MATCH PREVIEW AND TEAM SELECTION - ROUND 6

[Biffen 12,944]

Pedo is probably having a lettuce and carrot salad with a portion of brown rice.Thinking about all the big grabs he will take.

When he first arrived it was fish and chips ,a bottle of coke and some ice cream.

Credit to the dietician !!

[old dee 23,870]

1 minute ago, Redleg said:

Not according to the FD.

If he does not play well on Sunday how could he continue to get games? He played last week because we have got to the " no one left stage"  because of injuries. 

But then we played the Weid for four weeks when he should have been at Casey after the first two so I guess anything is possible. 

[hemingway 7,630]

2 minutes ago, old dee said:

At the risk of being caustic Fifty- 5 I don't see many tools that he could use. Average talent on his good days.

Gee OD getting very tough in your views. I think I agree on JKH but he deserves another game. Very difficult to build any confidence if you get dropped after one game given his interrupted pass.               However, a very harsh assessment on Stretch, a young guy without a lot of games under his belt. May not be spectacular but has pace, good foot skills, can kick a goal and has a footy brain. His stats show he is solid contributor every week. 

[The Reverend 1,736]

11 hours ago, picket fence said:

A tackle actually means you are second to the ball!! I see him as a poor mans Isaac Weetra!

Or that you've busted a gut to cover the ground to get to the man with the ball.

[old dee 23,870]

6 minutes ago, hemingway said:

Gee OD getting very tough in your views. I think I agree on JKH but he deserves another game. Very difficult to build any confidence if you get dropped after one game given his interrupted pass.               However, a very harsh assessment on Stretch, a young guy without a lot of games under his belt. May not be spectacular but has pace, good foot skills, can kick a goal and has a footy brain. His stats show he is solid contributor every week. 

I actually think he will play on Sunday I am far from convinced Petracca will play. Ernest as Dees fans we constantly see a number of our players as being better than they are it is natural situation that I along with other side have been sucked into. We are still a bottom eight side with a number of players who are barely AFL level quality as our results show. Yes we are a lot better than a couple of years ago but we still a way off being a finals team. 

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by old dee

[hemingway 7,630]

1 minute ago, old dee said:

I actually think he will play on Sunday I am far from convinced Petracca will play. Erenest as Dees fans we constantly see a number of our players as being better than they are it is natural situation that I along with other side have been sucked into. We are still a bottom eight side with a number of players who are barely AFL level quality as our results show. Yes we are a lot better than a couple of years ago but we still a way off being a finals team. 

 

Agreed OD. 

[Go the Biff 3,440]

31 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

It may be a load issue for Stretch but I've seen him hold up ball movement in recent games at critical times and not play "fearless football".  As others have mentioned, players have strengths and roles, IMO Stretch has not performed his key role v Freo and Richmond.

 

21 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

Unsurprisingly I disagree.  Stretch has endurance, decent pace, good evasion and very clean skills.  Like others have said, he'll play 200 games.  But he hasn't been using his tools recently.

Agree with all of this. Billy makes us better. But in the last 2 weeks I've been frustrated by him. He's seemed to want to go backwards or sideways or turn into traffic. It's like he's been possessed by Luke Williams !

A week off to recharge, refresh, reset his compass and have a quick exorcism is in order

It will be interesting to see whether he plays at Casey or is rested completely

[old55 23,687]

JKH plays a different role from Stretch so comparing their selection is not relevant.  He struggled early against the Tigers but inproved as the game went on.  He hasn't played at AFL level for a long time and deserves a chance to get with pace of the game.  I agree that it's not easy to see his distinguishing attributes like it is in say Kent.  But the key is listening ro Goodwin say he plays the way we want to play, I'm not sure that Kent does.  That's the message.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

37 minutes ago, Redleg said:

That could be the case, as for those who love stats, his were far superior to JKH last week, yet he is gone. He also doesn't turn the ball over like JKH did.

To me, JKH is one lucky boy this week.

That is true Mr Leg but would rather see the selection committee back their original decision to play him and give him at least a 2 to 3 window of opportunity to show how far he has come, if at all, before being looked at for omission.

Stretch was ahead of both ANB and JKH last week except clearances and tackles vs ANB. Definitely unlucky and one of the few key outside link men in some of our more 'cleaner' forward entries on a good day, which is most games. One off week and he is out.

