Changes for Rnd 14 V Essendon

[bloodspirit]

Ludwig's voice needs to be heard. Since he isn't here to provide it*, allow me:

Sinclair should definitely be dropped. He is a waste of space. He can't mark and doesn't kick goals. Aliir should definitely come in to replace him. Aliir can do everything: ruck, play forward, play wing, rebound of half back, intercept anything and everything, make cheese, play violin sonatas and channel the divine. It's a no brainer. Form like Dawson's is also too good to ignore. He has to play. Naismith is only good for winning hitouts and they are overrated. Towers can chip in to help out in the ruck along with Aliir and Reid. Have you noticed how well the Demons have been doing without Gawn and Spencer? I have no idea why they are contemplating bringing back Gawn this round. Bring Dawson in for Naismith. Next, Marsh is OK but we need more height in the backline, especially since Aliir won't have much opportunity to help out down there with all the other stuff he'll be doing - bring back Melican. We also need to play more youth. Unfortunately we can't play Murray or Fisher due to their rookie status but Florent has been great in the reserves and we can get him back in the team. Who to leave out? It's a toss up between Towers, Grundy and K.Jack. Grundy and Jack are old, past it more or less and besides we're counting on Towers to ruck, so it has to be one of those. If we weren't playing Essendon, I'd say Grundy but since we are we may as well leave out Kieren Jack. This team is clearly better than the one we put out against Richmond, so we are bound to win.^ For all your other queries, contact me, Ludwig@ChiangMaiSolutions.


* Where are you Ludwig?
^ So long as we lock Tom Harley out of the ground. Preferably we also move Rhyce Shaw into the head coach's seat and Horse and the others can all bump along one. Goodbye to the IT/stats kid, who can move to the corridor.

[dimelb]

A truly Ludwigian effort - a rich mixture of profound wisdom and utter madness!

The only changes I'd make:
Out - Jones
In - Dawson

[waswan]

Out: Jones, Marsh, Towers
In: Melican, Aliir, Dawson

+1

[liz]

A truly Ludwigian effort - a rich mixture of profound wisdom and utter madness!

The only changes I'd make:
Out - Jones
In - Dawson

I think it's a near certainty that a tallish defender will come into the side, be that Melican, Aliir or Talia. (Maibaum is very unlikely.) It comes down to whether this is the only change, to replace Jones within the 22, or whether there is some positional rebalancing of the side as well

[bloodspirit]

I think it's a near certainty that a tallish defender will come into the side, be that Melican, Aliir or Talia. (Maibaum is very unlikely.) It comes down to whether this is the only change, to replace Jones within the 22, or whether there is some positional rebalancing of the side as well

Surely if we're talking about Talia, Aliir and even Maibaum, Laidler deserves a mention too?! It's true he has become so easy to overlook. Yesterday's man even though he is dependable and has been in great form in the Reserves.

[mcs]

I think it's a near certainty that a tallish defender will come into the side, be that Melican, Aliir or Talia. (Maibaum is very unlikely.) It comes down to whether this is the only change, to replace Jones within the 22, or whether there is some positional rebalancing of the side as well

I think it'll be Melican for Jones and that's that - although one could argue a couple of the fringe guys may be under pressure a bit, if they choose to rebalance the side a bit.

[wolftone57]

Surely if we're talking about Talia, Aliir and even Maibaum, Laidler deserves a mention too?! It's true he has become so easy to overlook. Yesterday's man even though he is dependable and has been in great form in the Reserves.

I don't think there is a spot for Laids in this game. Their forward line is pretty quick, all except Hooker. We need to go with the faster backs to counter that or we will get cut up. We still need the strong hard defensive backs though but players like Smooch, Mills & Rampe are nowhere near as slow as Laids. Newman (I think the best tackler and almost best kick in the AFL ATM), Lloydy, Ramps and ? will provide the run out of the backs too. I am tempted to think we could play Aliir on someone like McDonald Tipungwuti as he is fast enough and could out-mark him and therefore negating him. it will be an interesting day at the selection table today. I do hope Dawson comes in though as I think he could give us even more through the mids. He could be the natural replacement for Joey while he rests in the forward line and then while Dawson rests he could be incredibly dangerous. this would take a lot of the pressure off Joey.

[ScottH]

Got your early leave pass from your boss yet??

http://s.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/SydneySwans/Club%20Promos/Round%2014_Leave%20Pass.pdf

[ugg]

Hooker dislocates finger, out for the game. Looks like McKernan in for him.

AFL Teams Round 14: Full squads for every game, ins and outs, suspensions and team news | Fox Sports

[bloodspirit]

Hooker dislocates finger, out for the game. Looks like McKernan in for him.

AFL Teams Round 14: Full squads for every game, ins and outs, suspensions and team news | Fox Sports

Two points:

1. The phrase "The finger was relocated straight away.." is amusing. I wonder where it is now. And what, if anything, is there in its place?

2. How soft is Cale Hooker? He dislocates a finger "earlier in the week" at training and he's not going to play. Kizza dislocated not one but two fingers during the Bulldogs match and everyone was immediately confident he would be right to go against the Tigers. And he was! Just brushed it off.

[Dosser]

Two points:

1. The phrase "The finger was relocated straight away.." is amusing. I wonder where it is now. And what, if anything, is there in its place?

2. How soft is Cale Hooker? He dislocates a finger "earlier in the week" at training and he's not going to play. Kizza dislocated not one but two fingers during the Bulldogs match and everyone was immediately confident he would be right to go against the Tigers. And he was! Just brushed it off.

And then people on here complained about his output.

[bloodspirit]

Here's Titus O'Reily's take on tomorrow's match:

Sydney v Essendon (SCG) 7.50pm

It was fun, and all but Sydney can?t play Richmond every week. Relying on your opponent tripping over themselves repeatedly, for two whole quarters, is not a reliable plan. In fact, Essendon has, dare I say it, been impressive at times this year. They may not fold so easily. Then again, an ironing board folds less easily than Richmond. The Swans haven?t left themselves a lot of room for error if they are to play finals. In good news for the club, Buddy managed to avoid a suspension this week, exercising his ?get out of jail free? card they give all the big stars in the competition. The Match Review Panel really phoned it in this week, obviously deciding they?d prefer to top up their end-of-year drinks fund rather than suspend players. The Bombers are also in the hunt for finals and have a run home easier than the Burnt Hut Spur at Mt Buller. I know I speak for all footy fans when I say the idea of the Bombers going deep into September would be a feel-good story without precedent in sport. I?m tipping the Swans in this one.

- - - Updated - - -

Random thought: after Hawthorn, GWS and West Coast, Richmond are my next most favourite team to beat/most hated team to lose to (although Collingwood are very close behind).

[stevoswan]

Bonus for us! Key Dons forward out of Swans clash - AFL.com.au

[mattybloods]

I suspect Essendon will replace Hooker with another tall, in which case it shouldn't affect who we bring in. Still think it'll be Melican

[dejavoodoo44]

I suspect Essendon will replace Hooker with another tall, in which case it shouldn't affect who we bring in. Still think it'll be Melican

Yes, they've basically said that they're going to bring in McKernan. If I remember rightly, while he is tall, he isn't all that good at playing football.
Now that I've said that, he'll probably kick a bag.