EACH week, an AFL footballer will produce a game that promotes the theory that it's not how big you are, it's how you go about it.
It might be a back flanker standing Matthew Richardson, or a leaping ruckman scaling Mount Sandilands, but more than likely, it will involve the Western Bulldogs' forward line.
The Doggies' five highest goalkickers this season are Brad Johnson (52), Adam Cooney (24), Shaun Higgins (20), Robert Murphy (16) and Jason Akermanis (15) — all of whom are 186 centimetres or less, making them more terrier than Great Dane.
The strange thing is, despite the perception, relying on this abridged brigade doesn't seem to have hurt the Dogs this season. As coach Rodney Eade pointed out this week, only Geelong has kicked more goals than the seventh-placed Dogs in 2007.
And while Eade concedes it is an attacking structure born out of necessity rather than philosophy — the Dogs have only eight legitimate "talls" on their playing list — he believes the pundits are inclined to herald the Dogs' game plan when they win, but blame it when they lose.
"Because it's not the norm, and it's not tradition, when it doesn't work, people are going to say, 'This is what they should have'," Eade said. "What you deal with is what you think's the best way to kick goals and to win. Against Geelong in round one, we didn't have a tall forward and we kicked 18 goals and we won.
"Last week, it didn't work, but the reason might not be because it's a small forward line. That's what we've got, and that's what we think we can maximise — the point of difference that we've got there. Having said that, we'd like other options.
"It's interesting, we're the second-highest scoring team in the competition, so you can always argue back that it hasn't hurt us kicking goals. So does that mean that if we put two taller players in, but we don't kick enough goals to win, everyone will be happy because we've got a taller forward line but we're not kicking enough goals?
"Look, we'd certainly like to have a key forward, a target to go to, but there's no sense having someone in there if they can't give you a consistent contest, let alone take a mark.
"There's no point having height for height's sake. Just like there's no point, if your team's slow, putting Carl Lewis in because he's quick, if he can't get the footy and can't play. That's still the basic criteria, you've got to be able to play footy."
Murphy is another who believes observers are sceptical because the model defies convention. He observed earlier this year: "People generally will be a little frightened of something different. Our style of fast-running midgets and an even smaller forward line is often criticised because in essence, it hasn't been the done thing in this sport for the past 100 years."
With Chris Grant ailing, and Luke Darcy — in reality a ruckman who always was a makeshift forward — labouring after two knee reconstructions, the search for a big key-forward must have a longer-term focus.
Eade nominated Cameron Wight (200 centimetres), Tom Williams (196) and Andrejs Everitt (193) as youngsters who all might be capable of developing into key forwards.
"Tom Williams has played forward as a junior, although we're playing him as a back at the moment. We start them in defence because it's more difficult as a forward. And the fact that Tom hasn't played much footy — only seven league games — you have to be conscious of not burying these kids.
"Long-term, we might be able to develop one of those kids in the role, and in Tommy's case, possible even look at as soon as next year."
Another supporter of the push to develop Williams as a goalkicking option is former full-forward Simon Beasley, the most recent man to kick a ton for the Bulldogs (105 in 1985).
"(Williams) could easily develop into a forward, he's the sort of guy they should take a punt on in a key forward post," Beasley said, adding that he still believed the team's biggest problem this season was consistency. "The thing about forward lines, whether they're big or small, is that they're hostage to whatever happens in the midfield. The Dogs are one of those teams that when they're on the ball and they're running, they're very hard to beat. They can deliver into their forwards quickly and cleanly, and it makes players like Johnson, Murphy and (Matthew) Robbins very difficult in one-out situations. But they do need the ball coming in real quick."
Eade agrees that consistency has been the bigger headache for him this season, and said the club's leadership group had met during the week specifically to address that issue.
"We've got a really good group that want to work hard, but I think the comfort levels go up when we start winning a few games," he said. "I don't think the players get ahead of themselves, or have inflated opinions of themselves, I just think the comfort levels go up and the intensity and urgency isn't what it should be.
