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TEAMS: Rd 20 vs Gold Coast

titan_uranus
in Melbourne Demons

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11 minutes ago, binman said:

Jackson is a ruck first and foremost who plays some time up forward.

Not sure that's true mate.

Jacko only had 3 centre bounce attendances against the Dogs and spent most of his time near the wing. 9 hitouts, I wouldn't call that 'ruck first and foremost'.

14 minutes ago, binman said:

And Weed is juts not athletic enough to play the sort of minutes Jackson plays in the ruck

3 CBAs. 9 hitouts. 60% game time.

Weid was in our top 5 for distance covered per game last year. Unless you're meaning 'athletic' in terms of leap? Gawn barely leaves his feet in the ruck, so not sure that it's absolutely crucial.

15 minutes ago, binman said:

Say all you want about his numbers, but he is critical to our structure and tactical flexibility in terms of how we use max.

Sure, but not if he's doing hardly any rucking.

16 minutes ago, binman said:

Weed will never be an alternative to Jackson.

No one is an 'alternative' to Jackson. There's very few players in the league who can do what he does. But in terms of the ruck/forward role; of course Weid is an alternative given that's the exact role he's been playing at Casey.

 

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    1 hour ago, Rusty Nails said:

    This was the ideal chance to rest LJ at least, and give Melk a run

     

    1 hour ago, drdrake said:

    More Jackson, the bloke is out of form, really thought Melksham should have come on for him

    Like for like...how does Melk go in the ruck?

    Jacko stays to give Max a proper rest...even Weid is only a pinch hitter in the ruck and not really an option.

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    1 hour ago, Pollyanna said:

    Yes it makes sense that a minimum of those 26 will be travelling to Qld and WA.

    Jones needs match practice in VFL. Wonder if they will add AVB and J.Smith to the travelling squad?

    For sure Smith will travel as he can cover injuries forward or back. 
    Not sure if Jones or Melksham will go given they have young families and no guarantees of actually getting a game. 
    Would be interesting to see if Weid goes or if they prefer to give him VFL time. 
    Agreed AVB will travel as well. 

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    1 minute ago, Jaded said:

    For sure Smith will travel as he can cover injuries forward or back. 
    Not sure if Jones or Melksham will go given they have young families and no guarantees of actually getting a game. 
    Would be interesting to see if Weid goes or if they prefer to give him VFL time. 
    Agreed AVB will travel as well. 

    How many do you think we need to take?

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    4 minutes ago, Pollyanna said:

    How many do you think we need to take?

    28 minimum. Given we can’t get anyone else up there, and we could quite easily cop 3-4 injuries in a single game, you’d need the insurance. And you need to have a range of players to cover different parts of the ground. 
    So for example if Jackson needs a rest or Gawn is injured and we have Weideman in the hub then you have flexibility. Smith likewise. 
    You also want good mid rotation options so JJ, AVB and maybe even Chandler so you can have ANB spend more time in the midfield and Chandler can do his role up forward. 
    I would think we take 28 because the last thing we want is to put someone out there who isn’t 100% and risk further injury before finals because we didn’t take enough players. 

    Also need to take into account if someone needs to go home for a family emergency. It has happened already in hubs this year  

    Edit: Jones would be perfect as he can cover lots of roles, but I doubt he will go with his wife heavily pregnant with twins. 
     

    Edited by Jaded

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    1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

    It's hard to argue against the two outs and I'm really happy to see Bowey given a chance, and Sparrow given a game.

    Harmes surely on thin ice. Would want to see a massive game from him (tagging Touk Miller, maybe?).

    Harmes?? try Spargo 8 possesions last week with zero defense  must be hanging by a thread

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    1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

    First prize for this week's best  understatement.

    Not only missing the top 4 @spirit of norm smith, but in danger of playing WCE in a Perth Finals bubble as the 6th placed home team :laugh:? 

