Max King to CHB

[beebarry]

Ok I don’t post much and this will get torn apart by many on here I’m sure but hear me out ….

Our forward line does not need max king …. In fact …. It’s worse with him in there. We are so much better having Hammer and Sharman as mobile, leading and contested marking players with wood Membrey and others rolling through and Higgins butler as crumbers.

This has been fermenting in our forward line for a month and last night it clicked. How does a player like max slot back into that role now ?

So I would love to see him get a bit bigger ( not too much ) and run around like a big mobile f***g gazelle across half back, drifting deeper back to defend and use that reach to punch and spoil.

And be available as a switch up move option with one of the forwards

This means if/when we lose Battle king could potentially mitigate that. Not 1:1 replacement obviously but something else entirely.

Might take a season or two and would require his 100% buy in but why not ??

Crazy ? Or so crazy it just might work ?

[TheGreatZacsby]

You need to get a check up from the neck up.

Max King is a FWD. Period…

Support the kid.

[aaron82]

Ok I don’t post much and this will get torn apart by many on here I’m sure but hear me out ….

Our forward line does not need max king …. In fact …. It’s worse with him in there. We are so much better having Hammer and Sharman as mobile, leading and contested marking players with wood Membrey and others rolling through and Higgins butler as crumbers.

This has been fermenting in our forward line for a month and last night it clicked. How does a player like max slot back into that role now ?

So I would love to see him get a bit bigger ( not too much ) and run around like a big mobile f***g gazelle across half back, drifting deeper back to defend and use that reach to punch and spoil.

And be available as a switch up move option with one of the forwards

This means if/when we lose Battle king could potentially mitigate that. Not 1:1 replacement obviously but something else entirely.

Might take a season or two and would require his 100% buy in but why not ??

Crazy ? Or so crazy it just might work ?

I raised this one my old man last week. Similar to Rory Lobb. He is a good field kick, not having multiple players trying to stop him from marking could free him up more. My issue is when the ball hits the deck, 0.9 tackles a game won’t cut it as a defender

[skeptic]

I got to go with crazy too (playfully as it’s your word not mine).

Saying we don’t need him forward is one thing and there’s an argument there like it or not…
But what particular qualities have you seen in him that scream defender?

[B.M]

Yeah, nah…

[samoht]

Our forward line is humming at the moment.
Why not ... Battle was supposedly a forward, and Richo thought otherwise.

[beebarry]

If we go back to Max in the goal square next year being triple teamed and us delivering to him with bombs …I’ll spew up …. Sure he’s a forward - but he’s an athlete and young and could learn …

[TheGreatZacsby]

Our forward line is humming at the moment.
Why not ... Battle was supposedly a forward, and Richo thought otherwise.

The move to the back was Ratts idea.

[samoht]

No, I think you'll find that Battle started hitting his straps when Richo moved him into the backline way back in 2019.

Ratts confused Battle by trying to turn him into a utility in 2020 and 2021 (Battle's form suffered as a result), before realising that the backline was indeed his best position.

Richo had that figured out, already in 2019, to his credit.

(So, you could say that Ratts set him back 2 years).

[TheGreatZacsby]

No, I think you'll find that Battle started hitting his straps when Richo moved him into the backline way back in 2019.

Ratts confused Battle by trying to turn him into a utility in 2020 and 2021 (Battle's form suffered as a result), before realising that the backline was indeed his best position.

Richo had that figured out, already in 2019, to his credit.

(So, you could say that Ratts set him back 2 years).

You are right!

https://www.saints.com.au/news/70048/ne ... king-waves

[bigcarl]

If we go back to Max in the goal square next year being triple teamed and us delivering to him with bombs …I’ll spew up …. Sure he’s a forward - but he’s an athlete and young and could learn …

Yep, CHB is not the worst idea I’ve ever heard. He could probably play there and do quite well. Second ruck, he’d also be useful

I doubt Ross would entertain the notion however.

