1 hour ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I've been glad Sparrow has been given a few consecutive weeks to establish himself and build form after being there abouts and banging down the door in the magoos.  Problem for me is that he hasn't really imposed himself on the side in any games within that time and hasn't made any real case to keep his spot any longer.  Someone like Jones or Melksham are more damaging and creative from the limited opportunities they get in games.

Still appears to have some potential to step up and break into the side in the future and is handy depth, but I feel he needs to put in a really big preseason and take his game to another level, because apart from being a really good kick for goal he is somewhat vanilla at the moment.  Seems to have a good ballanced head on his shoulders, so I'm backing him to persevere and make a go of it at some stage, I just don't think he's best 22 material in 2021.

Jones is a notch ahead IMV and should be getting the nod.

Not sure what SG is watching (or wasn't) in the Magoos and upstairs.  Mind you aside from Munro, most in the Magoos were bloody awful last time around, but the match a few weeks prior Chunk was BOG by a country mile before doing his calf late.

Sparrow a good young lad but unable to take the next step at senior level at this stage.  As you say, another pre-season or two and who knows.

They'll need to try & quicken him up though if possible if he's to make the grade i reckon.

AVB shows great endeavour but he is struggling to get across the turf and shut opponents down without ball in hand & giving away too many crucial frees as a result. 

While Chunk is not a big step up on either by any measure he is still a marginal step up IMV if/when fully fit.

21 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Unfortunately my gut feel is that it could be ankle syndesmosis.

Fingers crossed it's not.

Has had such a terrible injury run and finally cemented an important spot in the side. Would be gutted for him if he missed. His speed will be impossible to replace.

Hopefully just a badly rolled ankle. He got it taped and tried to run it out, so hopefully it isn't quite so bad. He was also wearing normal runners post game, which means no real swelling? 

Clutching at straws. I ain't no doctor.

no more Vanders please - he can't kick and repeatedly gives away dumb frees and is so slow

1 minute ago, Rusty Nails said:

 

While Chunk is not a big step up on either by any measure he is still a marginal step up IMV if/when fully fit.

Jones is super slow now. That is why he is struggling to get a game. Vanders is a good wet weather sub, but he is also not great. Makes dumb decisions, gives away costly frees... a good finals sub to bring on for the purpose of opposition destruction (grand final, final quarter, Vanders comes on and takes out Bont. Beautiful), but otherwise a non starter for mine.

 

11 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Has had such a terrible injury run and finally cemented an important spot in the side. Would be gutted for him if he missed. His speed will be impossible to replace.

Hopefully just a badly rolled ankle. He got it taped and tried to run it out, so hopefully it isn't quite so bad. He was also wearing normal runners post game, which means no real swelling? 

Clutching at straws. I ain't no doctor.

Very unlikely to be syndesmosis given he came back on for a bit. Its inherent instability kills weight-bearing dead from the git-go….usually. So can’t rule it out. If an uncomplicated lateral ‘sprain’ (means tear),  he’ll come up for finals but would miss the last two games. (3-4 weeks). 

Edited August 9, 20213 yr by Webber
i

11 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Jones is super slow now. That is why he is struggling to get a game. Vanders is a good wet weather sub, but he is also not great. Makes dumb decisions, gives away costly frees... a good finals sub to bring on for the purpose of opposition destruction (grand final, final quarter, Vanders comes on and takes out Bont. Beautiful), but otherwise a non starter for mine.

 

He is but even he's not as slow as AVB now.  AVB almost always slow plays the game as well which can ruin our momentum depending on how we're set up in front of the ball.

Jones has his faults but he at least offers a decent link up option and some grunt at ground level.  Minor minutes though if he comes in.  Similar to Sparrow.  Wouldn't play him for much more than  60% game time if that.

The truth is we just don't have a decent replacement for any of them.  I would say Baker for his speed and outside work but he butchers the ball.  Even more so than Chunk 😄

Edited August 9, 20213 yr by Rusty Nails

1 minute ago, Webber said:

Very unlikely to be syndesmosis given he came back on for a bit. Its inherent instability kills weight-bearing dead from the got-go….usually. So can’t rule it out. If an uncomplicated lateral ‘sprain’ (means tear),  he’ll come up for finals but would miss the last two games. (3-4 weeks). 

