Rnd 19 MDT Fremantle V Sydney. 13.20 pm. D.S.

[jono2707]

That was a pretty good performance by us, but I was more struck by how far Freo have fallen. They were mostly awful.

[barry]

When tippet returns he is no 1 ruck. So is nainsmith better than sinclair as a forward ?

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[MattW]

When tippet returns he is no 1 ruck. So is nainsmith better than sinclair as a forward ?

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He'd be close up forward. Competes better at ground level and is quicker. Obviously more dangerous at centre square bounces. I'd pick him over Sinclair.

[Cheer_Cheer]

I would give the bulk of the rucking to Naismith. I think Naismith gives us the option of leaving Tippet up forward a lot more.

[barry]

Tippet doesn't work as a forward. He 10x better roaming the ground.

I think sinclair is the better forward.

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[Cheer_Cheer]

Tippet doesn't work as a forward. He 10x better roaming the ground.

I think sinclair is the better forward.

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Really ?

[Maltopia]

Apart from the obvious standouts out of our stars and top draft picks, I was also impressed with Cunningham, Towers, Aliir, Richards and Naismith from our lesser lights. Rohan was hot and cold, and missing for long stretches, and Papley had more bad patches than good ones.

I think we are in a good place with Tippet, Reid, Tahlia (maybe), Laidler, Sinclair, Foote, Richards, Robinson, BJ, McGlynn and Newman (did I miss anyone) who could slot into the team (after recovering from injury for some of them).

[barry]

Our best wins come when our bottom 6 play well.

It may be That when tippet comes back he won't have the match fitness to be no 1 ruck, in which case nainsmith stays.

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[MattW]

Tippet doesn't work as a forward. He 10x better roaming the ground.

I think sinclair is the better forward.

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Tippett is very dangerous forward - he plays forward better than our other ruckmen. He's easily a better mark and kick forward than Sinclair. He's also better around the ground and will play predominantly out of the centre whomever his ruck partner is.

[Doctor]

The challenge will be getting Tippett and Naismith to play together, as they are clearly our two best ruckmen. For the rest of this year at least, Tippett's lack of match fitness on return from injury will probably make it a decent combination, as he'll have to spend more time in the forward 50 as he gets back into footy.

[bodgie]

I think it will take Tippet a few games to run into his better form so we'll need Naismith to keep running around. Der. as above!

[707]

Tippett proved to be a very good ruckman but Naismith is proving that too, he is on a Gawn like trajectory. Think it will be Naismith number one ruck and Tippett afdter a long lay off and struggling for condition will play FF where he is more competent and dangerous than any other option.

Our players around Tippett in the fwd line are much better than last time he played there so he will not only give us a genuine target but the fwd entries will be better. Heeney Rohan and Papley are three different small/mediums that make Tippett a better FF this time around and our fwd line much better.

Liking that thought.

[barry]

The only worry is that it's fairly disruptive to the 2016 balance to suddenly play tippet as a FF.
We need to be careful we don't fall back into 2015 mode.

[RogueSwan]

I think Naismith has shown here can hold down the ruck duties for us but I think we forget how good Sinclair was at the start of the season until he injured his knee. I think that injury had hampered him more than we realise.
Isn't it great to have a number of quality ruckmen to choose from.

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[Nico]

I don't know that Sinclair will get back for the season. 4 weeks from operation before he can play and will lose condition and can only play one position. I expect him to be the back up ruckman come finals. Naismith playing way too well. This bloke has given us a serious boost.