Melbourne v Brisbane thread

[Disco Demons 92]

I agree and to that end I would play Martin and ( don't jump down my throat ) I would rest Trengove. I thought he looked a little tired today and in my opinion we need to look after the younger boys and not over do it. I would not play him at Casey but give him a complete one week rest to freshen after a hard pre season. I would rest Scully later on in the same way. It makes sense this week to have another tall rucking/marking option. The lions have Clark, Leuenberger, and the two big forwards, what do we have?

there is no way you could drop trengove for this match...i would say the lions have the best midfield we have played to date...trengove/scully needs to play on/against blokes like black to learn. i would be happy to see these blokes rested if they get a flogged or we loose by a big margin. we are playing at the mcg this weekend so maybe wait until we have a game on the road too.

[Disco Demons 92]

this is really a throw away comment but...

how far is jack watts away? play him as our second ruckman? i would like to see him taken out of cotton wool...

[demon destruction 81]

Let's see Frank Grimes play on Trapper for at least half the Game.

Interesting how trapper will be received by the crowd, really looking forward to next saturday night.

And we are on Free to Air at last.

We are not on free to air this week, Stkilda v Port are on ten, once again we get screwed over, pretty hard to attract new sponsors and supporters when all our games get shown on foxtel, maybe if we can continuing winning we might get rewarded with more games on free to air next year!

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Leave the side as it is talk of dropping Bartram is silly he is hard at it and against Brisbane that's exactly what you need. If Jamar can't cope with the two ruckmen and Dunn can't help then so be it, Martin would be a liability in a game like this and will need a couple of games under his belt to get match hardened. As someone mentioned above it will give Merrett a natural opponent, at the moment he hasn't got one.

We need to find out if players like Dunn, Bartram and Bennell can handle the type of pressure that Brisbane apply and if Jamar is as good as he seems to be. I reckon he can handle the two Brisbane rucks and with Warnock in the backline and Dunn in the forward line and relief ruck we should be right. I'd run Bartram with Trapper and Bruce with Brennan, leave Dunn where he is, we have stuffed around with him for too long give him a chance to show if he is up to it.

[H_T 3,049]

Warnock on Brown.

Frawley on Fev.

Bruce on Brennan.

Hope we win the midfield battle.

So do I. McKenzie, Moloney, Jones, McDonald, Scully, Trengove, Davey, Bail, Sylvia. I hope these boys come to play Saturday night. It's a big ask, a big step against arguably a Premiership contender. Massive development experience awaits the boys. They will be looking very much forward to it.

I can't wait. Hopefully our members/supporters rally this Saturday night. I'm hoping for 35,000 +.

MacDonald on Staker ?

Who will take Rich. McDonald perhaps ?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I can't wait. Hopefully our members/supporters rally this Saturday night. I'm hoping for 35,000 +.

MacDonald on Staker ?

Who will take Rich. McDonald perhaps ?

Crowd or Members???

I thought you could play JoelMac or Garland on him.

McDonald might get Black. Bail for Rich? And you would definitely tag Travis....Dunn?

[Inner Demon 1]

Only change would be a forced one if Beamer got rubbed out. Hopefully a moot point.

As for the structure.

Frawley will have to get first crack at Brown as Warnock won't be able to follow JB up the ground enough, Warnock is better suited out of the goalsquare on Fev.

Garland to Brennan. Great matchup.

Come Saturday, all the "he's too slow"s and "he's not big enough"s will be pretty irrelevant, I'd expect to see everyone get a chance on everyone as we look for the best matchups.

As for my mental preparation for the game, I'm expecting us to get flogged. This Brisbane side is sensational and they're in hot form. They just smashed the pre-season flag favourite, could've easily been 10 goals. They will likely make an awful mess of us.

This won't be a 'step backwards' or anything like that, this will be a Premiership contender beating a young, inexperienced side dragging itself off the bottom.

[H_T 3,049]

Crowd or Members???

I thought you could play JoelMac or Garland on him.

