10 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

I think TMac will revert to what he has been doing for two years, and that's playing deep. Having faith that he will start clunking them now that Weid will relieve some of that pressure.

It's Jackson that is a taller version of Bennell. Lanky in posture, athletic, skilled and gets to the right spots, or has an intuitive sense for it that will develop the more he plays. I think we'll see him up near the stoppages to distribute it forward more this week. 

This could well be right.

Jackson will at times get thrown into the ruck as well, so it may make sense to let TMac and Weid stay in the forward line working together no matter whether Jackson is forward or ruck.

Happy with those ins. The three talls will be an interesting watch. I’d pretty much always play Bennell if fit as he has too much class to overlook, but have to place faith in Burgo and co on how he gets managed. Very happy to see Sparrow get a crack.

Really need to win this one. It’s time to make a statement about how serious we are this year.

Edited July 29, 20204 yr by P-man

Excited to see how the 3 talls function. I’ll be keeping an eye on this at the game and looking at how they set up. 
With the 3 talls in it’s so important that Kozzy and Hannan are hunting in that forward line as soon as the ball hits the deck. 

Great to see Sparrow get another chance. Has a bit of grunt, I like it. 

Cant wait for tomorrow night! 

 

Just now, Brady said:

Excited to see how the 3 talls function. I’ll be keeping an eye on this at the game and looking at how they set up. 
With the 3 talls in it’s so important that Kozzy and Hannan are hunting in that forward line as soon as the ball hits the deck. 

Great to see Sparrow get another chance. Has a bit of grunt, I like it. 

Cant wait for tomorrow night! 

 

Going Brady?

3 minutes ago, binman said:

Going Brady?

Yeah mate ended up snagging a ticket. Feeling very lucky to be able to go. I’m stoked! 

Debut Jordon or we riot 

10 minutes ago, Brady said:

Yeah mate ended up snagging a ticket. Feeling very lucky to be able to go. I’m stoked! 

Terrific.

Can I ask a favour.

Two  actually.

At some point get near the effects mike that is sure to be close by. And when there is lull, yell GO REDLEGGERS super loud.

And when we kick away in last quarter  yell PERCENTAAAAAAAGE! super loud right after we snag a goal

 

4 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

I said some similar things in the changes thread, titan.

Do we shift a Harmes, Brayshaw or Jones as part of the back line rotation?

Conversely, do one of those above go into the forward line rotation?  I could see Jones running the wings and resting across half forward, and we know Harmes is capable of playing there as well.

And the three talls will be fascinating.  Do they push Tom up field and use his tank to run his man ragged, or do they push Jackson up there to make use of his athleticism and to do the rucking forward of centre?

Either way I think we have plenty of options, which is a good thing for tomorrow night.

 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

 

 

3 talls generally hasn't worked for us.

As some have noted our structure looked so much better with Weid and Jackson, the 2 talls.

Tommy tips the balance.

Maybe they're going to try him or Jackson as the other wing...

If it's 3 talls though then to me it's not the right selection call.

Jackson seems to have a massive tank (see image from Hawthorn game). I wonder if he has the positional intelligence to play the Tomlinson "tall defensive wing" role?

He can run, he'll out mark most wingers, and can drift foreard. Not sure if he'll be able to cover defensively to AFL standard, but it's an interesting thought. 

3 hours ago, Patches O’houlihan said:

No saty, i'd prefer to see our team stick up from each other, rather than just watch it, and if that eventuates into a free kick from time to time, that's much better. look at the Hawks when they had all their success. they didn't mind sticking up for each other even if it meant from time to time it cost them a free kick. 

The game has moved on,  you can get a week for looking at somebody the wrong way

Unnecessary free kicks are momentum killers

28 minutes ago, deanox said:

 

Jackson seems to have a massive tank (see image from Hawthorn game). I wonder if he has the positional intelligence to play the Tomlinson "tall defensive wing" role?

He can run, he'll out mark most wingers, and can drift foreard. Not sure if he'll be able to cover defensively to AFL standard, but it's an interesting thought. 

Interesting stat that, isn't it? Jackson really does have a high ceiling and some elite attributes. They did see him playing midfield eventually, so maybe they're going to try it this week? And play McDonald and Weideman as the two talls?

I reckon the main thinking behind bring Tmac back in is to give Gawny more rest. He is shouldering 90% of the ruck duties during a testing period. We don't lose that presents of 2 marking forwards when Action goes into ruck duties.

We need Tmac closer to goal for his conversion rate, he is a dead eye [censored].

My only concern is the ball coming out of the back line easily, but if they are kicking it to the right positions we should have the numbers in and around the drop of the ball.

I can tell you this much i would rather the dump kicks going into a 2 talls and 3 defenders type scenario in the F50 rather than a 1 on 3 situations we have found ourselves in this year and last.

