Changes for Qualifying final V Freo

[Conor_Dillon]

Michael Johnson OUT.

Big loss for Freo...handy for us.

[DK_]

My money's on Towers holding his position over Tippett, though it won't happen till 90 mins before the game. Freo are susceptible to forward pressure, which is Towers' strength, and the prediction is for rain.

[Ludwig]

My money's on Towers holding his position over Tippett, though it won't happen till 90 mins before the game. Freo are susceptible to forward pressure, which is Towers' strength, and the prediction is for rain.

Is that real money or metaphoric money?

[DK_]

Is that real money or metaphoric money?

Metaphoric. I like my money where it is. Plus, given my record of picking such things, I'd be simply giving money away if I were to actually bet on it.

[Gary]

Towers ... forward pressure ... sorry, Towers is not up to finals pressure ... if he plays I hope I am proved wrong ... but he is "limited".

[wolftone57]

Would agree 100% - shaw has lost his mojo and kicks under perceived pressure far too often. Biggs has youth and composure on his side

I am still confused as to how they come up with effective disposal % & clangers. A few weeks ago Mal had two of the worst clangers of the season when the match was on the line against Hawks and he was down as no clangers and his disposal % was 89%. For people who watched the match either live or on tv that would have been a little confusing.

[mcs]

My money's on Towers holding his position over Tippett, though it won't happen till 90 mins before the game. Freo are susceptible to forward pressure, which is Towers' strength, and the prediction is for rain.

What odds do you want DK? I'll let you lay a lazy $100 on it (with the assumption that injury is not the reason Tippett is left out).

[wolftone57]

Sounds good to me Ludwig.

Mundy and Kennedy will probably play on one another.

Not sure who they will put Crowley on this time around. There are plenty to choose from...Hanners, Jack, Parker or possibly McVeigh.

Great matchups all over the ground....As you say Buddy will be a problem match up for them, especially with Johnson and McPharlin hobbled

Last time we played Crowley went to Hannas. But I would suggest either Hannas or Lukie.

[wolftone57]

That's in the ruck though. Who will play on him (or Sandilands when resting) in the forward line?

Why not play Reid on him all day. Don't see why not. Clarke rests at different times on the bench too so Sammy would get a rest occasionally. He has played the loose in defence quite well it isn't so much to step up to taking a slow opponent. He is tall enough to negate him and to also take a few marks by intercepting his lead and running off him. Clarke is slow, slow, slow. Sammy is Fast, Fast Fast!

- - - Updated - - -

I would love to see Shiggsy stay in. When they were under the pump in the first quarter he appeared to be one of the ones who was actively trying to change things. I don't think Shaw will be held back, but he would make a great sub. He can play back and forward if required. This would allow Lloyd to play a full game.



Yeah, I was hoping for more. Hopefully it is just a matter of getting up to the speed of the 1st's.


Two mistakes, pretty good game to only have two mistakes.

You forgot the three clanger kicks that turned the ball over when he kicked under pressure. One more goal. It was a low scoring game they all count in those.

[Ludwig]

Last time we played Crowley went to Hannas. But I would suggest either Hannas or Lukie.

He played on KJ the last 2 times and did well. Hannas killed Crowley the time before.

[wolftone57]

Mitchell was quite poor early. Many time I saw him cope a spray for not defending, failing to chase from other players

He improved in the second half but thus could be why hes been on the outer a bit this year.... or it took him a half to step up to AFL level.

He hasn't been on the outer. That is media bull@@@@. He has been injured stop buying into the media hype! He has only been back from injury a matter of weeks. He got 29 & laid 13 tackles the most in the side so stop knocking him!

[Melbourne_Blood]

I think raw stats can be misleading, but despite that I though Mitchell was still pretty good. People are a bit hard on him. His disposals weren't damaging but he's still working his way back into it. 13 tackles is an amazing effort. Allowing him to do more of the the grunt work frees up Jack, Hanners & co to get outside more.

[wolftone57]

My other match ups:

Rampe v Pavlich
Walters v Smith
Ballantiyne v Rohan
Mayne v Richards
Grundy v Clarke

Some of these are designed to surprise Freo. Pavlich would not expect an athletic opponent who won't wrestle with him body on body. Ballantyne would not expect someone of Rohan's height, speed and brutal tackling. Rohan could also hurt him going the other way.

Ok Matt. You really have to look at the height difference and marking power of the forward. Smithy while a great player has one area where he is not so good. Against a taller opponent he is exposed for his lack of marking strength and ability to body a player out of the contest. On players like Cyril or Ballantine he is ok because he is about the same height and body shape. Walters can take the BIG grab and is super elusive and can be very fast over short distances. I doubt he will get Walters. I'd say Ballantyne as he normally does.

[wolftone57]

Ted v Pav
Grundy v Clarke/Sandi
Rohan v Mayne
Rampe v Taberner
Smith v Ballantyne
Shaw v Walters

Michael Johnson could barely raise a jog against Port on the weekend and he normally plays really well against us.
Sandi's knee isn't 100% but he'll play...hopefully a big, fresh Canadian can run him ragged.
Fyfe would blow Reid up in about 10 minutes...his running power is unbelievable...Reid's is good for a big bloke but not in the same class as Fyfe.
I don't know who is going to play on Buddy and Tip...but good luck to them. That's definitely Freo's biggest weakness.

No doubt Kennedy and Benny will be cherry ripe...they would have been doing plenty of running knowing they had the extra week off, almost like a mini pre-season before a 4 week tilt at the flag.

The blokes getting dropped can consider themselves stiff, perfect sheduling for the reservers though allowing them to play a full game on the Sunday. Realistically they should absolutely pants the Thunder with the team we'll be putting out there.

We can only put between 14 & 16 listed players on the park against Thunder. The rest have to come from the Academy.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Just read Michael Johnson has been ruled out. That's a win for us