Melbourne team vs Adelaide

[Chook 15,022]

Well done. Maybe you should check a recording of last week's game and make sure you haven't got your analysis of Strauss's game wrong. It's not to late to contact the selection committee/

Yeah, thanks for that. Have you ever been wrong before, mate? Would you prefer I delete the post where I apologize for being wrong, or the one where I'm actually wrong? Or neither? Why don't you stick to talking about football rather than making snide comments about other people's posts. Why single me out anyway? There are others in this very thread who have talked about how their ins and outs were right.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Chook

[the pearl 36]

Yeah, thanks for that. Have you ever been wrong before, mate? Would you prefer I delete the post where I apologize for being wrong, or the one where I'm actually wrong? Or neither? Why don't you stick to talking about football rather than making snide comments about other people's posts. Why single me out anyway? There are others in this very thread who have talked about how their ins and outs were right.

Sorry Chook. You seem to be getting a bit upset.

From a football point of view, I would stick with a youngster like Strauss - as I would with Scully and Grimes. I lose patience with Newton, Jones and Miller because they've been tried in teams that were a lot more accomplished and successful than our current team, with little development or progress.

If we're blooding our youth, then that's what we've got to do. Last week's game was an indication or what lies ahead - Frawley, Strauss, maybe even Bennell included.

This is not a time for paranoia or sookiness. Get over it.

[damon the demon 57]

can someone tell me why everyone thinks Bartram is so lucky to still be in the team? IMO he played well last week - really good pressure and tackling - much better than Bruce for example..

[Cards13 9,117]

Bate would be very stiff to be dropped, someone mentioned in a previous thread about Bate did clutch at the groin after Swan's smother and might not get up. He should not be dropped even if he is under done and needing of game time to reach his peak in about round 8.....

[H_T 3,049]

Bate would be very stiff to be dropped, someone mentioned in a previous thread about Bate did clutch at the groin after Swan's smother and might not get up. He should not be dropped even if he is under done and needing of game time to reach his peak in about round 8.....

I noticed the clutch too. But I also noticed his movement after that, in particular late in the last quarter and to me he appeared free in movement.

[sylvinator 96]

Our best 22 is starting to take shape. If our list was completely 100% fit i'd only make 5 changes.

B: Matthew Warnock, James Frawley, Jamie Bennell

HB: James McDonald, Joel Macdonald, Lynden Dunn

C: Rohan Bail, Jackson Trengove, Aaron Davey

HF: Brad Green, Colin Sylvia, Cameron Bruce

F: Tom Scully, Ricky Petterd, Clint Bartram

Foll: Mark Jamar, Jack Grimes, Brent Moloney

I/C (from): Colin Garland, Jordie McKenzie, Nathan Jones, Matthew Bate, Kyle Cheney, Jake Spencer, Michael Newton

In: Morton, Jurrah, Wonaeamirri, Watts, Rivers

Our: Bail, Newton, Bartram, Cheney, Dunn

Would also like to see Strauss, Maric, Blease, Jetta, Gysberts and McNamara play between 5-15 games this year each. The more games into these boys the better they will be for it.

[Mono 455]

Our best 22 is starting to take shape. If our list was completely 100% fit i'd only make 5 changes.

B: Matthew Warnock, James Frawley, Jamie Bennell

HB: James McDonald, Joel Macdonald, Lynden Dunn

C: Rohan Bail, Jackson Trengove, Aaron Davey

HF: Brad Green, Colin Sylvia, Cameron Bruce

F: Tom Scully, Ricky Petterd, Clint Bartram

Foll: Mark Jamar, Jack Grimes, Brent Moloney

I/C (from): Colin Garland, Jordie McKenzie, Nathan Jones, Matthew Bate, Kyle Cheney, Jake Spencer, Michael Newton

In: Morton, Jurrah, Wonaeamirri, Watts, Rivers

Our: Bail, Newton, Bartram, Cheney, Dunn

Would also like to see Strauss, Maric, Blease, Jetta, Gysberts and McNamara play between 5-15 games this year each. The more games into these boys the better they will be for it.

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

And Newton is not a long term 2nd ruck answer. Who is? Not Spencer ATM.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Mono

[stueyspencer no12 73]

Totally agree - it's time for this list to earn their keep. Last year and 2008 was the year for freebies to see if they can play.

Btw, Bartram vey lucky....