"Our consistency of effort is still not what it should be to compete with the best three or four teams in the competition. And we need that, and our guys are still learning."
But it is arguable that power forwards will become even more critical come September. In last year's season-ending semi-final against West Coast, the Bulldogs were outscored 16 goals to five, of which three were kicked by Johnson.
Perhaps the most recent premiership team to rely on a small forward was Collingwood in 1990, which had 175-centimetre Peter Daicos as its focal point. Otherwise, the grand final has been where the big men fly.
Even the Dogs' recent history would seem to support the argument. Over the past 30 years, the Bulldogs have finished third on the ladder four times. On three of those occasions, the Dogs had taller leading goalkickers: Beasley with 105 in 1985, Danny Del-Re with 70 in 1992 and Simon Minton-Connell with 43 in 1997. In 1998, Paul Hudson — identical in height to Johnson — kicked 61.
Beasley suggested: "At the end of the day, you do need a bloke with a bit of height, a big strong forward to contest the issue. And if you look at the top-four clubs, they've got that sort of player. Geelong has Mooney, the Eagles Lynch, the Kangaroos have Petrie."
For the time being, Eade has little option but to persist with the incredible shrinking forward line. "That's what we've got, so that's what we've got to deal with. Having said that, we would obviously like to have a tall forward," he said. "You don't have to be 6'4 to be a key position player. (Former Hawthorn champion Jason) Dunstall was 6'2. What you need is a key-position player who can be dangerous, who can give you contests and you can go to with confidence.
"I think that's the key point — confidence — it's no use having someone there who you can't go to with confidence. You end up having blokes who won't kick the ball there if your forward is not going to mark it at least sometimes, and he gets run off and the ball ends up coming back at you the other way.
"But yes, there's no doubt we need to get players bigger, and recruit players who are bigger."
The problem is, draftees will take time. The Dogs previously have punted on Tom Davidson from Collingwood and Andrew McDougall from West Coast, but neither has grabbed the chance. "We are on the lookout. I mean, we first showed interest in (Brendan) Fevola a couple of years ago, and a lot of water would need to go under the bridge (for him to leave Carlton now), but he will come up in discussions. He's the sort of player who does straighten you up, and he can take a contested mark.
"At the same time, there's no point trading a second-round draft pick or a third-round draft pick just for the sake of being able to say you've got hold of a tall forward. Do you go for height for height's sake, or do you go for a guy who can play? If you have a tall there who can't take a contested mark or compete, does that defeat the purpose?
"But certainly, I think going forward we'll have a discussion as a match committee about the direction we take, and even in looking at midfielders, maybe look at some of the stronger midfielder types, the hard Brock McLean type. Have a balance. I think it's all about balance, isn't it?
"I just think maybe we just need to discuss our philosophy going forward, and I'm sure that we'll do just that at the right time."
For now, the match committee's philosophy is more along the lines of: it's not the size of the Dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the Dog.
LITTLE BIG MEN
Dating back to 1994, when 193-centimetre Chris Grant booted 71 goals, the Bulldogs have had eight "Collingwood six-footers" lead their goalkicking.
2007: Brad Johnson (182cm) 52 goals*
2006: Johnson 74
2005: Johnson 42
2004: Jade Rawlings (196) and Luke Darcy (197) 30
2003: Nathan Brown (182) 56
2002: Brown 57
2001: Johnson 48
2000: Rohan Smith (182) 42
1999: Paul Hudson (185) 51
1998: Hudson 61
1997: Simon Minton-Connell (194) 43
1996: Jason Watts (185) 44
1995: Richard Osborne (182) 53
* = after round 16
Over the same period, the leading goalkickers for clubs that have won the premiership have all been well over six foot. The shortest of them has been Peter Sumich (190cm), who was the Eagles' leading goalkicker when they won flags in 1992 and '94.
GOALS SCORED IN 2007
Club Position GoalsGeelong 1 260
