Changes to R22 Against North Melbourne

[Roadrunner]

See I still heartily disagree with you on Bell
I think he contributed for a good block of weeks comprising a series of wins and it was that last week where his form fell off where he was dropped and replaced to give others an opportunity

Before that he clearly was playing his role very well..and he still has a place going forward

It’s interesting that he did go and a loss occurred ..i actually think he applies a lot of pressure and nails his tackles ..i know people quote his lack of stats but they were handy for his role whilst he was in form and prior to his last gane and he applies a lot of perceived pressure which I’m not sure if that shows on stats

I was wondering how long it would be before someone decided Bell was worth talking about again ..I’m a big supporter

Joeykanga, I’m happy that you’re a supporter of JB. I like his effort and he gives his best but- it’s not just about the stats. He tends to overrun the ball a lot. He and Wicks have similar roles and unfortunately I can’t see either in our best 22 unless they contribute on the scoreboard or with assists. Please show me a similar role played by a forward in the most successful team of the last 4 years- they ALL contributed!

[TheBloods]

Not a fan of melican. Slow, poor skills and prone to brain fades. Safe to say I'm not happy with his inclusion, hope he doesn't make the finals side.

He is not good .

Changes for finals will be

Chad for Wicks
Mills for Rowbottom
Lance for Mclean
Lloyd for Melican

Then we will have our full best 22 out there

[gloveski]

Why not Logan? Can reserve followers confirm that he has been playing well.

Happy that Melican is in. Why does Fox stay?

Delighted that Campbell is back. Hoping that we get a backline set up of J-Mac, Campbell and Blakey driving off half back.

Does anyone know the extent of Lloyd’s injury?

Why wouldn’t Fox play ? He was below par last week like many others but other than that he’s played a pretty decent block of footy .


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[Ludwig]

I suppose Wicks will be the one to try to shut down Aaron Hall, who starts off much of their offence. The Roos will have a couple of tall young forwards this week in Larkey and Comben. I hope we don't see Rampe trying to play either of them, now that we have 2 legit KPDs. I think this is the best defensive unit we can have going into finals. I hope Melican can ramp up to speed quicker than he usually does.

Chad Warner must be in next week you'd think.

Could be difficult, especially if we win and we have no new injuries. Wicks seems unlikely to be dropped. And with Lloyd and Mills a good chance of returning next week, it's hard to see the opening for Warner. It may take a few poor performances to give him a shot, but he certainly must be next in line with any injury or form drop from our current squad.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Lord, someone will be crying under the Chad poster above his bed.

Anyway, I’m a bit more optimistic on Melican than some others on here, though he does take a couple of games to get back to full touch and speed. What’ll be interesting is how they use Fox and Campbell. Does Fox push higher up the ground, or take on some of Lloyd’s role, or is Campbell pegged for that?

[TheBloods]

Could be difficult, especially if we win and we have no new injuries. Wicks seems unlikely to be dropped. And with Lloyd and Mills a good chance of returning next week, it's hard to see the opening for Warner. It may take a few poor performances to give him a shot, but he certainly must be next in line with any injury or form drop from our current squad.

That is rubbish sorry , he is an upgrade on wicks in the fwd line and rowbottom in the midfield and you know it . There is no way we will go into a final with those guys over him

[Nico]

Not a fan of melican. Slow, poor skills and prone to brain fades. Safe to say I'm not happy with his inclusion, hope he doesn't make the finals side.

Plus, as loose as granny's teeth.

[Ludwig]

That is rubbish sorry , he is an upgrade on wicks in the fwd line and rowbottom in the midfield and you know it .

No, I don't know it. Warner is a very good prospect and has done great in his 2nd year. Shame about the injury. But he's never played Wicks' role, and I don't see him as a Wicks replacement. I also don't see him a an upgrade on Rowbottom in the midfield. Rowbottom is more versatile and has a better overall game, even if Warner is more capable of the spectacular, which catches the attention.

[Nico]

No, I don't know it. Warner is a very good prospect and has done great in his 2nd year. Shame about the injury. But he's never played Wicks' role, and I don't see him as a Wicks replacement. I also don't see him a an upgrade on Rowbottom in the midfield. Rowbottom is more versatile and has a better overall game, even if Warner is more capable of the spectacular, which catches the attention.

I think Warner is a better footballer than Rowbottom in most aspects. Speed, kicking ability, reading the play, cleaner disposal.

[The Runner]

Great changes this week. I'm not a fan of Lloyd, but know that it's just rest and he'll be there through finals. So be it.

Campbell - where he plays is really interesting. If he's a Lloyd replacement, then you'd struggle to see him getting retained for finals, with Lloyd due back. So he's probably competing with Fox for the last position in the back 7.

