Rnd 15 Pre-Match Thread, vs St Kilda

[Mark26]

Very conservative approach by the selectors. Yes Clarke has played well in the VFL but in most of the senior games he has played, the level of performance has not been good.

I am not sure what Gould, Fox or Armety have to do to get a game.

It's very ordinary isn't it? So we hold onto fading senior players in the hope they'll come good, while encouraging young talent to walk out the door.

[Mark26]

Horse said it's important to have competition for spots this week in his press conference. What a load of @@@@. After last week's effort, you'd expect a more significant change than our team selection.

[Ludwig]

Very conservative approach by the selectors. Yes Clarke has played well in the VFL but in most of the senior games he has played, the level of performance has not been good.

I am not sure what Gould, Fox or Armety have to do to get a game.

I'm all for Gould, Fox and Amartey getting a game, and have said so, but without many injuries, it's a hard side to break into. The one player everyone wanted out, Wicks, has indeed been replaced. It's hard to find another player who deserves to be dropped.

[Markwebbos]

I think they’d give most players a second chance after we knocked off the Tigers and Demons in the previous two games.

People seem very trigger happy after #Ladhamsgate

We are consistently poor after the bye. I’m happy to see if they can’t turn things around this week.

So are they going to make Clarke play as a defensive forward? Or move someone else up there?

[Mel_C]

Stevic is back ?

[SwanSand]

I'm all for Gould, Fox and Amartey getting a game, and have said so, but without many injuries, it's a hard side to break into. The one player everyone wanted out, Wicks, has indeed been replaced. It's hard to find another player who deserves to be dropped.

Clarke gets a game after doing as well as he could at a lower level. He is not very good in disposals but probably has good endurance to cover the ground. Problem is that if he plays in front half, are we expecting him to be defensive minded and just shut down a half back coz I doubt he will be able to do that. Anyways moment of truth for him. If he is terrible that may be his last chance.

[The Big Cat]

Stevic is back ?

Plus ex-saint Leigh Fisher

[707]

Hickey for naughty boy is logical, no Paddy Ryder helps.

We've been wanting Wicks dropped and he's been demoted.

Campbell needs to be played at senior level, stop stuffing him around.

Clarke, ball magnet at VFL level, are we tagging someone? or will he just be allowed to do his own thing on a wing.

If we can't win this then the win against the Dees has been wasted, we'll be in the mash of teams jostling for the bottom of the eight, grrrr

Good news at selection for the Saints with Stevic playing for them, expect a lot of 50/50 calls to go Saints way, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[liz]

Clarke was very very good last week in the VFL side. Not just good. Very very good. He got loads of the ball (as usual), played unselfish, constructive football (not unusual for him). And his disposal, particularly by foot, was excellent (not so usual for him).

Sure, the pressure wasn't great but he demonstrated he can actually kick the ball in a technical sense (something I've wondered about before) and hit targets.

I'm happy for him to get another chance. We know he'll run all day and tackle all day, which, after last week, is something the team could do with an injection of. He may well get a defensive role on someone. There are a few in the Saints team worthy (though the omission of Hill removes one).

It's likely also true that if he doesn't go well this week, he might not get another chance.

My fingers (and toes) are crossed for him.

[MattW]

Is he at CHF for us?

Hickey for naughty boy is logical, no Paddy Ryder helps.

We've been wanting Wicks dropped and he's been demoted.

Campbell needs to be played at senior level, stop stuffing him around.

Clarke, ball magnet at VFL level, are we tagging someone? or will he just be allowed to do his own thing on a wing.

If we can't win this then the win against the Dees has been wasted, we'll be in the mash of teams jostling for the bottom of the eight, grrrr

Good news at selection for the Saints with Stevic playing for them, expect a lot of 50/50 calls to go Saints way, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Yes: must win.

[liz]

If we can't win this then the win against the Dees has been wasted, we'll be in the mash of teams jostling for the bottom of the eight, grrrr

I think we already are. But the outcome of this game (and the return fixture against the Saints) will go a long way to determining which side of the cut-off we finish.

[dejavoodoo44]

Stevic is back ?

Part of me wants to say, that he's been pretty good the last couple of times that we had him, but another part of me, feels like that might doom us to a performance that's truly awful.

[MattW]

Part of me wants to say, that he's been pretty good the last couple of times that we had him, but another part of me, feels like that might doom us to a performance that's truly awful.

Yeah, he has.

[AB Swannie]

Essentially:
- Campbell for O'Riordan
- Hickey for Ladhams
- Clarke for Wicks.

I'm hoping it is actually different to this. That is:

Hickey for Ladhams
Florent for O'Riordan
Clarke for Florent
Campbell for Wicks

One of the turning points last year was when one of our super talented youngsters (Blakey) was deployed in a different role after the bye with great success. I'm hoping that the same can happen this year with Campbell playing forward of the ball.

I'm a big fan of reward for effort. Clarke deserves his chance. I also reckon Fox does for the same reasons so I hope he's our emergency.

[Ludwig]

I'm hoping it is actually different to this. That is:

Hickey for Ladhams
Florent for O'Riordan
Clarke for Florent
Campbell for Wicks

I suspect this is right. Well, it's the way I would do it if it were up to me.