Rd 19 vs Adelaide Crows @ SCG

[Agent 86]

Oh, just give it up TB.....you did mention speed. Go back and read your bloody post. Here, I'll do it myself "No one could get near Laird or that Berry kid , who is a fantastic defensive mid and we couldnt even go with him." Sure you didn't actually use the word speed but it's all over that statement.

I give up!

To be fair, my reading of this TB comment was referring to Laird and Berry’s ball winning & clearance attributes (as opposed to speed). JPK has been one of the best in this regard & we could’ve done with this yesterday. Basically, if we win the ball - they don’t.

[MattW]

I wonder if they’ll give Hickey a week off and bring in MacDonald? How far away is Ladhams?

Interesting thought. Might depend on whether a week off would actually help Hickey or whether he needs match fitness.

GWS rucks are dominating the hitouts against Carlton and so far clearances are level.

Until we have a fully fit ruckman, Logan is going to find it difficult to get back in, as they want Amartey's rucking insurance (which I suspect is implicit in your post).

[stevoswan]

To be fair, my reading of this TB comment was referring to Laird and Berry’s ball winning & clearance attributes (as opposed to speed). JPK has been one of the best in this regard & we could’ve done with this yesterday. Basically, if we win the ball - they don’t.

I agree with that last sentence.

[TheBloods]

To be fair, my reading of this TB comment was referring to Laird and Berry’s ball winning & clearance attributes (as opposed to speed). JPK has been one of the best in this regard & we could’ve done with this yesterday. Basically, if we win the ball - they don’t.

Yes thank you .Those 2 smashed us . They won so much clean ball out of packs , then when we would win it they were scrappy butchered disposals . We need someone who can win clearances and good ones .Why is Mills not in the mids as much ?

[Ludwig]

Yes thank you .Those 2 smashed us . They won so much clean ball out of packs , then when we would win it they were scrappy butchered disposals . We need someone who can win clearances and good ones .Why is Mills not in the mids as much ?

We won the possession count by a large margin.We also won the contested possessions and clearances. The only major stat we lost was the centre clearances. I also noted that Laird and Berry were beating us well there. It may be more their ruck dominance than anything else. Parker seemed to be matched against Laird much of the time, and neither seemed too interested in shutting down the other.

[chalbilto]

I think McInerney has been a bit down lately. Maybe he comes out for either of these; Kennedy, Cunningham, Roberts, Sheldrick

Do we rest a few players? I mean the Giants are certainly playing more like rabbits than big boys. But you never know with that one. I think we should probably give McInernet a game in the twos to get consistent form back. Then maybe Hickey needs to rest after getting hit yet again in the knee. Ramps to rest and Gould to come in.

Do not rest unless injured.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Yes thank you .Those 2 smashed us . They won so much clean ball out of packs , then when we would win it they were scrappy butchered disposals . We need someone who can win clearances and good ones .Why is Mills not in the mids as much ?

I’ve been very curious about this too. It seemed to start when we were occasionally pushing him behind the ball as we did against Melbourne.

But from what I could see yesterday it seemed to largely coincide with the times Paps was going into the centre bounces. I don’t mind us having a dynamic, ever changing mix in there to keep ourselves lively and Paps can be very good.

But I’d rather have Mills around the coal face in the big games.

[TheBloods]

I’ve been very curious about this too. It seemed to start when we were occasionally pushing him behind the ball as we did against Melbourne.

But from what I could see yesterday it seemed to largely coincide with the times Paps was going into the centre bounces. I don’t mind us having a dynamic, ever changing mix in there to keep ourselves lively and Paps can be very good.

But I’d rather have Mills around the coal face in the big games.

Why not both ?

[Maltopia]

Why not both ?

They both have attended a lot of CBA in the last three rounds, though not as many as Parker and Warner.

https://www.dfsaustralia.com/afl-cbas-syd/

Interesting how Heeney has stopped being at CBA completely since about round 11 when he was at just under half of them. Florent was at about 50% of them in the early rounds but dropped off after about five rounds and barely been there since round 11 or so too.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Why not both ?

Well, let’s say we are talking about the start of the quarters, which is often when it happens. And let’s even take the new member of your 25+ club who the coaches often like to start with out of the equation to avoid bigger issues.

At the centre bounce, who you kicking out from Parks, Mills, Chad and Paps? I mean, I’m not trying to be smart. I don’t know the perfect answer, as I love Paps in there at times. And then, we want to add JPK to the mix.

[giant]

We got crushed in the hitouts, but only lost the centre clearances 17-12. A fair margin that needs correcting, but it seemed worse watching live.

Our defence was leaky, We let too many players get out the back. Adelaide kicked some very tough goals that you wouldn't think were more than 50-50. Nonetheless, we yielded a whopping 58 I50s. Maybe we need to play a goaltender. Stephens could be an asset here once he settles in, because of his ability to cover so much ground. We need more mids to get back in coverage on turnovers. Our defenders crept up the ground a lot today, leaving so much space behind. It helped run up the score, which luckily fell in our favour.

I mentioned in another thread that I reviewed some old highlight vids for Stephens and clearly saw why we took him at pick 5. He's very talented, but just ran into a form slump in the VFL. He kicking seems back on song now. He will improve his game sense with experience and should make a big contribution for us down the track. Very much needed, given the loss of Dawson.

Nice summary Ludwig.

Might take issue with your comments on Stephens though - yes, his tackling has improved vastly as has his attack on the ball. But there are still too many moments when he doesn't know how to defend his man. Watching a replay of Q4 v Freo, there is a boundary throw in in Freo's frwd pocket where Rampe points at him and tells him to grab Collier - he nods then leaves him alone, Collier snaffles the tap-in and hits the post with his snap under very little pressure. If he'd scored we may be having a very different conversation. It disappoints me that he still has these moments too often in his third season in the system.

[AB Swannie]

Ruck is our biggest worry. Hickey is not right and is not going to get his foot/ankle/knee better by battling on. I think we need to try to get by with a makeshift ruck rotation of Reid and Amartey for the next two weeks against GWS and North Melbourne. Get both Hickey and Ladhams right so we can give the finals a real shake.

[Markwebbos]

Ruck is our biggest worry. Hickey is not right and is not going to get his foot/ankle/knee better by battling on. I think we need to try to get by with a makeshift ruck rotation of Reid and Amartey for the next two weeks against GWS and North Melbourne. Get both Hickey and Ladhams right so we can give the finals a real shake.

I'm torn about what best to do... If we do what you suggest (and I suggested something similar) we might lose one of those games (we barely beat North at home) that we would otherwise have won.
I don't know whether they are being conservative with Hickey at the moment (hence giving a lot of time to Amartey and Reid), or whether that's him playing to his limit? So whether his condition is worsening or improving under the current regime?
Or how far away is Ladhams?

[i'm-uninformed2]

Why does anyone have to be kicked out ? Put those 4 in there and whoever is the 1 not in there at any stage they rest on the bench or play in another position , they all can play in a different position . Warner on a wing , Mills at HB , Parker half fwd , Paps fwd . One of them shouldnt have to miss out on time in the mids , most teams have 4 they fit in , why cant we ? Oh i know why !

I thought we were discussing who starts centre square at start of quarters as my post made clear.

Of course I get it rotates over the quarter. Mills has gone in at times. And is still playing a lot of time in the mids. I’d like him playing more inside. So do you I expect.

And I gave you the out of not mentioning our mate

[AB Swannie]

We might lose one of those games without Hickey or Ladhams but we really shouldn’t. It is a risk but we are better going into the next two rounds without a best case ruck situation than the first week of the finals.