Warner clearly isn't ready yet, otherwise he'd either be in, or an emergency. The type of injury he had isn't easy to come back from. We're only just seeing Campbell return, and Warner occurred later.

The comments about both McLean and Wicks highlight one thing - people don't understand the role of the different parts of our forward line.
No, Wicks cannot be easily replaced by Papley, or Warner, or McDonald. It's a completely different role. It's a shut down role - you give that to Papley and you sacrifice 3 goals a game.

And McDonald isn't a key forward yet. Any of McKay, Tarrant or Walker would rag doll him. He's not ready to be a key target. McLean is capable of being serviceable in that role.
And Amartey is sitting behind Reid for the forward/ruck role.
Arguing over some of these different players is really apples and oranges. Just because they are all forwards doesn't make them the same.

[Roadrunner]

Where did i say trade him ?? Said he shouldnt play again this year as hes not ready , plain and simple , kids got confidence issues so keeping him in when hes out of his depth is no good to him

Saying that hes not the first one i'd drop

You just can’t help it TB- you just have to have a dig, even though you’re on record saying you would leave it alone!

At any rate, maybe I was a bit harsh on young Stephens but I’m frustrated with his form, like most. However, I don’t see the point of playing him for a game or two and then dropping him. Like James Bell, he needs a run of games to give us a proper appraisal.

You do realise that we will need to delist some players after the finals. The club will be making the tough calls like last year on Robbie Fox. I was wrong about including young Stephens as clearly he has ability and needs to be developed. Just don’t like him receiving the Dean Towers treatment.

[Ludwig]

I think Warner is a better footballer than Rowbottom in most aspects. Speed, kicking ability, reading the play, cleaner disposal.

Not according the AFLPA, but you're entitled to your opinion.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big Chad Warner fan, but I like Rowbottom as well.

[Roadrunner]

Great changes this week. I'm not a fan of Lloyd, but know that it's just rest and he'll be there through finals. So be it.

Campbell - where he plays is really interesting. If he's a Lloyd replacement, then you'd struggle to see him getting retained for finals, with Lloyd due back. So he's probably competing with Fox for the last position in the back 7.

Warner clearly isn't ready yet, otherwise he'd either be in, or an emergency. The type of injury he had isn't easy to come back from. We're only just seeing Campbell return, and Warner occurred later.

The comments about both McLean and Wicks highlight one thing - people don't understand the role of the different parts of our forward line.
No, Wicks cannot be easily replaced by Papley, or Warner, or McDonald. It's a completely different role. It's a shut down role - you give that to Papley and you sacrifice 3 goals a game.

And McDonald isn't a key forward yet. Any of McKay, Tarrant or Walker would rag doll him. He's not ready to be a key target. McLean is capable of being serviceable in that role.
And Amartey is sitting behind Reid for the forward/ruck role.
Arguing over some of these different players is really apples and oranges. Just because they are all forwards doesn't make them the same.

Agree with most of your post. I just can’t see why a forward’s role is to shut a defender down, unless that defender is such a gun that he constantly feeds the opposition forwards. Has Wicks done that recently? I don’t think so. You could argue that in our team a player like Dawson ( maybe even Blakey) can be damaging at HB but no way has Wicks been able to shut such players down recently.
I would rather play someone who can cause damage himself- another Paps would be great!

[Mel_C]

One change - Sam Reid will play for the first time as a father of two. Kim and Sam’s baby daughter arrived earlier this week in Melbourne.

Kim should be made No. 1 Swans ticketholder next year for her devotion to the Swans’ cause. Moved to Queensland heavily pregnant, and with a toddler, prepared to have her baby there, spent 14 days in hotel quarantine, and then had to move to Melbourne and give birth there instead.

Sam, you need to be BOG this week to match Kim’s performance!

OMG that's amazing what she had to go through. Imagine if she went into labour in hotel quarantine!

[Markwebbos]

Lord, someone will be crying under the Chad poster above his bed.

Anyway, I’m a bit more optimistic on Melican than some others on here, though he does take a couple of games to get back to full touch and speed. What’ll be interesting is how they use Fox and Campbell. Does Fox push higher up the ground, or take on some of Lloyd’s role, or is Campbell pegged for that?

Me too, I think there is a lot of unwarranted Melican-hate on here.

I also agree Fox and Campbell are the two most interesting positionally. Don't think Campbell has the tank to play on the wing (for long), so does he play HB or even HF? We've got a lot more players to cover Lloyd than we used to, those decent tanks and more penetration on their kicks than him - Dawson, JMac, Golden etc.

And does Melican replace Fox or Rampe in a KPD role?