- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Lance Franklin of Hawthorn celebrates a goal. Slattery Photo Group
Former Adelaide Crows coach Graham Cornes commented recently on Adelaide radio that he would always choose a top-line forward over the best back-line player available. His rationale was that a forward has a far greater impact on a match and, at first inspection, the choice between the best forward and defender available seems like an easy one.
Buddy over Lake? You betcha. Riewoldt over Scarlett? Without a doubt.
When Cornes coached in the early 1990s forwards rarely ventured outside the fifty metre arc, and it would have been foolish to choose a defender over a forward given the damage the likes of Ablett Snr, Carey, Dunstall and Lockett were all capable of inflicting on opposition teams.
But in the past twenty years the ground has shifted and the game has changed.
Today’s uber-AFL player is the ultimate utility – multi-faceted and able to play a variety of positions. Specialised forwards are no longer as highly valued as they once were by AFL coaches. Just ask Matthew Lloyd.
Forwards are required to work further up the ground in the modern game, both to receive their possessions and to flood back into the opposition’s half of the ground when forced to play defensively.
Forwards are no longer tethered no further than kicking distance from goal, and this has changed the dynamics in the forward versus backman debate.
Today’s elite defenders offer considerably more options to their respective sides than key forwards do.
Western Bulldogs’ defender Brian Lake is one of the best contested marks in the competition, and is able to be swung into the forward line when the Dogs need a lift. Lake’s versatility means he is an excellent option at either end of the ground and is a valuable asset to his side.
Dustin Fletcher was often touted by former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy as a potential hundred goal a year forward if he was moved from defence to attack on a permanent basis.
One wonders how AFL team of the Century full-back Stephen Silvagni would have fared in a key forward role, given he kicked over 200 goals in his career despite marking the best full-forwards of his time week-in, week-out.
Invert this positional switching and trouble looms.
Swing Big Fev from the forward line to the backline and you are faced with a liability. Similarly, I would think that for all of Buddy Franklin’s precocious talent (and no one is a bigger fan than me), he too would be caught out in a defensive role.
There is no doubt key forwards are “impact” players and get the headlines – but are they more valuable to a team’s chances of winning than the league’s best defenders? In today’s game, the versatility offered by key defenders who are able to play forward gives considerably larger scope to the tactics and game-plans available to AFL coaches.
It is arguable that in today’s game a player who is an excellent defender and a very good forward is preferable to an exceptional forward line player who is not much chop elsewhere.
Buddy over Lake? Riewoldt over Scarlett? Just give me a second.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.