    Edited by John Demonic

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    5 minutes ago, picket fence said:

    Harmes?? try Spargo 8 possesions last week with zero defense  must be hanging by a thread

    "Zero defense"? Had 6 tackles and 15 pressure acts in 60% game time while playing mostly a different role at the other end of the ground. Not a very accurate call.

    Had a poor game, but look at the context of why.

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    So we have 4 games this week, where the odds heavily favour one team, Geelong v North, Bulldogs v Adelaide, Brisbane v Hawthorn and Melbourne v Gold Coast (although GCS have tightened in from over $5 to $4.60). Which one are you backing for the upset?

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    19 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

    "Zero defense"? Had 6 tackles and 15 pressure acts in 60% game time while playing mostly a different role at the other end of the ground. Not a very accurate call.

    Had a poor game, but look at the context of why.

    HAD A POOR GAME!! ? YEP NAILED IT.... Seriously.. we need a creative half forward goal kicker, MATCH WINNER  NOT a bloke thats main attribute is " Pressure Acts" FMD

    Edited by picket fence

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    Happy enough with these changes would have liked a couple more to freshen up the team, interesting to see who is the sub hopefully fresh legs. I have been reading with interest the comments on young Bowie by the Dlanders that have watched him first hand and he sounds like he is ready for the big time and I hope that he grabs the opportunity with both hands we are really crying out for another elite kick down back, also happy for Sparrow to finally get another game, I think that he is going to be a permanent fixture in our team.

    Take it up to them boys and kick straight . Go DEES.!!!!!

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    When i read Melbourne will be travelling under strict Qld Gov. Guidelines,i'm thinking the team is travelling up Saturday to avoid visiting a GC Hotel coming from a Red Zone,which means 5am wakeup,meeting at Airport,waiting an hour to board the plane,2 hours flight time,bus from GC Airport to Metricon (40 minutes) play the game,back to the airport for the flight to Perth.

     

    Last year we flew from Alice Springs into Cairns 4 days after playing the Saints,played 2 hours later and got flogged by the Swans,the players were as flat as.

     

    Please tell me the team is flying up here tomorrow.

     

     

     

     

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    51 minutes ago, rjay said:

     

    Like for like...how does Melk go in the ruck?

    Jacko stays to give Max a proper rest...even Weid is only a pinch hitter in the ruck and not really an option.

    Would have liked to see Jacko given a rest and run Weid in the same role just to see what Weid has got to give when released from the key forward role that he struggles with so far in his career. At VFL level he looks comfortable in a more mobile role, he has size, mobility and clean hands when not in a pack, just don’t believe we have fully explored this guy’s best position, which I think could be as a CHB. 

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    1 hour ago, rjay said:

     

    Like for like...how does Melk go in the ruck?

    Jacko stays to give Max a proper rest...even Weid is only a pinch hitter in the ruck and not really an option.

    Uh yeh pretty sure no one is suggesting Melk in the ruck lol.

    You don't rest Max by playing up forward either.  There's probably as much if not more running involved if he's to be effective on the night.

    Pretty sure Max can at least 'manage' against a rookie opponent in the ruck without raising too much of a sweat with a few chop outs from Macca in the middle and BB when the ball's inside our 50.  Especially with the Sons bringing in 3 rookies and a debutant this week.

    Bringing in Melk for a hit out in case needed for the last few rounds or finals (injury back up) wouldn't be the worst option IMV.  Also see whether our best kick coming inside 50 might be able to connect with the likes of BB and the other forwards prior to deciding on our optimal mix for finals.

    We've obviously decided to rest Hibb & Jordy with their form dropping the last few weeks.  Adding LJ to the list (for this week given the opponent) was a no brainer for mine.  There's no point flogging a dead horse whose confidence is down!  Young fella is in desperate need of a curcuit breaker / freshen up before the last few rounds against higher rated opponents / finals IMO.

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    3 hours ago, DubDee said:

    I count 8 players in that 22 as Out of Form. and 3 more a little out of form

    we need to turn this around and quick!

