"Hudghton back, Maguire forward"

[sainter2631]

ST KILDA defender Max Hudghton will make his long awaited return to football for Sandringham in the VFL this weekend, while Matt Maguire could be brought back to the Saints side as a forward.

.....continued at http://www.saints.com.au/season2009/new ... fault.aspx

**Edited by mod to send traffic to Saints.com.au**

[B W and R all over]

Here's the link:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

[saintly]

gee i'm really beginning to enjoy the way ross talks !!!

[Statsman]

I'm intrigued by the idea of Goose playing as a forward. I'd like to see him as the 3rd marking forward in much the same style as Hamill. He can certainly take a grab, even in a pack situation. He's got a booming kick, so if he can kick for goal like a forward not a defender he could be handy scoring option. To top it all off, he's a naturally aggressive footballer which fits perfectly with our new "hunt in packs" forward pressure game style. I'd love to see Maguire hunting defenders down and dumping them to the ground in bone crushing tackles. It's certainly worth experimenting with at VFL level to see whether he can adapt to life as a forward.

[BackFromUSA]

statsman ... my thoughts exactly ... how come i always agree with you

[bigcarl]

I'm intrigued by the idea of Goose playing as a forward. I'd like to see him as the 3rd marking forward in much the same style as Hamill. He can certainly take a grab, even in a pack situation. He's got a booming kick, so if he can kick for goal like a forward not a defender he could be handy scoring option. To top it all off, he's a naturally aggressive footballer which fits perfectly with our new "hunt in packs" forward pressure game style. I'd love to see Maguire hunting defenders down and dumping them to the ground in bone crushing tackles. It's certainly worth experimenting with at VFL level to see whether he can adapt to life as a forward.

it is worth exploring.

the question is whether riewoldt, kosi and goose ... all strong aerialists ... can play in the same forward line without making us top heavy and vulnerable when it hits the ground.

as i said in another thread, on the one hand it presumably would give us aerial dominance ... on the other hand the ball might come out pretty quickly.

so there is an element of risk involved but there would also be an element of shock and awe.

i think the more likely scenario is that we would try it when kosi was playing second ruck/resting forward with goose chf and riewoldt ff.

but who knows?

[BackFromUSA]

i see maguire playing gwilt's role

[bigcarl]

i see maguire playing gwilt's role

goose is a key position player, though, similar to kosi in that he's strong in the body and very strong aerially.

gwilt is more of a flanker/winger and probably better below the knees.

if it were me, i'd probably be prepared to give it a shot ... but there is a risk involved.

[Statsman]

the question is whether riewoldt, kosi and goose ... all strong aerialists ... can play in the same forward line without making us top heavy and vulnerable when it hits the ground.

as i said in another thread, on the one hand it presumably would give us aerial dominance ... on the other hand the ball might come out pretty quickly.

You would have to balance Roo, Kosi and Goose in the air with Milne, Schneider and McQualter at ground level.

When Hamill was playing we used to play Gehrig deep, Riewoldt pushing right up to the wings and Hamill roaming across true half forward. However these days Kosi and Roo both stay much deeper. Riewoldt doesn't lead up outside the 50m arc as far or as often has he used to. With Kosi and Roo spending more time inside the 50m arc, I also wonder whether there is room for a 3rd marking forward like Goose. We might be better off with a 3rd marking option who is more of a "tweener" like Gilbert/Gwilt/Clarke rather than a player like Goose who's more the true KPP body type.

[bigcarl]

we might be better off with a 3rd marking option who is more of a "tweener" like Gilbert/Gwilt/Clarke rather than a player like Goose who's more the true KPP body type.

this is what i'm getting at, though it is a tempting thought and idea.

[ace]

[quote="bigcarl"][quote="BackFromUSA"]i see maguire playing gwilt's role[/quote]

goose is a key position player, though, similar to kosi in that he's [b]very[/b] strong aerially.

gwilt is more of a flanker/winger and probably better below the knees.

if it were me, i'd probably be prepared to give it a shot ... but there is a risk involved.[/quote]

Maxwell was prepared to leave Gwilt and help out against Riewoldt.
Gwilt was not treated as a serious threat because Collingwood knew St Kilda would not kick it to him but would go to Riewoldt.

Gwilt would do a better job than Maguire in locking the ball in the forward line.
Maguire is such a strong and reliable mark that opponents would be committing suicide to leave Maguire to go to Riewoldt.
Maguire could prevent Riewoldt being double teamed and provide and alternate one on one target.
Maguire versus third tall defender in a marking contest - no contest.

[bigcarl]

Maxwell was prepared to leave Gwilt and help out against Riewoldt.
Gwilt was not treated as a serious threat because Collingwood knew St Kilda would not kick it to him but would go to Riewoldt.

Gwilt would do a better job than Maguire in locking the ball in the forward line.
Maguire is such a strong and reliable mark that opponents would be committing suicide to leave Maguire to go to Riewoldt.
Maguire could prevent Riewoldt being double teamed and provide and alternate one on one target.
Maguire versus third tall defender in a marking contest - no contest.

yes, like i said there are possible benefits and possible drawbacks.

if it were me i'd be prepared to give it a shot ... but i'm not the one who has to take the responsibility if it doesn't work.

btw, i wish you'd learn to do those quotes properly. it makes your posts very difficult to read. (no offense meant)

[SainterK]

As difficult as it must be to make our selections, I love that there is some quality names knocking on the door. Think about what this does for our side, if we weren't hungry enough already...

[Teflon]

What we have improved out of sight this year is fwd defensive prressure.

My only concern is having Roo, Kosi and Maguire in a fwd line as 3 talls....and, no Ive not seen him lately, BUT prior to doing his leg Maguires ability to change direction/twist/turn was questioned by the former coach so Im not sure what that does to our fwd line defensive pressure stocks...still I guess its worth a look at for Maguire.

[thirty-seven!?]

Watching the Sandy match on Saturday, Goose really impressed me with his forward pressure, and how athletic he really looked (its been so long you almost forget!!)

But can anyone remind me how he plays below his knees?

[vacuous space]

But can anyone remind me how he plays below his knees?

It's so long since he played a significant amount of football that it's hard to remember. His groundball stats from prior to his injury weren't bad. They weren't great either. Those were in defence though, and it's arguably harder to get a groundball in attacking 50 with the weight of numbers (usually) against you. You'd expect Goose to be more of a marking target up forward.

If he keeps playing the way he did on the weekend, he'll get a shot. If he buys into the system and he has the fitness base, he might make it as a forward. I'm not as worried about his mobility as some. Ross seems okay with playing our rucks up front. If we can do that without compromising our team defence, then surely Maguire can play as a third tall. The question is, can he play it consistently at AFL level for four quarters.