Changes for Qualifying final V Freo

[CureTheSane]

Late change just in - a flight change for Freo.
Sydney airport curfew + mechanical delay in Perth = off the plane and back to the lounge.
Either catch a flight in the morning or the Red Eye

[Ludwig]

There was some concern over Sandilands' knee last week, although he played out the game. I think Freo used all their 120 interchanges with 5 minutes to go.

As to the effectiveness of the big ruckmen: Freo won the hitouts 57-36 but Port won the clearances 45-37.

And it is true that their flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems after sitting in the plane for 2 hours. Sandi must have been really labouring. They will be flying out in the morning and arriving around dinner time, so doubt if they will have an opportunity to see ANZ until game day.

Too many things going against Freo. Doesn't feel good.

[707]

They now leave 10am Perth, arrive Sydney 4.30pm, collect their bags just in time to sit in some lovely Friday night peak hour traffic - nice :-)

Wouldn't be surprised to see late changes for both teams.

[Ampersand]

I'd say the flight delay was a good sign but didn't the same thing happen when they travelled to the Cattery last finals series and they played the house down? I might be remembering it wrong.

[theta]

Re mitchell being dropped, we are assuming he didn't pull up sore, good chance he did.

Personally, taking a tall team in against freo after 3-weeks-straight rain on a cow paddock is a bad move, just like taking a tall team against freo was a bad move last year, but this time its worse. I know this won't be a popular opinion but I think Reid should be a late out for Mitchell, and then put McVeigh on the wing and put Mitchell in the middle. His tackles and clearances will be gold in the wet, as will be the extra versatility of another small guy in the wet. Expect another 13 tackles if he's put in.

Only advantage of Reid will be ruck support to protect tippet, and an extra tall defender IF they actually push one of their 3 rucks forward, but its more likely to be a defence strategy. Whately said on afl360 its an intriguing pick, but not sure if Lion will follow through with it. Great strategy by lion though considering their injury position, making horse think twice.

Side note - would be a better game if its NOT one of the tallest lineups ever played in what will most likely be raining and on one of the crappiest wet tracks of the modern era - then add to that the two strongest defensive teams.....not exactly what we want with what should be one of our largest crowds in Sydney ever. Not looking good.

[Gezball]

"Partly cloudy. Scattered showers."

[barry]

Now this is a crappy wet track..

[Melbourne_Blood]

Do you actually dislike the SCG Baz or do you just really love ANZ that much that anything else pales in comparison? Genuine question.

[mcs]

Do you actually dislike the SCG Baz or do you just really love ANZ that much that anything else pales in comparison? Genuine question.

Gee Melbourne Blood, how could you possibly need to ask such a question

My question is - does Barry actually live at ANZ Stadium up in the opulent Members area?

- - - Updated - - -

Now this is a crappy wet track..

Its our crappy wet track though Barry.........

[barry]

Dont get another thread closed by getting personal.

But have you ever seen ANZ sa slippery as the above photo?
The answer I s not, so please stop withthe BS about how pristine the SCG is. Weve all witnessed a ome shockers there.

[Go Swannies]

This is a really exciting time of the year and it's great to be able to talk footy and footy matters in here. But I'm being put off commenting by one thread after another being side-tracked by barry's and matt's agendas. Port is an opponent, no more. The ANZ surface is a topic of much wider discussion than just on RWO and we should be able to talk about it.

It's with some trepidation I raise the matter of Freo's disrupted pre-game schedule. I wonder how much that will work in our favour. From what I know of players' rigid routines and superstitions I'd imagine it'd be very disruptive. But I really, really hope it doesn't turn into a "should have stayed with QF rather than switch to Virgin Blue" theme. Right now I'm a bit worried that too much is in our favour (except the weather) with them short of defenders and us having a near full strength team. In years past it's when I'd expect us to be complacent and lose. But somehow the Horse-led Swans team seems more professional than the Roos-led one.

Thoughts?

[ernie koala]

I wonder whether Bird might be the sub - share the work load between all the returning mids in what will be a fairly brutal game.

Highly unlikely. That mistake has been made before. Bird is not an impact player and doesn't have the running power to get to loads of contests.

If the line up remains unchanged, then I think Lloyd will be sub.

[Matt80]

This is a really exciting time of the year and it's great to be able to talk footy and footy matters in here. But I'm being put off commenting by one thread after another being side-tracked by barry's and matt's agendas. Port is an opponent, no more. The ANZ surface is a topic of much wider discussion than just on RWO and we should be able to talk about it.

It's with some trepidation I raise the matter of Freo's disrupted pre-game schedule. I wonder how much that will work in our favour. From what I know of players' rigid routines and superstitions I'd imagine it'd be very disruptive. But I really, really hope it doesn't turn into a "should have stayed with QF rather than switch to Virgin Blue" theme. Right now I'm a bit worried that too much is in our favour (except the weather) with them short of defenders and us having a near full strength team. In years past it's when I'd expect us to be complacent and lose. But somehow the Horse-led Swans team seems more professional than the Roos-led one.

Thoughts?

I've got no other agenda apart from wishing the Swans the best on Saturday.

I was surprised that Tom Walsh was not named in the emergencies. This would indicate that there is confidence in Grundy's fitness.

[Go Swannies]

I've got no other agenda apart from wishing the Swans the best on Saturday.

I was surprised that Tom Walsh was not named in the emergencies. This would indicate that there is confidence in Grundy's fitness.

Reid goes back/ Laidler comes in?

We are playing pretty tall for a wet game so maybe Horse has gone for the best team and will juggle positions to suit?

[aardvark]

I was surprised that Tom Walsh was not named in the emergencies. This would indicate that there is confidence in Grundy's fitness.

and that Tom Walsh is a dud who is going home in a few weeks.