Out: O. McDonald, Spargo

In: Lewis, Lockhart

 

FB: J. Wagner Frost Hibberd

HB: Lewis Hore Salem

Centre: Harmes Oliver Fritsch

HF: Petracca T. McDonald Jones

FF: Hunt Preuss Melksham

Foll: Gawn Viney Brayshaw

Int: C. Wagner Stretch Weideman Lockhart

 

Give Jetta an extra week off, he clearly has been struggling all year.

Is Pruess a certainty to be ok? Looked a bit winged with that shoulder, all of a sudden he is a very important part of our structure

6 minutes ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Hindsight or not, Preuss should have been our starting 22 from round 1.

I was wanting it to happen and others were too. 

The way he was deployed last night is exactly what we need, it's just annoying that it's taken until round 4. 

Goodwin played him deep on Aliir and it worked a treat. Aliir murdered us as an intercept player last time we played the Swans at the G. 

Everyone knows we're sketchy with our skills, our entries are not always clean and we have players who have a tendency to rush their kicks. This is why playing a monster deep in the forward-line is important for a team like us. He drags away an important oppo defender, it allows for T-mac to get up the ground and it completely straightens us up. 

As long as our mids continue to assess what's ahead, it gives us so many more options compared to playing Weid and T-Mac inside 50. It's a huge change. 

ANB out of the side was also a very welcome change. He was literally just creating more congestion when he was playing. Usually doing nothing when around the ball and allowing his opponent to be a get out option for when the oppo were winning the ball. 

Spargo is a very smart player with ball in hand even if he's not overly quick. He usually always weighs up his options and makes smart choices with disposal. He stays. 

Trac is improving every game now. Just needs to stay as clean as possible. 

If Hunt continues to take his chances, hit the scoreboard and use the ball in a smart way, he clearly stays because his speed and chase down ability is needed. 

I think the addition of Garlett in this kind of a set-up on a big ground like the G could really help too. If he chases and pressures at Casey this weekend, I think we play him against the Saints. 

Forward-line becomes much more dynamic and unpredictable due to short hit up leads from talls like Weed or T-Mac, going long to a Preuss contest, giving Petracca or Melksham a one-on-one chance (both strong in the air) or if the ball hits the ground we have speed in Hunt, Garlett and Spargo to really pressure. 

I'd like to mention that Petracca's willingness to chase and harass the opposition inside 50 was a highlight last night. He worked extremely hard off the ball. 

Whatever happens, the forward line must stay the same for a while. 

Backline clearly needs to change. Oscar. Frost. Happy to play the Saints without Oscar this week. 

Coincedence that we looked so much better off when he wasn't on the ground? 

Agree with all of that Steve except Frost who has earned a reprieve with an excellent blanketing role on the game's top liner KPF last night.

Frosty's only played about a third of the time Oscar has so needs a little more forgiveness and last night will be a huge confidence booster.  Just needs to learn his limitations when trying to slice through traffic with his kicking at the end of runs.  A handball off to a better ball user (where possible) on occasions might help.

Possibly an NQR Keilty for Oscar this week till May is ready but best to wait till we see how the backline goes at Casey.  Unless Oscar is out from the concussion i cant see the Coaches dropping him unless a backman at Casey has a standout.  Petty just not ready at this point so not even in the picture IMO.

Frosty stays unless he has a disastrous block of games.  His ability to get to a contest and close down space on his opponent in a 1.5ish zone is a very handy asset.  Not to mention his line breaking.  If he can clean up the finish at the end of the line breaking more often he's a keeper.

3 minutes ago, sisso said:

Is Pruess a certainty to be ok? Looked a bit winged with that shoulder, all of a sudden he is a very important part of our structure

His immediate post game interview didn't fill me with a lot of confidence. 

 

Want to see him in the team each week eating people

29 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

St Kilda will be a tough assignment and they exposed us for pace last year as the large expanses of the G. A win of any sorts would be fantastic in the scheme of things.

However, if we managed to win by 5 goals we'd be 2-3 with a percentage of 85%. Last year after round 5 we were 2-3 with a percentage of 88%.

No more than 2 changes.

In - Lewis Jetta

Out - One of the Wagners, O Mac (if concussed) 

Lewis Jetta plays for West Coast, but I'd have him in too.

Jokes aside, this is exactly what I'd have posted. Stretch, Spargo stay in. We need some outside run against the Saints which was painfully absent last year.

