Changes for Round 5 versus Fremantle

[GordonS]

After 4 games I hardly think we are looking at the Titanic here. We still have the players, we just need to turn things around. We are still placed ok in premiership betting, if any credence can be given to betting odds. I certainly hope the players haven't given up on the year at this early stage.

I see it as a choice between Derickx and LRT for second ruck. We should not be putting Tippett in there - if he's fit, he plays, and if he plays, he should play forward only.

agree that he should play forward only, but the coaches want him ruck/forward... so not much we can do about it

[dread and might]

We could have Usain Bolt in our squad, .

No we couldn't. We spent all our money on Buddy.

In all seriousness though, when the team isn't going well, you have to make changes according to form. doesn't matter if it is a 200 gamer or a 20 gamer we are talking about.

[Auntie.Gerald]

some exciting news........

FREMANTLE
The Dockers will get at least one and possibly two key players back ahead of their clash with the Sydney Swans on Saturday. Nat Fyfe will return from his two-match suspension, meaning someone will have to make way. Ross Lyon also suggested Chris Mayne was likely to recover from his ankle injury in time to face the Swans.

In the mix: round five - AFL.com.au

[jono2707]

agree that he should play forward only, but the coaches want him ruck/forward... so not much we can do about it

I think that until Sam is back, we need at least 1 key forward to accompany Buddy, so hopefully Tippett's ruck duties are delayed for a while at least.

[Flying South]

We have to keep the fremantle defence accountable. If Tippett comes back in, I would still play Pyke and Membrey in the forward line. That should keep johnson, dawson and mcpharlin (from memory) accountable. This will allow buddy to play his roaming role and provide a difficult match-up for Lyon. Go on the attack. Obviously this will require Nankervis/naismith to take on Sandilands as our main ruck. They are likely to send Crowley to Kizza, so I would like to suggest something a little different. Send a tight tag to Crowley which might just give kizza just a little room to get away. Lets try to make crowleys life difficult for a change . We are only going to win this game if we do things a little differently.

[Ampersand]

Crazy to suggest sending in a first gamer to ruck against the tallest man in the comp. We need speed and silky skills not more tall timber fading in the last quarter.

Also, like Leigh Matthews, I'm really skeptical on the correlation between hit-outs to advantage and midfield clearances. Bounces are much more of a raffle than people give them credit for. I'd much rather a more mobile ruckman who can assist the midfield when the ball hits the deck (which is where Mummy came in handy).

Sandilands is one of the leading H-O2A players in the comp, yet Fremantle trail in midfield clearances. A mobile part-time ruck man like LRT or Tippett could neutralise Sandiland's height advantage.

[Ampersand]

Sorry, brainfart - I meant hit-outs generally not just to advantage.

[Ludwig]

Crazy to suggest sending in a first gamer to ruck against the tallest man in the comp. We need speed and silky skills not more tall timber fading in the last quarter.

Also, like Leigh Matthews, I'm really skeptical on the correlation between hit-outs to advantage and midfield clearances. Bounces are much more of a raffle than people give them credit for. I'd much rather a more mobile ruckman who can assist the midfield when the ball hits the deck (which is where Mummy came in handy).

Sandilands is one of the leading H-O2A players in the comp, yet Fremantle trail in midfield clearances. A mobile part-time ruck man like LRT or Tippett could neutralise Sandiland's height advantage.

Welcome aboard! I am also in the Leigh Mathews camp on this one. You can't beat Sandi by competing with him on his terms. You know he's going to get his hands on the ball first. You have to beat Freo with speed and skill. Hawthorn have Freo chasing shadows. Unfortunately, we seem to have a long way to go to get to that level.

[Auntie.Gerald]

i didnt realise that Freeo has had 6 or so of their best 22 out also

Chris Mayne (ankle), Garrick Ibbotson (shoulder) and David Mundy (concussion) are chances to return against Sydney at the SCG on Saturday.

However Kepler Bradley (knee), Alex Pearce (shin), Michael Barlow (knee) and Scott Gumbleton (hamstring) are still sidelined.

