We want to be super competitive in everything we do in 2012. One thing that we did as a group at the start of the season was to draw a line in the sand and say to each other "This is how we want to be perceived." Be it training, weights or pilates, we just want to be able to physically challenge the backs in a contest.
Coming from Geelong I remember Mooney and Scarlett had a bit of biffo on the track every now and then - a bit like Schulz and Trengrove earlier this year. It's this 'win at all costs' attitude that has helped our forwards become really competitive.
[ Related: Carr & Rehn analyse the midfield ]
We were very good with our accuracy last year and were the best in the AFL for accuracy overall. We have been working particularly on our fatigue kicking by putting pressure on our guys when they're tired in between drills. Early in the season you're always trying to chase, harass and win the ball back. One of my jobs as forward coach is to make sure that the players still perform when they become physically jaded.
There's no doubt that our forwards are functioning very well. I've gone into the start of the season with a goal to be very competitive - even against our own backs (which is all we have to train against!). We have to think that we're going to play against high quality backs and different types of defensive coverage from the opposition. Maybe we'll play against seven backs…how do we deal with that? Maybe it will be six versus six? Different teams will throw up different scenarios against us so I've made sure that we threw these ideas at our players from the beginning of the year so they have some better understanding and awareness of our opponents.
[ Related: Brad Gotch on the backs ]
I think that we're certainly going to be a very efficient and attacking forward line. When we lose the ball we are going to put an enormous amount of pressure on the opposition, so if we can't mark the ball inside 50, we're going to hunt it instead and try to cause turnovers to score from.
We're not going to be rockstars - we're a hard working 'blue collar' unit!
Have your say on the forward line using the comments' section at the bottom of the article.
Brendon Ah Chee
Brendon has fitted into the club really well. He's a mid/forward, very good overhead and clean on the ground. He has a great Polly Farmer-style handball - can handball as far as anyone on our list can kick it! He's got an exciting future ahead for us whether as a mainstream forward or on the ball. He'll come through the SANFL but is showing some really promising signs for us.
Mitch Banner
Mitch plays midfield and up forward. He certainly hurts the opposition by kicking goals and being able to run forward. Having done all the pre-season and being up and about, he should expect to play a large part of 2012 as well.
John Butcher
Had a great debut last year where he kicked 11.1 from 4 games. He has done the bulk of pre-season and showed on the weekend against Carlton that he's going to be exciting. He plays with great pressure, strong overhead marking in the forward line and these are things we really value. Along with Schulz and Westhoff he should be hitting those inside 50 targets throughout the year.
Brett Ebert
Very experienced like Westy and Schulzy, Ebert is a dangerous forward who can play small or tall inside our forward 50. He's shown in the last year that he can help out in the midfield if we need a bigger body there and is a great kick for goal. He's done a big pre-season - still needs a little bit of work - but will certainly be around the mark come Round 1.
Cameron Hitchcock
Was travelling well until he hurt his shoulder mid-break. He'll probably be back in Round 4 or 5, possible earlier. He's a small, creative forward who puts pressure on the opposition when they bring the ball out. We're expecting him to get lots of game time prior to coming back into the side and put pressure on for the small forward spot.
Jarrad Irons
Irons has done all the pre-season, except for missing about 1-2 weeks when he suffered a slight hit to the shoulder. He's a half forward/on-baller who makes good decisions with the ball and works extremely hard as a small forward to get shots on goal. Needs to continue to learn his craft on the rookie list to get opportunities in 2012.
Ben Newton
A bit of a midfield-forward who's been hampered by injury over the pre-season - but he'll start to get some opportunities from now on. He's a beautiful left foot kick, understands the game really well and is a good mark for his size. He wants to be an AFL player more than anyone on our list so I think it's great that he's got those goals set and knows where he wants to get to.
Simon Phillips
A small, pressure forward who came off a shoulder injury last year. Phillips did the full pre-season this year and I'm really excited by the amount of pressure he puts on the opposition when they want to bring the ball out. He's a crumbing type player who can take shots on goal and win the ball at ground level - should be looking for him to him to play out the whole year and provide us with some speed up the middle of the ground and in our forward line.
Jay Schulz
Had a very good pre season, kicked a couple last year and was our leading goal kicker for 2010. Jay is part of the leadership group which is exciting for him and he's very competitive both in the air and on the ground. He's going to be a genuine target for us up forward and has certainly fitted into our forward structure really well since arriving two years ago.
Daniel Stewart
Daniel is a very interesting one because we can't play a lot of tall blokes in our forward line. We see him as more of a ruck/forward. It's a bit more difficult to play forward than in the ruck (where you have to jump and be very competitive in a contest) and I think he's taken big strides in this area during the pre-season. He's certainly been our best forward over the pre-season in terms of what he's done on-field and in the gym and i'm hoping that he can be very competitive as he showed against Carlton and Adelaide.
Daniel Webb
Daniel has been hampered by injury with a bit of tendonitis on the knee, but shows good signs of being able to play in the ruck and up forward. He's going to keep working hard and develop on our rookie list.
Justin Westhoff
One of our main forwards, Justin has had a really big pre-season. He does large volumes of work for us, he's rarely injured, very durable and he's got a good mix of being able to play for us up the ground as well as being a genuine forward. He's very tricky as a forward and the big thing that he's been able to do for us is to build his competitiveness. He'll always get shots on goal and be kicking inside 50 for us. Since Christmas I've seen his leadership develop and he now takes more ownership and responsibility for his role in our forward line.
Chad Wingard
An exciting small forward who is very classy, Wingard has good poise in possession and great ball skills. Chad has fitted in really well around the club which is great for him. He ran out in the NAB Cup game against Carlton and did really well with a couple of shots on goal - should be around the mark early this year as well.
Aaron Young
Aaron is another sort of midfield/half forward who has had a very good pre-season. He was one of the more outstanding youngsters to shine through during pre-season along with Daniel Stewart. His ability to follow the ball and make genuinely good decisions is promising. He is probably going to come into the side through time at North Adelaide.