Jetta for OMac only change for mine. Hore earned his spot with a cracking game so shouldn't be dropped in a straight swap. Of course they'll bring Lewis in as well, probably for J.Wagner, which will be good to blow some cobwebs out before Anzac Eve.

1 hour ago, 3Dee said:

Jeffy in for some much needed creativity in our forward line replacing Spargo thanks.

We've kicked triple figure scores the last two weeks. What exactly are you looking for?

The "take it one week at a time" rule needs to be ignored this week. We have a very short turnaround for the Richmond game, so we need to select a team for St Kilda with that in mind. It wouldn't surprise me, therefore, if Lewis isn't played because there might be a view he couldn't back up and play again that quickly. It also means that I suspect ANB misses against St Kilda but will definitely play in the Richmond game.

I didn't think Spargo or Stretch did anything to inspire me last night but Goodwin has more often than not given fringe players more than one week to show their worth. Nevertheless, as injured players become available, various fringe players are in line for a demotion irrespective of how many games they've played. All of Stretch, Spargo and the Wagners are in this boat. Hore would have been, too, but played well enough that he'll be retained longer than J Wagner.

1 hour ago, Petraccattack said:

Why are people naming Steven May?  He will be out at least a few weeks.

 

Exactly. They need to read the injury thread, May will even be unlikely for Anzac eve game

Of the fringe players Hore was good and Stretch okay. Spargo's 7 touches were very good, but 7 touches and 1 tackle is not nearly enough of a contribution. C.Wagner was quiet and his brother is still ordinary.

Depending on who is available I'd be replacing Spargo first, followed by J.Wagner and C.Wagner in that order. 

Having said that I'm not sure I'd be playing either Jetta or Lewis against St Kilda. If the current side can't beat St Kilda they should give up. Save those guys for Richmond, rather than expecting them to back up 4 days later.

People are surely just looking at the name and not the performance when it comes to the Wagners. On that performance you could maybe drop Corey but not Josh. He was very good.

Stretch was fairly disappointing I thought. If Lewis comes back in he’d be the one to make way. Jetta and Oscar the other straight swap.

That would probably be it although Jeffy roaming at the feet of Preuss is a tasty prospect. If he can have a big game this weekend he could come in for Spargo

How did people see Weids performance? He seems to struggle for fitness, arrives late to contests. 

Stretch was disappointing. He is a very very slow decision maker. However he never gets a decent run in the seniors and given our current injury woes I would give him a month and see how he goes. Remember he had a very short turnaround after playing for Casey on the weekend. 

1 minute ago, SPC said:

How did people see Weids performance? He seems to struggle for fitness, arrives late to contests. 

He is an exceptionally smart footballer. His tackling for a big guy is also excellent. 

He is still very raw and needs time. He sometimes mistimes contests and his work in the air is hit and miss. But he is a beautiful kick and I have every confidence he’ll be a good player. We need to be patient. He is a baby in KP terms and has played less than 50 games. 

1 hour ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Backline clearly needs to change. Oscar. Frost. Happy to play the Saints without Oscar this week. 

 

Both surprising and shocking. Never thought I'd hear you say this.

Haha agreed

Tmac was better against he Swans but his brother wasnt. If we persist with Oscar why not a spell up fwd? 

4 minutes ago, SPC said:

How did people see Weids performance? He seems to struggle for fitness, arrives late to contests. 

I think he showed why be needs to play every week. Did some nice things then slotted an important goal late (comfortably from 50 which a certain Fremantle forward persistently struggled with at the Dee's). Weids can't be relied upon to carry the team but that was a good development performance.

7 minutes ago, P-man said:

People are surely just looking at the name and not the performance when it comes to the Wagners. On that performance you could maybe drop Corey but not Josh. He was very good.

Stretch was fairly disappointing I thought. If Lewis comes back in he’d be the one to make way. Jetta and Oscar the other straight swap.

That would probably be it although Jeffy roaming at the feet of Preuss is a tasty prospect. If he can have a big game this weekend he could come in for Spargo

Agree.

Josh was very good and i didn't see him make many if not any mistakes? Seems like he has worked on just keeping his game simple. When he was drafted he was known as a good ball user and i feel like with his confidence up, we are starting to see that now.

I thought Corey gave us some spark in that 3rd term. He's also just played his 11 AFL game, so he is still quite inexperienced. Feel there is something to work with there with his ball use and speed. Hell if he is keeping ANB out of the side he is doing a great job in my eyes!