ABC.net.au

[Flying South]

When are we going to accept that these days LRT brings nothing to the rucking table. And I really don?t think he has any more mobility than Naismith/Nankervis (and I know Big Sam is rookie listed). It is one thing to accept that Sandliands will win the hitouts. But we can?t give him a free ride. We still need to provide a contest. There are others here who have more expertise than me about rucking, but to me the things that tires a ruckman out the most during the whole term of the game is the body on body bullocking and positioning that occurs during a ruck contest. Sandlilands needs to be competing against a big body to try and sap his energy resources and limit his influence later in the game. If we give him a free ride for the whole game, he will destroy us right to the end. If Tippett does play, he should not go anywhere near a ruck contest. If the past 4 weeks have shown us anything, his is too important to our forward structures to risk injuries in the rucks.

[Industrial Fan]

Still dont understand all the negativity towards BLT. Even if he's undersized in the ruck, he'll give a contest at ground level. Didnt see him as remotely close to our worst on the weekend. Derrick smalls on the other hand is a complete numpty and should not be seen in the AFL again.

[liz]

i didnt realise that Freeo has had 6 or so of their best 22 out also

Chris Mayne (ankle), Garrick Ibbotson (shoulder) and David Mundy (concussion) are chances to return against Sydney at the SCG on Saturday.

However Kepler Bradley (knee), Alex Pearce (shin), Michael Barlow (knee) and Scott Gumbleton (hamstring) are still sidelined.

ABC.net.au

Michael Walters is a more significant out than most of the above - Barlow and the possibility of Mundy the exceptions. Mayne is arguable - great player but so is Walters. Wouldn't like to have to decide who is more important to them.

[Plugger46]

Still dont understand all the negativity towards BLT. Even if he's undersized in the ruck, he'll give a contest at ground level. Didnt see him as remotely close to our worst on the weekend. Derrick smalls on the other hand is a complete numpty and should not be seen in the AFL again.

With you 100%. LRT was critical to the forward-line functioning against Adelaide. He blocked and created space for Franklin on numerous occasions.

[wolftone57]

After 4 games I hardly think we are looking at the Titanic here. We still have the players, we just need to turn things around. We are still placed ok in premiership betting, if any credence can be given to betting odds. I certainly hope the players haven't given up on the year at this early stage.

I see it as a choice between Derickx and LRT for second ruck. We should not be putting Tippett in there - if he's fit, he plays, and if he plays, he should play forward only.

You see second ruck as a choice? LRT? Joking aren't you. LRT two games in the ruck a total of 7 HO. Give me a break. I want our second ruck to provide a contest. If we bring in Naismith, he is not that much shorter than Sandi, so he may just negate him a bit. We need to rove to Sandi anyway. We need to come to play. The danger is not Sandi as we know what to expect there, it is Clarke. He is a wild card and he hits to advantage better than Sandi. Put LRT on him and he will get destroyed.

[wolftone57]

Crazy to suggest sending in a first gamer to ruck against the tallest man in the comp. We need speed and silky skills not more tall timber fading in the last quarter.

Also, like Leigh Matthews, I'm really skeptical on the correlation between hit-outs to advantage and midfield clearances. Bounces are much more of a raffle than people give them credit for. I'd much rather a more mobile ruckman who can assist the midfield when the ball hits the deck (which is where Mummy came in handy).

Sandilands is one of the leading H-O2A players in the comp, yet Fremantle trail in midfield clearances. A mobile part-time ruck man like LRT or Tippett could neutralise Sandiland's height advantage.

You haven't seen Naismith play have you. Obviously not otherwise you would not be making sweeping statements about his lack of agility. He is more agile than Mummy. He can run and carry. His second efforts are very good. LRT is a joke in the ruck and it isn't Sandi we need to worry about it is Clarke. Clarke hits to advantage of a runner and gets the ball himself and is faster than LRT. LRT does not even begin to make a contest at hit ins (where we have the most problems this year), he is not the solution to a ruck problem. Yes hit outs are not the be all and end all. Matthews did not suggest that hit outs do not matter, see Jason Ball/Nick Davis v Geelong Prelim. He said that Sandilands mostly hit the ball at the feet of the rovers. This is not a great place for the ball to be if you want to run it out. He is not hitting to their complete advantage at all. This is why Matthews thinks his advantage is overrated. He was not making a statement on every ruckman just on Sandilands. His point was that if you are going to have so much of an advantage and get so many hit outs you really need to turn them to your team's advantage which Sandi does not do.