Match Thread - Round 1 vs Gold Coast @ Metricon Stadium

[joeykanga]

Yeah, I'm fairly confident Longmire was:
5 Warner
4 Rampe
3 Stephens
2 Gulden
1 Hayward.

Longmire would have been stoked with Dylan's game.

I agree...that's the way I was thinking also...the way Stephens played is exactly what Longmire always says about what he expects from our game

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Meanwhile, away from E.A.R. headquarters. Those who still regard Ruckmen (or Ruckpersons - sorry Ally) as a valuable part of an AFL team, are pondering the Ruck/forward line structure question.

In Particular, for next week
Buddy's out, so if the Swans decide to replace his height it's either Amarty or McAndrew - as Liz pointed out the Hawks would be a comparaively soft initiation for the Lachie.
On the other hand, the Swans may becide to avoid the possibility of cluttering up the forward line (they want to give Logan room to manouvre) and give Warner2 a crack - it it time for the in's and out's thread?

In the General
There's been much huff-n-puff about how little you get from plonking a 2nd ruckman in the forward line, but McLean (who is a liability in the ruck) managed 4 marks, 11 possies and a goal with 80% time on ground.
I am wondering whether a second actual ruckman realy would actually contribute less?
If they wouldn't contribute less then why not give a Ladhams/Hickey clombination a go - They'd certainly contribute more in the ruck.

[Ludwig]

In the General
There's been much huff-n-puff about how little you get from plonking a 2nd ruckman in the forward line, but McLean (who is a liability in the ruck) managed 4 marks, 11 possies and a goal with 80% time on ground.
I am wondering whether a second actual ruckman realy would actually contribute less?
If they wouldn't contribute less then why not give a Ladhams/Hickey clombination a go - They'd certainly contribute more in the ruck.

Ladhams/Hickey would be worth consideration, except that Hickey is injured.

A further note on Hickey: The female Fox commentator, whose name escapes me, said on a couple of occasions that Hickey was out for 4 to 8 weeks, although this exceeds the estimates on our last injury report. It will be interesting to see his estimated return time in today's report. The commentator also said that Tom was Paddy McCartin's older brother, so accuracy is not her thing.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I thought the McCartin age-error was Kelli Underwood, very embarrassing whoever it was though.

The suggestion regarding playing Hickey and Ladhams was meant as a general suggestion, not for next week, or any week in particular - just once both are available.

[Mountain Man]

One of the pleasing things I noticed was that the coaches had the luxury of rationing TOG for the team in a very even way.

No need to nurse young players, and hopefully helpful in their recovery for next week

Florent played just over 90%

Then, 12 players clocked up in the 80's and 9 in the 70's (including Ladhams - and Roberts with 12).