Changes for Rnd 18 v Hawthorn

[wolftone57]

Derrickx is out injured 2-3 weeks with a hammy so no Tommy D. If we do take a ruckman to Melbourne it will be Sammy N and he will be the upgrade for Aliir. Played pretty well in the reserves last week apparently, BOG 35 HO, 22 disposals & 1 goal (goals were a rare occurrence last week at Kippax reserve).

According to Injury Update Hannas is not ready as yet and is still yet to train, still on running, but is expected to train Thursday.

Tip & Shaw both trained Tuesday and will also train Thursday. Would rather Rhyce played a reserves game just in case, he is an oldie you know.

Jones is ready and if we may have no Shaw but we still have a Zac.

To me Towers is an automatic out for Tip if he is fit.

I think BJ is probably the one to make way if there is someone else to go. Lloyd has been very consistent and some of his tackles have been game changing. I love the work Lloydy puts in to impact the contest, he runs, runs ,runs andf tackles, chases, tackles, chases and looks for the second or third receiver and targets them. Smart kid that one.

[Ludwig]

Nanko is also listed as Test, so he can perhaps be the emergency ruckman. We can probably go with just Tippett and Reid anyway.

[mcs]

the emergency ruckman choice will be interesting then, with no Derickx available.

[liz]

I think there's a decent chance of Sammy being upgraded to the senior list. It helps that his reserves form has been very good over the last two weeks. With Nankervis not having played for a few weeks with a broken finger and Tommy D now out for a while with a hammy, we may have no choice. LRT is the only other real cover for Pyke and even he's not had a continuous run at reserves level for the last month or so.

Otherwise we may need to revert to my earlier suggestion of Benny sitting on KJ's shoulders.

[Meg]

Luke Parker has been doing a pretty good job!

[ScottH]

Luke Parker has been doing a pretty good job!

Mr Jack of all trades!!

[Conor_Dillon]

Tippett in for Towers, B.Jack sub.

Shaw can have a week in the reserves...he is traditionally rusty upon return anyway. This leaves Gaz at half back (how good was his spoiling?!) and if need be we can throw Macca down to help out.

Cunningham to run with Isaac Smith and Lloyd can test out his much hyped endurance by following around Hill.

Recent matches have shown that if you can cut down the effectiveness of Hill and Smith that it leaves the Hawks majorly lacking run and outside pace.

Bring on Saturday night!

[RogueSwan]

....Shaw can have a week in the reserves...he is traditionally rusty upon return anyway. ...

It was mentioned in another thread, I don't know which, that Shaw has been good on his first game back from injury. It is the second and third week that he has dropped off.

[Melbourne_Blood]

I think Rohan could be a good match up for Smith , and Cunningham to go to Hill.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Roughead is due for a big game so hopefully Teddy is switched on. My worry is Gunston. Rampe will probably go to him. Gunston was kept goalless last time but his supply was limited. I'm a fan of Rampe but he can struggle when the pressure is on.

Roughys 200th.
Agree re Gunston, is a huge threat. Laidler may go to him but if they isolated that match up at full forward it would be a worry.
Need a big game from Grundy as third man up with no Hale, McEvoy might drift forward, but isn't the repeat scoring option that Hale is.

[liz]

It was mentioned in another thread, I don't know which, that Shaw has been good on his first game back from injury. It is the second and third week that he has dropped off.

I think that's quite a common trend amongst AFL players returning from injury lay-offs. The first week back they are fresh and raring to go but it takes them longer to recover from that first game because their post-game bodies remind them that they haven't played at the top level for a few weeks. They then go into the next game a bit sorer than normal and often struggle a bit until their bodies get into the swing of things. It's probably more relevant for players who've had longer injury lay-offs than just a few weeks, but it does seem like a common trend.

[Dosser]

Tippett in for Towers, B.Jack sub.

Shaw can have a week in the reserves...he is traditionally rusty upon return anyway. This leaves Gaz at half back (how good was his spoiling?!) and if need be we can throw Macca down to help out.

Cunningham to run with Isaac Smith and Lloyd can test out his much hyped endurance by following around Hill.

Recent matches have shown that if you can cut down the effectiveness of Hill and Smith that it leaves the Hawks majorly lacking run and outside pace.

Bring on Saturday night!

Unfortunately, I think that Hill would continually burn off Lloyd and expose him for pace. Lloyd is not a shut-down player, her is a distributor.

[ernie koala]

I think Rohan could be a good match up for Smith , and Cunningham to go to Hill.

I agree, I like the look of those match ups.

It also leaves Jetts to do his thing, not sure who the Hawks have to match up on him.

[liz]

Not sure Rohan would have the endurance to go with Smith (or Hill, for that matter). Both are very quick but they are also amongst the Hawks' best endurance runners. Rohan might be able to keep up with Smith in bursts but would risk being burnt off as the game wore on. Cunningham is probably better equipped, endurance wise but he can't play on both.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Hill missed this weekend's game. Jordan Lewis didn't seem to convincing on AFL360 on Tuesday night when asked whether Hill would return this week.

[Matt80]

I think Rohan could be a good match up for Smith , and Cunningham to go to Hill.

Rohan has elite speed. Would he have the endurance to go with Smith over four quarters? Smith is an absolutely elite endurance runner.

Another option could be to play Zac Jones on Smith. Longmire noted Jones speed, endurance and defensive capabilities. Zac would relish the tagging responsibilities. When he is spent (assuming no injuries) we bring Lloyd onto Smith from the Subs bench.

We could use Rohan's 3rd man up abilities against Roughead, Gunston and Macvoy.

Ins - Tippett and Jones
Outs - Towers and Brandon Jack

Sub - Lloyd