The essendrug selection committee must have been over the moon with that one. Already have issues on the outside and we have paired back with one less quality outside ball user and spreader.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Rusty Nails

[old55 23,687]

10 minutes ago, Go the Biff said:

 

Agree with all of this. Billy makes us better. But in the last 2 weeks I've been frustrated by him. He's seemed to want to go backwards or sideways or turn into traffic. It's like he's been possessed by Luke Williams !

A week off to recharge, refresh, reset his compass and have a quick exorcism is in order

It will be interesting to see whether he plays at Casey or is rested completely

There were distinct occasions late in both the last 2 matches where he marked in space between wing and HB and had 1 opponent to beat who was more or less level with him.  Instead of running and gunning Hunt-style (and he's a better kick than Hunt), he played cautiously and went back behind the mark.. This would have annoyed the FD because it's what he's there for.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Fifty-5

[old dee 23,870]

4 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

That is true Mr Leg but would rather see the selection committee back their original decision to play him and give him at least a 2 to 3 window of opportunity to show how far he has come, if at all, before being looked at for omission.

Stretch was ahead of both ANB and JKH last week except clearances and tackles vs ANB. Definitely unlucky and one of the few key outside link men in some of our more 'cleaner' forward entries on a good day, which is most games. One off week and he is out.

The essendrug selection committee must have been over the moon with that one. Already have issues on the outside and we have paired back with one less quality outside ball user and spreader.

You have a way better opinion of him than me RN.

Now that does not make you wrong just a lot different.

when he missed that easy goal in the first quarter last week he dropped to the " will let us down when it counts" list for me RN.

[Akum 2,660]

5 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

JKH plays a different role from Stretch so comparing their selection is not relevant.  He struggled early against the Tigers but inproved as the game went on.  He hasn't played at AFL level for a long time and deserves a chance to get with pace of the game.  I agree that it's not easy to see his distinguishing attributes like it is in say Kent.  But the key is listening ro Goodwin say he plays the way we want to play, I'm not sure that Kent does.  That's the message.

In your last few posts you've got the JKH / Stretch / Kent equation absolutely right.

And this is only for this week, when off a 5-6-day break and without a recognised ruckman, we play a team that likes to attack fast off its HB line. It certainly doesn't mean that it's the way it's going to be in every game.

[Vineytime 854]

14 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

JKH plays a different role from Stretch so comparing their selection is not relevant.  He struggled early against the Tigers but inproved as the game went on.  He hasn't played at AFL level for a long time and deserves a chance to get with pace of the game.  I agree that it's not easy to see his distinguishing attributes like it is in say Kent.  But the key is listening ro Goodwin say he plays the way we want to play, I'm not sure that Kent does.  That's the message.

Spot on, follow team structures or play at Casey...

[old55 23,687]

26 minutes ago, old dee said:

I actually think he will play on Sunday I am far from convinced Petracca will play. Ernest as Dees fans we constantly see a number of our players as being better than they are it is natural situation that I along with other side have been sucked into. We are still a bottom eight side with a number of players who are barely AFL level quality as our results show. Yes we are a lot better than a couple of years ago but we still a way off being a finals team. 

 

I disagree. We've definitely got a finals quality list and but for suspension and injury we would be certain to be playing this year. It's still possible we will.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,273]

On 27/04/2017 at 1:43 PM, Nasher said:

We are now going in to this game with a makeshift forward line as well as the ruck. I'm still optimistic of a win as our midfield still looks strong, but we'll be pushing it uphill to a degree.

If we managed to pull off a win tomorrow it would be one of the clubs best wins in recent times, comparable to mid-season 98 when we rolled the Eagles in Perth with a team of young kids.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Dr. Gonzo

[old dee 23,870]

Just now, Fifty-5 said:

I disagree. We've definitely got a finals quality list and but for suspension and injury we would be certain to be playing this year. It's still possible we will.

Sorry to be negative Fifty- 50 suspension show a lack of application and sense. Injuries  hurt but the Dogs  had some bad injuries last year and still managed to win enough to make the finals and win the GF. Because IMO their talent level is better and deeper. We are still 4- 5 players off a finals team. 

[old55 23,687]

9 minutes ago, Vineytime said:

Spot on, follow team structures or play at Casey...

The Dogs side that won the flag and ran GWS close away last night has a number of limited players who play the team game.

[Cards13 9,117]

13 hours ago, brendan said:

That bad, I was hoping to get a good view on our zones and stuff bit hard to see that sort of stuff at the MCG sitting on bottom deck on wing 

The view is fine, it's not that bad in fact compared to the G, where it holds 40k more than Docklands stadium, I feel much closer to the game.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

Old Dee has more mood swings about this club than a 13 year old girl. One week he is up and about, the next sees him fill up every thread with negativity. Make up your mind old fella! 

