Rd 10 vs Carlton Blues Friday 7:50PM @ Marvel - Pre-Game Thread

[longmile]

I wouldn't mind seeing the combination of Papley, Wicks and Ronke. Who else would you try ahead of Bell?

I think Bell has been given a free ride by the match selection committee for whatever reason. While Taylor and Clarke are both out of favour, older and probably off to be delisted, I'd feel much more comfortable with them in the team than Bell. I actually think Clarke could be a good fit for our team against the top midfields in the comp - he has shown an ability to shut down good midfielders and win possession himself. Also I think Taylor generally would be a much better small forward/mid than Bell.

Ronke's another obvious answer to Bell's replacement. Ronke has shown he's a much improved player this year, just needs to sort out positioning issues with Papley.

If they want to bring in and try young blood, I'd have Sheather, Roberts, Sheldrick and Stephens to have a crack ahead of Bell. Bell has had 30 odd games to show us what he's got and hasn't shown much. Give one of the other kids 30 odd games to prove themselves and I'm sure we'd see a greater return.

Finally, not a like for like but O'Riordan is showing good form in the ressies and deserves a run sooner rather than later.

[TheBloods]

We are a great club , have just heard the argument we are taking to tribunal , very thorough and we are even going to challenge the high contact element. Fantastic we have our players backs always .

[Roadrunner]

Wicks not a kid ? He was drafted same yr as Blakey RB Jmac

He got a free ride last year after his good early games. He was @@@@e after that and gave away heaps of frees. His game against the Bombers was good, but my grandmother (if she were alive) would have played well against that defence!

He and Bell have had plenty of chances- time to try some of our other guys and give them a decent run.

[Roadrunner]

I’m with Barracuda on this.

The all conquering Tigers had a mosquito fleet of small forwards picked for their defensive efforts. Wicks definitely deserves his spot in my book. I’m less sold on Bell.

Mosquito fleet of small forwards picked for their defensive effort? Can you please name them, as from memory they hit the scoreboard pretty frequently. I’m not saying we don’t need a defensive forward- my point is it would be better if they had more ability than the 2 we seem to play regularly. They do try hard and run around a lot but so what? A lot of the time they are where the ball ain’t and if you call that forward pressure then good luck- I can’t see us challenging top teams with this kind of play. We need an upgrade, simple as that. Wicks deserves another week for now-let’s hope he goes well against the Blues. Bell defo to the ressies.

[Markwebbos]

“In being asked to solely focus on defensive pressure, the Tiger trio set the standard.”

'Mosquito fleet' has too much bite for Crows

Daniel Rioli, Daniel Butler and Jason Castagna

[Roadrunner]

“In being asked to solely focus on defensive pressure, the Tiger trio set the standard.”

'Mosquito fleet' has too much bite for Crows

Daniel Rioli, Daniel Butler and Jason Castagna

Those guys were/are in a different class to Wicks and Bell- with all due respect to our lads Mark.
Their speed and tackling were first class- real pressure!

[Goal Sneak]

I think Bell has been given a free ride by the match selection committee for whatever reason. While Taylor and Clarke are both out of favour, older and probably off to be delisted, I'd feel much more comfortable with them in the team than Bell. I actually think Clarke could be a good fit for our team against the top midfields in the comp - he has shown an ability to shut down good midfielders and win possession himself. Also I think Taylor generally would be a much better small forward/mid than Bell.

Ronke's another obvious answer to Bell's replacement. Ronke has shown he's a much improved player this year, just needs to sort out positioning issues with Papley.

If they want to bring in and try young blood, I'd have Sheather, Roberts, Sheldrick and Stephens to have a crack ahead of Bell. Bell has had 30 odd games to show us what he's got and hasn't shown much. Give one of the other kids 30 odd games to prove themselves and I'm sure we'd see a greater return.

Finally, not a like for like but O'Riordan is showing good form in the ressies and deserves a run sooner rather than later.

