Changes for Rnd 2 V Port Adelaide

[Mark26]

Out: either Florent or Macca
In: Hanners

Give Reid another week or so to get right. Rohan should still be on leave. Mills to get midfield time!

[aguy]

I agree with the ins but I think it?s fox who will go out.

I also think Reid needs another week and Rohan needs to focus on his personal life

Florent needs to play imo as he?s shown glimpses of how good he can be but needs to develop in the seniors.

[Bloods05]

We are in a fairly luxurious position with depth

I really liked how much towers pulled away as the small ruckman as he had some very important fathers and disposals

Oppositely lysaght has minimal impact I thought

Tough match up for two ruckman to keep up with a ruckman plus midfielder

I knew that Afrikaans course would come in handy one day.

[Mark26]

I agree. Consistency would be the best thing for a young player like Ollie. Lots of upside with him and I don't think we've half of what he's capable of.

Macca brings a lot of experience, but he's pretty slow. Watching the replay just confirmed it. But will the coaches leave him out?

[MattW]

Have to disagree. I think Lloyd was a bit of a ball magnet from the start. The early criticism was around ineffective disposal - short kick, missing targets etc. Florent struggles to win the ball but his disposal is excellent.

Yep, I agree they are different cases.

I didn't really understand the early criticism of Lloyd. I thought his kicking was pretty good for a young player. He was slight and knocked off the ball a little easily, but that's not really his fault. Not anymore; one of our most important players.

[MattW]

It would be good if at least one of Rohan or Reid can play Sunday to give us another strong forward target. Port will be missing a couple of solid mid-sized defenders in Pittard and Broadbent, but they seem to have a lot of depth all over the ground and can cover injuries quite well.

I hope Aliir can at least get a run in the reserves practice match this week. It looks as we might be targeting a round 3 comeback against a very tall GWS forward line. There are a few teams where it would be very helpful to play 3 KPDs + Rampe, the Giants being one, with Essendon and Adelaide the other 2. On the flip side, I wouldn't play Reg against Richmond and even maybe just one of Aliir or Melican. There's just no good matchup for Reg v Tigers. We will have to be flexible with this as well as our ruck combos during the season.

Longmire stated today that Aliir isn't available for selection this week, as they don't want to take risks with his ankle.

He said Reid would run during the first session and not participate in the main training. Sounded unlikely to me.

I suspect Rohan's return depends on his family situation. All the best to him.

Given the above, suspect Hannebery the only in, for one of Florent, Cunningham or Newman.

This will be one of the 3 regular season games I get to see this year; can't wait.

[Papernick]

I agree that one or Reid or Rohan plus Hanners could be an option with Florent and Newman or Harry. who would be very unlucky, making way. A good problem to have - the 22 last week plus Aliir, Hanners, Rohan and Reid gives us a squad of 26 genuine first teamers who should all get decent game time as the season progresses.

[Ludwig]

Newman's name coming up as a potential omission is reminiscent of the times when Hewett's name used to come up on a regular basis. I don't think enough fans understand what a significant contribution Nic has made since coming into the team last year.

• He's a consistent 20 possession a game player.
• He's a physical player who makes an impact on numerous contests around the ground.
• He's quick to pick us the right opposition player on our turnovers and has a good awareness of what has to be done defensively in those situations.
• He kills a lot of potential opposition attacks by forcing stoppages when we are in an unfavourable situation.
• He has a quick footy brain.
• He's an adept handballer, having a good awareness of the play around him.
• He can be a lethal left foot kick, hitting targets with laser 50 metre passes.
• He can kick a goal from outside 50.
• He has a solid consistent all around game.
• He can play numerous positions.

We don't want to drop a 25 yo 21 gamer who's playing well. This is the time for him to make solid gains in performance. As much as I would like to see Florent and Hayward continue their development, guys like Newman and Fox need to establish themselves now. They are making a bigger contribution than the youngsters are to the team as of now. I don't know about the future, but our kids have time to develop in the NEAFL. They have long careers ahead of them.

Hayward had a nice 19 possessions, but didn't have much impact. He was targeted by the Eagles defence as the player to run off. Hurn took him all the way to goal, kicking their last goal in the 1st quarter. LeCras ran away from him in the 4th qtr, leading to the Waterman goal. There was little fear that he was going to be able to tackle any of their defenders coming out from their defensive 50. It's not really a criticism, but just something that lightly built young players have to go through in their 1st few seasons.

Port have an experienced side with a lot of very solidly build players. It's probably not the best game for Hayward or Florent to play this season.

[Papernick]

Newman's name coming up as a potential omission is reminiscent of the times when Hewett's name used to come up on a regular basis. I don't think enough fans understand what a significant contribution Nic has made since coming into the team last year.

