Rnd 4 (Gather Round) - vs Eagles at Mt Barker, Adelaide Hills, at 1:30 PM, Saturday 6 April 2024

[liz]

We just don’t have the facts so anything we say is just speculation and rumour.

This.

[Meg]

Just received message from one of my sisters in Adelaide. Smugly telling me how lovely the weather is in Adelaide for footy. She’s seen the weather reports for Sydney ….


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[Hotpotato]

Adelaide , the quiet, blissful and discreet secret city …. However silly LIV Golf and Gather Round are not helping .

[Roadrunner]

I know that I am in a minority, but I like what Wicks brings to the team structurally. The article on half-forwards on the AFL site this week was great: a thankless, low-possession role, largely involving getting to space and closing it down. You don't get a stat for that. You don't get to tackle, because the whole idea is to appear in a KPD's peripheral vision and deny them a switch, forcing them to go down the line or take a high risk option into the corridor.

This role should not be confused with that of the small forward, who is there to crumb and to tackle, holding up the play, locking the ball in.

I think that Wicks plays the (thankless) role really well (as does Hayward), and the amount of non-love they both receive or have received is, as I see it, part of the job (although I acknowledge that Hayward, as a 'natural' marking forward is a bit more visible). It is too easy to dismiss them as 'drifting in and out of the game', or lacking concentration, or even having an insufficient motor because they don't get stats, and do not appear in the frame of television coverage.


More, I think that we missed Wicks against the Tigers. Bolton carved us up out of his defensive 50, where we seemed to have left a paddock on the fat side all day: the space Wicks or such a player) occupies, or, at the very least shifts from being a low percentage get-out proposition to a 50/50, or, better, holds up the next kick to allow the mids to drop back into the corridor.


Fox is more in the Hayward mode, I think: great leap, can take a contested mark, and is fast enough to take space, but I wonder whether we will need him in the back half tomorrow.

You make some very good points re Wicks. I’ve been a huge critic but in fairness I only see what’s on the screen and therefore miss a lot, especially the way off the ball stuff. I’ll be more generous in my estimation of his worth to the team after taking your comments on board. Thank you my friend!????????

[O'Reilly Boy]

Thanks mate! As I see it, Wicks' role is, when there is a turnover in forward fifty, NOT to move towards the ball, but to spread away from it. Nor is it necessarily his job to find a man and stick to him: that would allow a defender to draw him away from the channels where the defenders want the ball to go, into a pocket, or back towards the corridor. The idea, as I see it, is to concede a possession if need be, but to make the disposal of that possession difficult. We don't see that on television: we just see the attempts to tackle the ball-carrier. it is a selfless, sacrificial, disciplined role which, when I watch the game at the ground, Wicks does really well. Any tackle he makes, or goal he scores, indeed, any disposal he chalks up, is an absolute bonus. The balance of someone like Papley, someone like Wicks, and someone like Hayward operating together is delicate and powerful.

But as to the question of misfeasance off the field, I have nothing to say!

[707]

Come on guys, enough of the indignation about Wicks.

We don't know any of the facts for CERTAIN only speculation.

I trust the solid pillars within the club to deal with, whatever actually transpired, in the correct and fair manner. Wicks non selection has everything to do with returning players pushing him out and nothing to do with whatever has gone on.

Just not worth talking about IMO.

[Syd76]

+1

[O'Reilly Boy]

I hope that you are not taking my analysis of Wicks as 'indignation'! I'm simply putting an argument for his value to the team. I also noted that I think that Fox can play a similar role, but is likely going to be needed in the back half of the field. Harry C may also take on the role, although I don't think that Tay Tay would be happy with it. My argument is simply that Wicks offers a structural benefit which I thought that we missed last week, and that the ins must, necessarily, involve a shift in that structure.

