Changes for Preliminary Final V Cats

[KTigers]

Tippo is no pushover. And think about it this way. Say Tippo gets another week to recover. Then we have to drop Nankervis, who has been more than serviceable, for the GF, for Tippo to come back in. When do we have to announce the team? I'm sure they'll be waiting to the very last minute to see how the currently injured ones are travelling. Jesus, who would
be a AFL coach? Team selection at this time of the year must be a bloody nightmare.

[Melbournehammer]

Tippo is no pushover. And think about it this way. Say Tippo gets another week to recover. Then we have to drop Nankervis, who has been more than serviceable, for the GF, for Tippo to come back in. When do we have to announce the team? I'm sure they'll be waiting to the very last minute to see how the currently injured ones are travelling. Jesus, who would
be a AFL coach? Team selection at this time of the year must be a bloody nightmare.

I suspect it is if you dont have a settled side or have had clear communication. Tippett is clearly a better mark and his ruck work particularly away from centre bounces is very good.

But I like the cut of nanks jib. He is so old fashioned its like watching a ken rosewall type on the modern tennis circuit. just looks like a big lump of a lad that wont get pushed around by anyone.

I'd pick a fully fit tippett every time. I'm just a bit unsure as to whether tippett is fully fit.

[Melbournehammer]

I cannot believe the love for Towers on here!
His decision making is appalling and he has far too many "deer in the headlights" moments for finals and that isn't even his worst attribute, which is definitely his tackling!!! He stickes his arms out like a turnstile and opponents run straight through!!!
The only thing Towers and Rohan have in common is their speed, in every other way they are worlds apart. Much prefer Cunningham or even Rose as a replacement if one is needed.

Actually i think towers gets the ball more than rohan does for what it is worth. I think his tackling remains so poor that i wouldnt ordinarily play him but against the cats whose defenders arent actually all that quick i sort of like towers as the hff - i can see him leading well to the wings and receiving the ball there - and since i cant see rose or cunningham tackling henderson, lonergan or taylor the loss is not that big - the object has got to be put pressure on them and force them to kick up the line to a contest.

unfortunately rose is just not quite there from my viewing of him - he's not quite big enough and not quite quick enough and its going to be a hard road for him. pity because i think he's got a lot of good attributes.

[MattW]

With so many players in doubt, it's not possible to predict the team with any confidence. Nevertheless, I like trying to interpret the language used by Harley and Longmire in interviews when discussing team selection: the strength of the adjectives regarding their prospect of playing, whether they have trained, tone. On that basis, my guess is: Tippett and Jones will be fit, McVeigh and Mills won't be, they really don't know with Rohan but would like to play him if they can.

[liz]

.
Out , mash or Lloyd to weak in finals replace mills, harry cunningham

Out - Lloyd? Not sure we've been watching the same team play. Lloyd ain't flashy but he's been incredibly important for us this year as a link up player. He runs all day, so often to the right spot, and his ball use is generally sound. We'd be a much less effective team without Lloyd (unless you can nominate someone else who can do what he does).

[swans]

Out - Lloyd? Not sure we've been watching the same team play. Lloyd ain't flashy but he's been incredibly important for us this year as a link up player. He runs all day, so often to the right spot, and his ball use is generally sound. We'd be a much less effective team without Lloyd (unless you can nominate someone else who can do what he does).

You right Lloyd is playing a import role and will not be dropped. But his wk we do need maybe one more tall in the selection mix. MCG is a larger ground and another marking tall option would be a good inclusion for this wk game

[mcs]

You right Lloyd is playing a import role and will not be dropped. But his wk we do need maybe one more tall in the selection mix. MCG is a larger ground and another marking tall option would be a good inclusion for this wk game

There is no way that Lloyd would be going out, even if they made such a decision to include an extra tall. He has been critical to our structures this year, and as Liz says our link up play.

They may well choose to play an extra tall (Tippo in for Rohan would be my guess if they do), but Lloyd is not in any danger of going out.

[longmile]

IN: Tippett, Jones
OUT: Nankervis, McVeigh

[RogueSwan]

IN: Tippett, Jones
OUT: Nankervis, McVeigh

Watching the game again I would seriously consider keeping Toby over Sam if Tippett comes back in.

[bloodspirit]

Will be interesting to see which way we go..

Do they risk taking Tippo and Mills into this game...

The intensity will be very high, I'd be surprised if Mills would be ready after 13 days.

And if Tippo were to cop some heavy contact to the jaw, his night could be over early.

But I reckon he'll play as a FF replacing Rohan, rather than bringing in Towers.

I suspect they'll bring in Cunningham, due to his pace, for a negating role.

(I would prefer Zak Jones but his concussion looked severe and doubt he'd be ready.)

So I reckon :

OUT : McVeigh, Rohan

IN : Cunningham, Tippett.

Others thoughts?

The main problem is we don't know who is available/ready/uninjured. The pool of players under injury cloud are:

Tippett
Mills
McVeigh
Rohan
Jones

Ideally two of these will play and we won't need anyone else to come in. It seems to me that McVeigh is the least likely to be ready although he's probably also the one they are most likely to accept less than 100% fitness from because of his on-field general value. I don't think we can select a player unless we are confident their injury isn't going to flare up in the game. (Slightly different to accepting an injury will restrict a player but not so much they are not worth picking.)

You have suggested playing 4 talls in the front half if Tip is available: Buddy, X, Tippo as FF and the resting ruck. MP, mcs, Triple B, GongSwan and waswan (at least) seem to agree with you this is the best option. While I have great respect for your views, I think this is probably too many talls in the front half. And moving Buddy away from goals would not be the best solution.

The instagram post from Rohan is encouraging and if it could be as simple as Mills or Jones for McVeigh, I'd be delighted with that. However, while 2 weeks will have passed since the NEAFL GF, anyone who saw Jones out cold would also be very cautious about bringing him back too soon. As best I could tell he still had not regained consciousness a minute later and perhaps even by the time they got him off the ground about 3-4+ minutes later. It was very disturbing. Likewise we would not want to risk bringing Mills back too soon and we're probably better off gambling on him in the GF if at all.

So it really comes down to who is available. If a fringe player (Towers, Harry, Foote, Robbo, BJ etc) has to be picked, I probably lean marginally towards Harry because he is quick and versatile and a bit more reliable than Towers even if he offers less upside. I don't see Teddy being recalled for anyone except Reg or Aliir (like someone else posted).

So that's my two bob.

[longmile]

Watching the game again I would seriously consider keeping Toby over Sam if Tippett comes back in.

Tbh I really like Nankervis and I'd do the same, but Longmire has been rating Naismith above Toby all year

[bloodspirit]

By the bye, I miss Ludwig. Mate, at least try and post some images. You don't have to think too long and hard about that. I value the laughs at least as much as the earnest and thoughtful analysis.

[dejavoodoo44]

Tbh I really like Nankervis and I'd do the same, but Longmire has been rating Naismith above Toby all year

By the way, your "have a nice day at work" post, made me laugh loudly in an inappropriate environment.

[KTigers]

"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, (Kil)Roy"
Tyrell in "Blade Runner" (1982).

[Industrial Fan]

I'd seriously look at bringing Matt back in for the rest of the season and keep KilroyII on the bench.

Maybe if things get quiet in the offseason we can look at drafting kilroyIII and IV