By John Blakey

The upside for the forward line:
There is a lot of upside going into 2011. We spent big periods of the year without Daniel Bradshaw in the forward line and Benny McGlynn was also injured.
So those guys are training well at the moment and all being well they’re on track to have really big years and I hope we can get a lot of games out of them in 2011.

The exciting part is we also saw the emergence of Trent Dennis-lane who came into the side late in the year and managed to kick a number of goals in limited games so we’ve certainly got some attacking avenues to goal when we’ve got our best side out there.

The development of Sam Reid
Sam Reid only played one senior game (against Brisbane in round 22) but that was very promising and hopefully Sammy can step and play like a second centre half forward which will free up Adam Goodes to play higher up the ground and allow him stints in the midfield so he’s certainly developing in the right way to hold down a forward position as well.
In the end Sam is likely to have the ability to go at either end with his athleticism but we know centre half forward is just about the hardest spot on the field to hold down so if we can develop the young boy into a key centre half forward obviously would be good for us as a club

Jesse White's progression
Jesse is coming back from injury. He had a shoulder reconstruction but he is back running and his shoulder is recovering very well so hopefully he’ll be back into full training after Christmas.

How will the new interchange rule affect the structures?
With the new interchange rule that will come into effect in 2011, our forward line may have to look a little bit different in the fact what do we do with the other ruckman. Do we play two ruckmen on the ground more consistently? So we might see Mark Seaby or Shane Mumford spend more time in the forward line, we might see big Mummy resting up forward more often because we won’t have the luxury of being able to rotate those boys on the bench so they’ll have to spend time in the forward line.

Seabs spent a bit of time in the forward line at West Coast, with Dean Cox spending most of the time in the ruck so Seabs can develop as a key forward. It is not a position that Mummy has played a lot of football in but with his size and marking ability he would be hard to match up on.

With the way the game is going and the rotation of the half forwards, you will see a lot more midfielders coming through the half forward line, players such as Jarrad McVeigh, Ben McGlynn and Jude Bolton, midfielders will rest as half forwards.

Rhyce and Nick Malceski have also got the ability to go forward. Nick is so dangerous when he goes forward because he’s such a good kick, he can kick a goal himself or set up team-mates.

This time last pre-season you were working at White, Bradshaw, Goodes as the mainstays in the forward line. Is it the same for 2011?
We haven’t settled on a structure. We have to get our heads around the new interchange rule. We can’t have too many talls up there. If we have to play a ruckman up there, there will be competition for positions.
There will be different looks depending on our opposition.
But with Bradshaw back on the field, Goodes could spend a bit of time forward, but also go up the field.

Trent Dennis-Lane's development
He is developing all the time. He’s working hard on his strength in the gym to help rund out his game. But he has a unique ability to be able to find space and get off his opponent quickly and that is how he creates scoring opportunities for himself. His fitness has to improve and his strength has to improve.

We saw Lewis Jetta kick seven goals - can you get a few more from him next year?
I said to Jetts, “Seven goals 20 behinds this year, I’d like to seen 20 goals and seven behinds next year!’’
I’m sure we will. He is looking a lot more confident and kicking the ball beautifully. He had a long run of outs but that is well behind him now and he finished the year strongly.

The X-factor
Someone who might be a bit of an X-factor up forward, who also has the versatility to play in defence, is Andrejs Everitt. He is also a great size and a beautiful kick so he is that type of player we can throw up there to give us a different look.

The big improver
Brett Meredith is looking like he could be the big improver in 2011 and spend time as a half forward. He is very skilful and a very good decision-maker, all class, so we’re hoping he can put together an injury-free season.