Word going around Boak is in doubt due to hamstring tightness plus the 5 day turn around.

21 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Word going around Boak is in doubt due to hamstring tightness plus the 5 day turn around.

Lets hope they don't risk him going for 4 weeks by resting him....

He always kills us!

For anyone still doubting the Ben Brown playing time stuff:

Both the AFL and VFL-listed Demons face a five-day break before the trip to tackle the Power, with a handful of players including midfielder – and unused medical sub – Aaron vandenBerg also managed in the reserves.

Brown finished goalless with three disposals after a directive to play less than 50 per cent game time ahead of the Power clash.

Ben's back? The big indication key tall could return

 

6 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

I'm not saying it's a permanent option by any means Mel.  I just think he looks on at the moment and playing intense footy.  Of course that doesn't necessarily convert to a serviceable game in the seniors but who knows.

He has played this role before and I've seen him play it quite well on a few occasions.  Other times not so good.

But sometimes it comes down to hunger PLUS ability.

I reckon he knows what's required from a work rate perspective at senior level and is pushing hard for another crack.

He offers intensity, hunger and some experience up forward.  He also might bring the pressure inside 50 that's been lacking the last three to four matches.

Spargo & Kozzie are officially both off their early season form and neither have hit those heights in the last three weeks.

Couldn't be worse than those two given where they're at right now.  Both need a spell IMO and in Kozzie's case a decent refresher to try and find some early form again.  They are a large part of the reason we are dropping winnable games lately.  One.goal a week between the two of them is just not sustainable at this level and neither is bringing enough heat on the opp inside 50.

Reckon he is worthy of a chance and who knows, he might have matured and might just take it!

Completely agree with all of this. 

Can we get access to tickets??

2 hours ago, Fat Tony said:

I think our biggest issues at the moment are 1) centre clearances and 2) our small forwards are giving us nothing.

I like Hunt as a forward option at this time because he can give us a bit more spark than Spargo or Pickett, who are both dreadfully out of form. He is better in the air than both and a longer, better set shot than both. While Hunt made some bad errors vs GWS in Q4, he almost changed the game in our favour. This is not an ideal change given Hunt has been very good down back, but we don't have much by the way of small forwards at the moment. Chandler and Bedford did not have great VFL games. 

The other reason to suggest Hunt forward is that we have other players who can play at half back in Bowey (who looks a future 200 gamer), Jordon and Brayshaw (not preferred). Bowey looks excellent in the VFL and, if he comes in, we might not lose much in defence. He is a better kick than Hunt is but not as strong.

Hunt might be quick and Bowey might be a half-back but those IMO aren't good enough reasons to make a change to our core back six.

We don't have the time to try throwing Bowey into our backline with the challenging opponents we have in the hope he can gel with the others. 

There are other ways we can re-jig our forward half that don't involve disrupting the back half. Whether it's including Brown, or swapping one of Spargo/ANB/Harmes/Sparrow for someone like Melksham, or rotating Pickett further up the ground, or using Gawn more at FF (and ensuring that those who are running inside 50 like Hunt was on Saturday recognise his presence and kick it to him), there are options to work with. 

On 7/3/2021 at 7:55 PM, bobby1554 said:

And “hope” being the operative word. We have peaked too early. Have a look around. Brisbane starting to flex muscle, Geelong give up a 4 goal deficit to win by 7 against a side we struggled to beat, Dogs going beautifully. And we are doing what? We will be 5th by end of next round. We cannot kick goals. TMac has fallen off a cliff, but then we did try to trade him last year. May I ask, we’re you at the game today? Because they never gave a yelp. Outplayed by the team sitting 9th. Do you really think the Giants would have beaten Brisbane, Geelong, Bulldogs or Port today, at their HOME grounds? 

Your first two sentences are enough for me. Just look at who those teams played. 

Majak may save us.  We need a focus point.

Give him a chance at full forward.  Let him grow into it.

The other options have failed!

Off to bed mate 

if only majak just had a lttle bit of mongrel in his play

If Majak is the answer, what's the question?

As a serious response, throughout his career Daw has shown occassional glimpses of ability but has been unable to show consistency. I still see him as a "break glass in case of emergency" type player and that emergency is probably only when all of Gawn, Jackson and Weideman are unavailable or if May and Lever are both unavailable. To Daw's credit, he's still a handy emergency choice. 

Edited July 5, 20213 yr by La Dee-vina Comedia
typo

Just came across an interesting stat when I noticed Lever had spent most time on ground in the comp this year. 

We have 7 of the top 34 players across the league. Seems high. 

Lever, Langdon & May make sense given roles and fitness. However - Clarry, Petracca and Gawn definitely surprised me.

Bulldogs only have Keath. Lions only have Andrews, Daniher, Hipwood. 

Most players on this list are key position forward or back. 

I think we are struggling at clearance because the big 3 are exhausted. I think we need to mix it up in the middle, increase rotations which we seemed to be doing more of earlier in the year (ie pickett rotating through midfield). 