Sat up last night to watch replay on Fox. Interesting how observations at the game can be wrong,

eg at the game I thought Bruce was ordinary--defensivly he was good

so was Bartram

thought Bennell was ok except for 1 terrible moment. In fact he wasn't much good anyway except a few minutes in term 3

realised we MUST play Jones and Moloney as the only 2 hard nuts since McLean departed. On the other hand the skipper was terrific--might have been our best overall, subject to 2 wild free-kicks

Hadn't realised how diabolical were the 2 umpiring decisions in the last 10 minutes. Bennell WAS tackled too low and didn't have the ball anyway. Green should have been rewarded for a great tackle on Shaw `in last couple of minutes

Mc Kenzie also better than I realised on the day. Newton not as good as I'd thought.

As to Crows match I think we need Cheney to replace Strauss.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

And Newton is not a long term 2nd ruck answer. Who is? Not Spencer ATM.

Hang on a minute, if you accept the likes of Sculgove and McKenzie are best 22 then why doesn't Watts get the same treatment.. maybe he will never dominate at Casey, some blokes are at their best in the big leagues with quality all around them, Jurrah for one I didn't think was all that special when I saw him in the VFL several times, but when he got a senior berth he never looked back. The same could be said for Grimes. I think Watts if 100% fit will be slotting into the 22 even if he doesn't do much at Casey to earn it. His education will come from playing AFL.

MacDonald Warnock Rivers

Bruce Frawley Davey

Morton Moloney Grimes

Green Bate Garland

Jurrah Petterd Watts

Jamar Sylvia Scully

Trengove McKenzie Jones McDonald

Wonaeamirri

Bennell

Miller

Strauss

Bell

PJ

Spencer

McNamara

Meesen

Martin

Newton

Dunn

Bartram

Bail

Cheney

Jetta

Maric

Blease

Gysberts

Tapscott

Gawn

Fitzpatrick

Healey

Hughes

Now tell me who, in that long list of outs would you rather see in the 22 ahead of a fit Watts? I know I have named only one ruck so maybe that's it, but not necessarily

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

And Newton is not a long term 2nd ruck answer. Who is? Not Spencer ATM.

I agree with what you say but a half fit and not ready Watts would give us more than a fit and firing Miller or Newton.

Jones and Moloney might struggle but I think we will will definitely need either one or both going forward. Muscle makes a big difference in the big league and we will need them for at least the next three years to do the grunt work until the kids get some mass of there own and Jmac is a memory.

2nd ruck - Damn shame the Moose isn't fit. He was finally starting to show something when he got hurt. But ATM we really don't have a #2 ruck but Spencer has the animal to make it, Meese has the talent but might not and if nothing else we can pray that Gawn will come on. It is bloody hard to get a good ruck as most of them look like spuds until they get to 25 and then they get up and running.

[Rogue 585]

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

And Newton is not a long term 2nd ruck answer. Who is? Not Spencer ATM.

It's his best 22 and he said 100% fit. I assume that also means they've played some footy, not that they're suddenly 100% fit after being out for x months.

[DeeSpencer 26,083]

Liking the ins. Bench will be in order named. Colin Garland, Jordie McKenzie, Nathan Jones, Matthew Bate,

Sylvia and Garland in for Strauss and Newton.

Strauss has had his taste and now knows what is required. Anyone that thinks an inexperienced Strauss is better value than a 80% fit Garland has rocks in their head.

Newton was ok last week as filler but Jamar will ruck all day against the Crows.

Sends a message to Jones and Bate that more is required which I like.

On the Melbourne website Newton is named 4th in order in front of Bate. Jamar rucking all day against Maric and Tippett is just as hard as Jolly and Fraser. He needs at least 15% off a game, and really for his longevity in a season I'd be looking at 25%. That combined with the fact that Newton (FF) and Dunn (CHF) compared to Dunn (FF) and Bate (CHF) is a very small loss with the way Bate has been playing suggests to me that Newton must play.

Not sure why Jones has to feel the heat after 2 good ordinary games. Yes we want more from experienced players - but no one really had a dominant display last week (beside Ricky up forward) - it was more the combination of what happens when ever senior player pulls their weight. Jones did that.

dee-luded's Round 3 Lineup

Backs: Warnock, Frawley, Cheney

Half backs: McDonald, MacDonald, Grimes

Centreline: Bail, Moloney, Davey

Half forwards: Bruce, Bate, Sylvia,

Forwards: Green, Newton, Petterd

Followers: Jamar, McKenzie, Jones

I/C From: Spencer, Bennell, Scully, Trengove,

Garland, Bartram, Dunn

Oh, that is deluded. Bartram was very solid last week. Why drop him for Cheney and if you were going to drop him, why not for Col Garland.