This will open it up for the likes of Fritta, Melk and Pickett to work their magic. Its an exciting experiment to see if this formula works, if all these scientists hadn't worked on formulas in the past none of them would be in existence.

I really think this could take us to the next level, lets see if the players and brains trust can pull it off.

Edited July 29, 20204 yr by Win4theAges

What’s the go with Tomlinson, we got him as a free agent for outside run, unsure on his contract length & concerning he can’t get a game

Edited July 29, 20204 yr by Hogan2014

6 hours ago, binman said:

Terrific.

Can I ask a favour.

Two  actually.

At some point get near the effects mike that is sure to be close by. And when there is lull, yell GO REDLEGGERS super loud.

And when we kick away in last quarter  yell PERCENTAAAAAAAGE! super loud right after we snag a goal

 

Haha I’ll do my best for you Binman! 
Wonder if they will bring the crowd noise back on tv for this one with the small crowd. 
Either way us Dees fans are going to have to barrack loud. 
 

Keen for tonight! 

Is Swallow auto correct for Sparrow?

10 hours ago, rjay said:

Maybe he's been thrown in there in the scratch matches.

Hard to know what's going on in those games...

He did play some defence in his underage years, so has done it.

Pretty good leg speed, strong in the body and pretty good in the air...good attributes for a small defender.

Kicking not his strong suit.

In the last post in the now locked Changes thread, Kev Martin says Sparrow is a great kick. Who's right?

Like others I'm a bit concerned by the 3 talls. 

Yesterday Goodwin said (paraphrasing) re the fwd line:  "...3 talls is something we have never looked...we may try it at some stage...never know you test and learn..."

Experimenting, again!  Vs Geelong and Richmond we experimented with a one-tall structure.  I was surprised as it was a high risk plan when it hadn't been trained and we hadn't banked many wins. 

This year the fwd structure has had:

• 2 talls for 2 games (with several months between games)
• 1 tall for 2 games
• 2 talls for 3 games
• 3 talls this week

That is a lot of chopping and changing. 

Generally settled line ups give teammates predictability and confidence in the i50 and going i50.  Our i50 understanding and fwd/midfield cohesion is improving but still embryonic and quite fragile.  Our midfield was just starting to find fwds in good positions.  To experiment with a never-tried-before 3tall structure without having trained it nor banked many wins is again a very high risk plan. 

I just hope each fwd understand their own role and each others roles and don't get in each others way.  And hope the unselfishness they have played with over recent weeks continues.

Edited July 29, 20204 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Just now, Lucifer's Hero said:

Like others I'm a bit concerned by the 3 talls. 

Yesterday Goodwin said (paraphrasing) re the fwd line:  "...3 talls is something we have never looked...we may try it at some stage...never know you test and learn..."

Experimenting, again!  Vs Geelong and Richmond we experimented with a one-tall structure.  I was surprised as it was a high risk plan when it hadn't been trained and we hadn't banked many wins. 

This year the fwd structure has had:

• 2 talls for 2 games (with several months between games)
• 1 tall for 2 games
• 2 talls for 3 games
• 3 talls this week

That is a lot of chopping and changing. 

Generally settled line ups give teammates predictability and confidence in the i50 and going i50.  Our fwd/midfield cohesion is improving but still embryonic and quite fragile.  Our midfield was just starting to find fwds in good positions.  To experiment with a never-tried-before structure without having trained it nor banked many wins is again a very high risk plan. 

I just hope each fwd understand their own role and each others roles and don't get in each others way.  And hope the unselfishness they have played with over recent weeks continues.

Luci, I wouldn't give too much credence to anything Goodwin says publicly (or any coach, for that matter).

22 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Luci, I wouldn't give too much credence to anything Goodwin says publicly (or any coach, for that matter).

That aside, my concerns about a new structure disrupting team balance and cohesion are still valid.  Chopping and changing a fwd structure every few weeks is unsettling and risky.

From what I recall of the pre-season training reports and pre-season games, 3 talls didn't come into the conversation, unless it involved Max resting fwd.

If we were 5/2 instead of 3/4 I wouldn't be so concerned.  We would be well on our way to making finals.  So experiment away, I say. 

As this is virtually our last hoorah to ensure we get to finals, not 9th and not miss on % imv it is not the time to be taking these sort of risks.

But I do hope it pays off.

Edited July 29, 20204 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Memo to some forwards this week 

Fritsch and Hannan. There are now 3 talls already.  Last week they were aerial too much. Shades of having only one key forward initially this year.  Fritsch and Hannan have to rove it more.  
 

Pickett MUST STAY INSIDE FORWARD 50 and pressure and chase. He was on the wing and half forward last week and not at the ankles of Weid/Jackson. 

