Round 9 pre-game thread, vs Bombers at SCG, 7:25 PM

[wolftone57]

Cunningham will come back if fit. I’d put Stephens on a wing and leave him there for a month. He’s part of the future where as blokes like Ronke, Bell, Wicks, COR are not.

BTW I noticed BOC virtually double his career disposals last weekend!

O'Connor was very good as a key back attacking player last week. He's got plenty of pace. Stephens, was not that good last week in a side that won by a huge margin. COR was sensational. Don't underestimate his improvement. Whoever is on the list is the present. The future takes care of itself. We have no influence on that. But we can influence the now. We need players who are going to bring intensity. If they don't they need to be kicking the dew.

Harry is not fit. Won't be for a while. Needs an op apparently. COR got 36 off half back and did not get a seniors game. Bloody hell. What is the matter with Horse. Putting players in not match fit, pkayi g out of form players. No wonder we have no intensity. Half the team are in a form slump

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[wolftone57]

I'm looking at things differently from last weekend to this weekend.

The questions we answered were

- Can Ladhams ruck against a tall, tier 1 ruck. No! We needed Hickey
- Can we bomb the ball into the half forward without McClean - No! when he is playing 2nd ruck our forwards are not able to bring the ball to ground and easy exit to opposition.
- While we have a second gear. We don't seem to be able to use in against the Suns. (Effort was down or is that a result of 2 x 6 days break vs 7 & 6 day break)
- Who is played ans starts in the middle needs to be better considered. Some players are not 1st preference however we seem to use them frequently against the sides below us on the ladder. Understand we need to allow them to grow. But...
- Suns have serious players and can run. Given confidence, can match the best. We allowed them to get confidence and appears the Swans don't take them seriously.
- Tagging is missing this year and we don't have a run with player on the ground.
- Clean ball control is lacking. NOt sure why this skill is so different from week to week. Don't believe the Suns to be a high pressure team
- Umpiring. You don't give away frees if you are clean and have the ball typically. Therefore the lack of ball control (and self control) needs to be improved.
Etc..


Therefore what to change this week

Hickey in possibly for McDonald Depending on the weather. (McDonald plays under's when Buddy is playing. Don't try and keep out of his way. Take over a space and demand the ball!

Hopefully we don't have as many players down against a surging Bomber outfit!

Wicks has not impressed in the seconds for what I have seen and needs to raise put his hand up high

Mills was tagging. That was stupid.

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[wolftone57]

One major reason Wolf- not good enough. Admittedly he has been HF or on the wing in the run of games he’s had, but unfortunately showed no signs that he would make it as a mid. I’m assuming he has played there in the ressies and his possession count was healthy, but that doesn’t translate to the seniors. We have better options who should be given some games.

Who? JPK? Did sweet eff all last week. Parker was also very poor last week.

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[wolftone57]

I agree with this. Play Ronke close to goal....he's a proven goal kicker. So is Paps but he's rusty, so get him into the midfield and get him involved. He can rest in the forward line but maybe on a flank for the time being to keep Ronke close to goal.

There will come a time when they will both terrorise opposing defenders close to goal together but Paps needs to find form first. The match committees assumption that Paps would be instantly effective in his first match back has proven to be hopeful and short sighted.

I knew this, would be the case.?Players with no match fitness are blowing before half time and he was 2 weeks straight. He gas been a burden on the side and should have come back in the 2's. He doesn't chase because he gas no gas. Often times he doesn't chase anyway even when fit

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[wolftone57]

Was i wrong ? Can you give me an example of where Bell has been given a chance in the mids ?

Bell?could not do any worse than JPK did lasf week

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[wolftone57]

I agree that a lot of the “lethargy” could be due to overtraining during short weeks. It is hard to imagine that the majority of our players can lose form at the same time and appear listless. Horse and co need to have a good look at themselves and maybe lighten up the training. They need to help our blokes get their enthusiasm back and to enjoy the game.

There is an old saying 'you play the way you train'.

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[lwjoyner]

wicks and bell not up to it. agree re ronke stiff

[Roadrunner]

wicks and bell not up to it. agree re ronke stiff

TB has been clamouring for Bell to be given a go in midfield so here we are.Wicks is needed as he will put a lot of forward pressure on the Bomber backs, stopping their rebound and allowing our other forwards heaps of space.
That’s the theory- hopefully we will see it on Sat night.

[Roadrunner]

There is an old saying 'you play the way you train'.