I didn't think Stretch was that bad? Didn't make any mistakes from what i saw, and he did have a short turn around from Sunday. As @Jaded give him at least 4 weeks of game time. He showed against Freo last year that when he's up and going he adds a huge important element of spread and speed. While like he will play much better next week in the open space at the G.

In regards to Weideman, he had his knee strapped which means he was hindered. And it showed at times. But he won some crucial one on ones in close and that goal at the end was clutch!

17 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Stretch was disappointing. He is a very very slow decision maker. However he never gets a decent run in the seniors and given our . Remember he had a very short turnaround aftecurrent injury woes I would give him a month and see how he goesr playing for Casey on the weekend. 

Agree with your 3rd sentence.

People are critical of Billy, but unlike others he has not been given many opportunities. Injury last year did not help. He needs to feel he is part of the team and not playing for a spot every week. He needs to build confidence and form. 

I understand that Spargo doesnt get the ball enough but when he does goals happen. 

I thought Weids second half was important - a crucial bone crunching tackle, quite a few 1%ers and that beautiful kick for goal. He's also a good field kick e.g. that pass to Hunt to set up a goal. He will be better than ok.

12 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Agree.

Josh was very good and i didn't see him make many if not any mistakes? Seems like he has worked on just keeping his game simple. When he was drafted he was known as a good ball user and i feel like with his confidence up, we are starting to see that now.

I thought Corey gave us some spark in that 3rd term. He's also just played his 11 AFL game, so he is still quite inexperienced. Feel there is something to work with there with his ball use and speed. Hell if he is keeping ANB out of the side he is doing a great job in my eyes!

I didn't think Stretch was that bad? Didn't make any mistakes from what i saw, and he did have a short turn around from Sunday. As @Jaded give him at least 4 weeks of game time. He showed against Freo last year that when he's up and going he adds a huge important element of spread and speed. While like he will play much better next week in the open space at the G.

He wasn’t dreadful. I just didn’t notice him much. He kicked it straight to a red and a white jumper in the first half and I honestly can’t recall him doing a lot in the second. But I’ll take your word that he was better than I thought. I’d still be happy to see him swapped for Lewis.

Re ANB, I think he’ll play better once the team is playing better. He’s a follower, not a leader.

So let’s bring him back in this week (just jokes daz).

1 hour ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Hindsight or not, Preuss should have been our starting 22 from round 1.

I was wanting it to happen and others were too. 

The way he was deployed last night is exactly what we need, it's just annoying that it's taken until round 4. 

Goodwin played him deep on Aliir and it worked a treat. Aliir murdered us as an intercept player last time we played the Swans at the G. 

 

Funny, this is the exact opposite of what most people were saying preseason. I believe ProDee was leading the charge on how Preuss as a 3rd tall could never work. The scorn for this structure was quite strong. 

Just sayin

 

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

Did you notice Bruce gushing over the Swans and actually barracking for them?

He seems to do so every week, fawning over clubs and individuals.

I thought he was barracking for Adelaide last week, or so it seemed. Is it our bias showing or does he simply like to back a winner ?  His gushing carry on over Winx also annoys me. 

For Bruce, there are always special moments. On one occasion, when Buddy went near the ball Bruce almost wet himself with excitement. 

He is the best athletics commentator in the country and not bad with the nags, but his footy commentating has become excruciatingly.painful. 

However, it is his mindless recital of useless stats that really gets my goat. 

 

27 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

I understand that Spargo doesnt get the ball enough but when he does goals happen. 

I thought Weids second half was important - a crucial bone crunching tackle, quite a few 1%ers and that beautiful kick for goal. He's also a good field kick e.g. that pass to Hunt to set up a goal. He will be better than ok.

exactly chook

Someone on the Hawks Bigfooty board claims that he has a mate who is close to the club that told him that 17 of our best 22 managed about 10 weeks of pre-season training in total after operations and injury concerns due to finishing late last season.

I'm assuming 10 weeks is not a lot...

 

Edited April 12, 20196 yr by The Stigga

Out: OMac, Spargo

In: Lewis, Jetta (Lockhart if Jetta isn’t fit)

Assume OMac is out with concussion - he had a team low TOG when usually full backs would spend nearly the entire game on the ground. I’d probably drop him regardless, but it raises a team balance question. I’m making a big assumption Hore can step up and play KPD, but I’m far from convinced.

Spargo made up numbers and isn’t looking like an AFL player to me at present. It’s a no-brainer for me if Jetta gets up. If Jetta doesn’t get up then I’d pick Lockhart instead, but that’s a much more borderline decision that I’d happily go one way or the other on.