While the game has less rotations and resting mids forward/back is becoming more common, the reality is we are leaving our star mids out there for longer than other teams.

Well it's over to Goodwin and co now?they need to make changes to our forward line this week, and let's hope they roll the dice and just select BBB or Mirch Brown??

The question is not one we have to answer atm.

BBB will come in 

if he is a straight kick for goal then I'm not against it. We can't carry Weideman, Pickett, Jackson, Fritsch and Petracca and Gawn (when rested forward) who are all bad set shots. (*Fritsch is ok around the body). Mcdonald has also been off recently. We need a dead eye in our team asap. I'M SICK OF BEHINDS!

Daw is a very ordinary footballer.  He is not a ruckman, not a key forward and not a key defender.  He won't be on the list next season and if we have to play him this season then all is lost.  

1 hour ago, Lord Nev said:

For anyone still doubting the Ben Brown playing time stuff:

Both the AFL and VFL-listed Demons face a five-day break before the trip to tackle the Power, with a handful of players including midfielder – and unused medical sub – Aaron vandenBerg also managed in the reserves.

Brown finished goalless with three disposals after a directive to play less than 50 per cent game time ahead of the Power clash.

Ben's back? The big indication key tall could return

 

Thanks for this background LN.  If they were trying to play him into form etc he does 100% or close to it.

I suspect he's passed his 6 weeks mini preseason and is ready to go  and a lock for this Thursday.  May turn out to be smart strategy by match cttee and Burgess.?

If Majak is the answer, the question is “should we play for draft picks”

I don't understand why people treat Brown like Juice Newton. He kicks five goals in two games, has one ordinary outing and gets written off. Can we try and get the guy who's won the Coleman and kicked 10 in a game going first before opening the last resort envelope? 

Sorry mate, he isn't 

In response to the OP: no, he isn't.

I don't follow Casey as closely as others but hasn't he been playing ruck this year?

38 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

if he is a straight kick for goal then I'm not against it. We can't carry Weideman, Pickett, Jackson, Fritsch and Petracca and Gawn (when rested forward) who are all bad set shots. (*Fritsch is ok around the body). Mcdonald has also been off recently. We need a dead eye in our team asap. I'M SICK OF BEHINDS!

Fritsch has kicked 31.14 this year

55 minutes ago, stynewillalwaysbeonthevine said:

Just came across an interesting stat when I noticed Lever had spent most time on ground in the comp this year. 

We have 7 of the top 34 players across the league. Seems high. 

Lever, Langdon & May make sense given roles and fitness. However - Clarry, Petracca and Gawn definitely surprised me.

Bulldogs only have Keath. Lions only have Andrews, Daniher, Hipwood. 

Most players on this list are key position forward or back. 

I think we are struggling at clearance because the big 3 are exhausted. I think we need to mix it up in the middle, increase rotations which we seemed to be doing more of earlier in the year (ie pickett rotating through midfield). 

While the game has less rotations and resting mids forward/back is becoming more common, the reality is we are leaving our star mids out there for longer than other teams.

That's an odd way of measuring the TOG stat - looks like the total is percentages, so they add up the TOG percentage figure each week, meaning Lever has missed 9 percentage points of game time across 15 games.

Anyway, it is an interesting point to note. Each week we have Lever, May, Gawn and Langdon doing big hours on the field, and then we have players like Sparrow and Jordon who regularly are in the 50s and 60s.

Do we have a core group of players who are genuinely so fit as to be able to run games out with more TOG, which then lets us rotate the remaining players more? Or, are those other players unfit and unable to run out games and so we feel compelled to not bring the key defenders off, keep Langdon on a quiet wing for five minutes, and rest Gawn at FF, to keep bench spots free? Chicken and egg thing.

Petracca, Oliver and Langdon three of only four names on that list who aren't talls (the fourth being Crisp). It's an anomaly, that's for sure.

1 hour ago, stynewillalwaysbeonthevine said:

Just came across an interesting stat when I noticed Lever had spent most time on ground in the comp this year. 

We have 7 of the top 34 players across the league. Seems high. 

Lever, Langdon & May make sense given roles and fitness. However - Clarry, Petracca and Gawn definitely surprised me.

Bulldogs only have Keath. Lions only have Andrews, Daniher, Hipwood. 

Most players on this list are key position forward or back. 

I think we are struggling at clearance because the big 3 are exhausted. I think we need to mix it up in the middle, increase rotations which we seemed to be doing more of earlier in the year (ie pickett rotating through midfield). 

While the game has less rotations and resting mids forward/back is becoming more common, the reality is we are leaving our star mids out there for longer than other teams.

7 from the top 35 is interesting.

McDonald and Langdon I get as they are super fit. Tracc and Oliver I dont get. May and lever probably aren't doing the big kms 

 

And Gawn, well he's a powerhouse. Surprised to see Goldstein doing similar minutes