SFNL: Cranbourne is expecting to play a different brand of footy in 2024 when it fields a new-look forward line
While aware his side will need to change the way it plays in 2024, Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien is excited by the opportunity a new-look forward line provides.
Southern
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Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien acknowledges his side will need to adjust its game style if it’s to contend again in 2024.
The Eagles have lost Marc Holt and Kirk Dickson – who kicked a combined 114 goals in 2023 – to Lang Lang and Rosebud respectively.
While he admits there will need to be change, O’Brien says there’s opportunity for other forwards to shine.
“Yeah a lot, a heck of a lot,” he says of needing to change styles.
“Ball movement and being able to impact the scoreboard is huge when you’re talking about game styles.
“It will have a big impact on how we play, we’ve got a bit of a coaches meeting after our first session tomorrow night and I have put it to the boys to come with their best plans.
“We will put our heads together and see what we think will work.
“We’ve lost our two major goal scorers so it’s about finding another range of guys that can impact the scoreboard.
“It’ll be our challenge but it’s also really exciting – you never stop learning, you never stop experimenting.”
O’Brien says the Eagles will try to capitalise on the now unpredictability when moving inside 50.
“I think that’s the thing you have to try and take advantage of,” he says.
“Reality was that when you’ve got such a great like Marc Holt, you are going to feed the ball to him probably 80 per cent of the time and sometimes it’s not always the best option.
“We now need to move forward and start entering the ball into our forward line without Marc Holt, and that’s what we will do.
“We’ve done it before, we did it in 2019, so we will try and emulate that.”
Cranbourne achieved a top-three finish in the Outer East league in 2019 when Holt played his solitary year at Karingal.
The Eagles have added talented young midfielder Tyler Finn from Noble Park.
Finn won the Bulls’ under-19s best and fairest after running second in the Eastern league count.
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