Changes for Rnd 2 V Port.

[graemed]

I really feel like I was at a different game when I read comments about Jetta, Shaw, Towers and Goodes, but more specifically the lack of discussion about our backline and Grundy in particular.
Jetta is happy to get the footy on his terms but is @@@@@@ the rest of the time, Shaw is being led to the ball too often and when he used as a free runner his disposals are poor to unrealistic. Towers needs game time but in the mean time has no positioning and a lack of awareness that borders on spectating. Goodes was problematic throughout the day and a chase he half made on Hibbert early did him in.
Grundy looked like he was still recovering from the GF and his "shadow punching" is weird.
Rampe is a mid-fielder who has been given an opportunity to play in great team as a back.
Reid was instrumental from part way through the third quarter when he went onto Goddard in getting back into the contest. His positioning both forward and back were excellent he contested both as third man up, in marking contests and when he went forward in the last quarter he made a couple of goals.
We need on ballers prepared to win the football against Port.
They do not have a super quick midfield.
Wines is not quick. Boak is not quick. Gray is not quick. Hartlett is not quick. They win the football with aggression and skill. They have quick outside runners, but they have to be in possession to distribute outside. Freo do not have a quick midfield. Hawthorn does not have a quick midfield. Geelong does not have a quick midfield.
We need to win possession at clearances. The last quarter was about clearances. Mitchell wins clearances.
There I've finished my rant.

[aguy]

I really feel like I was at a different game when I read comments about Jetta, Shaw, Towers and Goodes, but more specifically the lack of discussion about our backline and Grundy in particular.

Grundy looked like he was still recovering from the GF and his "shadow punching" is weird

It's always interesting how we see different things. My comments were made after watching the game for a second time this morning. I agree ablut Grundy but we don't really have any viable alternatives I don't think so I think he needs to gain confidence through game time.

I think laidler actually looked pretty solid despite me not picking him in the team myself.

[Scottee]

I really feel like I was at a different game when I read comments about Jetta, Shaw, Towers and Goodes, but more specifically the lack of discussion about our backline and Grundy in particular.
Jetta is happy to get the footy on his terms but is @@@@@@ the rest of the time, Shaw is being led to the ball too often and when he used as a free runner his disposals are poor to unrealistic. Towers needs game time but in the mean time has no positioning and a lack of awareness that borders on spectating. Goodes was problematic throughout the day and a chase he half made on Hibbert early did him in.
Grundy looked like he was still recovering from the GF and his "shadow punching" is weird.
Rampe is a mid-fielder who has been given an opportunity to play in great team as a back.
Reid was instrumental from part way through the third quarter when he went onto Goddard in getting back into the contest. His positioning both forward and back were excellent he contested both as third man up, in marking contests and when he went forward in the last quarter he made a couple of goals.
We need on ballers prepared to win the football against Port.
They do not have a super quick midfield.
Wines is not quick. Boak is not quick. Gray is not quick. Hartlett is not quick. They win the football with aggression and skill. They have quick outside runners, but they have to be in possession to distribute outside. Freo do not have a quick midfield. Hawthorn does not have a quick midfield. Geelong does not have a quick midfield.
We need to win possession at clearances. The last quarter was about clearances. Mitchell wins clearances.
There I've finished my rant.

Good rant graemed. Agree with most of it. I feel a little bit more generous to Towers who at least applies some physical pressure compared to Jetta but there are very few alternatives atm.
I must say that the silver ling of the cloud we saw for 3 quarters yesterday was the improvement of Reid as third man up, an improved ability to use his body and an ability to defend (could he be another gadget man?).Also the continued improvement of Rampe who must now be one of the most reliable players in the side.
I also couldn't believe the shadow punches from Grundy, but, I saw a number of instances where there no talking on the field, in particular from Goodes when he hand balled to I think it was Parker before he got run down, and seems that Richards is not saying much at the right times either.

