GILBERT FORWARD

Sun 16 May 2010 9:00pm

Hmmm i know i have been banging on about this for 4 weeks but finally Lyon gave Gilbert a run as a half forward in the last quarter and suddenly our forward line actually had a target, movement and additional defensive pressure. Gilbert was very good up forward. He made a tough match up. He presented well on the lead. He kept the ball moving when he got it and supported team mates on the overlap. I hope he gets a full game next week and the week after and the week after ... and until Roo is back.

Toy Saint · Post: # 924561Post **Toy Saint** » Sun 16 May 2010 9:05pm

About bloody time, Gilbert can run around and pretent he's Roo. He is creative, has pace and a great tank. Fisher and Goddard are needed in the back.

bigcarl · Post: # 924565Post **bigcarl** » Sun 16 May 2010 9:05pm

BackFromUSA wrote:Hmmm i know i have been banging on about this for 4 weeks but finally Lyon gave Gilbert a run as a half forward in the last quarter and suddenly our forward line actually had a target, movement and additional defensive pressure. Gilbert was very good up forward. He made a tough match up. He presented well on the lead. He kept the ball moving when he got it and supported team mates on the overlap. I hope he gets a full game next week and the week after and the week after ... and until Roo is back.

agree.

plugger66 · Post: # 924614Post **plugger66** » Sun 16 May 2010 9:19pm

Please be serious. It had nothing to do with Sam Gilbert and all to do with Michael Gardiner in the ruck.

Buckets · Post: # 924620Post **Buckets** » Sun 16 May 2010 9:20pm

plugger66 wrote:Please be serious. It had nothing to do with Sam Gilbert and all to do with Michael Gardiner in the ruck.

Yep have to agree there. Gards was easily the reason why we had good starts to each quarter. Every time he went of for a spell in each quarter hurt us badly!

Sun 16 May 2010 11:04pm

plugger66. Are you serious? Michael Gardiner in the ruck did all those good things I saw Gilbert do like lead strongly, contest, mark, handball and kick, chase, intercept and tackle. At one stage he even pushed up to present at half back and ran forward with the passage of play. OK I shall get my eyes tested. i swore it was Gilbert in the last quarter who looked like a FORWARD and did all the things we have been missing since Roo.

I was obviously mistaken.

It was Gardiner in the ruck.

He made the forward line function better.

My bad.

Buckets · Post: # 924945Post **Buckets** » Sun 16 May 2010 11:10pm

BackFromUSA wrote:plugger66. Are you serious? Michael Gardiner in the ruck did all those good things I saw Gilbert do like lead strongly, contest, mark, handball and kick, chase, intercept and tackle. At one stage he even pushed up to present at half back and ran forward with the passage of play. OK I shall get my eyes tested. i swore it was Gilbert in the last quarter who looked like a FORWARD and did all the things we have been missing since Roo.

I was obviously mistaken.

It was Gardiner in the ruck.

He made the forward line function better.

My bad.

Gards effort in the ruck and up forward was the difference. That and the fact that Kosi finally started showing glimpses that he can be a forward. Gilbert hardly had a massive impact when thrown up forward for 10 minutes.

dcstkfc · Post: # 924950Post **dcstkfc** » Sun 16 May 2010 11:10pm

Buckets wrote:
plugger66 wrote:Please be serious. It had nothing to do with Sam Gilbert and all to do with Michael Gardiner in the ruck.
Yep have to agree there. Gards was easily the reason why we had good starts to each quarter. Every time he went of for a spell in each quarter hurt us badly!

Yep.

kalsaint · Post: # 924956Post **kalsaint** » Sun 16 May 2010 11:12pm

dcstkfc wrote:
Buckets wrote:
plugger66 wrote:Please be serious. It had nothing to do with Sam Gilbert and all to do with Michael Gardiner in the ruck.
Yep have to agree there. Gards was easily the reason why we had good starts to each quarter. Every time he went of for a spell in each quarter hurt us badly!
Yep.

Yep agree, Gilbert gets a no vote from me to go forward. There are better options that bleeding our defence that is os brittle when the midfield does not match up well with the opposition.

