The Magilla Gorilla Show

[Jasper]

I often hear WOOF members assess key defenders in terms of how they might match up on opposition key forwards aka the Gorilla's
Observations along the line of "Khamis isn't a key defender...he can't play on the Gorillas" actually has some merit. JOD, Busslinger and Coffield also fall under this perception.
We even had "Wilkie is not a key defender and he can't play on the Gorillas"
Based on the last couple of days on X apparently Butts will solve all of our problems but I don't think it's as simple or as complex as that.
In what was a season where we fell short I had a look at our wins and losses through the season and to see if "the Magillas" really cause us so many problems

I assumed that any single player that kicked 3 goals or more in any round against us this season had an impact and might fall into this bracket but it didn't quite pan out that way

in R1 and R17 Larkey lit us up a a couple of times but he's more of a good player than a genuine Gorilla. We won both of those games anyway
In R2, no Collingwood player kicked 3 goals against us and we lost that game.
In R3, Against Carlton Kemp kicked 5 and Curnow 3 and we won that game. Kemp is 192cm and Curnow 194cm. Khamis and Wilkie are just a cm or 2 shorter than Kemp.
In R4 Treacy and Fredrick kicked 3 goals each against us and Treacy at 194cm is no Magilla. We lost that game
In R5 vs Brisbane Hipwood kicked 5, Morris 4 and Bailey 3. Maybe Hipwood is a Gorilla but the Lions won a flag without him. Morris is 191cm
In R6 vs the saints it was Owen and Higgins kicking 3 goals each.
in R7 against GWS, it was Riccardi kicking 3 and I don't think he is a Magilla.

I won't go to the effort of detailing each round but the rounds where Magilla Gorillas might have impacted games are -

R11 vs Geelong when Cameron kicked six and Neale 5
R13 vs Hawks Chol kicked 4
R18 vs Adelaide where Thilthorpe kicked 6 and Fogarty who is 192cn tall kicked 3.

Is there really an issue? In my estimation we need quality defenders as much as we need taller ones.

[Grantysghost]

I think you'd have a staunch ally in mjp with this take Jasper.

Problem is the "high line" we play. I felt like we had more balance in 24, but this year it just lost its way.

[GVGjr]

I think you'd have a staunch allie in mjp with this take Jasper.

Problem is the "high line" we play. I felt like we had more balance in 24, but this year it just lost its way.

A slightly more defensive minded midfield would offset a few of our challenges defending the opposition better forwards.
The Cats game exposed us but when Heeney kicked this 5 goals against us it was as telling as any other game that we needed better defenders both small and tall.
Lets Hope Budarick makes his mark.

[Stevo]

I think you'd have a staunch allie in mjp with this take Jasper.

Problem is the "high line" we play. I felt like we had more balance in 24, but this year it just lost its way.

Our back line needs a couple of key defenders capable of wrestling and competing with the big forwards and I guess whatever tweaks we made this year didn't quite work.
I was as concerned with our smaller guys this year along with Lobb and JOD. We do need a bigger defender.

[Uninformed]

I don't think size is the issue. (Never been able to convince anyone of that though!)

But if we could add a Dale Morris in his prime, or even a Nick Vlaustin in his prime, just one of them would harden our defence immeasurably. So I have to agree with mjp that quality is the key need.

I also think we have plenty of scope for improvement with JOD and Buss. Then train better pressure and more defensive mindset and we should be fine. We have no trouble moving the ball now as was the focus last pre-season. We have no issues scoring. A focus on pressure and defence this preseason should get us a flag..... surely?

[Dogs 24/7]

I don't think size is the issue. (Never been able to convince anyone of that though!)

But if we could add a Dale Morris in his prime, or even a Nick Vlaustin in his prime, just one of them would harden our defence immeasurably. So I have to agree with mjp that quality is the key need.

I also think we have plenty of scope for improvement with JOD and Buss. Then train better pressure and more defensive mindset and we should be fine. We have no trouble moving the ball now as was the focus last pre-season. We have no issues scoring. A focus on pressure and defence this preseason should get us a flag..... surely?

Lobb has made a difference for us and I think JOD is improving., I even have some confidence that Busslinger will become a key defender.
Even with all that in place, getting a player who's capable of taking on the oppositions key forwards should be a priority.
There are three options, get a player like Butts who's better than okay but not a star, get a short term fix like Frost and hope Buss gets there or address it at the draft.
Are the Gorillas a real thing? Yes but it's not be my first consideration.

[Grantysghost]

When I think of the best defences, they generally have a guy who can take a run and control a bigger guy like a Fogarty, and an interceptor who can be third man across to assist. This is so dependent on up-field though. If we let the ball come in quickly it really doesn't matter how many defenders, you have. That balance with how high we push up though is a lever we can pull.

[1eyedog]

Our key backs lack strength pure and simple. Lobb, JOD, Gardner all get lost one on one under the high ball. Gardner is the best one on one key defender on our list and plays VFL. Buss can't be relied on, yet.

Treacy isn't overly tall but is too strong for any of our backs. A number of other key forwards are as well.

[Mofra]

Our key backs lack strength pure and simple. Lobb, JOD, Gardner all get lost one on one under the high ball. Gardner is the best one on one key defender on our list and plays VFL. Buss can't be relied on, yet.

Treacy isn't overly tall but is too strong for any of our backs. A number of other key forwards are as well.

True, but in a way that back up Jeemak's & GG's points - if we're giving opposition no 1 KPFs one on one contests, that's a systemic failure already.
I genuinely believe JoD has elite 'coming over the top' defender scope. We just have to release him from being the FB.