McDonald might get Black. Bail for Rich? And you would definitely tag Travis....Dunn?

Crowd. Re: Members tally - Think we might chalk up 30,000 members before Saturday.

Yes, I'd opt for Dunn. Thought maybe Bail for Rischetelli, Scully and Jones to rotate on Rich. If Black comes in I agree with McDonald.

[WonnaJurah 5]

If Moloney suspended, Out Moloney In Martin Or Mcnamara

If not No Change,why mess with a well performed side

[dee-luded 2,959]

Play Stef Martin. He can control the ruck in our half, Jamar can drop back in the defensive half and help out the defenders. Will also mean Merritt will most likely play on Martin, somewhat freeing up Sylvia, Green and Petterd.

If our defenders can win, Melbourne can win.

Yes, or the reverse of this!

[Keyser Söze 0]

Crowd. Re: Members tally - Think we might chalk up 30,000 members before Saturday.

Yes, I'd opt for Dunn. Thought maybe Bail for Rischetelli, Scully and Jones to rotate on Rich. If Black comes in I agree with McDonald.

I think Jones is a good matchup for Rich.

Dunn on Travis works for me.

Bruce on Black.

Garland running with Brenna.

Chip on Brown.

Warnock on Fev.

I think worrying over these matchups is counter-productive though - if we're any chance of winning we need the ball to be in our hands and be dictating terms.

In short, I'm hoping for an honourable loss.

[Adam The God 30,420]

The more I think about it, the more I think we'll see Martin back into the side. Jamar can't ruck the whole game alone this time, and Martin has shown a glimmer of form at Casey the last couple of weeks. FF and back-up ruck for him. If he and Jamar rotate through FF it shouldn't hurt our rotations in the middle that much.

In all honesty, I'd prefer Dunn in the ruck throughout the forwardline. Although he lost a few taps in the last quarter yesterday, he won almost all of them early on. Martin's gotta become more accurate if he's going to play FF. He kicks too many points for my liking. I'd still prefer him to play back, but I wouldn't have him ahead of any of our current defenders.

For the record, I'd play Garland (who is deceptively strong) on Fev and play Frawley on Brown.

[P-man 13,366]

I'm not convinced any changes are really needed, although Jamar may need some support. He's not superman...is he?

Worth bringing in Rivers to cope with some of the bigger bodies perhaps? Problem is the out. Bennell would be a tough call as I am liking more and more the spark that he gives us running out of defense.

Brennan is the danger man for me and I think MacDonald is up for the job. Hopefully Frawley can rewind two weeks and bring that sort of form to keep JB quiet.

Very much looking forward to this one.

[H_T 3,049]

Black no certainty; No-risk approach for return - Voss

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Worth bringing in Rivers to cope with some of the bigger bodies perhaps?

Problem is he doesn't.

[Face Your Demons 175]

We will win this game.

Lions are pretenders.

Looking forward to Grimes tearing Johnstone apart.

Thank You. You bet we will win this game. Just have to get over that second quarter fade out. Don't worry about Fev he's going to crown.

[Guest Thomo]

Who will take Rich. McDonald perhaps ?

I think that we would tag Black (if he plays) Power, Brennan, Rischetelli and even Johnstone before Rich. Rich has a great left foot, but doesn't get much of the ball in comparison to the rest of the midfeild. Does well for his age, but in my opinion not in the top few that we should be worrying about.

Brennan is a tough matchup. Would be great to have Morton fit. Maybe Bruce could run with him. Could also try Garland, but might not have the fitness to run all day. Dunn might be another one if he holds his spot.

[deanox 9,989]

No he didn't go all day in any of the 3 matches since Spencer dropped out. In the 2 `earlier matches Newton had 7-8 minutes each quarter on the ball. Today Dunn filled in-not too badly but against a decent ruckman he'd be killed. And, hell, what happens if Jamar is injured in the first few minutes? The dominance and drive he's given us could be replicated against us if we don't have any additional ruck power. I say Martin should play--only question is who goes out.

so you say that jamar didnt go alone in those matches, because he has support. but he will have the same level of support this week from dunn as well. im not sure why anyone thinks martin can ruck. he is tall, ill give you that. but that doesnt mean he can ruck. and dunn has been good the last two weeks.

