Changes for Rd. 5 vs West Coast Eagles

[wolftone57]

IN: Stoddart; Melican; Gray
OUT: Fox; Naismith; Blakey

There is no point persevering with Fox in that running defender role - too many mistakes under pressure and I just don't see the improvement. He reminds me of Rose/Brandon Jack in his apparent fear of taking possession. I also think there is a pretty low ceiling on O'Riordan, although I understand that may be a minority view - too many kicking and awareness errors at the top level. So let's give Stoddart a go - properly, for at least a few weeks. He's been an emergency the last couple of games. I note barracuda's comment that he is not AFL standard, but it's his third year and I think it's time to give him another shot.

Either McCartin or Melican in for Naismith. I went for Melican to play on either Darling or Kennedy, while Rampe takes the other. I can't see Aliir really matching either for body strength. But, we might need him to match up on one if Ryan gets loose against... *checks notes* ... Cunningham(?) and Rampe needs to take Ryan. The absence of a shut-down small defender in the Smith mould is a real liability. Please not Mills, he's a decent loose man type defender, but it's actually kind of painful to watch him defend one-on-one and Ryan will be too quick and the others too big. (Of course, John's comments in today's presser are not cause for optimism although he did readily acknowledge Mills played well in midfield.) I notice Brand is listed as injured for the next two weeks. Looks like we're waiting for O'Connor.

Again, suspect this is a minority view, but Blakey looks really lost and down on confidence at the moment, and in my view needs a spell and a chance to build confidence playing at reserves level. It worked last year. Gray needs to up his work-rate, but at least he's a good kick and smart with the ball (yes, when he gets it).

Grey did not play last week and his average possessions are far greater than Hayward & Blakey put together. I think you mix him up with Taylor, averaging disposals.

Fox as far as I am concerned was no worse than most last week. In fact I thought him OK and he did try things. As for him not taking possession well that may have been because all our players were under the pump as soon as they got the ball as Dogs fought in packs. We did not protect the man with the ball, something we are renowned for not doing. We do not shepherd. We do not practice shepherding at training. Both Roos & Longmire are not fans of the shepherd. They believe the man doing the team thing could be used as an extra receiver. That is all good if you don't have a team hunting you in packs. Then it comes unstuck. Lost us two GF.

I think Hayward, Taylor, Blakey, O'Riordan are needing to get some form up. Naismith is injured. Sinclair will get slaughtered by NicNat. We tried Aliir against him some time back and he was quite good. Matched him for athleticism. But we need Aliir back. So it looks like Sinclair & McLean. Too many of our players are up and down in form. Some are not running both ways, being lazy. We need to fix our contested footy and set plays. They were non existant against Dogs.

I think we NEED to make some drastic changes.

In: Out of McCartin, Gould, Stephens, Ling, Wicks, Bell

Out: Naismith, Hayward, Blakey, O'Riordan, Taylor

We are not going to win a premiership this year so let's play some youngsters and watch them develop. I would love to know how the Scratch Match went as that would be an indicator as to which players are ready to go.

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[wolftone57]

Please not Melican. As loose as granny's teeth and gives NO run out of the backline.

Nico, not all defenders are running defenders. Smithy & Reg certainly were not. Every team needs hard lock down defenders like them. The unfortunate thing is I believe Melican is unsuited to playing on the monsters. He is more comfortable playing on the players Rampe generally gets. Brand is better suited to the monsters. But in reality neither Kennedy nor Darling are monsters. But they do play a second ruck. So Brand, if fit may come back.

We have to look at O'Riordan's role. He looks out of sorts. His normal role in the reserves has been as a running defender or mid. Now he is being asked to play the Smithy role as a lock down defender. I think he is highly unsuited to this role and gets totally out positioned. I believe Fox would be far more suited ala Sydney Stack at Richmond. Both take species, both lock down really well and both are pretty good in a tight spot. I think Colin is not any of those. What's more on the small, big marking targets like Ryan I think Fox is far more suited as he can match them in the air. O'Riordan cannot.



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[wolftone57]

Out: take your pick - McLean, Blakey, Taylor, Fox, Ronke, McInerney, Hayward, Cunningham

In: anyone who can perform for more than a quarter and a half. and who actually give a damn about the jumper they're wearing and the great club it represents.