Bell has a massive tank, I suspect that puts him ahead the others.

Ronke and Papley may be too similar to work effectively together as forwards but if Papley is going to play more midfield, I think Ronke and Wicks offer more than Bell and Wicks.

I'm a fan of O'Riordan and would love to see him get rewarded for his good form. He would be very handy for our defence and would not let us down. Also free up Florent/Campbell to play elsewhere.

[TheBloods]

Those guys were/are in a different class to Wicks and Bell- with all due respect to our lads Mark.
Their speed and tackling were first class- real pressure!

Cmon , you cant say they were first class . Castagna is a spud , Butler they moved on cause he couldnt even get a game with them , Rioli they moved to HB cause he was such a bust fwd !

[Ludwig]

Bell has a massive tank, I suspect that puts him ahead the others.

Ronke and Papley may be too similar to work effectively together as forwards but if Papley is going to play more midfield, I think Ronke and Wicks offer more than Bell and Wicks.

I'm a fan of O'Riordan and would love to see him get rewarded for his good form. He would be very handy for our defence and would not let us down. Also free up Florent/Campbell to play elsewhere.

I agree with this.

Ronke and Papley did play together for most of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. I don't remember how well they worked together. I can't see any apparent conflict in their games to prevent them from playing in the same team.

I prefer Ronke to Bell in the forward line, but can't see Bell being dropped.

Maybe Clarke to come in for JPK or Rowbottom (if suspended).

I would also give Ladhams a rest and bring in Amartey, who has played well in the VFL.

[Goal Sneak]

I agree with this.

Ronke and Papley did play together for most of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. I don't remember how well they worked together. I can't see any apparent conflict in their games to prevent them from playing in the same team.

I prefer Ronke to Bell in the forward line, but can't see Bell being dropped.

Maybe Clarke to come in for JPK or Rowbottom (if suspended).

I would also give Ladhams a rest and bring in Amartey, who has played well in the VFL.

Ronke was much quieter when Papley came back into the side, perhaps this was just coincidental. I was very much looking forward to see them both playing together but it didn't play out as expected (granted they were maybe only given 1 game together before Ben was dropped).

I love what Amartey brings, he's in very good touch but I'm hoping that Ladhams/Hickey can spend some solid game time together to see how they can combine.

[Markwebbos]

Those guys were/are in a different class to Wicks and Bell- with all due respect to our lads Mark.
Their speed and tackling were first class- real pressure!

My point was that they were picked purely for their defensive work. I think we should assess Wicks and Bell in the same way and not question how many goals they kick

[Roadrunner]

My point was that they were picked purely for their defensive work. I think we should assess Wicks and Bell in the same way and not question how many goals they kick

Mark, even if as you say they were picked for their defensive work, nevertheless they contributed significantly on the scoreboard. Wicks did that in the early games last year but then he lost his kicking boots and gave away too many frees to be an effective pressure forward. Bell just made up the numbers, unfortunately, in most of his games.

So, while I acknowledge that forward pressure can be very helpful to our other forwards, my take is that these two don’t show it effectively and often enough. But I hope I’m wrong!

[Markwebbos]

If you accept that a defensive forward is picked or dropped based on his defensive work, then it’s illogical to argue about how many goals they kicked.

I think Wicks performs in that role. Not convinced about Bell.

[Faunac8]

My point was that they were picked purely for their defensive work. I think we should assess Wicks and Bell in the same way and not question how many goals they kick

Assuming that we class Rioli as the best of the three Richmond players offered up and Sam is our best option let’s look at the stats and see how they compare at the same age for Rioli this was 2020
Wicks vs Rioli same age
It certainly gave me more appreciation of how well Sam is tracking and if he continues his progression and matches Rioli performance in the years to come most of us should be happy.

[MattW]

Rowbottom appeal unsuccessful: Fox Footy on Twitter: "BREAKING

Sydney has lost at the AFL Tribunal.

MORE: https://t.co/dRUeEVrUEC… "