Sun 16 May 2010 11:14pm

I have already said "my bad" ... and gardy is a god. He is definitely the answer. Roo doesnt even need to come back. I must have mistaken #19 for #15. So easy to do. Or then maybe I understand the role that Gilbert played as a linking half forward and the dynamic he brought to the structure and I am not just looking at a bloke who ran forward and got on the end of some plays.

kaos theory · Sun 16 May 2010 11:20pm

BackFromUSA wrote:plugger66. Are you serious? Michael Gardiner in the ruck did all those good things I saw Gilbert do like lead strongly, contest, mark, handball and kick, chase, intercept and tackle. At one stage he even pushed up to present at half back and ran forward with the passage of play. OK I shall get my eyes tested. i swore it was Gilbert in the last quarter who looked like a FORWARD and did all the things we have been missing since Roo.

I was obviously mistaken.

It was Gardiner in the ruck.

He made the forward line function better.

My bad.

there are two things wrong here:

1/ so far we have goddard, gilbert, fisher in the forward line as suggestions. So who is in the back line milne & schinder?

2/if you think gilbert is a roo replacement, then you are dreaming....sorry, but it aint in the same league as rooey.

ANYONE we put there who is on our current list is going to struggle, compared to rooey. Sad fact is that rooey is the best in the game, and you can't paper over his absence that easily.

We need more pace, run & carry and goals from our mids, but our mids don't have that ability....rooey was able to cover that weakness, because he is the best forward in the game.

Our game plan has to adjust, and it will take a few more weeks to get right...but losing gram will hurt....

plugger66 · Post: # 924997Post **plugger66** » Sun 16 May 2010 11:31pm

BackFromUSA wrote:I have already said "my bad" ... and gardy is a god. He is definitely the answer. Roo doesnt even need to come back. I must have mistaken #19 for #15. So easy to do. Or then maybe I understand the role that Gilbert played as a linking half forward and the dynamic he brought to the structure and I am not just looking at a bloke who ran forward and got on the end of some plays.

Im not talking about MG when he was forward. I was talking about the first 10 minutes of the last quarter when MG dominated. It was due to him and certainly not Gilbert. he just happened to be forward at the time.

Buckets · Post: # 925008Post **Buckets** » Sun 16 May 2010 11:35pm

plugger66 wrote:
BackFromUSA wrote:I have already said "my bad" ... and gardy is a god. He is definitely the answer. Roo doesnt even need to come back. I must have mistaken #19 for #15. So easy to do. Or then maybe I understand the role that Gilbert played as a linking half forward and the dynamic he brought to the structure and I am not just looking at a bloke who ran forward and got on the end of some plays.
Im not talking about MG when he was forward. I was talking about the first 10 minutes of the last quarter when MG dominated. It was due to him and certainly not Gilbert. he just happened to be forward at the time.

Actually both the 3rd and 4th quarters we started well all because of Gards. As soon as he went off we lost that structure. Does Lyon look at keeping as a deep forward instead of sitting on the pine?

Mon 17 May 2010 12:15am

If you want to talk about gardy's brilliant rucking do it in another post.

This is about Gilbert at half forward and what he presented in our structure transitioning back and forward.

Nowhere here in this post have I suggested Fisher or Goddard forward.

Fisher can play back and Goddard midfield as far as i am concerned, just leave Gilbert at half forward.

plugger66 · Post: # 925073Post **plugger66** » Mon 17 May 2010 12:17am

BackFromUSA wrote:If you want to talk about gardy's brilliant rucking do it in another post.

This is about Gilbert at half forward and what he presented in our structure transitioning back and forward.

Nowhere here in this post have I suggested Fisher or Goddard forward.

Fisher can play back and Goddard midfield as far as i am concerned, just leave Gilbert at half forward.

I reckon you could just about be certain Gilbert will play back again next week as much as you want him forward.

Mon 17 May 2010 12:20am

No doubt. Especially with Dawson out. And without an effective forward structure we shall probably lose. Even if Gardiner plays 100 brilliant minutes to destroy Natinui and Cox.

plugger66 · Post: # 925084Post **plugger66** » Mon 17 May 2010 12:23am

BackFromUSA wrote:No doubt. Especially with Dawson out. And without an effective forward structure we shall probably lose. Even if Gardiner plays 100 brilliant minutes to destroy Natinui and Cox.

You dont need talls to have a good forward structure and if you want one I think you are better using players who know how to play forward and not try an invent one.

Mon 17 May 2010 12:30am

ok.

sorry I thought most premiers and great teams and even the good ones structure up around 2 to 3 talls. Even the Western Bulldogs and Geelong conceded they needed better tall forwards to improve. We obviously don't.

