So… how do we kick 12/14+goals each week?

[Go_Dogs]

It may seem like a silly question and perhaps one that is less relevant as we build our game plan around defensive efforts and structures, but we’re still going to need to kick double digits of goals each week to win footy games.

Early in the season we’ll need some more avenues to goal as players like Jamarra, Weightman and even Treloar won’t feature (86 goals from this group last year).

Lets say (and some of this is generous, career best stuff that we hope to see but may not)::

Naughton 2
Darcy 2
Bont 1.5
West 1.5
English 0.5
Williams 0.5
Richards 0.5
McNeil 0.5
LVM 0.5

And the list starts to run dry fairly quickly.

Gags kicked some last year but will be defender this year. Lobb probably won’t kick many.

So… how do we kick a winning score each week? Who will surprise or is there a ‘crazy Bevo’ move to reinvent someone as a goal kicker (or say, play Dale forward while Weightman is out) to help close the gap?

[JackCJohnston2000]

I could see someone like Davidson or Poulter contributing a few goals as a third tall or winger who finds space inside 50. But in terms of a reliable, long term prospect, I think West is the most likely to take that next step and kick 30+ goals across the season. Add that to Naughton and Darcy and Bont plus others, I think we'll be alright.

[mjp]

It may seem like a silly question and perhaps one that is less relevant as we build our game plan around defensive efforts and structures, but we’re still going to need to kick double digits of goals each week to win footy games.

No - it's actually THE only question. How do we kick enough goals to win?? You've made an assumption on 12-14 goals which is fair enough based on the numbers for last year. You can sort of see this below:

Last year Sydney kicked 2242 points in 23 games...or 97 points per game. (Classic AFL scores - 15-10 = 100 so they're on track for that), we kicked 2171 (94 points per game) and 2011 was the lowest 'FOR' total in the top 8 (87 points per game).

So if you assume 25x scoring shots per week, you probably want to see it work something like this:

35-45%: Target forwards
25-35%: General forwards
15-25%: Midfielders
5-15%: Running defenders + Rucks

Obviously the 'exact' mix will change from week to week, but I'm sure you get the idea...and from there, what we're looking for is the players in each of those roles to have goal-kicking capabilities...again, players don't suddenly start kicking goals age 26...goal-kickers kick goals in Auskick and keep on kicking them (which is why moving Gallagher - who kicks goals - back is either folly or genius and probably both).

Target forwards:
- Essentially we need to get 4-5x goals from that group of Naughton, Darcy and - well - Weightman...Weightman is gone now so we're missing a goal and a bit. I know people will say Weightman is a small forward and I get that, but we KICK HIM THE BALL...he's a target player.

General forwards
- We need 2-3x goals from West and his buds - McNeil, VDM etc. Perhaps Kennedy can help here because he has that capability.

Mids
- Again, 1-2 goals from the mids - Bont, Williams...Treloar OUT is a problem here. Richards has kicked some in the past so maybe he can sneak one every couple of weeks...

Other
- We need to get a goal from Tim and the likes of Dale and (now Gallagher) to chip in.

I think the injury problem is there for all to see with these early season injuries around goals and how we get them. We are a forward 50 turnover team though so maybe the pressure will help and a couple of guys can sneak in there....

[Uninformed]

With Weightman out can we play both Kennedy, who can kick a few, and Harmes who regularly kicked goals when played forward at Melbourne?

[Bumper Bulldogs]

With Weightman out can we play both Kennedy, who can kick a few, and Harmes who regularly kicked goals when played forward at Melbourne?

Agree Harmes and Kennedy are good for 1 each a week depending on game time. We actually need VDM to step up and hit the score board more often. I’m not a huge fan but he did show improvement last year so he should actually be looking to bench mark against West & have a greater output now with the amount of games he has played.

[bulldogSimmo]

I'm not too worried with our forward line. I think there are plenty of natural goal scorers across the forward, mid and half back lines. It is more our ball movement and style of play which is scrappy that worries me. We simply don't manufacture enough clean ball and separation

[Go_Dogs]

Harmes and Kennedy are both good suggestions. The latter should play plenty of football and help here, maybe he’s a 0.5 or better goal kicker each week. Harmes has shown he can get busy and is firming so maybe he’s another 0.5 average.

I suppose the other challenge we have is early doors. If Naughts and Westy are well held we don’t have the luxury of Marra and Weightman taking some slack and vice versa. We’re really going to be reliable on consistent contributions each week which isn’t the way footy is usually played unfortunately (at least in my Bulldogs viewing experience).

[Go_Dogs]

No - it's actually THE only question. How do we kick enough goals to win?? You've made an assumption on 12-14 goals which is fair enough based on the numbers for last year. You can sort of see this below:

Last year Sydney kicked 2242 points in 23 games...or 97 points per game. (Classic AFL scores - 15-10 = 100 so they're on track for that), we kicked 2171 (94 points per game) and 2011 was the lowest 'FOR' total in the top 8 (87 points per game).

So if you assume 25x scoring shots per week, you probably want to see it work something like this:

35-45%: Target forwards
25-35%: General forwards
15-25%: Midfielders
5-15%: Running defenders + Rucks

Obviously the 'exact' mix will change from week to week, but I'm sure you get the idea...and from there, what we're looking for is the players in each of those roles to have goal-kicking capabilities...again, players don't suddenly start kicking goals age 26...goal-kickers kick goals in Auskick and keep on kicking them (which is why moving Gallagher - who kicks goals - back is either folly or genius and probably both).

