Changes for Rnd8 V Freo

[Melbournehammer]

but but but but our forward line relies on goodes and pyke and mummy and reid - our tall forward line is wot won it !!!

I am actually sympathetic to the smaller forward structure - it is interesting but when we play well it is usually because jude and mcglynn are marking on leads.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

While I appreciate the frustration, I think one of our problems may be structural.

There is a huge gap between last years successful structure and the team that played Hawthorn. Our forward line works best with 2 key talls, plus a ruckman. We have played 1 key tall, plus a ruckman for much of the season (The loss of LRT and AJ and their replacement with smaller players caused this structural change).

The number of midfielder generated goals has covered up our forward line problem. Problem is, last weekend our midfield got a smacking, and they simply didn't kick enough goals to make everything appear hunky-dorey.

So I think we should bring Walsh in (especially after reading Big Al's ressie report), swapping Reid for Mitchell or Morton is just going to exacerbate the forward lines structural problem. We could of course go even smaller, but the way our mids have been bombing it in when under pressure makes that unlikely to yield dividends.

[Doctor]

One positional change would be an incredibly valuable change.Move Pyke to CHF to Reid's position.Move Reid to the backlines to basically play LRT's role.
Pyke is the number 1 contested mark in the entire competition. He even beats Cloke yet we have him rucking. He should be at CHF pulling in the hard marks,something we put Reid there to do but he is sadly out of form.This gives White one more chance at rucking unless there is someone else who could do it in the 2's?
Reid to the backlines to refresh him covers our lack of an extra Tall back there which was exploited by Hawthorn.Give him a defensive role to get his confidence back.The other changes I would base on the sound philosophy of only picking players in form regardless of reputations.IfMorton is in form pick him.

I was thinking about something like this too. Is Pyke a forward line option? Contested marks around the ground with some in the forward 50 are different to being camped there and hounded by a key defender though.

[wolftone57]

Players who were ordinary and looked slow:
Luke Parker
Craig bird
Ryan o keefe
J mcveigh
Jude Bolton
H grundy


Players who were ordinary
K jack
J Kennedy
S reid
J white
M mattner

I saw Craig Bird stop chasing on three occasions in the one quarter. Birdie would normally chase even if he had no hope just to apply perceived pressure. Maybe there is something wrong with him. He failed to chase too many times for there not to be a problem, he seemed unable to sustain the chase. I didn't think Parker too slow for who he was playing on, Mitchell. He is not going to be able to catch, Smith or Hill but then again I wouldn't expect him to catch players who are rivals to Jetts in speed.

[wolftone57]

I agree with Ruck & roll that the forward set up has been affected by the loss of LRT. But I think our backs have followed a similar fate. If someone was not playing well we could shift LRT back. Reg was sadly out of form last week and we had nobody to cover him. Our experienced backs didn't marshal their younger colleagues and instruct and make sure they were not badly positioned. Clarko put 198cm plus experienced players on Rampe and our general in the backline did not notice. They got three goals in a row because he was hopelessly outpointed by the much tall opponents.

Our mids were getting killed because the set ups were totally wrong. We also got the match ups wrong. We didn't try to set play up when coming out of defense or going into attack we just bombed the ball high in hope. Our players simply did not work hard enough to create either a contest or an opening.

This week I would look at replacing;

Sam, Birdie, Jude (for a rest), Marty & Reg (send a message, nobody is irreplaceable)

In; Brown, Morton, Walsh, Everitt & BJ.

There I am saying it, send a message, make it very clear if you don't perform get dropped.

Walsh can play back as well as forward. Utilise Brown as a Mid/Tall forward or the same at the back. Fremantle are not super tall in the forward half. Bring Lamb into the team. Dockers are fast so play BJ as a fast & tackling forward.Dre as sub.

[J_Moore]

Changes for Rnd8 V Freo

Man the Internet is reactive. We had an ordinary game against one of the top 2 sides in the comp, and most of the damage was done in a single quarter.

There are clearly issues upfront, and we're unlikely to challenge for the flag if we've got 2-3 of our back 6 missing, but few sides could. There won't be list changes in the order of 25-30% of the team. And you don't drop senior players like Grundy on the back of one @@@@ week.

Morton in for mine (maybe for Reid, I'm not sure the best thing to do there), and Everitt back to the HBF for Armstrong.

Rampe might be a few cms too short, but he's shown infinitely more than Walsh in the games he's played.

[Industrial Fan]

I know Colless is retiring, but we need to get rid of him too.

What a lot of pollywaffle after one crap game.

We will be there abouts when it counts.

[Ludwig]

I saw Craig Bird stop chasing on three occasions in the one quarter. Birdie would normally chase even if he had no hope just to apply perceived pressure. Maybe there is something wrong with him. He failed to chase too many times for there not to be a problem, he seemed unable to sustain the chase. I didn't think Parker too slow for who he was playing on, Mitchell. He is not going to be able to catch, Smith or Hill but then again I wouldn't expect him to catch players who are rivals to Jetts in speed.

I think Bird had a tagging role on Birchall, who is a running machine. Probably ran Birdy into the ground.

Parker is a prolific tackler in the mold of Jude, but can be easy to run around in the open field. Not a knock on him. He's like most AFL players. The players with some rugby background seem to do better at this. Bird, for instance, is not quick, but difficult to run past. Jetta is like lightening, but doesn't apply it enough to his tackling, although he is improving.

[Doctor]

You have to look at a few things. Firstly, who didn't play well. Secondly, have they not been playing well consistently or was this just a one-off against a very good team that was well coached on the night. Thirdly, is there anyone in the reserves or returning from injury who has been playing consistently well enough to take their place? Fourthly, is there an alternative? For example, if Mummy isn't right, White is gonna get another go whether some of the supporters like it or not (and it's fine with me FWIW). Finally, consider the opposition and what that means for who we need to put on the field in order to counteract them.

[ScottH]

MRP: Goodes in clear.
Not sure if it was the high bump, or the "kick".

[ScottH]

MRP: Goodes in clear.
Not sure if it was the high bump, or the "kick".

[longmile]

I imagine the boys will be very fired up this week to show everyone that we still have premiership credentials. Only change I'd make would be Morton for Reid, and if Mumford is fit I'd bring him in for White

[Rob-bloods]

Trade Grundy to Melbourne

[Jeffers1984]

Mumford only 50/50 for this game so Jesse might get a second chance at it.
Would hope to see Lamb get full game time and probably make Bird sub.

[J_Moore]

Changes for Rnd8 V Freo

Freo missing their top 2 rucks, so not the worst result if Mumford needs a rest