Can also assume it was definitely the ankle and not the dreaded foot considering they tried taping it, right? 
 

in: tmac, hibbered 

out: hunt, sparrow

sparrow med sub

Just now, Jaded said:

Can also assume it was definitely the ankle and not the dreaded foot considering they tried taping it, right? 
 

You can tape the foot, but it looked to me like they were only focussed on the ankle. If his pain presented in the foot, much more likely he would never have been rerun, too much fracture risk. And yet….

In: TMac (if fit)

Out: Hunt (if injured)

With 2 rounds to go before a pre-finals bye, then the finals, it will be very interesting to watch the selection ins and outs. I'm not sure if Goodwin is a coach who rests players as a rule; he seems to not like too many changes unless a player has broken a gameplan rule, or not worked hard defensively.

Vanders. Simply, please do NOT play him again. He is like a toddler - full-on run and dash without the intelligence to go with it.

Viney. Interesting. I love what he can bring when at his best, but I wonder if a) Jordon, Sparrow and Harmes have all gone past him, and b) do we need him now?

Melksham. Some of the stuff he does inside 50, no-one else in our team can do. Mercurial at times. But a lot of the stuff he DOESN'T do - like chase, harrass, pressure and the defensive 1%ers - makes me scream at the tv. 

Jones. I still love the man. His ground level grunt and wonderful kicking could still be useful, but opposition players would run off him too easily.

OUT:    Hunt (inj)     Vanders

IN:        Hibberd        TMac

CHANGE: Jordon into the 22, Sparrow to med sub. 

Jones didn’t make the trip over did he? 

After a couple of back to back injuries and with a busy family life I assume they left him at home. I think he’ll come back in to selection possibilities now, and I’m warming to him as a sub option. 

Vanders had a dreadful 2nd quarter but I thought he was better after half time. He just has such limited change of direction that gets caught out especially trying to snap the ball. I’m glad he’s had a few chances to push his case even if he’s dropped now.

Nailed it, Hibberd is the logical replacement for Hunt (assuming he doesn't get up)

Bowey looks so impressive, i imagine he's got that spot for the rest of the year now

it would seem that there's one obvious move - plugger in for an injured hunt - but it would reasonable to assume that as that's a structural change it is something that will require more than one in and out

IN: hibberd, plugger mac
OUT: hunt (inj.), avb

We will not get a better chance than this to get 4 qtrs into Jones. It will at least help us form a view on whether he's a solid, dependable medi-sub option in finals. 

Hunt injury almost impossible to cover, mid size, great speed and dare, no fear. Admit he mucks it up a bit but you get that from players with his energy and dare.  Our options are all way too slow, either of foot, mind or both.  

McDonald a no brainer for Sparrow, largely non-existant. Be keen for him to go back to the 2s (if playing, otherwise retain as sub)  

In: Mcdonald, Jones 

Out: AvB, Hunt 

Sub: Sparrow 

45 minutes ago, Webber said:

You can tape the foot, but it looked to me like they were only focussed on the ankle. If his pain presented in the foot, much more likely he would never have been rerun, too much fracture risk. And yet….

We made the mistake with Melksham, IIRC? In 2019?

Despite his defensive limitations Melksham really does fart through silk. 

8 possesions (6 contested, 3 kicks, 5 handballs) 

2 marks  

3 frees againsts (0 for) 

2 goals (one quite difficult) 

79 SC points 

Few players can impact the result of a game so greatly with so few handles of aggot 

46 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

With 2 rounds to go before a pre-finals bye, then the finals, it will be very interesting to watch the selection ins and outs. I'm not sure if Goodwin is a coach who rests players as a rule; he seems to not like too many changes unless a player has broken a gameplan rule, or not worked hard defensively.

Vanders. Simply, please do NOT play him again. He is like a toddler - full-on run and dash without the intelligence to go with it.