• He's a consistent 20 possession a game player.
• He's a physical player who makes an impact on numerous contests around the ground.
• He's quick to pick us the right opposition player on our turnovers and has a good awareness of what has to be done defensively in those situations.
• He kills a lot of potential opposition attacks by forcing stoppages when we are in an unfavourable situation.
• He has a quick footy brain.
• He's an adept handballer, having a good awareness of the play around him.
• He can be a lethal left foot kick, hitting targets with laser 50 metre passes.
• He can kick a goal from outside 50.
• He has a solid consistent all around game.
• He can play numerous positions.

We don't want to drop a 25 yo 21 gamer who's playing well. This is the time for him to make solid gains in performance. As much as I would like to see Florent and Hayward continue their development, guys like Newman and Fox need to establish themselves now. They are making a bigger contribution than the youngsters are to the team as of now. I don't know about the future, but our kids have time to develop in the NEAFL. They have long careers ahead of them.

Hayward had a nice 19 possessions, but didn't have much impact. He was targeted by the Eagles defence as the player to run off. Hurn took him all the way to goal, kicking their last goal in the 1st quarter. LeCras ran away from him in the 4th qtr, leading to the Waterman goal. There was little fear that he was going to be able to tackle any of their defenders coming out from their defensive 50. It's not really a criticism, but just something that lightly built young players have to go through in their 1st few seasons.

Port have an experienced side with a lot of very solidly build players. It's probably not the best game for Hayward or Florent to play this season.

Don?t disagree at all with that, my post was more on what I expect to happen.

[wolftone57]

I think it is time to start discussing next week.

Potentially, we have Hanners, Rohan, Reid, and Aliir all available to come into the team this round. I suspect 4 changes may be too many in one go with Aliir having to come through the NEAFL. The players likely to be dropped are between Florent, Cunningham, Fox, Newman, and McVeigh. Personally, I'd keep Fox and Newman but wouldn't be disappointed with a combination of others.

My team would go something like this:

B Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Lewis Melican
HB Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Callum Mills
C Zak Jones, Josh P. Kennedy, Dan Hannebery
HF George Hewett, Lance Franklin, Will Hayward
F Tom Papley, Sam Reid, Kieren Jack
FOL Callum Sinclair, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney

I/C Gary Rohan, Dean Towers, Nic Newman, Robbie Fox

Rohan's wife has not given birth yet and the complications of that event will keep him very much out of the frame. I doubt he'll play. Aliir is not ready, Longmire said so in his Tueday PC. So that leaves Hannas and Reid, who if considered fit will definitely play.

In: Hannaberry, Reid (depending on fitness tests)

Out: Cunningham, Florent

Both of these boys need to get far more of the ball. Florent had 6 and Cunningham had 10. Harry had 1 until half time. for an experienced mid that is just nt good enough. florent is only young and looks like a kid out there at the moment. He is going to need some maturing in the twos. He needs to get back to the basics and Dermie reckons he has the best ruck take & run he has ever seen so we need to start seeing that at Resies level and then at AFL level. I don't know that he is an outside mid though. I'd be playing him inside mid. that is where he earned his drafting.

I am a bit worried about where Harry's game is at the moment. I was not terribly impressed with his pre-season form and would have played Stoddart instead. His delivery has been a particular problem. But his inability to win at least 20 disposals is problematic. If he is tagging that is understandable. But when he has no tag like last week it is astounding for an experienced player to manage only 10 disposals. He battled hard and sometimes tackled well but seemed a bit off the pace on several occasions when some of the faster Eagles took him on they just passed him as though he was standing still.

So very little intervention as far as I'm concerned. Port are fast, very fast. Hannas will help that as I don't think in his current form Harry can keep up with them. Reid will help height wise. I don't know whether anyone noticed but Hayward played more up the ground last game. He managed 21 and was pretty effective, some loose handball that he has to clean up but other than that, pretty good. the question they might ask at the selection table though is about pace in the backs. Maybe Macca is not the bloke to play Port as he was off the pace against the quicker Eagles forwards and HB line. so do they go with youth, Stoddart, or experience? I'd say they will play Macca no matter what. Against the very quick sides I think this is a mistake but that is just my opinion.

[Plugger1300]

I'm a fan of Jones
But a high percentage of his kicks are smothered or he kicks into players in front of him.
I wonder if his ball drop is an issue as it seems to take a while for him to get it on the boot

Anyone else noticed this?

[stevoswan]

Longmire stated today that Aliir isn't available for selection this week, as they don't want to take risks with his ankle.

He said Reid would run during the first session and not participate in the main training. Sounded unlikely to me.

I suspect Rohan's return depends on his family situation. All the best to him.

Given the above, suspect Hannebery the only in, for one of Florent, Cunningham or Newman.

This will be one of the 3 regular season games I get to see this year; can't wait.