33 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That aside, my concerns about a new structure disrupting team balance and cohesion are still valid.  Chopping and changing a fwd structure every few weeks is unsettling and risky.

From what I recall of the pre-season training reports and pre-season games, 3 talls didn't come into the conversation, unless it involved Max resting fwd.

If we were 5/2 instead of 3/4 I wouldn't be so concerned.  We would be well on our way to making finals.  So experiment away, I say. 

As this is virtually our last hoorah to ensure we get to finals, not 9th and not miss on % imv it is not the time to be taking these sort of risks.

But I do hope it pays off.

You could argue that because we're 3/4 and not 5/2 we need to "exepreiment away" because what's happened so far hasn't worked as we would have liked. But I understand your point.

57 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

In the last post in the now locked Changes thread, Kev Martin says Sparrow is a great kick. Who's right?

The knock on him has been his kicking...

I love the idea of playing 3 talls, lets face it talls aren't the same as the were 10 years ago the big lump of a man that ran straight lines and once the ball hit the ground they were terrible.

We know Tmac has a massive tank, best runner at the club, looks like Jackson also has a big running capacity, not sure about Weiderman but he looks like a more stay at home deep forward.  The fact they are tall is a bonus, if Jackson and Tmac run draw out defenders with them creates space behind them.  It can work as long as the team don't go back into that bomb it forward mindset.  They are hit up forwards we got to hit them on a lead rather that dropping the ball to a contested spot.

Harmes goes back into our backline rotations Sparrow goes into our Midfield forward mix.

One thing i worry about is that if we play three talls in the forward line, if all go up in a contest, we won't have many left to crum it on the ground, but in saying that, kossi can be unbelievable in those situations, so shouldn't be an issue.

Maybe fritta will play more as a small today. 

Sparrow seems to be a like for like replacement for Nev, looking forward to seeing him play. Jordan very stiff not to get picked, i reckon. Kade Chandler was another who could have gotten the nod for nev's spot. The depth we have at the moment is quite extraordinary. 

 

3 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Like others I'm a bit concerned by the 3 talls. 

Yesterday Goodwin said (paraphrasing) re the fwd line:  "...3 talls is something we have never looked...we may try it at some stage...never know you test and learn..."

Experimenting, again!  Vs Geelong and Richmond we experimented with a one-tall structure.  I was surprised as it was a high risk plan when it hadn't been trained and we hadn't banked many wins. 

This year the fwd structure has had:

• 2 talls for 2 games (with several months between games)
• 1 tall for 2 games
• 2 talls for 3 games
• 3 talls this week

That is a lot of chopping and changing. 

Generally settled line ups give teammates predictability and confidence in the i50 and going i50.  Our i50 understanding and fwd/midfield cohesion is improving but still embryonic and quite fragile.  Our midfield was just starting to find fwds in good positions.  To experiment with a never-tried-before 3tall structure without having trained it nor banked many wins is again a very high risk plan. 

I just hope each fwd understand their own role and each others roles and don't get in each others way.  And hope the unselfishness they have played with over recent weeks continues.

No need to fear, our forwards coach is all over this.....oh wait!!  I think the changes are a bit dodgy if I am totally honest.  TMac seems to have a habit of crowding areas in our forward line and has zero defensive pressure.  Sparrow I am rapt for him to get a game but I expect he will have minimal impact.  Having watched all of Ports games I am highly concerned on a dry pitch they are going to run us off our feet rebounding from our backline with pressure from Tmac/Weids/LJ?/Fritta/Melksham.....who is going to stop them.....Kozzie or Hannan?  It seems we are going with a high risk structure, great if clunking marks but when the ball hits the ground I think we are going to be found wanting extra smalls.  For this to work all across the field we are going to have to pressure, pressure, pressure. Much more nervous about this game than against Brisbane.  Against Brisbane we had way too many passengers...this week we can't afford so many to have an off day.  Will yourselves into the game Demons, find your form through repeated efforts and this is ours for the taking!

 

14 hours ago, A F said:

Interesting stat that, isn't it? Jackson really does have a high ceiling and some elite attributes. They did see him playing midfield eventually, so maybe they're going to try it this week? And play McDonald and Weideman as the two talls?

Yeah it's an interesting thought. How many 18yo 198cm ruckmen have the tank to do 11.5 kms and basically cover the same ground as Scully?

He attacks the ball in the air and brings it to ground but doesnt have the strength to put muscle kpds just yet. On the wing he could be a weapon if he doesn't get exposed for position and defensively. 

Do you have a feel for his positioning yet? Preseason he looked at sea to me but was adjusting on the fly and improving rapidly. Wing is a highly technical position though: attack too much at the wrong time and you get exposed very quickly. Defend too much and you're useless in attack. I think it would be a wonderful experiment because of its potential.