Viney. Interesting. I love what he can bring when at his best, but I wonder if a) Jordon, Sparrow and Harmes have all gone past him, and b) do we need him now?

Melksham. Some of the stuff he does inside 50, no-one else in our team can do. Mercurial at times. But a lot of the stuff he DOESN'T do - like chase, harrass, pressure and the defensive 1%ers - makes me scream at the tv. 

Jones. I still love the man. His ground level grunt and wonderful kicking could still be useful, but opposition players would run off him too easily.

OUT:    Hunt (inj)     Vanders

IN:        Hibberd        TMac

CHANGE: Jordon into the 22, Sparrow to med sub. 

Think I agree with all of this Maldonboy. I too wonder about Viney. Jordon will certainly go past him if he hasn't already. Which makes me wonder why we offered him such a favorable contract. I think it's 5 years, may be wrong.

10 hours ago, No Plan B said:

Surely we can get all smug and “manage” Pickett and Rivers for this game. With top 4 set and finals venues largely irrelevant due to Covid this game means [censored] all. Love these guys but they are second year players who might be tiring a bit. I’d include Jacko too if he wasn’t contributing so much. 

That is why there is never a Plan B

 

Hunt - Lockhart. Sick of saying it, but give this bloke a match. His consistent efforts at Casey and past performances with Dees warrant a late-round match against the 2nd-bottom team, at the very least. Hibbo can come in against the Cats.

AVB - Jones

TMac - Jordon

 

I'd say Tomald for the Van Demon, and Hibbo for Hunt.

Melksham stays in. For a team that at times has lacked polish going into the forward 50 (though this improved before last night), he is necessary for the mission ahead.

Next five weeks ain't going to be just about 'having a crack'. We need to execute, we need to make good decisions and we need to hit leading targets. All skills that are in his wheelhouse.

18 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

Hunt - Lockhart. Sick of saying it, but give this bloke a match. His consistent efforts at Casey and past performances with Dees warrant a late-round match against the 2nd-bottom team, at the very least. Hibbo can come in against the Cats.

AVB - Jones

TMac - Jordon

I'm not against rewarding VFL form but this reads as if you're suggesting we give Lockhart the Adelaide game just because they're Adelaide, and then drop him for Hibberd in Round 23?

We won't be doing that. We're not messing with form and experimenting with our 22 on the eve of our most important finals series in decades.

If Lockhart is the best option outside the 22 to replace Hunt, he gets the spot. If not, Hibberd gets it.

1 hour ago, Return to Glory said:

Think I agree with all of this Maldonboy. I too wonder about Viney. Jordon will certainly go past him if he hasn't already. Which makes me wonder why we offered him such a favorable contract. I think it's 5 years, may be wrong.

May be wrong??? Bloody madness if u ask me. 

Hibberd  for Hunt

Tmac for AVB

Maybe a rest for Salem

No way Melksham gets dropped 

My thoughts aren't dissimilar to previous posts.

Out: Hunt, Sparrow, AVB

In: Hibberd, McDonald, Jones (sub)

Sparrow and AVB aren't up to the level required. At one point last night when AVB was giving away clumsy free kicks I thought we were better off playing one short and leaving him on the bench. He did win a few key contested possessions as the game went on but in general he wasn't up to it. Sparrow has had an opportunity over the past few weeks to show us what he can do and hasn't impacted the game. His simple missed handball clanger against the Dogs that resulted in a turnover and shot at goal looked like someone low on confidence and not in tune with the rest of the midfield. He just doesn't get his hands on the ball enough for a midfielder. Whilst Jordan hasn't been super impressive over the last few months, he get's his hands on the ball, does the simple things well and is less prone to clangers and stupid free kicks - so he stays in the team in front of AVB and Sparrow. I'm not sold on Jones being able to have a huge impact on the game but I trust him more than AVB or Sparrow as sub. I wouldn't be against seeing Lockhart come in for Hunt but I think Hibberd provides more flexibility with his size to match up on both small and medium sized forwards. 

Loved the game of Harmes. Was much cleaner, finished well and didn't try to do too much.