But you are correct that we cannot go back to the one-dimensional kick-it-high-to-Max plan that is a proven failure.

We’ve saw yesterday how multiple dangerous options can be devastatingly effective, so whatever happens, we’ve got to beware that we don’t fall into the same malaise that afflicted us this season and in the past.

I also will puke if that happens

[Killa]

One swallow a spring is not made

My opining is that King will add to our forward potency

What we have had over recent weeks is a greater contribution from our mids where Clark impacts and now Jones and Phillipou are contributing so more options than we have had over the recent past

Add to this Wanganeen-Milera and the subtle change in his positioning

Then there is the work rate and usage of Byrnes, noting Hill was quiet in terms of ball in hand

All that said, Essendon are being exposed as beneficiaries of the draw

We will see what this week brings noting we really should have got over Brisbane a few weeks ago

[saynta]

Ben played a lot of his junior football in the backline and in the ruck. Just saying.

[The_Dud]

You’d be better off trading King for an elite backman + more while he’s still got some trade value

[samoht]

We need a bigger sample size, but we seem to be kicking more goals from fewer inside 50 entries ... our forward efficiency and our f50 pressure both seem to have markedly improved

There seems to be more of an energy, more happy forwards, and a team effort/synergy. A real buzz up forward.

Instead of heavily relying on one tall (and more often than not) static target, we are kicking more goals from a wider spread of goalkickers and multiple-goalkickers.

Max King may be a 2 goal per game goalkicker, but we seem to be kicking 4-6 more goals per game during his absence (again, a small sample size, I know).

Max King in defence could improve us further as a team ... I prefer us try him there, than to trade him (as some have suggested).
Richo was willing and open to try Battle in defence and he took to it right away ... and he has become the player he is today because he was not pigeon-holed as a forward.
Hawthorn will need to offer a mill a year to get him ... would they have shown as much interest if he was a 2 goal a game goal-kicker?

[Saint 58]

CHF
He can't be double/triple teamed there
He can kick 60+m

[B.M]

Is the forward humming because the midfield is functioning better?

[Vortex]

Is the forward humming because the midfield is functioning better?

NO

The midfield is humming because forward line is functioning better...spoken by an ole school midfielder

[B.M]

So the forward line - which couldn’t get a kick 8 weeks ago

And is now #1 in contested ball in the AFL in the last month

Is so because of the forwards?

[samoht]

Is the forward humming because the midfield is functioning better?

A better-functioning midfield would also be producing more F50 entries, not fewer (which is what we're seeing, lately), wouldn't it?

We just seem to be playing more like a team, all over - but especially up forward.

The energy is palpable and infectious. Happy forwards, working together.

Efficiency 101, up forward .. more goals with less entries.

[B.M]

Didn’t we have 67 i50s vs WC

[Waltzing St Kilda]

A fascinating debate.

I just hope we don't lose Sharman, Tom Lynch-style.

[samoht]

Didn’t we have 67 i50s vs WC

You're right ... still 17 goals vs WCE.
but last week, we only had a paltry 43 i50s vs Essendon yet had 23 conversions (17 goals 6 behinds ) and there were a few kicks for goal that were out on the full, too.

Small sample size ... I could be jumping the gun.

[SteeleSaints]

TBH I dont think he could manage any other position than full forward, he doesnt have the tank or the resilience to play any where else.

We are basically stuck with him at FF, so lets hope he can turn things around significantly.

[St Dave]

Very interesting question. Between this patch of games and the start of last year there have been a decent amount of games where we play very well with him out of the forward line.

I still don't think it is the right call though, I think our current improvement comes through being more unpredictable, but that can still be achieved with Max in the forward line.

Max is still a very good forward and if he can get a good run without injury he should become elite. He averaged 2.4ish goals a game over 2022 and 2023, with every season better than the last until this one, so trending in the right direction as long as this year is a blip. If he hasn't turned it around by this time next year though, it might be worth a trial.