MATCH PREVIEW AND TEAM SELECTION - Round 17

[What 18,810]

Gus is officially playing

 

In  - Gus

Out - Stretch (ommitted)

Edited July 15, 2016 by Petraccattack

[Bitter but optimistic 22,289]

5 hours ago, Chris said:

I thought of you last week as Oscar was coming off thinking of the gleeful smile on your face. The fall from such happiness must have been hard when he was named this week. You may get what you want though as he may not get through training today.

FMD !!!!!

Takes all types I suppose.

[Vagg 2,449]

So, a season and a half after we probably expected it, Gus & his good mate, Petracca will FINALLY get to run out together in the big time.  No doubt, they will both be pumped!

They now need to make it even more special with a win!

 

[AzzKikA 2,371]

Please Gus, have the legs to ruin the game out 

[daisycutter 29,893]

3 minutes ago, AzzKikA said:

Please Gus, have the legs to ruin the game out 

and please keep your head out of places it shouldn't be

[Demon Jack 7,145]

And so the era of Petracca and Brayshaw tearing up the midfield begins.

[Lord Travis 10,793]

Love Gus but not 100% sold on the change. We need run to match the Saints at Etihad and Stretch is one of best for this. I would've rested Omac after his injury last week. Hopefully we can finally beat them though!

[Jaded No More 68,975]

So much for taking in fresh legs coming off such tough conditions. I feel we keep making the same mistakes and I just hope it doesn't cost us again!

Super happy to see Gus back btw!

[Generation dee 1,336]

In other good news, good luck to Kent having signed on for a further 2 seasons. Hoe he plays another big game!

[DeeZee 7,445]

I'm not sure bringing Brayshaw in for Stretch is a good move .

He has hardly had a solid block of form coming in.

Stretchys pace would have been handy on Etihad on one StKildas damaging smalls.

Hope I'm proven wrong.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

12 minutes ago, Jaded said:

So much for taking in fresh legs coming off such tough conditions. I feel we keep making the same mistakes and I just hope it doesn't cost us again!

Super happy to see Gus back btw!

I agree. I'm not so fussed about Stretch going out as his output has been a bit down and Gus will certainly be fresh. But I think Kennedy is lucky to stay in and has probably only been saved by his pace. A couple more fresh runners would have been nice.

That said, to my own surprise, I am happy Oscar will play. The defence has looked far more potent with the two Macs and Frost all playing together. And St Kilda have three capable goalkickers in Riewoldt, Bruce and Membrey. This gives us far more versatility.

[mauriesy 7,418]

21 minutes ago, Jaded said:

So much for taking in fresh legs coming off such tough conditions. I feel we keep making the same mistakes and I just hope it doesn't cost us again!

So many people here with access to the club's performance and conditioning data. How do you know more than the club? Why do we need Misson?

We've just had an 8-day break. It wasn't as though Darwin this time was a really hard game.

[stuie 7,374]

1 minute ago, mauriesy said:

So many people here with access to the club's performance and conditioning data. How do you know more than the club? Why do we need Misson?

We've just had an 8-day break. It wasn't as though Darwin this time was a really hard game.

Yeah, I mean we didn't bring in fresh legs the last time we played the Saints at Etihad and look at how well that worked out...

 

[mauriesy 7,418]

Just now, stuie said:

Yeah, I mean we didn't bring in fresh legs the last time we played the Saints at Etihad and look at how well that worked out...

So who's to say it will be the same this time?

But I guess if we do lose, everyone will blame Darwin.

[stuie 7,374]

4 minutes ago, mauriesy said:

So who's to say it will be the same this time?

But I guess if we do lose, everyone will blame Darwin.

It might not be, but you'd play the safe bet wouldn't you?

 

[rjay 25,307]

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Oliver still can't get through full games, he's only doing around 60% game time.

For his first season, Oliver has done phenomenally well and is a hugely exciting prospect. But he's still only a kid, and you'd have to expect that at some point the load will start to catch up on him.

I also feel that at least for the moment, Gus (at his best) is a better player than Clarrie (at his best). Only to be expected, he's a year further down the track. In the longer term, who knows, though hopefully both to turn out to be gems.

He did run the last Casey game out a lot better than Brayshaw though 'bing'....and looked the better player to me.

I think Brayshaw is a going to be a very good player, but looked like he did against EFC earlier in the year...not moving freely.

Clarrie is a special.

Edited July 15, 2016 by rjay

[dazzledavey36 55,912]

Another week where i shake my head at selections..

[Gorgoroth 13,185]

Gus may not be as quick in leg speed as stretch but Gus has proven that he can slice teams with long accurate kicks.

[Radar Detector 1,347]

5 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

Gus may not be as quick in leg speed as stretch but Gus has proven that he can slice teams with long accurate kicks.

But it was defensive running that killed us last time

[Gorgoroth 13,185]

5 minutes ago, Radar Detector said:

But it was defensive running that killed us last time

If we have our def press as high as we did last time then we are screwed. That killed us.

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

Not sure why people bang on about fresh legs when we've come off a longer than usual break. Eight days.

We're a full day ahead of St Kilda in regards to recovery and their game was a physical, pinball game of footy from the start right up until the final siren.. If anyone is in need of fresh legs, it'll be them.

Melbourne supporters love excuses.

We will win. We will be more physical and a lot tighter in our forward half which will mean they won't be able to slingshot as often as last time. 

St Kilda as a club are like a blow fly. They just hang around, are of little significance and they're annoying. We should put them to the sword early on.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by stevethemanjordan

[Nasher 33,617]

21 minutes ago, stuie said:

It might not be, but you'd play the safe bet wouldn't you?

 

You would - based on your fitness and conditioning information, which we don't have.

I never understand why everyone always defaults to "the selectors are idiots". I know it's not what you said Stu, but it's what you must think if you think they're ignoring common sense.

I feel we just have to trust that they know what they are doing when those in charge have more cumulative years of experience than I have been alive.

[Je Roos Salem 661]

Gee suddenly we've got a decent set of emergencies! Not sure if White and Matt.J will remain regulars in the team, but at the moment we definitely need more run even if we sacrifice skill and decision making a little (Grimes and Matt Jones fall into this group)

Very happy for Gus too and I hope he can revisit some of the stuff he was doing last year. I think at the moment only 2 of Petracca/Brayshaw/Oliver will be picked due to their fitness/team balance. I think Petracca should be spending more time inside 50 though and trying to use his body to take marks when the midfield is a bit packed

Edited July 15, 2016 by Je Roos Salem

[stuie 7,374]

3 minutes ago, Nasher said:

You would - based on your fitness and conditioning information, which we don't have.

I never understand why everyone always defaults to "the selectors are idiots". I know it's not what you said Stu, but it's what you must think if you think they're ignoring common sense.

I feel we just have to trust that they know what they are doing when those in charge have more cumulative years of experience than I have been alive.

I just don't have as much trust for the selection committee after they themselves have admitted they've got it wrong at least 3 or 4 times already this year.

This is the same fitness and conditioning information we had when we went in basically unchanged against the Saints last time and got run off our feet remember?

 

[sue 9,197]

4 minutes ago, stuie said:

I just don't have as much trust for the selection committee after they themselves have admitted they've got it wrong at least 3 or 4 times already this year.

This is the same fitness and conditioning information we had when we went in basically unchanged against the Saints last time and got run off our feet remember?

 

The fact that they have acknowledged they've made mistakes in the past gives me more confidence in them, not less.

Edited July 15, 2016 by sue