Changes for Rnd 10 V Hawthorn.

[barry]

Id bring in Allir too.

Pick the best 22.

[MattW]

I think Florent will be the one to come in as he has the outside pace

I would go this way too, for the same reason. Longmire today suggested Florent and Dawson to be the candidates. I think ideally Ollie would be given the chance to build momentum for the NEAFL side, but agree pace should determine their choice.

[Doctor]

Aliir isn't currently in the best 22. There are those on this thread who have been calling for players like Newman, Melican and others to come in to the first team, and many more over the years, but the performances they have turned in once picked only prove that the club was right to hold them back. The coaching staff know what they want and when a young guy is ready. It's also clear that some get an early taste of it so they can see what it's like, then go back to the ressies to try to get to that level week in, week out. Currently, it looks like Dawson is getting close while Florent is improving steadily but isn't physically there yet. Hawthorn aren't all that tall in the forwards so I can't see why we'd need a third tall defender, especially with Rampe now back. To me, Melican has started to give us the balance we've lacked in defence since Ted's injuries and retirement happened.

The coaching staff know what Aliir needs to do, and once he's doing it every week he'll be back. He's still young for a KPP.

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Aliir isn't currently in the best 22. There are those on this thread who have been calling for players like Newman, Melican and others to come in to the first team, and many more over the years, but the performances they have turned in once picked only prove that the club was right to hold them back. The coaching staff know what they want and when a young guy is ready. It's also clear that some get an early taste of it so they can see what it's like, then go back to the ressies to try to get to that level week in, week out. Currently, it looks like Dawson is getting close while Florent is improving steadily but isn't physically there yet. Hawthorn aren't all that tall in the forwards so I can't see why we'd need a third tall defender, especially with Rampe now back. To me, Melican has started to give us the balance we've lacked in defence since Ted's injuries and retirement happened.

The coaching staff know what Aliir needs to do, and once he's doing it every week he'll be back. He's still young for a KPP.

[Ludwig]

Aliir is the same spectacular player he was last year, maybe better. He's like a Buddy Franklin in the back line, but is a better mark. There's no reason to leave such a good player out of the side. He's still inexperienced, so he will make his mistakes, but he will be a superstar of the competition. Melican has being playing very well. He didn't have a breakout game until the NEAFL GF last year, but has continued on from there. He should stay. With the addition of a dynamic player like Aliir, we will be hard to stop on the rebound from defence.

About playing 3 tall defenders: We used to do it, but we haven't had the personnel in recent times. GWS, when fit early in the season, were playing 4 (Davis, Corr, Tomlinson and Haynes), but all are very mobile. Adelaide have 3 medium paced tall defenders in Talia, Hartigan and Lever, and it seems to work well.

There have been far too many times when we had small defenders finding themselves mismatched on tall forwards. Adding Aliir lessens the chance of that happening.

Sinclair may have had a good game for Sinclair, but still didn't do enough for me to keep him in the team in lieu of another midfielder like Dawson or Florent. If we bring in Aliir and Dawson, it will greatly add to our marking power around he ground.

It's not so much about who we should bring in for the Hawthorn game, but more about finding the best team before going into the bye round. Aliir is a must in that team.

[dejavoodoo44]

Cunningham gave us real speed and his two goals were spectacular. He is improving and versatile and seems to play some of the time off half back. He will be missed. Would leave Jack till after the bye. Florent probably should come in with his pace and he has been freshened up

Yes, Cunningham has been really good lately, so it's a shame that he got injured. And some of the other fringe players have been surprisingly good: Sinclair and especially Towers. Maybe their confidence is finally building?
Mainly for that reason, I would only make the minimal change of bringing somebody in for Harry. Probably Dawson, because he's been really tearing up in the ressies and he does give us an extra midfield rotation. Though I wouldn't be disappointed if either Aliir or Florent were brought in.

[Blood Fever]

Yes, Cunningham has been really good lately, so it's a shame that he got injured. And some of the other fringe players have been surprisingly good: Sinclair and especially Towers. Maybe their confidence is finally building?
Mainly for that reason, I would only make the minimal change of bringing somebody in for Harry. Probably Dawson, because he's been really tearing up in the ressies and he does give us an extra midfield rotation. Though I wouldn't be disappointed if either Aliir or Florent were brought in.

Agree Towers and Sinclair were very good. I think Naismith and Tippett are our best ruck combo but I would be reluctant to drop Sinclair for Sam this week. On Towers, his goal showed how athletic he is and he showed a lot of heart on that occasion. Can see why we persist with him. Great value when he doesn't think and plays on instinct.

[Nico]

AA in
Rampe can play midfield

best game ive seen Smith play for ages
He even looked quick

Rampe will never play wing. Far too valuable down back.

[mattybloods]

Surprised many are calling for AA's inclusion. Our defence looked fantastic last week against the Saints, I wouldn't want to change anything. Bringing AA in would mean some positional changes and I don't think we need to be tinkering like that now we've finally hit some form. I'd be happy with either Dawson or Florent, whoever they decide to bring in I hope it's not just for one game


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[Nico]

Agree Towers and Sinclair were very good. I think Naismith and Tippett are our best ruck combo but I would be reluctant to drop Sinclair for Sam this week. On Towers, his goal showed how athletic he is and he showed a lot of heart on that occasion. Can see why we persist with him. Great value when he doesn't think and plays on instinct.

