from defence to attack. Gun mids, as mentioned, will help here but even then, we'll still have fundamental things in the way of our ability to score. These are our problems more so than the personnel. The way we play, even Stewie Loewe would struggle to take grabs because it's always a 10 man pack.

Membrey is a gun and could easily kick 50 goals a season if we weren't so dysfunctional. It's not just about the forward half of the ground though, it's also defence. The high press, the lack of forward line, starting only 5 there for a centre bounce so we're a man down.

McCartin's woes weren't luck. Nobody is that unlucky, now or ever. There was clearly fitness and technique deficits that he has to work on and hopefully he will have done so by the time he plays again. One more and I'd hang them up for him. A very good natural footballer who has a lot of work to do before he can play well at AFL level. After all this he's gone through, psychologically he has a mountain to climb.

[spert]

We all want Paddy to do well, but unless he gets on the field and starts to impact on games, then the future isn't bright for him.

[bigcarl]

If McCartin doesn't come good, we'll be without a proper full forward. I don't think Bruce is the answer to being a focal point up forward. Often spills many marks and is too unreliable in front of goal.

Membrey's a proper, traditional full forward. Albeit a bit shorter than you'd like in the modern game. He's a good lead and has great hands and judgement. Importantly he's a good converter.

Of course he's not the pack-splitting power forward that you have in mind. Bruce can do that role, but, as you say, needs to hold more marks and improve his conversion.