I think you are a bit hard on Ronke. His forward pressure was good. He looked a bit rusty but I think after a game under his belt he will be much better. You must remember the reserves did not have a hit out the week before so his game was going to be a bit out of sync. McLean did not do a lot wrong. The ball was coming down like like a Dresden Donut. Some of the worst delivery to a forward line ever. Not to mention the fact it hardly went in there in the first half (19 times).

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[Markwebbos]

Nico, not all defenders are running defenders. Smithy & Reg certainly were not. Every team needs hard lock down defenders like them. The unfortunate thing is I belive Melican is unsuited to playing on the monsters. He is more comfortable playing on the players Rampe generally gets. Brand is better suited to the monsters. But in reality neither Kennedy nor Darling are monsters. But they do play a second ruck. So Brand, if fit may come back.

We have to look at O'Riordan's role. He looks out of sorts. His normal role in the reserves has been as a running defender or mid. Now he is being asked to play the Smithy role as a lock down defender ala Smithy. I think he is highly unsuited to this role and gets totally out positioned. I believe Fox would be far more suited ala Sydney Stack at Richmond. Both take species, both lick downrealky well and both are pretty good in a tight spot. I think Colin is not any of those. What's more on the small, big marking targets like Ryan I think Fox is far more suited as he can match them in the air. O'Riordan cannot.



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Interesting observations

[Colin Hounsell]

In. McCartin, Melican
Out. Naismith, Fox

Hoping McCartin is fit and Melican can show some form even though it doesn’t sound like he is firing in the ressies. Changes needed for team balance. Thought fox looked terrible even though I’d hoped he could take the nick smith role. Aliir not working as a man on man defender. Another tall in defence could release aliir into the mills playmaker role. Liked the look of mills on the ball and Hayward into defence as a runner. Why we couldn’t recruit a cheap nick smith replacement instead of multiple fwd/mids who aren’t two way runners I don’t know. Our season rests on Reid getting fit. Someone (please) from stoddart/ling/oriordan/Hayward standing up. Someone from ronke/Taylor/gray doing well at 25% tine in midfield. Melican/brand solidifying as a tall stopper. Our solid performers are plugging too many gaps at the moment.

[Ludwig]

WCE as a team are way out of form this year. Both Kennedy and Darling are having a poor start to the year. So we have 2 teams that are both out of form playing each other. Who knows what will happen? The team that works the hardest is likely to win, but who knows in this crazy season which players will be up to the task and which team will click as a coordinated unit, if either.

I don't care who comes into the side this week, although I would like to see a couple of new faces.

[mcs]

WCE as a team are way out of form this year. Both Kennedy and Darling are having a poor start to the year. So we have 2 teams that are both out of form playing each other. Who knows what will happen? The team that works the hardest is likely to win, but who knows in this crazy season which players will be up to the task and which team will click as a coordinated unit, if either.

I don't care who comes into the side this week, although I would like to see a couple of new faces.

I predict we will go alright. Only on the basis that so many teams are working on a 'week on' 'week off' timetable it seems, and we were rank off last week, so due to be back on tomorrow. WCE have been utterly awful this year, but with our ruck looking a mess, Nic Nat should give their midfield good service you'd think.

[Colin Hounsell]

True. But last week our midfield looked like they didn’t know how to rove for a ruckman winning the tap. With Sinclair back in the hit outs we will be back to normal service

[Blood Fever]

In. McCartin, Melican
Out. Naismith, Fox

Hoping McCartin is fit and Melican can show some form even though it doesn’t sound like he is firing in the ressies. Changes needed for team balance. Thought fox looked terrible even though I’d hoped he could take the nick smith role. Aliir not working as a man on man defender. Another tall in defence could release aliir into the mills playmaker role. Liked the look of mills on the ball and Hayward into defence as a runner. Why we couldn’t recruit a cheap nick smith replacement instead of multiple fwd/mids who aren’t two way runners I don’t know. Our season rests on Reid getting fit. Someone (please) from stoddart/ling/oriordan/Hayward standing up. Someone from ronke/Taylor/gray doing well at 25% tine in midfield. Melican/brand solidifying as a tall stopper. Our solid performers are plugging too many gaps at the moment.

Well put CH- another very good player wearing No 23!

[Scottee]

Good intro, MattW. And some interesting ideas.

On paper we look outgunned but it's not a bad time to have drawn the Eagles. Maybe their hub-itis will give us a chance. Or maybe they'll finally get their act together.