[Akum 2,660]

4 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Old Dee has more mood swings about this club than a 13 year old girl. One week he is up and about, the next sees him fill up every thread with negativity. Make up your mind old fella! 

I suppose it's less disorientating having the old Old Dee back. But I also kinda liked that other sunny guy that was around for a month or two.

[praha 11,240]

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

I just laugh at those who say injuries mean nothing. Everyone gets injuries. Well everyone might get injuries, but it is really about who is injured.

Richmond had one possible top 22 player injured last week in Vlastuin and Hampson, who probably is behind Nankervis anyway. Everyone else was available. Pies had one player out.

Then of course, the other issue about injuries is when you get them. We seem to get them early in games and are robbed of our better players and then the use of rotations.

On the flip side, the teams we have played have not lost anyone during games and that has made the contest tip heavily in their favour.

We have copped it both ways. Our better players going down and early in games. That just kills you.

We have played pretty well this year and if not for those injuries, would possibly have been 5 zip.

The fact we are not getting killed in games is testament to our effort and improvement.

Definitely. I still believe though that team structure has made it harder to win. We certainly would have benefitted from having AFL-fit players in the side last week. Hibberd admitted he was dead and buried in the last quarter (not to say he shouldn't have played but he should have been the only player in that situation). JKH couldn't run. We rested Stretch and Harmes this week so they were obviously out on their feet. Ultimately we had AFL-fit and experienced players in Bugg, Pederson and Kent who weren't given a go. I am all for dumping players that don't perform and tackle but is now really the time to send a message? 

We're probably the best 2-3 side in Melbourne history atm. I've been overall impressed by our capacity to win the ball and actually give our forwards opportunities. But I've also noticed we run ourselves into the ground and then open the door to be steamrolled. I think a lot to do with that is just how the team has been picked and structured in this situation. We made the mistake of running with Gawn exclusively for so long, and felt the pain in the second half against Geelong. The coaches made the same mistake, two weeks in a row with Spencer. That is so frustrating. I know they couldn't have seen it happening but if your forward line is so reliant on a very specific structure, why risk our goal-kicking capacity by using a piece of that structure as a back-up ruckman? Pederson should have been in the side from Day 1 once Gawn went down. Every time Watts goes into the ruck, our goal kicking capacity drops significantly imo. It totally muddles everything. He should be kept out of centre bounces as much as possible. I am surprised this was evident after the Geelong game.

I'm fairly confident that Pederson, Kent and Bugg in last week's team puts us in a better position to win and hold on in the last, than a team with JKH, Smith and ANB/Melksham.

Edited April 29, 2017 by praha

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

38 minutes ago, old dee said:

You have a way better opinion of him than me RN.

Now that does not make you wrong just a lot different.

when he missed that easy goal in the first quarter last week he dropped to the " will let us down when it counts" list for me RN.

He did have an off game for his standards OD but this season and last he tracks top 10 for mine. I personally don't think you drop a young inexperienced player who is easily in our best 10 players after one ordinary match but that's just me.

I doubt they would do it with Tracc and I still have Stretch rated slightly above him at this point. Tracc obviously closing in quickly. ANB was the obvious omission for mine just ahead of a Stretch/Harmes. Harmes I don't disagree with as much as the Stretch omission.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Rusty Nails

[Gipsy Danger 1,067]

Need some help D/Landers,

 

Has as anyone ever taken a baby and a pram to Etihad. I wanna go to the game tomorrow with my wife(bombers supporter(only flaw)) and 5month old (Dees all the way). Anyone got any tips, do's or do nots? Would be so much easier at the G

[beelzebub 23,382]

1 hour ago, The Reverend said:

Or that you've busted a gut to cover the ground to get to the man with the ball.

Can be true.

However this wasn't the case for the most part. Seemed lost and behind the game speed somewhat. 

Im a little old school perhaps in that i favour the forwards m-o to be more orientated about kicking scores or assisting rather than chasing the ball ( oppo player with said ball ) going the other way.

Either he starts delivering or for mine hes off our list come eos.

Defensive pressure is good. Cant be your only trick though.

[old dee 23,870]

19 minutes ago, Akum said:

I suppose it's less disorientating having the old Old Dee back. But I also kinda liked that other sunny guy that was around for a month or two.

The team bought me back to reality Akum.