It's an interesting conundrum.

Blues won't have a particularly tall forward line. No Curnow, McKay (i think), Kreuzer still injured. Not sure who else they have.

Do we really need 3 talls down back? If not, then it's May, Lever, Salem, Harmes, Lockhart, Jetta and one of Hibbo/Smith for me. I'd love to see Rivers, but not yet. OMac in if they have 2 talls.

30 minutes ago, Mickey said:

It's an interesting conundrum.

Blues won't have a particularly tall forward line. No Curnow, McKay (i think), Kreuzer still injured. Not sure who else they have.

Do we really need 3 talls down back? If not, then it's May, Lever, Salem, Harmes, Lockhart, Jetta and one of Hibbo/Smith for me. I'd love to see Rivers, but not yet. OMac in if they have 2 talls.

They'll have McGovern and Casboult in there as well

Oscar beat Darling hands down. He will play. You need to continue to reward good form. May is also capable on playing on small's and mediums as well.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

They'll have McGovern and Casboult in there as well

Oscar beat Darling hands down. He will play. You need to continue to reward good form. May is also capable on playing on small's and mediums as well.

Agreed. I don't get the hate for Oscar on here. He's just turned 24 and holds down a key defensive spot. Him being in the side allows Lever and May to focus on intercept marking.

Rather than worry about the opposition forwards I think team structure is the most important. That's how Richmond have become so good. Playing the same guys week in week out no matter who they are up against.

For what it is worth, David Astbury was much maligned early in his career and has now become a solid lock down defender. Oscar reminds me a lot of him at the same age so we can only hope he can get to a similar level.

3 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

They'll have McGovern and Casboult in there as well

Oscar beat Darling hands down. He will play. You need to continue to reward good form. May is also capable on playing on small's and mediums as well.

I forgot about McGovern. Easy to do, given his year last year.

In that case, Hibbo out and OMac in. My selections weren't based on either rewarding form or OMac bashing, simply match ups. If there's only one tall, I'd let May take them and bring in another medium size for run and carry.

Good problem to have but I’m guessing most teams are in a similar boat after the layoff.

Chaplin talked a bit about Lever having great endurance which enables him to play 100% of game time especially with shorter quarters. That helps us to better utilise rotations elsewhere on the field, same can be said about O Mac. 100% game time again in R1, don’t think he’s missing out anytime soon unless someone proves they can play his role better. 

Like others, I’m most excited by the prospect of Rivers running out very soon. There was a lot to like from the North game in preseason.

30 minutes ago, Mickey said:

I forgot about McGovern. Easy to do, given his year last year.

In that case, Hibbo out and OMac in. My selections weren't based on either rewarding form or OMac bashing, simply match ups. If there's only one tall, I'd let May take them and bring in another medium size for run and carry.

Hibbered is extremely poor as a one on one defender. I think we will start to see him phased out in the manner that Bernie Vince was.

I would not be surprised if Joel Smith is highly considered. With his speed and power, he could play a role on either Jack Martin or McGoven. It's obvious the coaching staff rate him highly internally and want to get games into him. 

I also think Marty Hore will find it really hard to break in this year unless injury to Lever.

Edited June 5, 20205 yr by dazzledavey36

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Hibbered is extremely poor as a one on one defender. I think we will start to see him phased out in the manner that Bernie Vince was.

I would not be surprised if Joel Smith is highly considered. With his speed and power, he could play a role on either Jack Martin or McGoven. It's obvious the coaching staff rate him highly internally and want to get games into him. 

I also think Marty Hore will find it really hard to break in this year unless injury to Lever.

I agree re: hibberd, but not sure if Smith has done enough to pinch his spot just yet.

I'd forgotten about Hore. May be one looking for other opportunities next year

I wonder if the assessment of Rivers doing whats asked of him is going to be a gold ticket for him to break into the side. We desperately need defenders who can get the ball and deliver to the forwards as per instructions under pressure. If I was Goodwin I would be backing blokes who do as asked, at least that way if he comes under coaching pressure he has done it his way.

 

Haven’t heard anything about Jordon, I thought he’d be a good replacement for Hibberd when the timing were right. Has Rivers overtaken him? 

1 minute ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Haven’t heard anything about Jordon, I thought he’d be a good replacement for Hibberd when the timing were right. Has Rivers overtaken him? 

No, Jordon's been moved to the midfield

I really hope Harmes is still rotated heavily through the middle. Still not happy with him playing down back.

32 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Haven’t heard anything about Jordon, I thought he’d be a good replacement for Hibberd when the timing were right. Has Rivers overtaken him? 

Would really appreciate some up-to-date video vision on Rivers - training, match-practising, playing defensive moves, as well. 

He is an enigma at present in which much hope resides ....

