Yes from Chadstone.

I recall Bryan going forward on a few occasions last year and doing something that your CHF Deluca doesnt normally do......MARKING IT....and kicking goals.
A CHF that cant mark and is soft at crashing packs, yeah thats what we need.

Going from last year and this pre-seasons reports on training/practice matches (and the poll above) I would think most TCers agree

Enjoy Every Sandwich, I don't know whether the poll above proves much regarding whether Bear or Archie should be preferred. As I noted, they are competing for different positions. As it stands, I would put Bryan ahead of Archie too when it comes to being the backup ruck (and that was the issue in the poll).

Whether Bear is a better forward option than Archie will become apparent as the season rolls on. I don't have any vested interest in seeing Archie succeed. If Bear goes past him, so be it.

But to be a CHF/3rd tall/4th tall is different to being able to take marks up forward when playing in the ruck. Often, a ruckman plays off his opposing ruckman and therefore he is able to enter F50 unopposed. Taking marks with such a height advantage is a lot easier then. Ruckmen such as Matthew Allen, and Corey McKernan were best at this caper. But when you play as a key tall in the forward line, things change. First, you have to combine with the other forwards to create space and spread the defence. This is one asset that Archie has - he is a fairly tireless runner and goes out on long leads often finishing up on the wing. You also need to be able to lead pretty quickly - and the big forwards like Lynch, Gehrig and even Plugger all were quick leads, even though they had the ability to take contested marks in the goalsquare. And you have to compete on the ground and be able to pressure your opponent. These are things that the ruckman going forward doesn't have to worry about.

Archie proved he could do those things in his first year. Last year was a write-off with foot stress fractures on one foot preseason and the opposite one by round 10. Unfortunately, he seems to be a confidence player and the injuries seemed to destroy his confidence and form, and his marking was deplorable at times. But he showed in his first year and in the game against Essendon* in Round 2 that has the ability to play as a tall forward. He took kicked 3 goals after taking marks inside 50, 2 of these being in the last quarter. And he was marked by James Hird, in an attempt to run off him from defence. You might say that he had it easy in that Hird isn't the right height to match him. But that's the point. Not many teams have defenders with sufficient height and pace to go with him.

I agree that Archie isn't a pack-busting forward, but few forwards have all of the bases covered. Does Bear have this ability?

Archie is also a pretty reliable shot for goal from 50. I'm not convinced about Bryan in that regard. Sure, he has the ability to kick it long, but does he have the accuracy to goal from outside 50? And with running shots, he showed on occasions last year that he is slow getting the ball to foot. Under pressure around goal or in the midfield, he gives too much of an opportunity to the opposition to smother. Hopefully he can improve in that regard this year.

But as I say, my opinion doesn't matter - it is what we will see in the coming weeks that will count.

Hey SOS, everyone's entitled to their opinion.
I may not agree with everything you have to say
( will agree that Delucas pace is great for a big man, and he did use that pace to set up some nice plays on Sat night v Geelong, but his abysmal marking to me negates that advantage and feel that Bear deserves his place before Deluca, for the moment at least)
Like I said, I may not agree with everything you have to say but I respect your right to an opinion.......and hell, I do enjoy an intelligent debate, those are so hard to find nowdays.
Cheers mate