The Bench

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,400]

Wanted to keep this seperate from the Rd 1 thread as that already has enough discussion points.

Was interested in how people though our bench might look come round 1. Not who's on it but the breakdown, I think we can only go 1 of 2 ways.

4 mids/flankers

or 1 utility & 3 mids/flankers

I've read some people's teams that have 

1 tall fwd, 1 tall def & 2 mids

Not sure that could work. 

4 teams that I will be looking at will be the Hawks who have lost The Rough for half the year and have done so well through the number of players they have that can play fwd-back flank or rotate through the midfield, the Bulldogs who's gameplan relies on quick ball movement and continual run from their players. Port who I've tipped to win the flag (picked them a few months ago and am sticking with it regardless of Saturday's result, the only team with the ability to beat the Hawks twice last year) and Collingwood who now have a midfield that includes Pendles/Swan/Steele/Treloar/Varcoe/Greenwood/Aish/Crisp.

 

[FireOath 290]

1 utility & 3 mids/flankers for me.

[Gorgoroth 12,972]

Wholly dependent of form and who starts on the ground.

But i'd be tipping 3 mids and a tall.

[Copuchas 763]

There'll have to be some erring on the side of caution until we fully understand the impact of the 90 interchange cap and the sub elimination on the aerobic endurance of the players (mid-field in particular).   For this reason, I can't see it being less than 3 mids.   Moreover, we're all accustomed to seeing the players being spent in the early rounds of a season, no matter how much match simulation....and it's an earlier start this year with a warm March forecast.  

Do we know what the average activation point of the sub was ie including injuries for season 2015?  I would assume around the 15 or 20 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.  So on the face of it we're getting an extra player for two and a half quarters but copping a hefty hit on the rotations.  

[DeeSpencer 25,723]

90 rotations means you'll need heaps of on ground rotations. 

Every player has to be able to contribute to the midfield minutes and either spend time forward or back. Or in other words play 2 positions.

I'd start the team like this (and the names aren't all that important):

FB: Jetta  Dunn Garland

HB: ###  McDonald  ####

C: ###    ####    #### 

HF: ###   Hogan  ####

FF: #### ####   ####

Int:  #####   ####  ####  ####

Every player not named has to have 2 positions. 

So you probably want 3 more defenders who can also push up in to the midfield (ie. Salem, Bugg, Lumumba). 5 or 6 more forwards who can go in to the midfield - Garlett, Kent, Vanders, Watts etc. And the rest of the team midfielders who can go either one way, or even better both forward and back.

 

[dee-luded 2,959]

4 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Wanted to keep this seperate from the Rd 1 thread as that already has enough discussion points.

Was interested in how people though our bench might look come round 1. Not who's on it but the breakdown, I think we can only go 1 of 2 ways.

4 mids/flankers

or 1 utility & 3 mids/flankers

I've read some people's teams that have 

1 tall fwd, 1 tall def & 2 mids

Not sure that could work. 

4 teams that I will be looking at will be the Hawks who have lost The Rough for half the year and have done so well through the number of players they have that can play fwd-back flank or rotate through the midfield, the Bulldogs who's gameplan relies on quick ball movement and continual run from their players. Port who I've tipped to win the flag (picked them a few months ago and am sticking with it regardless of Saturday's result, the only team with the ability to beat the Hawks twice last year) and Collingwood who now have a midfield that includes Pendles/Swan/Steele/Treloar/Varcoe/Greenwood/Aish/Crisp.

 

 

to me,  1 tallish utility,  &  3 mid-sized runners,  ( 1 defensive mid, 1 winger, 1 small forward/mid )

[Nasher 33,616]

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

FB: Jetta  Dunn Garland

HB: ###  McDonald  ####

Yep, spot on.  The 4 non-midfielders in the back line will also be the four players with the highest TOG% for the game, I expect.  McDonald and Dunn in particular will rarely rotate off the ground at all.  

[DeeSpencer 25,723]

2 hours ago, Nasher said:

Yep, spot on.  The 4 non-midfielders in the back line will also be the four players with the highest TOG% for the game, I expect.  McDonald and Dunn in particular will rarely rotate off the ground at all.  

For the amount that I rubbish McDonald I will admit his endurance is certainly a weapon that allows him to play high minutes and get up and down the ground. Dunn can mainly camp back which is fine and Jetta and Garland have both been working on fitness I believe. Which is important because they need to play a high percentage of game time whilst also contributing more rebound than last year. 

[Mach5 4,768]

So, by necessity almost, if Frost is to play, he plays as a forward/2nd ruck.

(As opposed to defender/2nd ruck)

[monoccular 17,432]

I would expect that the default would be 3 runners and a medium / tall, but of course that depends on whom we have available for the starting lineup. 

If the forward line included Hogan, Pedersen, Watts and someone who plays taller that their height eg Vanders, one may take a risk and use four runners.  Gawnuis maximums "resting" in the goal square could be a defenser's nightmare.  Reminiscent of Big Bob Johnson hovering there. 

May also depend on weather forecasts.

But what I do hope to see is far more rotations between midfield and especially smaller forwards, though I guess backs such as Salem or ?Grimes could join in.  Generally I would prefer a slightly out of breath forward than a defender.

Brings back the old days a bit - Ridley and Adams rotating from the forward pocket, or Townsend and Emselle - ahhhhhh, the memories of a dominant era  

 

 

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,400]

3 hours ago, Mach5 said:

So, by necessity almost, if Frost is to play, he plays as a forward/2nd ruck.

(As opposed to defender/2nd ruck)

I'm leaning towards 4 mids/flankers on the bench. Going off last weeks game our three fwds at this stage are Hogan/Pedo/Watts, I'd like to see Frost given an opportunity over the next two weeks in defence then only one of Frost/Garland plays with Dunn, Tmac. 

If our other starting forwards are Garlett, Kent, VB our bench could be Petracca, Kennedy, Harmes, Oliver.

I think some teams, the Bulldogs being one will try to capitalise on last year and run teams off their feet. 

If your no.1 ruck gets injured your stuffed anyway, if you loose a key defender a mid/flanker plays the third tall, and if you loose a fwd you play with a smaller fwd line. 

As DeeSpencer alluded to, just about every player needs to be able to play two positions.

 

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,400]

18 hours ago, Nasher said:

Yep, spot on.  The 4 non-midfielders in the back line will also be the four players with the highest TOG% for the game, I expect.  McDonald and Dunn in particular will rarely rotate off the ground at all.  

As I've argued in the past in other threads, maybe not this year but definitely next year Jetta's position may/should be up for grabs to a midfielder who defensive game is the equal of Jetta's but offers more going the other way and can play on ball.