Match Ups

[Bart]

Originally posted by TheHood
Gehrig is too much for either Bolton or Barry to handle. He is massive, they are giving away over 20 kilos and 10 cms (no crude jokes here either).

Thats not even the issue though. The issue is that this big monster is in some freak like form. If he was just big, maybe you would consider it, but he is on fire. B2 could not stop Richo this time around could he? Why? He found some freak form!

Personally, I would start Goodes on Gehrig and see how that settles. If it is working, wonderful, if not then make the appropriate change.

I do know this though, our backmen have to drag their opponents out of their respective comfort zones. If they prefer the goal square, then drag them up the ground etc

Gehrig isn't THAT big. He is though incredibly strong.

He is 195cm and weighs 104kg. This compares favourably to Goodes at 193cm and 97kg.

What about Doyle or Ball going back ? Both are taller and heavier than Gehrig and are reasonably strong.

[hammo]

I am not keen on having Goodes stuck in the goalsquare on Gherig. He is far better value a bit further up the ground, plus I am not sure he is that good on the man on man stuff yet.
It will have to be Bolton or Barry on the gurilla.

Crouch to definitely take DelSanto and on Captain on Hayes.

Big crowd to hopefully be worth at least 3 goals - Swans by 9.

[Bart]

Originally posted by hammo
It will have to be Bolton or Barry on the gurilla.

Be like swatting flies. Barry concedes 16kg while Bolton concedes 18kg. Leo, maybe purely for his ability to get up there and spoil (please don't attempt to outmark him Leo), but not Bolton. Bolton suceeded against Richo last year more because of Richo's tempremant. Gehrig will beat him easily.

Hey Cheersquad guys, are you going to do a Pies CS effort on Gehrig ?

[DST]

Originally posted by Bart
Be like swatting flies. Barry concedes 16kg while Bolton concedes 18kg. Leo, maybe purely for his ability to get up there and spoil (please don't attempt to outmark him Leo), but not Bolton. Bolton suceeded against Richo last year more because of Richo's tempremant. Gehrig will beat him easily.

Hey Cheersquad guys, are you going to do a Pies CS effort on Gehrig ?

Frankly we don't have anyone to go weight wise or strength wise with Gherig, that is why Barry is the only possible match up for him. He needs to play off him or in front and use his pace and spring to get a hand to the ball in the contest.

C Bolton is much more suited to going with Hamill, so it has to be Goodes for Reiwolt. The only other alternative is Kennelly with Reiwolt, but Kennelly really struggles with blokes that can take marks at this stage in his development.

DST

[Go Swannies]

Goodes wrestling with Gehrig is a waste of Goodes. We need him giving us possession out of defence.

I bet it's Heath James - with maybe Ball going back. Wouldn't be surprised if there are times when both Ball and Doyle are on the field as Roos is lamenting lack of height. B2 or Leo are both options too. This season, wrestling with Gehrig is as useless and tiring as wrestling with Centrepoint Tower. Need to be more agile and get to the leads first. May need a bit of experimentation if the coaches don't have it better thought out than we do! Deny possession and he'll be as useless as any other tree stump left on the field.

I think we'll just leave our backs to do their job and work on midfield possession. That's what will win us the game.

[Go Swannies]

Originally posted by DST
The only other alternative is Kennelly with Reiwolt, but Kennelly really struggles with blokes that can take marks at this stage in his development.

DST

And Kennelly is self-confessed awful at manning up. Reiwoldt can do a lot of damage - esp at the start of a game.

[Plugger46]

Barry on Gehrig
Goodes on Riewoldt
C.Bolton on Hammil
Crouch/Bevan on Milne
Kirk on Hayes

Don't worry about the rest. We HAVE to go head to head with them, if we are to win. We're trying to win the game, not save it.

[NMWBloods]

I think Gehrig is too big for Barry - size and height. I think Goodes might struggle in a purely defensive assignment and we would lose his value back in the goal square. Bolton might do okay, but still a tough ask. I think either James or Bolton should get it with someone playing loose man in defence to cut off the passes.

[Plugger46]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I think Gehrig is too big for Barry - size and height. I think Goodes might struggle in a purely defensive assignment and we would lose his value back in the goal square. Bolton might do okay, but still a tough ask. I think either James or Bolton should get it with someone playing loose man in defence to cut off the passes.

I see what you mean, but IMO Barry is our best defender. He has beaten Lloyd (gave him a towelling), Rawlings (think he played on him), went on to Croad when he looked like winning the game for Hawthorn. Leo will be able to run of Gehrig at times, too.

[Nico]

Originally posted by boroboy
My tuppence worth....

Gehrig - Goodes. Put our best on their best. Only time I've seen Gehrig intimidated was with Mal Michael - Goodsey is the only one who can match that presence and physical strength.

