12 minutes ago, Dee-lusional said:

 

A team I would like to see.

Couldn't split Jets/ Pig. 

Brown/LJ. Think LJ has had a taste and Brown would want to show Dons what they let slip

AVB/Gus. Think Gus plays best at centre/rover but clarrie is doing it better + Love AVB

Jones to be managed, Smith Out. TMac to be started down back. Weid to be left alone at FF. Milks & Fritt to hit up the leading targets 

 

B	Jetta/PIG		May		Lever
HB	Rivers		T Mac		Salem
C	Langdon		Viney		Thomo
HF	Milks		Brown/LJ		Fritta
F	Hunt		Weid		Pickett
Ruck	Gawn		Clarrie		Tracs
I/C	AVB/Gus	Bennell		Hannon		ANB

Would not be against this, TMac really seems to have lost confidence in himself as a forward, perhaps a return to defense may help him. Play Weid as our number one FF target and give him that responsibility. Not as a second ruck or anything else, only play him as a forward. Brown vs LJ is definitely a tough one, experience vs development. Plus some times players just find another gear against former clubs. On form I'd marginally give it to AvB, two games of low output and I don't really recall Gus doing a lot in the pre-season either.

On the back up ruck side of things, Thomo has done that in the past at GWS. Just a thought.

42 minutes ago, binman said:

I have to say there is fair dose of irony trading a defender that whilst athletically gifted, strong and fast is not a natural footballer (and who it must be said is now a pretty good one) and is prone to having very costly brain fades.

Was more to it than that.

26 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

I know it's only a scratch match, but after reading the report from the club what about Weid and Brown in for Jackson and TMac?

 

I agree with the Weid he deserves a go. We just needed a presence to help up forward.

  I would expect a quick  in Kossi  to come in and of all reports Vanders did well and is what we need a strong hard nosed  bull.

I am not sorry to see OMac come in to replace J Smith who just does not cut it. I would have liked to see Petty instead of Omac however l am not sure if he is ready for a return.  4 changes for me  LN.

Just now, nosoupforme said:

I agree with the Weid he deserves a go. We just needed a presence to help up forward.

  I would expect a quick  in Kossi  to come in and of all reports Vanders did well and is what we need a strong hard nosed  bull.

I am not sorry to see OMac come in to replace J Smith who just does not cut it. I would have liked to see Petty instead of Omac however l am not sure if he is ready for a return.  4 changes for me  LN.

Oh yeah, to be clear, my original changes in this thread were:

OUT: Jackson, Smith, Jones

IN: Weid, OMac, Kozzy

But I was adding in Brown for TMac on top after reading the scratch match report.

28 minutes ago, Dee-lusional said:

Sounds like JJ may be a chance after reading the pracie match report 

Maybe. But do we really need another inside mid, contested ball winner?

Brayshaw will end up being relegated to retrieving balls that get kicked into the empty stands.

12 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Was more to it than that.

I know bing, Twas a little joke by moi

57 minutes ago, binman said:

I have to say there is fair dose of irony trading a defender that whilst athletically gifted, strong and fast is not a natural footballer (and who it must be said is now a pretty good one) and is prone to having very costly brain fades.

And replacing him down back with an athletically gifted, strong and fast bloke who is not a natural footballer and on the evidence of one game prone to having very costly brain fades.

Have we made the correct call on any of Howe, Dunn, Frost, May or Lever? 

5 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Have we made the correct call on any of Howe, Dunn, Frost, May or Lever? 

Frost, May and Lever are still too early to tell.  Howe wanted out so it wasn't as if we had a choice, and Dunn wasn't going anywhere under Roos.

It just sounds super messy right now, reading through all of this I have no clue what our forward line is going to look like. I would just say bring in Kozzi and Weed for Jackson and Jones. it hurts to say Jones because we all love him but Nathan Jones was really ineffective against the Blues and Essendon are a lot quicker than the Blues. I just have no clue where to play Jones anymore. I'd say perhaps a HFF but there are a few more ahead of him now. 

I also can't see how Jones is going to fair against Saints, Rich, GWS, Bris and Geel who are all super quick users of the ball. I don't mean to out him singularly but we're already slow in Clarry, Gus, Harmes, Tomlinson, Salem and adding another slower, older player is just going to hurt us. 

I wouldn't want to be Goody right now because this team is a total enigma. 