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Wolfie, that may be true but I remember a final we played when Tommy Hafey was our coach and we were flat as a tack and lost. The players said afterwards they left their form on the training track during the week. It can happen!

We will see how our lads perform this week, and if there were any changes to their training routine.

[Roadrunner]

Bell?could not do any worse than JPK did lasf week

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You could say the same about another 2-3 players from the ressies, though I understand Bell played very well. He is given another chance to show what he can do and we all want him to succeed. Most of the team were poor last week unfortunately and we hope the enthusiasm and intensity returns against the Bombers.

[Nico]

There is an old saying 'you play the way you train'.

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Longmire said in his presser that they may need to look at how they train in 6 day breaks. This loss of endurance can also be caused by backing off too much on training. We have been notorious for being poor coming off a bye and recall reading where players were given at least 3 days off. There is a need to keep up the fitness level. I will be watching which sides play better after their bye.

[Faunac8]

Wow TB. The oracle has done it again.

No body else mentioned Bell for midfield. I can’t see where else Bell plays.

Papley and Wicks are the small forwards. No room for Bell as a small forward.

They have not brought in an extra small backmen to replace Campbell. That role could be shared between Florent and J-Mac.

There is a midfield place or wing play open and it looks like Bell will play there.

I thought Chad and J-Mac predictions early in 2021 were outstanding, but predicting Bell for the midfield is simply amazing forward thinking.

This is the sort of thing that has lead me to spend five minutes a day on this site now rather than the possibly unhealthy amount of time I spent previously.
That and the unrelated drivel that people seem to think belong in threads about previous, current and future games.
If BS thinks TB is an oracle for suggesting JB gets a run in the position he was drafted to play and, from what I understand where he is playing in the VFL, then how forward thinking were we picking him up as a Cat B rookie.

[barracuda]

I think the selection of wicks and bell vs ronke and mclean is more about where the midfield is at. Wicks and Bell bring a greater ability to hold or slow the ball in the forward line. This enables the mids to get a breather and more importantly re-group. Unfortunately the more attacking forward line with Papley, Ronke and McLean leaves the mids exposed on turnover with the opposition half backs moving the ball with speed through our mids, putting our backline under enormous pressure.

This approach was very successfully implemented by the swans last year and I imagine Longmire wants to return to a winning formula.

Our own backline setup follows this model exactly with Blakey and Campbell there to move the ball with great speed from turnover to our forward line, bypassing the opposition mids and opening up our forward line.

[111431]

I think the selection of wicks and bell vs ronke and mclean is more about where the midfield is at. Wicks and Bell bring a greater ability to hold or slow the ball in the forward line. This enables the mids to get a breather and more importantly re-group. Unfortunately the more attacking forward line with Papley, Ronke and McLean leaves the mids exposed on turnover with the opposition half backs moving the ball with speed through our mids, putting our backline under enormous pressure.

This approach was very successfully implemented by the swans last year and I imagine Longmire wants to return to a winning formula.

Our own backline setup follows this model exactly with Blakey and Campbell there to move the ball with great speed from turnover to our forward line, bypassing the opposition mids and opening up our forward line.

THAT, is an excellent observation but I prefer Ronke over Bell

[bloodspirit]

I think it is interesting that Ben Ronke has had two quiet weeks. Based on my observation in the games he played when Papley was not there he was far deeper into the forward line, attacking and kicked more goals. Once Papley was there Ronke has played much higher up the field, with far less opportunities. At the end of the day we generally measure forwards on scoring with things like tackles or pressure acts a distant second, and I do feel for Ronke as fans are now criticizing him when he was only following the team plan. In my view he is much more of a Papley type player and in fact on form was going better than Papley at it. However he has now been pushed up field for the defensive forward role, that I think is not his best contribution. I actually think Ronke could become a much more valuable player if he was able to play the deeper papley type role.

I think the selection of wicks and bell vs ronke and mclean is more about where the midfield is at. Wicks and Bell bring a greater ability to hold or slow the ball in the forward line. This enables the mids to get a breather and more importantly re-group. Unfortunately the more attacking forward line with Papley, Ronke and McLean leaves the mids exposed on turnover with the opposition half backs moving the ball with speed through our mids, putting our backline under enormous pressure.

This approach was very successfully implemented by the swans last year and I imagine Longmire wants to return to a winning formula.

Our own backline setup follows this model exactly with Blakey and Campbell there to move the ball with great speed from turnover to our forward line, bypassing the opposition mids and opening up our forward line.

Real quality contributions, barracuda. Much appreciated and good food for thought.