Not so sure about Port's midfield not being quick either, haven't looked at Draft Camp results or anything, but they seem to have a combination of speed and agility that we don't have and it shows up on the big grounds. Couldn't agree more about clearances though, Mitchell is a must.

[DamY]

What about Pike??

Not setting the world alight by any means.

We have several young ruckmen, I think maybe we should start giving them a go along with Tippet.

We need mobile ruckmen like Brisbane Martin, not slow big men.

And one last chance for Goodes, our forward line is way to top heavy with him there.

Pyke made a few clever taps in the last quarter, keeping the ball alive when he needed to.

[DamY]

It's always interesting how we see different things. My comments were made after watching the game for a second time this morning. I agree ablut Grundy but we don't really have any viable alternatives I don't think so I think he needs to gain confidence through game time.

I think laidler actually looked pretty solid despite me not picking him in the team myself.

Yeh live Laidler was ok but on replay he was actually pretty good

[RogueSwan]

Good rant graemed...Not so sure about Port's midfield not being quick either...

A bit of a self fulfilling prophecy going on here. The coach says they work on running out games one preseason, the media picks up on it in, they win a game where that were behind and all of a sudden they are fast/fast finishing team. I remember Macca saying before one game against them they would gladly match their run at the end of the game against the Power. He was pretty confident in their training to see them finish stronger.

[Ludwig]

After watching a couple of other matches I see how much we need to raise our level of pressure and intensity. As much as I want to keep Goodes in the side, I don't think he applies enough pressure at this stage of his career to play a full game. I think he will make a good sub; he's an impact player.

McGlynn will eventually come into the side when fit. He's a very good pressure player. I dropped Cunningham and Laidler from the side. I think we can have one 'defensive' forward and now prefer Towers to Harry. Laidler is hard at the contest, but he's not a midfielder. It's a choice between Mitchell and Laidler and I would give Mitchell the nod. We just need more pressure on the ball and the player.

Here's my team for next week:


FB Grundy Reid Richards
HB Shaw McVeigh Smith
CTR Jetta Hannebery Rampe
Rk Pyke Kennedy Parker
HF Bird Franklin Jack
FF Towers Tippett Rohan
INT Heeney Mitchell Lloyd
SUB Goodes
EMG Cunningham Robinson Laidler

[aguy]

After watching a couple of other matches I see how much we need to raise our level of pressure and intensity. As much as I want to keep Goodes in the side, I don't think he applies enough pressure at this stage of his career to play a full game. I think he will make a good sub; he's an impact player.

McGlynn will eventually come into the side when fit. He's a very good pressure player. I dropped Cunningham and Laidler from the side. I think we can have one 'defensive' forward and now prefer Towers to Harry. Laidler is hard at the contest, but he's not a midfielder. It's a choice between Mitchell and Laidler and I would give Mitchell the nod. We just need more pressure on the ball and the player.

Here's my team for next week:


FB Grundy Reid Richards
HB Shaw McVeigh Smith
CTR Jetta Hannebery Rampe
Rk Pyke Kennedy Parker
HF Bird Franklin Jack
FF Towers Tippett Rohan
INT Heeney Mitchell Lloyd
SUB Goodes
EMG Cunningham Robinson Laidler

Goodes as the sub definitely sends a message to him but is it insulting I wonder?

I guess this is all tinkering around the edges that we are talking about. It would seem that towers laidler goodes Cunningham are considered our bottom 4 by most people here.

Out of these 3 emergencies which would you actually take to Adelaide seeing as they normally only travel with one of the named emergencies. I probably think Robinson is the most versatile out of those 3 in the emergency role but laids looked pretty good last week. He does take a good intercept mark and we know reg and ted are more punchers than markers

[aguy]

And I'm looking forward to watching the port fro game in an hour.