2 hours ago, Luther said:

I really hope Harmes is still rotated heavily through the middle. Still not happy with him playing down back.

I think it's an atrocious move by Goodwin to turn a goal kicking midfielder into a defender and I reckon the player himself would not be happy with the move.

From the round 1 defensive line up - include Salem, retain Lockhart and release Harmes further up the field.

Like others have mentioned, Hibberd's on thin ice. His disposals aren't counting for much any more, isn't a great defender and is past his 2017 peak as a league footballer.

Jetta was rusty in round 1 but I hope he'll build into the season as he's clearly our best small defender.

O Mac stays as we'll have talls in McKay, Casboult and McGovern to deal with.

5 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Hibbered is extremely poor as a one on one defender. I think we will start to see him phased out in the manner that Bernie Vince was.

I would not be surprised if Joel Smith is highly considered. With his speed and power, he could play a role on either Jack Martin or McGoven. It's obvious the coaching staff rate him highly internally and want to get games into him. 

I also think Marty Hore will find it really hard to break in this year unless injury to Lever.

Agree on all three points.

You're right dazzler Hibberd is poor one on one. He is also completely one sided (one of the most one sided players i can recall at the dees) - which is a problem for a defender given it make shim predicable and often mean he can't cross to an open player.

When in form these weakness are balanced by his attack, ability to run and carry and his penetrating kicking. Unfortunately he has lost a yard of pace and the penetration on his kicks. To be honest i can't see him regaining either. I hope i'm wrong as when at the top of his game he a valuable weapon.

I can see Smith taking his spot. 

It will be hard for any player not picked to get back if there are no injuries given there is n VFL to press their case. 

Edited June 5, 20205 yr by binman

I don't think we will see Hibbo in R.2.  Total speculation on my part, but the tragedy in his personal life during the break must have had an impact on his training program / preparation, and if that's the case, I doubt we will select him.  Maybe this opens the door for Smith or Riv. 

Edited June 5, 20205 yr by Deeoldfart

13 hours ago, Mickey said:

It's an interesting conundrum.

Blues won't have a particularly tall forward line. No Curnow, McKay (i think), Kreuzer still injured. Not sure who else they have.

Do we really need 3 talls down back? If not, then it's May, Lever, Salem, Harmes, Lockhart, Jetta and one of Hibbo/Smith for me. I'd love to see Rivers, but not yet. OMac in if they have 2 talls.

For us IMO,  the Blues have traditionally caused us grief,  Via their quick of foot small players, near goals.

12 minutes ago, MyFavouriteMartian said:

For us IMO,  the Blues have traditionally caused us grief,  Via their quick of foot small players, near goals.

The Blues will have this penciled in as a winnable game.  Most sides will against us, but for them it's one of the few they have, so expect them to go hard at us. 

7 hours ago, Luther said:

I really hope Harmes is still rotated heavily through the middle. Still not happy with him playing down back.

Don't worry when it's time for us to play in finals games,  Harmes will be part of the midfield rotational setup.  But for now,  he's best used to give others a go inside, wile he learns much needed skills off the back half.

IF Harmes ends up with a run-with role on a gun Mid,  in finals,  and he gets dragged into the opposition forward setup,  as that run-with player,  he'll need the skills he's gonna learn.

25 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

The Blues will have this penciled in as a winnable game.  Most sides will against us, but for them it's one of the few they have, so expect them to go hard at us. 

Of course they will,  and with new coach,  I expect they will play with freedom.   A danger for us, more-so their small forwards, and midfield runners.

9 hours ago, Luther said:

I really hope Harmes is still rotated heavily through the middle. Still not happy with him playing down back.

Yeah me either but to hark back to headline!!

As if our defence is so "Stellar" at any rate!!

they simply have to play Oscar, because Levers really strength is being that third tall intercept player. 

he's not a great one on one player so we i think need to play to our strengths there. ground level players will be less impactful if Lever and May are marking the ball down there. 

I quite like the idea of Lochart playing as well. provides a bit more speed down there. 

My guess would be 

Jetta   May    Lever 

Salem Oscar  Lochart 

Depends on how conservative the selectors want to be. I would have Petty instead of Oscar and Lockhart before Jetta but I think both Lockhart and jetta should play. 

So we have Jetta, May, Lever, Salem, O.McDonald, Hibberd, Harmes, Lockhart, Smith and Rivers. We have 7 backman in the side according to Chaplin. I have Jetta, Hibberd and O.McDonald out. Questions remain though is Lockhart good enough to play on Betts or do we stick with Jetta? Is Smith too small to play CHB? Is Rivers too young to debut? My head says Smith and Rivers won't play and Harmes will go to the midfield but my heart goes with Jetta, Hibberd and O.McDonald out I don't know what to go with, it's a tough decision.