Riewoldt - Crouch. Has the pace to run with him and shut him out. I know he doesn't have the height but he'll keep him as quiet as possible.

Guerra - Bevan. 2 young players both in great form - mouth watering.

Hammil - Bolton. Gehrig too big and strong for Bolton, Hammil's the type of player he can do well on.

Milne - James

Kirk on Hayes

Leave Leaping and Tiger to do what we do best - use our pace. As many have said on this list, this game is not about worrying totally about what they do - make them worry about what we do.

You been smoking funny cigarettes today boroboy?

[Dpw]

Originally posted by boroboy
My tuppence worth....

Gehrig - Goodes. Put our best on their best. Only time I've seen Gehrig intimidated was with Mal Michael - Goodsey is the only one who can match that presence and physical strength.

Riewoldt - Crouch. Has the pace to run with him and shut him out. I know he doesn't have the height but he'll keep him as quiet as possible.

Guerra - Bevan. 2 young players both in great form - mouth watering.

Hammil - Bolton. Gehrig too big and strong for Bolton, Hammil's the type of player he can do well on.

Milne - James

Kirk on Hayes

Leave Leaping and Tiger to do what we do best - use our pace. As many have said on this list, this game is not about worrying totally about what they do - make them worry about what we do.

uhhh?! Iam not sure

[Go Swannies]

Go on Nico. Now is the time to admit that you are Paul Roos.

I think a few match ups are natural. Others will vary during the game when we see how they work out. Liek the way Roos dropped Barry on Croad as someone mentioned - he had kicked two in a minute, Leo came over and he was out of the competition.

I have never seen a group as smug as the Aints fans at present. If that is mirrored in their players, this could be a fun game. They think they have been under pressure this season. I can't think of when - even the Lions were playing catch up. The Aints have played 8 games at home - only Crows and Freo away. The teams they have played are:

R1 Geelong (8)
R2 Bombers (5)
R3 Richmond (11)
R4 Adelaide (12)
R5 Kangaroos (9)
R6 Lions (3)
R7 Freo (6)
R8 Pies (14)
R9 Weagles (10)
R10 Carlton (15)

No Melbourne and no Port. And the Bombers when they were still being retrained after the Xmas break. And their next two games are the Dogs and the Hawks. Then they have Port in Tassie, Melbourne, Richmond, Bombers, Geelong in Geelong, Adelaide in Tassie, Roos, Lions at Gabba, Freo. They are hoping for a clean winning run - this week then the Dees, Dons, Cats, and Lions are the most likely speed-bumps.

I know this thread is on match-ups. We can largely do as we did last year - that worked.

I know some think that the 2003 Swans were infinitely better than the 2004 version. Not if you have a look at our game against the Aints last year, we weren't. The Aints have lifted a lot this year. But we have also had some hard finals experience since then. I don't think we'll be daunted on Sunday and may well give them the same lesson that the Pies gave to us towards the end of last year: the difference in finals-standard footy.

[TheMase]

How about we just apply a heap of pressure through the midfield either a) cutting off their supply to their forwards, or b) creating rubbish delivery for their forward, where players like Barry can pounce on the ball.....


If we stem the flow going forward, we have to worry about their forwards less because they will either get no ball or at least less quality.

[Bleed Red Blood]

I think alot of people are underistimating C Bolton's strength, he is the equal strongest at the club(BHall), and is creative enough to be played through the midfield at times so can be dangerous on the rebound.

[robbieando]

If Des got around to it, my latest article is about how we go about beating the Saints. What we need to do is, be more direct and stop stuffing around with the ball. I would have a 5 man forward line of Buchanan and O'Loughlin near the goal square, O'Keefe and Davis (if fit) on the half forward flanks and Hall a bit more up the ground than normal, providing an better option to players coming out of defence and stop the Saints from droping a second man on to him, like the Dogs did last week.

In the midfield, Kirk on Hayes and Mathews on Harvey and hope that Maxfield, Willo and Jude put in efforts like last week and provide proper service though the midfield and don't allow the Saints to attack at will.

In defence I would go, Leo on Gehrig, James on Hamill, Crouch on Milne and Goodes on Rewoldt. That would leave Bevan and Craig Bolton to mop up in defence and Bolton lending a hand to Leo when the Saints bomb it long to Gehrig. I would also use Doyle to drop in front of Gehrig and thus stop him making too many leads, thus forcing him to rely on his size to beat both Bolton and Leo.

Keys for us, is our use of the ball, kicking at goal and how Willo, Maxfield and Jude get on in the middle, with the likelyhood of Jason Ball winning plenty of the ruck duels. If our midfield gets on top we'll be hard to beat. Remember also that the Saints rely on putting teams under pressure with the attack at the ball and the tackling. The more direct we are with the ball going forward the more the Saints will become uncomfitable and the likelyhood that they will have an off day.