Why Newman? Stats not good enough? Cunningham's speed and kicking penetration also leaves him in for mine. Ollie is a future gun but given his Sunday performance, he's the obvious out. Also, if Rohan's ready and able, like for like Harry C may come out. Newman is best 22 for me. Enjoy the game on the weekend.

[wolftone57]

Why Newman? Stats not good enough? Cunningham's speed and kicking penetration also leaves him in for mine. Ollie is a future gun but given his Sunday performance, he's the obvious out. Also, if Rohan's ready and able, like for like Harry C may come out. Newman is best 22 for me. Enjoy the game on the weekend.

Harry got 1 disposal up to half time. He managed to do 9 times better in the second for a total of 10. For an outside mid that was atrocious. His opponents got plenty more than that. The idea of a player being out there is to contribute a whole game to the team. To do this you generally have to beat your man not get murdered by him.

[longmile]

In: Hannaberry, Reid (depending on fitness tests)

Out: Cunningham, Florent

Agreed with these changes. While it looks like Florent has bulked up a bit this year size-wise, he just doesn't attract enough footy. He looked good in the pre-season games I saw but even then rarely got that many touches. Cunningham is just not a best 22 player imo.

We need Reid or another tall forward to take the pressure off of Buddy. Wouldn't be suprised if we see Buddy being double or even tripled up against this weekend by Port defenders. Another forward needs to make this work to our advantage and Reid would be the best pick.

Also while Papley had a great game in the midfield anyone else sad to see him go from the forward line to the mids? I love his work up front and will be sad to see it go

[wolftone57]

Newman's name coming up as a potential omission is reminiscent of the times when Hewett's name used to come up on a regular basis. I don't think enough fans understand what a significant contribution Nic has made since coming into the team last year.

• He's a consistent 20 possession a game player.
• He's a physical player who makes an impact on numerous contests around the ground.
• He's quick to pick us the right opposition player on our turnovers and has a good awareness of what has to be done defensively in those situations.
• He kills a lot of potential opposition attacks by forcing stoppages when we are in an unfavourable situation.
• He has a quick footy brain.
• He's an adept handballer, having a good awareness of the play around him.
• He can be a lethal left foot kick, hitting targets with laser 50 metre passes.
• He can kick a goal from outside 50.
• He has a solid consistent all around game.
• He can play numerous positions.

We don't want to drop a 25 yo 21 gamer who's playing well. This is the time for him to make solid gains in performance. As much as I would like to see Florent and Hayward continue their development, guys like Newman and Fox need to establish themselves now. They are making a bigger contribution than the youngsters are to the team as of now. I don't know about the future, but our kids have time to develop in the NEAFL. They have long careers ahead of them.

Hayward had a nice 19 possessions, but didn't have much impact. He was targeted by the Eagles defence as the player to run off. Hurn took him all the way to goal, kicking their last goal in the 1st quarter. LeCras ran away from him in the 4th qtr, leading to the Waterman goal. There was little fear that he was going to be able to tackle any of their defenders coming out from their defensive 50. It's not really a criticism, but just something that lightly built young players have to go through in their 1st few seasons.

Port have an experienced side with a lot of very solidly build players. It's probably not the best game for Hayward or Florent to play this season.

As for Hayward I don't think he was that bad at all. I have watched the game again and think he did ok. Hurn ran off him but he also got a block. He got 21 not 19. Harry got run off all day and yet you do not mention him. He laid a couple of good tackles but some of his efforts to tackle were woeful. Harry also failed to get a possession in the first, 1 in the second, 3 in the third and 6 in the last. He played on the wing as did Hayward for some of the game. But to play wing for the majority of the game and rack up only 10 is just not AFL standard. He needs to get form in the twos.

Hannas should come in and take his place on the wing, which is where he should play in my humble opinion as we have plenty of inside mids. We don't need him inside. Hannas is as quick as Harry, on Harry's form lately far quicker, and gets the pill. I'd leave Hayward in as Heens will play more up the ground if Reid plays. Hayward was very close to taking a couple of great marks on the weekend. If his pre-season had not been interrupted he might have been a bit ahead of where he is now. I think he is still getting a feel for it. The move of Kizza forward has been really beneficial. His awareness and roving sense have made a big difference. I thought last year this was the role he had to play. Using him as aback up on-baller is very smart when players are tiring.

I agree re Newman. I don't understand why people are so hot to turf him. He is one of our most consistent performers. All those attributes you assign to him are just spot on Ludwig. What is it people here have against Nic? Is he not attractive enough like a Rampe? Is it because he has a Gay brother? Is it because his footy is not spectacularly fashionable? Does he have BO or Foot Odour? How would you know anyway haha. These questions are rhetorical by the way. I'm just confused why anyone would want to drop a player that has straightened us up on so many occasions by kicking 50-60 metre darts to players in the open or setting up play with beautiful kicks between 5 or more opposition players with a gap of only a few metres straight onto the chest of a teammate? Why?