I don't have many bright ideas about selection. It's hard to judge without being able to watch reserves. Could be good to regain McCartin but I won't be surprised if they spell him another week. Gray seems a likely inclusion although it will mean we're getting shorter and shorter. In fact, if we select as you suggest, won't we only have three players 190+ cm? (Sinclair, McLean & Aliir unless McCartin is available.) Actually, I'm overlooking the addition of Melican, which goes to show why we need him.

I'm not sure what to think about COR. He's such a hard worker. Does that reinforce your point about him having a low ceiling (otherwise wouldn't he be better by now?) or does it suggest he will be able to remedy his deficiencies if given enough opportunity?

Last random thought: it bears remembering that these are strange and difficult times. There are a lot of people who are struggling. Players are not immune. Do we need to make some allowance for this before making long term judgments about their worth? The coaches and welfare staff are fortunately better placed to assess this.

I would swap Hayward and COR. Hayward finally started to show some confidence when shifted back last week and COR has shown he has some goal kicking talents in the past. His defensive skills would not go astray in the forward line any way. Low risk, potentially high reward strategy IMHO.

[dimelb]

I would swap Hayward and COR. Hayward finally started to show some confidence when shifted back last week and COR has shown he has some goal kicking talents in the past. His defensive skills would not go astray in the forward line any way. Low risk, potentially high reward strategy IMHO.

Interesting suggestion and well worth a try. We would be making next year's future, not this year's present.

[Sandrevan]

Was our poor performance last week due to a 5 day turnaround? This week it's a 9 day turnaround

We need another tall; Melican is the only fit tall we have unless Maibaum is ready.

The Mills conundrum - easy answer. Hayward to defence with Mills to stay in the midfield.

With the season basically a write-off I'd like to see the MC get games into just about everyone. Clarke, Bell, Stoddart, Ling, Warner, Stevens, Gould, Thurlow, Grey

Somehow I don't think this will happen...I think it will be

Out: Naismith
In: Melican

[Markwebbos]

Think it’s season on the line stuff for the WCE. But we have a really good record against them, particularly away from Perth.

Hard to know with a very young side, loss of coaching staff, restrictions on training (and socialising), a number of key position players injured, no NEAFL and a 5 day turnaround where it went wrong last week. Or more to the point how to put it right this week.

But please please (1) Mills to mids (2) bring in at least 1 probably 2 tall defenders (3) Aliir to play loose or in the ruck, not in a lockdown role (4) keep experimenting with out-of-form players namely Blakey, Hayward, Fox, Dawson etc (5) get games into those that would normally be playing NEAFL as much as possible.

[Ralph Dawg]

Think it’s season on the line stuff for the WCE. But we have a really good record against them, particularly away from Perth.

Hard to know with a very young side, loss of coaching staff, restrictions on training (and socialising), a number of key position players injured, no NEAFL and a 5 day turnaround where it went wrong last week. Or more to the point how to put it right this week.

But please please (1) Mills to mids (2) bring in at least 1 probably 2 tall defenders (3) Aliir to play loose or in the ruck, not in a lockdown role (4) keep experimenting with out-of-form players namely Blakey, Hayward, Fox, Dawson etc (5) get games into those that would normally be playing NEAFL as much as possible.

1) Yes 2) Yes 3) Yes 4) Yes
5) Definite yes. I think our chances of a top 1-6 finish are very low. We are rebuilding and season 2020 will always be viewed as a tainted season. With that in mind, I'd love to see 1-2 spots on the team reserved for our the players that we need to get games into. Stephens, Gould, Warner, Stoddart and Ling are some who come to mind. Players like Fox, Thurlow, Clarke, Bell and Wicks have all reached their respective ceilings and are not going to propel us to our next serious tilt at a flag, so best not to pick them, even if they are best 22 for that particular game.

[TheBloods]

1) Yes 2) Yes 3) Yes 4) Yes
5) Definite yes. I think our chances of a top 1-6 finish are very low. We are rebuilding and season 2020 will always be viewed as a tainted season. With that in mind, I'd love to see 1-2 spots on the team reserved for our the players that we need to get games into. Stephens, Gould, Warner, Stoddart and Ling are some who come to mind. Players like Fox, Thurlow, Clarke, Bell and Wicks have all reached their respective ceilings and are not going to propel us to our next serious tilt at a flag, so best not to pick them, even if they are best 22 for that particular game.

Fox was very impressive just two weeks ago. He will never receive a Brownlow vote but he can perform roles asked of him more often than not. Wicks was also one of our best performers in the NEAFL last year. I would much rather persist with those two than a Stoddart who has been mediocre at reserves level and poor at senior level.