The Phantom reveals the forward line to succeed in 2017

THE Phantom’s forward line has been a revolving door. Only two players have been locked in from the start; Bulldogs pair Luke Dahlhaus and Jack Macrae.

THE Phantom’s forward line has been a revolving door.

Only two players have been locked in from the start; Bulldog pair Luke Dahlhaus and Jack Macrae.

In a year when we have lost a number of our other favourite dual-position forwards, Dustin Martin, Dayne Zorko and Zach Merrett in particular, Dahlhaus is a must-have. The 24-year-old should be the No. 1 scoring forward by the year’s end.

And Macrae is a gift. While we did lose a few, we gained one of the best ball-winners in the competition as a dual-position forward. In his four seasons in the competition, Macrae has averaged more than 94 in three of them, pushing the 100-point mark twice. That’s a good record in anyone’s book.

THe Phantom's SuperCoach forward line revealed.

Injury derailed his season late in 2016 but he returned to be an important part the Dogs’ premiership charge, especially in the grand final with 33 disposals and 113 SuperCoach points.

For most of the summer, Isaac Heeney was locked in next at F3 but, after he was diagnosed with glandular fever, he had to make way. The Phantom still expects him to have an impact later in the year.

Saint Jack Billings also spent most of the pre-season in The Phantom’s starting line-up but I could only ignore the fact that the Saints and Bulldogs share the round 11 bye for so long.

With St Kilda’s favourable early-season draw, Billings could explode so it was hard to let go but the addition of fellow Saint Jack Steele - whose pre-season numbers, NEAFL form over the past three seasons and big midfield minutes made him hard to ignore - meant there was little choice.

Enter Toby Greene.

The Phantom has been a long-time fan and has been petitioning to Giants’ coach Leon Cameron to release Greene back into the midfield full-time for 12 months.

Western Bulldogs’ Luke Dahlhaus should be a lock in your SuperCoach AFL team in 2017.

While it’s unlikely to happen this season, given his emergence as one of the game’s best forwards, Greene will still sit comfortably amongst the top-8 forwards by year’s end.

As he hones his craft as a forward even further in 2017, expect his average to push back up towards 100.

On Tuesday, the Giants’ confirmed what we have all be thinking; No. 2 draft pick Tim Taranto will debut against the Crows on Sunday.

And there is every chance he makes it hard for Cameron to drop him. The Phantom is starting him on the field with confidence - you should do the same.

The final on-field spot will be taken by a rookie-priced player with Tiger Dan Butler and Brett Eddy in the mix.

While The Phantom doesn’t share the same confidence here, both Butler and Eddy will play and have shown they can score.

If Geelong upgrade and then select Zach Guthrie for round one, a reshuffle with the last two spots in defence could mean Swan Oliver Florent comes into the equation at F6.

Originally published as The Phantom reveals the forward line to succeed in 2017