To me Tippett is too fragile to play ruck. Leave him playing out of the square and save his body. Our forward line had a so much better structure (we had a structure for change) with him playing full forward. With him out of the square it opened our forward line so much and allowed Papley, Hewett, Towers and the mids to chip in to kick goals.

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Agree Towers and Sinclair were very good. I think Naismith and Tippett are our best ruck combo but I would be reluctant to drop Sinclair for Sam this week. On Towers, his goal showed how athletic he is and he showed a lot of heart on that occasion. Can see why we persist with him. Great value when he doesn't think and plays on instinct.

To me Tippett is too fragile to play ruck. Leave him playing out of the square and save his body. Our forward line had a so much better structure (we had a structure for change) with him playing full forward. With him out of the square it opened our forward line so much and allowed Papley, Hewett, Towers and the mids to chip in to kick goals.

Rohan was very good with his pressure. So we had multiple scoring options with the 2 big pillars at CHF and FF

[Ludwig]

Surprised many are calling for AA's inclusion. Our defence looked fantastic last week against the Saints, I wouldn't want to change anything. Bringing AA in would mean some positional changes and I don't think we need to be tinkering like that now we've finally hit some form. I'd be happy with either Dawson or Florent, whoever they decide to bring in I hope it's not just for one game

The Saints had a feeble forward line, with a slow Paddy McCartin and Nick Riewoldt with a bum knee. Membrey is not that tall. We probably won't have a problem with Hawthorn either.

But what happens when we play GWS, with Cameron, Lobb and Patton, or Adelaide with Walker, Jenkins, McGovern and Lynch, or Essendon with Daniher, Hooker and Stewart? We need to be prepared to deal with teams with 3 or more tall forwards and not tie down Rampe to difficult defensive roles. He's much better coming off his man to help out others. He's the key player in our transition from defence to offense.

It's a much needed tinkering that will make us a better and more flexible side. Faster, bigger, stronger and more skillful.

[DaveyCaper]

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[Doctor]

The Saints had a feeble forward line, with a slow Paddy McCartin and Nick Riewoldt with a bum knee. Membrey is not that tall. We probably won't have a problem with Hawthorn either.

But what happens when we play GWS, with Cameron, Lobb and Patton, or Adelaide with Walker, Jenkins, McGovern and Lynch, or Essendon with Daniher, Hooker and Stewart? We need to be prepared to deal with teams with 3 or more tall forwards and not tie down Rampe to difficult defensive roles. He's much better coming off his man to help out others. He's the key player in our transition from defence to offense.

It's a much needed tinkering that will make us a better and more flexible side. Faster, bigger, stronger and more skillful.

When we play those teams we should consider tinkering with our side. I do agree that we have been too rigid in the past in situations like that and that it has cost us. Hawthorn are not one of those teams though and, therefore, we should stay with our current balance.

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The Saints had a feeble forward line, with a slow Paddy McCartin and Nick Riewoldt with a bum knee. Membrey is not that tall. We probably won't have a problem with Hawthorn either.

But what happens when we play GWS, with Cameron, Lobb and Patton, or Adelaide with Walker, Jenkins, McGovern and Lynch, or Essendon with Daniher, Hooker and Stewart? We need to be prepared to deal with teams with 3 or more tall forwards and not tie down Rampe to difficult defensive roles. He's much better coming off his man to help out others. He's the key player in our transition from defence to offense.

It's a much needed tinkering that will make us a better and more flexible side. Faster, bigger, stronger and more skillful.

When we play those teams we should consider tinkering with our side. I do agree that we have been too rigid in the past in situations like that and that it has cost us. Hawthorn are not one of those teams though and, therefore, we should stay with our current balance.

[SeanM]

I don't think we should drop Sinclair. I think Tippett would struggle to be the sole ruck. They seemed to preserve him a bit by keeping him mostly forward. I think higher chance of injury if we play him as sole ruck.

Dawson or Florent seem likely due to good reserve form. It would be good to see Dawson play a second game in midfield whilst he is in good form. Or to see how Florent plays in a team that is not struggling.

It is a great opportunity to cement a place in a winning team. Though they may just play Florent/Dawson for one game. And then bring in Jack, Robinson or Marsh after the bye.


I agree longer term we may need to develop another tall in defence. Sometimes we seem undersized and Melican sometimes struggles with the bigger forwards. Maybe later on in the season we should have a look at Talia or Maiburn.

Aliir does not seem a capable lock down defender, maybe keep him as a backup to Mills/Marsh. So he is just marking a medium sized half forward and has less defensive responsibility.

[Markwebbos]

Maybe I'm just a cynical person but I'd like to see us include someone specifically to physically intimidate Hodge along the lines of that Geelong game earlier in the year.

[dejavoodoo44]

Maybe I'm just a cynical person but I'd like to see us include someone specifically to physically intimidate Hodge along the lines of that Geelong game earlier in the year.

Papley and Hodge might be spending a bit of time together. If I remember rightly, didn't Papley treat Hodge as a speed hump, when scoring in a game last year? If so, Hodge is probably holding a grudge, while Papley is probably keen to repeat the dose. Might be an interesting clash.