Round II team

[AB Swannie]

I didn't think Clarke was any worse than all but a couple of our players on Saturday, and his contribution was greater than several. I agree with you that I wouldn't drop him. It will take him a little time to find his feet in a new system. It's one thing learning it at training but another thing in the heat of a game.

I'm bewildered at the suggestion (by some) that JPK should be moved out of the centre onto a forward flank. Onball is where Kennedy has excelled for close on a decade. Even last season (probably his poorest since he joined the Swans) he still ranked near the top of the AFL for clearances. If people are bemoaning the team's lack of ability to win clearances, why move the most proven clearance player away from his prime position. If people think he no longer has the ability to win clearances (and I don't think there's actually any evidence of that yet), he should be out of the team, not occupying a position that doesn't play to his strengths.

Largely agree with this. Although it was not JPK's greatest game he still had the 4th most contested possessions and 2nd most clearances for the game (Dogs included).

Clarke also needs to remain. Reducing our running power is not what we need either.

For me, the most obvious out is Melican. At the moment, I prefer Reg to look after Jenkins. Melican just looks horribly out of form. Reg, Aliir, and Rampe with Reid swinging back if necessary is more than enough. I'd replace him with COR who will add so much more dash and dare.

Apart from Mills playing predominantly midfield, I'd also like to see Lloyd moved further up the ground. He is only average one on one (less than average against the Dogs) and he slows us down with his 20 metre chip kicks at the back. Dawson would be a better option to gather those easy possessions with his penetrating kick. Similar to how Jack Watts played for Port Adelaide.

[troyjones2525]

I don't get all the hate for Melican amongst this group! I just finished watching the game on replay as I missed it over the weekend and even though he didn't have a brilliant game, it was far from the horror show nearly everyone is stating. He made a few really good spoils, put on decent pressure even though our midfield didn't for the best part and was on the wrong end of a few really 50/50 calls at best!

He's coming back from a year off due to injury and before that everyone was lauding him as the future of our key backline so I think everyone needs to settle down and just give him a bit of time to get his mojo back!

In saying that I think COR needs to be in the team which will help release Mills to play more midfield but certainly not at the expense of Melican!

If you want to drop anyone, Florent had a poor a game as I've seen him play for a long time and Hayward was not much better!

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[waswan]

Melican has to stay, at his best he was every bit as promising as Alir, still a kid too

I still rate Thurlow above COR, Dawson kicking out of defense isnt the worst idea either, would be every bit the defender as Lloyd is

[stevoswan]

I understand to an extent what people are saying about leaving in Melican.....and he is a future backline stalwart no doubt but he can get his mojo back in the reserves. We need to be attacking out of the backline now and COR or Thurlow bring that. When Melican gets his mojo back, he can replace Grundy.....

[TheMase]

I would move Lloyd to the wing and drop Clarke
I would drop Grundy
I would bring in COR and Thurlow into the back half

We need more pressure in the forward line so Ronke comes back in at the expense of one of Hayward, Blakey or Dawson

I just feel this gives us a better balance.

[Swansongster]

In COR Rowbottom
Out Melican Clarke
Need some more grunt on ball. Look at all the 18 y.o. who stood up over the weekend. JPK to spend more time in forward line. Papley to stay deep. Blakey push up to wing more. No more side ways kicking from kick ins.

I'm bullish on Rowbottom but would be very surprised if he gets the nod this early. Needs a string of good performances in NEAFL and I'd be confident he has some things that the coaches have him working on.

COR must come in - even if only to get games into him - but I think he's best 22/team balance at the moment. Take you pick on Melican (needs to find form/fitness) or Clarke (my preference - yet to be proven in our set-up) as the 'Out'. Other than that, I'd give the team another shot on Friday before reaping the axe.

Papley into small forward. Not sure who matches up on Eddie this week.

OUT: Clarke
IN: O'Riordan

[Ludwig]

I would move Lloyd to the wing and drop Clarke
I would drop Grundy
I would bring in COR and Thurlow into the back half

We need more pressure in the forward line so Ronke comes back in at the expense of one of Hayward, Blakey or Dawson

I just feel this gives us a better balance.

Agree with this for the most part, but inclined to drop Melican instead of Reg. Ronke in for Blakey. Dawson to play mostly forward.

,,

[waswan]

Thurlow for Reg
Ronke For Cunningham
Dawson to play wing

Harry has hit his ceiling and is a backup or at best a tagging HFF

[Beerman]

+1. Really annoyed me that Dawson looked to handball almost every time he got it.

Caveat:I haven't seen Saturday's game yet (it was my son's 18th, and following the forum has not made me keen to watch the tape), but this is consistent with what I saw last year.

For those who long complained about our strategy of bombing it in on the heads of the forwards, the good news is that that strategy is out. The bad news is that the new strategy is to handball it to a player standing right next to an opponent, who then gets tackled and loses the ball. It's brilliant to watch when it works, but it can easily go wrong.

[MattW]

Ronke and Thurlow for Clarke and Grundy.

Walker towelled us up last year - too big for Rampe, too quick for Grundy. Melican is theoretically a good match up for him. Grundy is probably a reasonable fit for Jenkins, but I doubt we can play them both again. I also feel we can handle Jenkins.

From Longmire's presser, I get the sense they want to play Ronke, but apparently he got a knock to the knee and is questionable.

It'll be interesting to see who plays on Betts - Lloyd?

[Wazza]

Much talk about defence but I thought the forward half was unbalanced for most of the game, we missed the pace of Ronke and dare I say i. .. Rohan applying pressure in our FWD 50.

Out Blakey in Ronke
Out Grundy in Thurlow

Cheers

Waz

[707]

Betts and Jenkins get a lot of their goals from the ball getting over the back and those two running into open goals, Hawks stopped that on the weekend.

Selection this week critical, not sure what I want us to do as I haven't watched the Dogs game yet but we looked too tall on paper.

[KSAS]

Kieran Jack is apparently up for selection this week after getting through NEAFL last weekend. Not sure how well he played, would like to see him put in a string of good performances before being considered. They might consider dropping either Clarke or Florent for him, but you'd think Ronke would be ahead of Jack in the queue (if he is 100%). Last week's emergencies all have a case to be selected, so it will be interesting how many changes they make after last week's performance and matching up with Adelaide this week.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Kieran Jack is apparently up for selection this week after getting through NEAFL last weekend. Not sure how well he played, would like to see him put in a string of good performances before being considered. They might consider dropping either Clarke or Florent for him, but you'd think Ronke would be ahead of Jack in the queue (if he is 100%). Last week's emergencies all have a case to be selected, so it will be interesting how many changes they make after last week's performance and matching up with Adelaide this week.

On the injury update they said KJ would play two’s again this week and then after that would be up for selection


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[ernie koala]

It will be interesting how our defence lines up this week.

Crows are very different to the Dogs.

Walker, Jenkins, Lynch, Fogarty, and Jacobs...Not sure if all these guys are available, but even without 1 or 2 of them, they are still a relatively tall proposition.

Not sure we can afford to leave out any of our tall defenders.

Quite a conundrum, because we could desperately do with some pace coming out of the backline...ie: COR or Thurlow.

And with a pathetic 5 tackles laid in the forward 50 by our forwards last week, we need more pace for forward pressure...ie : Ronke.

So for mine :

OUT- Blakey, Dawson

IN - Ronke, O'Riordan

But I suspect if we have no injuries Horse will go in with the same 22.