It is interesting that HFF is perhaps the only position left in which it is thought possible to 'camp' an extra mid for the rotations, or to blood a new player (think about Sheldrick's first few games, where he had little impact in terms of stats). The back pocket or HBFs require a great deal of players—no longer hiding places where you can have a breather. But as the article on AFL.com this week showed, HFF is a specialised role.

[Mel_C]

Just received message from one of my sisters in Adelaide. Smugly telling me how lovely the weather is in Adelaide for footy. She’s seen the weather reports for Sydney ….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Lucky we aren't playing in Sydney this week!

For those in NSW, please stay safe.

[waswan]

Just seen Jmac doing the rounds with the Mic

He is listed at 189cm, he has to be bigger than than ?

[neilfws]

Lucky we aren't playing in Sydney this week! For those in NSW, please stay safe.

Just heard that juniors Round 1 is cancelled should clear by Sunday but a lot of the grounds are too wet to play.

[neilfws]

Just seen Jmac doing the rounds with the Mic

He is listed at 189cm, he has to be bigger than than ?

He and McLean came to our junior club last week (both lovely blokes) and he's certainly one of those players who looks much taller "in real life". I'm no great judge of height but 189 doesn't sound way off. He has kind of a "long build" which maybe gives a taller impression.

Interesting article today looking at player heights over time - one aspect that it covers is how different sources often list quite different heights for the same player. Sure enough Wikipedia has JMac at 187

How player heights in the AFL have changed over time and what it means for the future of the game

[i'm-uninformed2]

I know that I am in a minority, but I like what Wicks brings to the team structurally. The article on half-forwards on the AFL site this week was great: a thankless, low-possession role, largely involving getting to space and closing it down. You don't get a stat for that. You don't get to tackle, because the whole idea is to appear in a KPD's peripheral vision and deny them a switch, forcing them to go down the line or take a high risk option into the corridor.

This role should not be confused with that of the small forward, who is there to crumb and to tackle, holding up the play, locking the ball in.

I think that Wicks plays the (thankless) role really well (as does Hayward), and the amount of non-love they both receive or have received is, as I see it, part of the job (although I acknowledge that Hayward, as a 'natural' marking forward is a bit more visible). It is too easy to dismiss them as 'drifting in and out of the game', or lacking concentration, or even having an insufficient motor because they don't get stats, and do not appear in the frame of television coverage.


More, I think that we missed Wicks against the Tigers. Bolton carved us up out of his defensive 50, where we seemed to have left a paddock on the fat side all day: the space Wicks or such a player) occupies, or, at the very least shifts from being a low percentage get-out proposition to a 50/50, or, better, holds up the next kick to allow the mids to drop back into the corridor.


Fox is more in the Hayward mode, I think: great leap, can take a contested mark, and is fast enough to take space, but I wonder whether we will need him in the back half tomorrow.

This is a terrific post. This is not to reflect on other matters, but Wicks’ role is structurally important. If someone else can eventually play it better, fine; but right now he does it best.

You look at how the Carlton currently use their small forwards. Durdin and Owies do what Wicks is asked to do, and Cottrell’s role is largely to role up to the wings, let Acres play as a defensive winger, then try to burn back when the Blues have the ball.

[Mel_C]

Foxfooty is showing highlights of our past matches with West Coast and they showed Adam Hunter. After all these years I still can't stand him, especially what he used to do to Micky O.

[stevoswan]

Come on guys, enough of the indignation about Wicks.

We don't know any of the facts for CERTAIN only speculation.

I trust the solid pillars within the club to deal with, whatever actually transpired, in the correct and fair manner. Wicks non selection has everything to do with returning players pushing him out and nothing to do with whatever has gone on.

Just not worth talking about IMO.

While I agree 100% with you on why Wicks is not in the team, I think our teams form in the last two weeks and the reported 'divide' in the squad over whatever has happened re: with a teammates ex, is worth talking about. Sure there will be speculation but something is not quite right with our team at the moment. I hope they work it out real quick....because we just almost lost to a team we should have annihilated.