Question is who should we be cheering for. Do we want to play port coming off a win or a loss

[Matt80]

Although he has never said it publicly, I wonder if Goodes is eyeing of Michael Tuck's games record. He has 75 games to go. He may get there if he plays four more seasons. He will turn 38 in four seasons from now.

This milestone is in reach and I'm going to back him.

There will be games this year where he chips in with 3 - 4 valuable cameo goals.

It was a wet night and no tall player dominated. He still looks quite sharp and if Fletcher can keep going, so can Goodes.

[aguy]

Outs - Parker, Laidler

Ins - McVeigh, Mitchell

Parker may need a week out after that massive collision. You bring in another inside midfield extractor in Mitchell. This keeps the team balance of having three pure inside midfield extractors.

Laidler was excellent, but we can't afford to lose any pace against Port and we have other back line
options.

Towers to Sub.

Sam Reid should tag Westoff for the whole game. He looked good when put on Goddard. Reid has to limit Westoff's influence around the ground.

We need to keep the game in tight, on the boundary line and not let the play open up.

I would then back Franklin, Tippett and Goodes to kick a score against the Port key defence, who are not A-Graders.

Matt. How would you change your team if Parker is indeed fit to play ?

[Matt80]

Matt. How would you change your team if Parker is indeed fit to play ?

McVeigh for Laidler.

Need to keep pace in the side and including Mitchell will give us one pure inside midfield extractor too many. Bird is playing too well to make way for Mitchell.

[Ludwig]

Laidler is a lot like Mattner (after he lost his pace). He's a solid defender with a long left foot kick. Mattner played when we had 3 key defenders (Reg, Ted, LRT) and was good as the third man in a contest and an intercept marker. Teams with 3 good tall marking options can exploit Laidler as a 3rd tall, and he's not a rebounder, so it limits how we can use him. All that said, he's a great player to have at the club, as he can come in and cover in case of injury to a key defender. Rampe can drop back into defence and do the same job as Laidler plus provide rebound out of defence, and can also go into the midfield.

I hope that Reid can grow into the job of a key defender until one of our kids comes through, because we are certainly light in that area of the ground.

Zak Jones is another player that is made for the modern pressure game. He should make his way into the team as well at some point in the season.

[aguy]

Laidler is a lot like Mattner (after he lost his pace). He's a solid defender with a long left foot kick. Mattner played when we had 3 key defenders (Reg, Ted, LRT) and was good as the third man in a contest and an intercept marker. Teams with 3 good tall marking options can exploit Laidler as a 3rd tall, and he's not a rebounder, so it limits how we can use him. All that said, he's a great player to have at the club, as he can come in and cover in case of injury to a key defender. Rampe can drop back into defence and do the same job as Laidler plus provide rebound out of defence, and can also go into the midfield.

I hope that Reid can grow into the job of a key defender until one of our kids comes through, because we are certainly light in that area of the ground.

Zak Jones is another player that is made for the modern pressure game. He should make his way into the team as well at some point in the season.

I think thats not a bad comment about laidler. He is our most solid defender under the high ball in my opinion but just lacks pace. If he was faster he would be a starting player every week.

With our team at full strength who would you see Zak jones coming in for. I agree Zak has a lot of upside but at whose expense?

- - - Updated - - -

I was watching the replay of bombers vs swans 2011 yesterday. Made me miss AJ

[0918330512]

Although he has never said it publicly, I wonder if Goodes is eyeing of Michael Tuck's games record. He has 75 games to go. He may get there if he plays four more seasons. He will turn 38 in four seasons from now.

This milestone is in reach and I'm going to back him.

There will be games this year where he chips in with 3 - 4 valuable cameo goals.

It was a wet night and no tall player dominated. He still looks quite sharp and if Fletcher can keep going, so can Goodes.

Goodes has pretty dodgy knees (inspite of a treatment - that hasn't got a lot of evidence - to prolong his career). People are calling for curtains on his career now, let alone in 4 years.

Tell him he's dreaming