In : Weed, Kozzy, Lockhart 

out: Smith, Jones/Milkshake, Jackson 

1 hour ago, Fat Tony said:

Have we made the correct call on any of Howe, Dunn, Frost, May or Lever? 

Oh yes. And you can add Watts and Hogan to that list as well.

3 hours ago, The Chazz said:

Logic says that;

Out - Jackson, Jones, Smith

In - Weid, Pickett, OMac or Hibberd (the latter two to be determined by match-ups)

Reality says that Goodwin won't drop Jones (emotional choice), Smith (loves him) or Jackson (won't drop him after a week), so I have NFI who will come out for Pickett, who will definitely come in.  Maybe he will drop ANB, given that he came in for Kossie before his brain fart.

Here is MFC PROBLEMS, Jones is nearly done and should be dropped. ANB Good first half but stuff all after that. T Mac absolutely shizzzen! Jackson Far too Raw but will have a future!

ALL FOUR SHOULD BE DROPPED IF WE HAD ANY GONADS.... BUT YOU KNOW THE REST

Which probably is why we have been Shizen for SOOOOOO BLOODY LONG

We do not like "Breaking Hearts"

Also, by the way, I expect Injectiondon to Win!!

Edited June 15, 20204 yr by picket fence

2 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Oh yes. And you can add Watts and Hogan to that list as well.

Oi Weh. What is the point of all this post hoc ergo propter hoc vindictive nostalgia? The calls were made, some by the players, some by the powers that will always be. It's like saying if Australians had any sense they wouldn't have gone to Vietnam or Iraq, or, indeed to Gallipoli....Fact is, they did. It's history. deal with it.

13 minutes ago, dieter said:

Oi Weh. What is the point of all this post hoc ergo propter hoc vindictive nostalgia? The calls were made, some by the players, some by the powers that will always be. It's like saying if Australians had any sense they wouldn't have gone to Vietnam or Iraq, or, indeed to Gallipoli....Fact is, they did. It's history. deal with it.

I think you'll find bing was being facetious dieter....

1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

Frost, May and Lever are still too early to tell.  Howe wanted out so it wasn't as if we had a choice, and Dunn wasn't going anywhere under Roos.

That's all good and fair, but it looks so far that we have spent a lot of assets (picks and salary cap space) and gone backwards.

Just now, Fat Tony said:

That's all good and fair, but it looks so far that we have spent a lot of assets (picks and salary cap space) and gone backwards.

Time will tell.

After all, right now, we're only % out of the 8.

I'll settle for AVB and Trac going through the Middle  (literally). Especially against this mob.

I would also tell our three pick ups, no more Mr Nice Guy. Just like They would have told three of our  players (if ever) going over to the Dark Side.

If someone gets a chance tell Watson to hand back his bloody Medal while he no doubt will be doing the Commentary, for the pox.

 

It’s going to a blood bath - Essendons run will cut us to pieces. 

36 minutes ago, willmoy said:

I'll settle for AVB and Trac going through the Middle  (literally). Especially against this mob.

I would also tell our three pick ups, no more Mr Nice Guy. Just like They would have told three of our  players (if ever) going over to the Dark Side.

If someone gets a chance tell Watson to hand back his bloody Medal while he no doubt will be doing the Commentary, for the pox.

 

I think we have been playing Mr Nice Guy's for too long and time is right to find their mean streak when crossing the white line.

AVB is one  we certainly miss.  Hoping he is a chance to help lead by example.

23 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Rubbish watch the game

Certainly was after half time 

3 hours ago, binman said:

Smith has to stay in. As i posted yesterday it is just plain stupid to bring a young player in and drop him straight away. Hate it. Bad for the player and sends the wrong message to other players, fans and the media. The only time i think it is ok is if they a complete shocker and there is concern another one will smash their confidence. 

Besides he wasn't great but he was by far not our worst player.

Not convinced they should play him as a defender though. I read what Chaplin said about the reasons why they want to play him as a defender. Said it was because  his athleticism gives us flexibility down back and he is less likely to get injured. I get the first part but the second part makes no sense to me. I would have thought he is more likely to get injured down back where he has to contest and tackle all day. But that is by the by.

The problem is it is evident he is not a natural footballer. He has low footy IQ.