Fraser is not really a ruckman more a follower and Vickery is just a kid. We will not have the luxury of 5 minutes with Dunn in the middle not hurting us against a quality pair in Clark and Leunberger. Playing Jamar on his own was never going to cost the game today. Next week it is a risk I dont think we should take. Martin is not the best ruckmen but he offers flexibility at both ends and should be able to negate for short periods in the middle.

if dunn is getting killed and we are struggling those times that jamar is off, we can swing everything around. throw green behind the ball at the time that jamar goes off and dunn goes into the centre. tie the game right down, and choke it up - we did this against collingwood twice when they kicked a couple of consecutive goals. then after 5 minutes throw jamar back on and swing around to a 6 man forward line again and hit them hard when we are ready.

we can control the pace of the game: we've done it this year. it is important to control it when you need to, and if thats how we need to play so be it.

RE what hpapens if jamar goes down? I've no answer. but i had no answer before the richmond game, or before the collingwood game either. it was no different. if it was good enough then it is good enough now, the chances of a jamar injury have not increased.

i agree long term we need another ruck, or a ruck forward (just a proper alternative) however we dont have an option that will make the team better. we may gain in the ruck by bringing in spencer but we will lose out elsewhere, and i think we will lose more than we gain.

pick your best 22 and let them win their own way. make brisbane match up on our in-form smalls and mediums. who is merret going to play on? neither ruckman can drop back; no one to play on. but we have good tall backs to counter if they drift forward. how are brisbane going to match up on us?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

we can control the pace of the game: we've done it this year. it is important to control it when you need to, and if thats how we need to play so be it.

Only if you have control of the ball. We need to win more possession of the ball than Brisbane. Its as simple as that. If their midfield gets on top, they will hurt us up forward. Brown and Fev one out are almost impossible to beat.

We got left off lightly against Vickery and Fraser. Neither are consequential in the ruck and on Sunday, Vickery made poor use of his height advantage.

[Range Rover 1,935]

Warnock on Brown

Frawley on Fevola

Can't wait!

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Without having read any other post:

In: Martin

Out: Dunn

We need back up in the ruck this week. Leuenberger and Clark will run all night, and Jamar can't be expected to keep up the whole time. Martin provides back up as well as a possible FF as well as possible help in defence if needed.

Dunn has to be commended for his valiant rucking efforts, but everything else about his game was so-so at best. Doesn't deserve his spot.

No other changes necessary. Keep the group together until the class starts coming back (Morton, Jurrah, Watts, Wonaeamirri).

[Go Dees Attack 0]

if we stop brown and fev we are a good shot.

our defence is what has helped us this year.

the backline in the first half was pretty poor then really stepped up in the second half and thats what got the game going.

i am looking forward to next week

go the dees

Couldn't agree more. Dees can win this game.

Go Dees

[dee-luded 2,959]

Warnock on Brown

Frawley on Fevola

Can't wait!

That'd be fine.

[Rogue 585]

We need back up in the ruck this week. Leuenberger and Clark will run all night, and Jamar can't be expected to keep up the whole time. Martin provides back up as well as a possible FF as well as possible help in defence if needed.

I thought Jamar was labouring at times versus Richmond - a couple of times he'd try and follow a man and then give up and stand in the centre corridor catching his breath. While I'm sure he's happy enough as the sole ruckman, some help wouldn't hurt.

[Deano74 156]

Well I Think we need Martin to come in and help in the ruck. Then Jamar and Martin can change off the bench or down at full forward giving us a tall option.

As for who has to make way that has me buggered.

Maybe Bennell? People have suggested Dunn who i think has been going well and improving and the other Bartram, who is a good stopper.

But the way Mckenzie is going, he could do Bartram's role

So possibly

In Martin

Out Bartram