As for "inventing" a forward. Gilbert has shown and continues to show natural ability. If only he was coached or given some time there.

Anyway our forward line without Roo has been spectacularly good with Milne as the go to leading target so why tinker with something so successful?

Again ... my bad.

plugger66 · Post: # 925102Post **plugger66** » Mon 17 May 2010 12:35am

BackFromUSA wrote:ok.

sorry I thought most premiers and great teams and even the good ones structure up around 2 to 3 talls. Even the Western Bulldogs and Geelong conceded they needed better tall forwards to improve. We obviously don't.

As for "inventing" a forward. Gilbert has shown and continues to show natural ability. If only he was coached or given some time there.

Anyway our forward line without Roo has been spectacularly good with Milne as the go to leading target so why tinker with something so successful?

Again ... my bad.

I must have missed where I said that our forward line had been good. Like our backline and midfield it has been down for 4 weeks. By the way didnt we beat Freo with a smallish forward line. If Kosi's marks what he should have tonight we win and probably kick 15 goals. Nothing wrong with that output.

By the way Geelong and WB did decide they needed more talls but I dont think they tried to invent a forward from their tall backs. They went and recruited tall fowards. Its funny they would want experienced tall forwards in their forward line.

Mon 17 May 2010 12:49am

Unfortunately we dont have the option of recruiting anyone, njo mid season draft. The draft is at the end of the season. So we have to pick someone on our list to play the role. Forgive me for believing it is Gilbert.

So go on ... how would you structure up our forward line?

Or more simply put, who plays as the target at half forward?

plugger66 · Post: # 925176Post **plugger66** » Mon 17 May 2010 8:34am

BackFromUSA wrote:Unfortunately we dont have the option of recruiting anyone, njo mid season draft. The draft is at the end of the season. So we have to pick someone on our list to play the role. Forgive me for believing it is Gilbert.

So go on ... how would you structure up our forward line?

Or more simply put, who plays as the target at half forward?

I stated for the last 4 weeks that IMO turning backs into forwards doesnt work unless it is a backman of little importance. To me Gilbert and Fisher are our 2 most important backman. That is where the run starts for us. Well certainly in the last 2 years it has. Not sure of the forward line structue but I think Stanley will be given a chance this week not that we can expect him to have much influence. The forward can win with one tall. Footscray have done it for years. We just need to get more out of smalls and mids and use the ball better from the back and mid.

Basically I wouldnt have a clue but I dont need to. RL and his assistants have to though and hopefully they will think of something. By the way people who think we were better tonight should realise we played a side with maybe 6 regulars out. We had one and yes he is a champion but the side Essendon put on the field wasnt great and we still lost.

fingers · Post: # 925228Post **fingers** » Mon 17 May 2010 10:36am

plugger66 wrote:Please be serious. It had nothing to do with Sam Gilbert and all to do with Michael Gardiner in the ruck.

Yep - Ben was inneffective.

saintbob · Post: # 925250Post **saintbob** » Mon 17 May 2010 10:48am

I liked Gilbert forward, but I think an even better spot for him would be on a wing.

But unfortunately with our back six sadly out of form at the moment, I'd say that any move will be a very temporary one.

bigcarl · Post: # 925373Post **bigcarl** » Mon 17 May 2010 1:08pm

plugger66 wrote:Basically I wouldnt have a clue

stop talking yourself down mate

saint58 · Post: # 925738Post **saint58** » Mon 17 May 2010 7:54pm

BackFromUSA wrote:ok.

sorry I thought most premiers and great teams and even the good ones structure up around 2 to 3 talls. Even the Western Bulldogs and Geelong conceded they needed better tall forwards to improve. We obviously don't.

As for "inventing" a forward. Gilbert has shown and continues to show natural ability. If only he was coached or given some time there.

Anyway our forward line without Roo has been spectacularly good with Milne as the go to leading target so why tinker with something so successful?

Again ... my bad.

I have to agree with you i have thought for a long time that he has the pace and agility to play forward with the defenders agression. But with that it takes him out of the back line but i can live with that if fisher and goddard are down back.

Maybe try Stanley i know he is raw and was named in the best for sandy and that is not worth much to some people but he is very mobile and at 200cm would be a big target worth a try.

A Smith has got pace and is a great kick has been playing ok at sandy and peeke played well last round but not on saturday need pace and he and smith have that.Steven all so should come in,out will be gram,mc qualter out and big mac with kosi,gardener,stanley rucking.

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