Target forwards:
- Essentially we need to get 4-5x goals from that group of Naughton, Darcy and - well - Weightman...Weightman is gone now so we're missing a goal and a bit. I know people will say Weightman is a small forward and I get that, but we KICK HIM THE BALL...he's a target player.

General forwards
- We need 2-3x goals from West and his buds - McNeil, VDM etc. Perhaps Kennedy can help here because he has that capability.

Mids
- Again, 1-2 goals from the mids - Bont, Williams...Treloar OUT is a problem here. Richards has kicked some in the past so maybe he can sneak one every couple of weeks...

Other
- We need to get a goal from Tim and the likes of Dale and (now Gallagher) to chip in.

I think the injury problem is there for all to see with these early season injuries around goals and how we get them. We are a forward 50 turnover team though so maybe the pressure will help and a couple of guys can sneak in there....

Good breakdown by role type. And the observation of who are the actual goal kickers in some of those roles with the injuries we have is definitely the million dollar question.

I wonder if it possibly means we might see more of Hynes/Baker/Poulter than we’ve been expecting through the preseason.

[GVGjr]

It's going to be a big challenge to keep the scoreboard ticking over without Ugle-Hagan and Weightman in the early part of the season unless Darcy and the likes of West really step up..
Treloar was a decent goal scorer for us as well

[Bornadog]

It's going to be a big challenge to keep the scoreboard ticking over without Ugle-Hagan and Weightman in the early part of the season unless Darcy and the likes of West really step up..
Treloar was a decent goal scorer for us as well

I would like to see Sanders having more shots and nailing a few goals in the absence of Treloar. Last year he was reluctant to have a shot and always looked at dishing the ball off.

[doggies ftw]

It's going to be a big challenge to keep the scoreboard ticking over without Ugle-Hagan and Weightman in the early part of the season unless Darcy and the likes of West really step up..
Treloar was a decent goal scorer for us as well

Agree Darcy & West taking the next step are key, I actually think West without Weightman could be a genuine 2-3 goal a week forward. He’s got some serious talent there.

Would be nice if Sanders could hit the scoreboard, he’s shown he can do it in preseason and scratch matches but when it comes to the real stuff hasn’t yet. Treloars one of the best goal kicking mids in the comp so will be hard to cover. Also need McNeil to replicate his preseason form into the regular season, he’s yet to do that.

Davidson could impact here from a wing pushing forward to hit the scoreboard too although don’t want to be relying too heavily on a first year player, even if he is mature age

[GVGjr]

I would like to see Sanders having more shots and nailing a few goals in the absence of Treloar. Last year he was reluctant to have a shot and always looked at dishing the ball off.

I know he has improved in this area over the preseason but if last year is a bit of a form guide he's a bit like Macrae who looks to dish the ball off to others and just not a noted goal kicker.
Lets hope he's got a bit more confidence with taking the game on.

[GVGjr]

Agree Darcy & West taking the next step are key, I actually think West without Weightman could be a genuine 2-3 goal a week forward. He’s got some serious talent there.

Would be nice if Sanders could hit the scoreboard, he’s shown he can do it in preseason and scratch matches but when it comes to the real stuff hasn’t yet. Treloars one of the best goal kicking mids in the comp so will be hard to cover. Also need McNeil to replicate his preseason form into the regular season, he’s yet to do that.

Davidson could impact here from a wing pushing forward to hit the scoreboard too although don’t want to be relying too heavily on a first year player, even if he is mature age

I thought Davidson was a chance to be pushed forward to help cover the loss of Weightman but at the moment we appear to be resisting any temptation

[mjp]

Agree Darcy & West taking the next step are key, I actually think West without Weightman could be a genuine 2-3 goal a week forward. He’s got some serious talent there.

That = 46-69 goals for the year.

Not going to happen.

[Mofra]

It may seem like a silly question and perhaps one that is less relevant as we build our game plan around defensive efforts and structures, but we’re still going to need to kick double digits of goals each week to win footy games.

Early in the season we’ll need some more avenues to goal as players like Jamarra, Weightman and even Treloar won’t feature (86 goals from this group last year).

Lets say (and some of this is generous, career best stuff that we hope to see but may not)::

Naughton 2
Darcy 2
Bont 1.5
West 1.5
English 0.5
Williams 0.5
Richards 0.5
McNeil 0.5
LVM 0.5

And the list starts to run dry fairly quickly.

Gags kicked some last year but will be defender this year. Lobb probably won’t kick many.

So… how do we kick a winning score each week? Who will surprise or is there a ‘crazy Bevo’ move to reinvent someone as a goal kicker (or say, play Dale forward while Weightman is out) to help close the gap?

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_goal_kickers?year=2024&type=A&sort=goals

Only 11 players kicked an average of 2 or more goals last year, and the only two from the same team were McKay and Curnow who both have Coleman Medals from past years.

Marra was our best, at 1.9 goals for the year.

Darcy was at 1.8 so might improve a little, and West is in great from so might improve on his 1.2.
Goals are hard in modern football. The best goal kicking mid in the competition was the Bont, at 1.3.

We have to really just find a few goals on aggregate from players around the ground. Throw in ~15 from Matt Kennedy resting forward, but that will be lucky to halfway cover Marra's output and whatever Treloar kicked