    Top 4 is almost gone if we lose given our draw vs Port/Brisbane/Sydney

     

    If we kicked straight they wouldn't be in the gun. The problem is 100% accuracy in front of goal. The outcome for bad kicking is like no other error. Basically you lose. We are worst in the league atm for accuracy. Just gotta get at least to league middle standard level as a minimum. It will cost us a flag, guaranteed, if we dont sort it out.

    Edited by Wizard of Koz

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    1 hour ago, picket fence said:

    HAD A POOR GAME!! ? YEP NAILED IT.... Seriously.. we need a creative half forward goal kicker, MATCH WINNER  NOT a bloke thats main attribute is " Pressure Acts" FMD

    Do you ever stop with your negative emotional hyperbole?

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    2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    It didn't need to be the alternative though. I would have been happy to bring Melksham in to shore up a ball use going inside 50.

    Time and time again over the Goodwin era where we've shaken our heads at selection. It's cost us wins.

    We are 4 weeks out from finals and no close to fixing up not only our ball use going forward but our structure as well. 

    I'm sorry for being hard on Jacko but he's an absolute witches cone in our forward line, and we are pretty much playing with a 5 man forward line. Would have been perfect to bring in Melksham and get our forward entries and structure right.

    Perplexing really.

    Whilst Melksham might have brought in better kicking forward of centre, there are downsides. One is his 2021 form. Another is his lack of defensive pressure. And a third is that we'd then have to send TMac or Brown into the ruck and we'd at those times be back to one tall forward: remember how we looked with one tall forward vs GWS?

    We're also not going to flip a switch just by bringing Melksham in: we need to demand improvement in decision making and execution from Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Harmes, Brayshaw and Gawn as well. If they keep turning it over, we'll largely look the same.

    This isn't to say Jackson deserves to hold his spot, just that it's hardly "perplexing" that we didn't make that change.

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    Not going to complain about the changes. They could have done a couple more but lets see what happens next week. They just have to win.

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    50 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

    Adding LJ to the list (for this week given the opponent) was a no brainer for mine.  There's no point flogging a dead horse whose confidence is down!  Young fella is in desperate need of a curcuit breaker / freshen up before the last few rounds against higher rated opponents / finals IMO.

    We've struggled to beat low ranked opponents so that shouldn't come into the equation.

    The best way to get confidence for LJ is to play good footy at the level.

    I think this will happen this weekend.

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    1 hour ago, Earl Hood said:

    just don’t believe we have fully explored this guy’s best position, which I think could be as a CHB. 

    You could be right...

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    4 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

    If you're referring to Melksham, whilst I wasn't against us trying him it's not like he's been in any sort of form of late, and we know how damaging (in a bad way) his lack of defensive pressure can be.

    As to Jackson/Rivers, poor form doesn't always mean needs rest. Again, whilst there were arguments about both their spots, were we going to make four changes in one week? 

    Also needs to get the ball to kick it, which wasn't happening often enough when he was in the side. Not a lot seems to have changed.

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    3 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

    Prefer Jimmy Jordon in myself but what can you do.

    Would prefer Chunk in when fit...he's still a step up in intensity for longer in matches vs Sparrow for mine.

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    2 hours ago, picket fence said:

    Harmes?? try Spargo 8 possesions last week with zero defense  must be hanging by a thread

    Just to cheer you up a little more only 5 of those were effective PF.  I would have trialed Lockhart in place of Spargo this week.  Send a message to the group that no one is safe....stop coasting!

    2 hours ago, picket fence said:

    HAD A POOR GAME!! ? YEP NAILED IT.... Seriously.. we need a creative half forward goal kicker, MATCH WINNER  NOT a bloke thats main attribute is " Pressure Acts" FMD

    He is also a good ball user when he gets it PF.   But to quote a great Dyerism...

    “He keeps getting where the ball ‘aint.”

    Edited by Rusty Nails

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