News flash - James McDonald is our best midfield. He plays in the midfield. Cam Bruce has played with good success in the backline for the last 2 seasons as well if you haven't noticed.

Also Spencer and Newton is an interesting call. But where has Dunn gone wrong. He played a solid game last week. Also how has Spencer proved that he has more to offer than what he did in round 1. Spencer might give a little more in the ruck than the Newton at centre bounces, Dunn around the ground combo, but he isn't going to kick the 2 goals that Dunn did when he went forward.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,942]

After thinking long and hard:

Ins - Sylvia, Garland

Outs - Newton, Strauss

Sylvia picks himself while Garland is a direct swap for Strauss. With all due respect to Strauss (who will be a good AFL player) we can't afford players making critical mistakes at critical times and I figure a half "match" fit Garland will probably be more effective and reliable than the kid, at this stage.

Not sure Newton will survive after yet another "no impact" game. While he didn't do much wrong, he didn't do anything to justify another AFL game and won't be missed if we drop him again.

[... 11]

Using your thought process Bennell can feel very lucky to be in the team considering he panicked far more than Strauss did. Would have liked to see Strauss get another chance and Melbourne make a point by dropping Bennell.

I think Bennell showed a bit up forward last week and that's probably what saved him. But I agree that Bennell, like Strauss, has shown some very alarming signs of not having played 50+ games yet I don't think either of these blokes need to worry, and one of them had to go. I would be surprised if Strauss doesn't break back into the side over the next 1 - 3 weeks.

[DirtyDees DDC 187]

Good to see Sam Blease in the reserves for Scorpions. 'One small step for Sam...'. PJ is back too.

No shows for this weekend - Rivers, Fitzpatrick and Hughes.

Rivers had a good pre-season but still can't get himself right. I think he was injured in the Adelaide pre season match. He may lose his regular position in the backline to Garland.

Edited April 8, 2010 by DirtyDees DDC

[Nasher 33,617]

Hang on a minute, if you accept the likes of Sculgove and McKenzie are best 22 then why doesn't Watts get the same treatment..

It might have something to do with the fact that Scully, Trengove and McKenzie are all currently playing at the required level and Watts isn't? Just maybe?

After thinking long and hard:

Ins - Sylvia, Garland

Outs - Newton, Strauss

Sylvia picks himself while Garland is a direct swap for Strauss. With all due respect to Strauss (who will be a good AFL player) we can't afford players making critical mistakes at critical times and I figure a half "match" fit Garland will probably be more effective and reliable than the kid, at this stage.

Not sure Newton will survive after yet another "no impact" game. While he didn't do much wrong, he didn't do anything to justify another AFL game and won't be missed if we drop him again.

By doing that you're consigning Jamar to 100% time in the ruck, is that what we really want? He's one of our most important players, I don't think it's a great idea to wear him out in round 3.

I think in reality it's not going to come down to a choice between Newton and Garland, it will be a choice between Newton and Spencer, and I'm inclined to go with the former. Therefore in my eyes it comes down to a choice between an 80% fit Garland, or an 90% fit Bate. Given that Garland's not been on the park for over a year and Bate when on song is one of our best players, it's got to be Bate.

I'm a massive Garland fan, btw. But given all the variables describe above in conjunction with the named extended bench, I just can't see how he's possibly going to fit in to this side.

[JACKATTACK 17]

Great to see sylvia back, with arms like these you can't be bad at football.

[satyricon 267]

I think there is a bit of subterfuge going on until 5pm tonight, Adelaide are going to have a reasonably big forward line, think Bennell will go from picked to emergency and Cheney will come in, think Bartram and Junior will tag team Goodwin who is under a bit of an injury cloud (if he playes at all), and Newton will stay in along with Dunn who I think will play as a floater using his size around the park

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Collingwood had Jolly/Fraser, Brown, Cloke and Anthony as tall marking forwards last week and we covered them with Warnock, Bruce and Frawley.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Oh, that is deluded. Bartram was very solid last week. Why drop him for Cheney and if you were going to drop him, why not for Col Garland.

News flash - James McDonald is our best midfield. He plays in the midfield. Cam Bruce has played with good success in the backline for the last 2 seasons as well if you haven't noticed.