In the old days they could put such a player down back. Tell them to stay glued to the hip of their direct opponent and let the forward take them to the ball.

That doesn't work anymore and the defender has to understand systems, zones, body positioning, when to attack, when to stay down etc etc. Kids who have come through the TAC cup system struggle with all that let alone a fella who last played footy as 15 year old.

As a forward his chaos style works much better. See ball. Attack ball. Smash packs. Bring the ball to ground. Take speccies.  He can be more instinctive and his athleticism becomes an attacking weapon. It is this combination of abilities that gives me confidence he can be a player. 

Of course forwards needs craft but i would argue playing forward is less challenging than back in terms of its testing your football IQ. And the risk reward is tipped the wrong way if you don't have that football IQ. Flying for the wrong ball and leaving a player out the back is one example of this we saw on Saturday. But he can sort that.

More concerning is his kicking. Defenders are constantly put under pressure when kicking. Mistakes means goals. Natural defenders know better when and where to kick. And when not to. All that requires experience. Look at Rivers. Not only is he  natural but he has played all his elite junior footy down back. And making things worse Smith is no more than an average field kick.

As a forward he is really hard match up as you need a defender who can match his strength, pace and leap. They have to worry about him. Not vice versa. And like Tmac his kicking is actually really good from set shots. 

I agree.  I like Smith as a forward - or at least half-forward.  With Howe and Pedo departing, we lost our only real marking strengths. Especially now Tmac has suddenly started judging the ball flight about as well his brother.

The poor guy has played next to no footy in the last 3 years.  We have to let him build confidence.  It's pretty obvious he has more in his kit bag than Omac athletically, so we've got to give him a chance to learn the game and develop.

Footy IQ...  Not really our strong suit is it..

 

 

Even though it was incredibly ugly, I struggle to justify changes after a win in the first game in months.

I would never have picked Jackson to play and feel the Weid has been very hard done by getting through his strongest preseason and then missed out to a kid straight out of high school. 

Jackson showed a bit but had a couple small fumbles as expected. I would now feel equally disappointed if he was now dropped after 1 game. 

Jackson’s selection leaves us stuck between a rock and a hard place as I don’t ever agree with picking a player one week and dropping them the next. Jackson deserves at least one more match but I think we missed a trick in not giving the Weid first crack on a quick track under a closed roof. Could have been a great chance for him.

Also - not a selection change but a training and mindset change. I have nothing against Lever/May/Smith working together in the backline but they played like selfish showboats with no cohesion at all. 

OMac isn’t popular and I’m not a fan of selecting him most teams now play that boring defender to allow the intercept defenders to fly. Think Astbury, Roughead, Barrass, Howard etc. Them taking the best forward allows your others to rack up the intercepts and get some showtime.

The three boys we had on the weekend were embarrassing in there teamwork. Maybe even insecure and/or trying to hard to perform being early in the year but it was really poor. Still, if they’re the three preferred then back yourself and give them another go.

So right now,  only ANB out for Picket. Nibbler did his thing but was always going to be in for the one game.

However Smith, Jones and TMac would want to show some serious improvement as I’d be looking at any excuse to get AVB and Lockhart back in whilst giving the Weid a few matches on the trot to decide if he’s worth keeping going forward.

My mail is that they really want AVB in, but after last week it is too hard to drop Hunt & they won’t drop Jones & Melksham after one poor game.  So, I’m saying IN: Kossie & Weid. OUT: Jackson, & ANB.

 

4 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Player review from the scratch match. This is exactly what we want..

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/706162/the-reserves-practice-match-all-17-players-reviewed

 

Um Yeah!!

“Spargs moved around a little bit – he played high half-forward, on-ball and a little bit on the wing. The ball went over his head a bit because we were kicking it to the keys a fair bit, but he ran really good patterns and was really clean.”

1 hour ago, goodwindees said:

My mail is that they really want AVB in, but after last week it is too hard to drop Hunt & they won’t drop Jones & Melksham after one poor game.  So, I’m saying IN: Kossie & Weid. OUT: Jackson, & ANB.

 

And this .... Is and has been the problem with MFC! Shoulda been dropped, Woulda been dropped, Coulda been dropped ....but CAN'T and WON'T BE... Bah, no one should be safe!

RUTHLESSNESS and MFC are not compatible!!

 

Edited June 15, 20204 yr by picket fence