Also Spencer and Newton is an interesting call. But where has Dunn gone wrong. He played a solid game last week. Also how has Spencer proved that he has more to offer than what he did in round 1. Spencer might give a little more in the ruck than the Newton at centre bounces, Dunn around the ground combo, but he isn't going to kick the 2 goals that Dunn did when he went forward.

Oh, that is deluded. Bartram was very solid,,,,,,,,,whats this < How old are you?

dee-luded, on 08 April 2010 - 09:53 PM, said:

{dee-luded's Round 3 Lineup

Backs: Warnock, Frawley, Cheney

Half backs: McDonald, MacDonald, Grimes

Centreline: Bail, Moloney, Davey

Half forwards: Bruce, Bate, Sylvia,

Forwards: Green, Newton, Petterd

Followers: Jamar, McKenzie, Jones

I/C From: Spencer, Bennell, Scully, Trengove,

Garland, Bartram, Dunn}

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Point 1 - Bartram is not the future, Cheney is. Their playing the kids, had you Not noticed? this week Strauss is out, who's in?

Point 2 - Col Garland IMO is not quite fit, why didn't they play him last week? Why play Newton for just 1 game?

Point 3 - Jnr McDonald isn't our best Mid. Their playing the kids, hadn't you noticed? Back flank is in the Mid rotations, see Bennell past.

Point 4 - Bruce has played well defensive as a tagger. Poor at bringing the ball up, setting up the play poor, can mark & read the play - ball coming in, find a spot for him.

Point 5 - Dunn didn't do much wrong but is not a creative player, couldn't find a spot for him above others, Dunn does not play as a tall so Newton gets the gig.

Point 6 - Spencer. This season if you hadn't noticed is about developing the young talent that we've recruited, its not all about what they've shown last week but rather giving them opportunity to grow their games. when they play badly, rather than average game, they'll be dropped.

Again Dunn plays small, newton plays tall, > FF, Sylvia coming in relinquishes Dunn, if you like him, you put him on the bench. I'm more about developing the future Demon Team, thats why my bench is > {Spencer, Bennell, Scully, Trengove}

I hope you get it. It's not about winning max No of games this year, It's about Maximizing future years wins by developing our future stars Now.

Garland will be back, if nor this week then very soon.

Edited April 9, 2010 by dee-luded

[Jaded No More 68,974]

Collingwood had Jolly/Fraser, Brown, Cloke and Anthony as tall marking forwards last week and we covered them with Warnock, Bruce and Frawley.

And MacDonald, who was superb on Cloke.

Bruce is not an ideal key defender, and I certainly would prefer Rivers/Garland in his position. If Garland plays on Sunday (fingers crossed), I'd hope to see Bruce playing as a forward, where his terrible handballing skills won't be such an issue.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,234]

It amazes me the amount of people that do not understand the following:

1. If you are named in the starting 18 you are not an emergency. The emergencies will come from those players named on the extended bench.

2. If in the starting 18 Scully is named in the ruck it does not mean he will play there. The starting positions have absolutely no relevance on the game itself.

3. If a player on the extended bench is named in the Casey starting 18 it has absolutely no relevance,.

Maybe this can be a sticky to every week when the teams are named.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,234]

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

The day Nathan Jones is ommitted alot of people on here will cry foul and wonder how its happened and that he is definitely in our starting 18. I will not be one of those people.

[satyricon 267]

It amazes me the amount of people that do not understand the following:

1. If you are named in the starting 18 you are not an emergency. The emergencies will come from those players named on the extended bench.

2. If in the starting 18 Scully is named in the ruck it does not mean he will play there. The starting positions have absolutely no relevance on the game itself.

3. If a player on the extended bench is named in the Casey starting 18 it has absolutely no relevance,.

Maybe this can be a sticky to every week when the teams are named.

Sorry to correct you but we can shuffle the 25 anyway we want until 5pm Friday when we have to finalise,we did this a couple of times last year, I think Robbo went in or out and he wasn't even named in the original 25 on one occasion. Hence why I said think Bennel will end up as an emergency, and think Goodwin may not appear for the Crows

[dee-luded 2,959]

You, and a few others here, are way ahead of where Wonna and Watts are. Wonna hasn't played for 18 months, Watts for 12. Neither are in our best 22 ATM. And FWIW, neither is Jones - he will be flooded soon by the wealth of mid-field talent we have coming through (indeed, Moloney may be in trouble as well).

And Newton is not a long term 2nd ruck answer. Who is? Not Spencer ATM.

I agree with all of that, ATMO.