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Our next defender

deelusions from afar
deelusions from afar
in Melbourne Demons

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This is obviously related to the changes for next week thread but more about going forward for the rest of the year.

We are obviously very unlucky to have all our injuries in one area of the ground.  5 of our 7 premiership defenders!

Smith, Hunt, Tomlinson in, Brayshaw to come back from the wing (Jordon to take his wing) and when Salem went down TMac goes back and Smith goes from a tall to a small.

 

While TMac did an incredible job, I think most supporters would remember why he has moved forward in the first place - which is the reason why he is not a permanent fix down there.

 

So if not TMac, who goes back if we had the same number of injuries in defence?  Who would be next cab off the rank?  I'm thinking maybe Melksham?  Or would Deakyn Smith be ready?  Hopefully we won't have to worry about this with a bunch of them back next week.

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    Goody said Lever may be back in round 2, but if not I'd say they will go with:

    May, Tomlinson, Smith, Hibberd, Bowey, Hunt and Brayshaw/Jordon rotating back there.

    Amazing to think we still have Petty, Salem, Lever and Rivers to also comeback.

    That is easily the deepest defence in the comp.

     

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    TMac will be used in defence. 
    soon as he went back on Wednesday, we  got defensive again 

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    On 3/17/2022 at 11:23 AM, deelusions from afar said:

    While TMac did an incredible job, I think most supporters would remember why he has moved forward in the first place - which is the reason why he is not a permanent fix down there.

    He'll be ok in the interim until the others are back, new recruits and a more defined structure with leadership will help this time. 

     

     

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    Turner would be my guess. He played a few minutes with the 1sts in the practice matches. Deakyn Smith could come in if we wanted to go shorter and if we get really desperate we have Majak and Mitch Brown who have played in Defence in the past for their previous clubs and were pretty good at it.

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    Brayshaw looked very comfortable as a half back flanker the other night and with Jordan playing his part on the wing he could become part of our defence. 

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    FWIW - Turner was in a moon boot at Whitten oval last night. Very proppy on an ankle, struggled up and down the stairs.  Melsham’s game was no ringing endorsement of an imminent recall - fumbled, caught with the ball and not often sighted. JVR showed promise, as did Howes and Laurie. Our best defender was a Casey player in jumper 79, played FB. Solid unit, mobile, seemed to be the General down back (Casey player list still not confirmed on MFC website so apologies that I can’t give the aforementioned a name). Mitch White was solid until he went off with a bad corkie

     

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    7 guys who played in the flag.

    Tommo, Hunt, Smith.

    Brayshaw as a flanker/intercepting. Tom as swing man.

    After that it’s Turner, Deak Smith and Judd McVee as the developmental prospects.
     

    But if we’re getting down to the raw kids then I’d think we’d also consider Majak at CHB if needed and Mitch Brown as a 3rd tall/interceptor. JVR and Howes could get a run too but I’d imagine we’d swing any of those guys back at Casey to prepare to cover first. 

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    starting premiership 7: may, salem, lever, hibberd, bowey, rivers, petty

    tall depth: tomlinson, turner, j smith

    small depth: hunt, baker, d smith

    covering tall depth: van rooyen, mcdonald, daw, m brown

    covering small depth: harmes, brayshaw, jordon

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    3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    TMac will be used in defence. 
    soon as he went back on Wednesday, we  got defensive again 

    This makes no sense.

    TMac went back as soon as Salem went off injured.

    There was no magical change from how we were defending before that compared to after.

    Indeed, TMac was back there in the second quarter when the Dogs piled on their 8 goals.

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    13 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

    This makes no sense.

    TMac went back as soon as Salem went off injured.

    There was no magical change from how we were defending before that compared to after.

    Indeed, TMac was back there in the second quarter when the Dogs piled on their 8 goals.

    During the 2nd Quarter we got creamed out of the Center. Had little to do with Defence. 
    TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job

    whilst Lever and Salem are out of the side, TMac will be a defender. 
     

    What doesn’t make sense anus?

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    8 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    During the 2nd Quarter we got creamed out of the Center. Had little to do with Defence. 
    TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job

    whilst Lever and Salem are out of the side, TMac will be a defender. 
     

    What doesn’t make sense anus?

    I may well be proven wrong but from what I've seen and what Goody has previously said, TMac back is very much an option of last resort.  In my view, we won't start him back in almost any circumstances.  Smith back there allows us to play an extra tall (as he can play on either) but ideally it would have been a smaller defender  replacing Salem - but with Gus already back there we didn't have any other options.

    I Imagine that  one of the 5 that were out will be back next game which means TMac will have no reason to be in defence (unless injuries strike again!).

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    10 minutes ago, deelusions from afar said:

    I may well be proven wrong but from what I've seen and what Goody has previously said, TMac back is very much an option of last resort.  In my view, we won't start him back in almost any circumstances.  Smith back there allows us to play an extra tall (as he can play on either) but ideally it would have been a smaller defender  replacing Salem - but with Gus already back there we didn't have any other options.

    I Imagine that  one of the 5 that were out will be back next game which means TMac will have no reason to be in defence (unless injuries strike again!).

    Lever and Salem is a lot of experience. You don’t want too many young kids down there together. 
    smith was good, Tomlinson was ok but rusty

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    Naughton was the only forward that did anything for the dogs and I doubt anyone could have stopped him. As a unit our backs were very good 

    Edited by chook fowler

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    41 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    During the 2nd Quarter we got creamed out of the Center. Had little to do with Defence. 
    TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job

    whilst Lever and Salem are out of the side, TMac will be a defender. 
     

    What doesn’t make sense anus?

    The bit where you said swinging TMac back made us go defensive again.

    You're suggesting that moving TMac back triggered a change in how we defended.

    I'm arguing that is complete rubbish. 

    In this post you've said TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job. I agree with that. But that doesn't mean him going back changed how we defended.

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    1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

    The bit where you said swinging TMac back made us go defensive again.

    You're suggesting that moving TMac back triggered a change in how we defended.

    I'm arguing that is complete rubbish. 

    In this post you've said TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job. I agree with that. But that doesn't mean him going back changed how we defended.

    FFS When TMac went back we became a tight defensive unit again. For about 10 minutes, before that, we were a shambles 

    don’t be so pedantic Titan

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    3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    During the 2nd Quarter we got creamed out of the Center. Had little to do with Defence. 
    TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job

    Agree. We were getting killed in clearances up until half time. Second half was a bit better, but I thought our back-line didn’t perform too bad with the speed and frequency which the ball came in (Naughton was at one stage killing his direct opponent in the second quarter, and I would’ve put Smith on him to keep up with him athletically).

    After Salem went off early it took a little time to re-adjust. The umps started the Dogs momentum towards the end of the first, but I thought we adjusted very well after a reset at 1/2 time.

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    3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    FFS When TMac went back we became a tight defensive unit again. For about 10 minutes, before that, we were a shambles 

    TMAC was more than happy to let Naughton roam up the ground. It was fine by me, as the Dogs then had no quality tall to kick to down the line. TMAC got a fair few kicks down back, though disposal still leaves a bit to be desired (liked some of his slippery agile moves too 😁).

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    3 hours ago, chook fowler said:

    Naughton was the only forward that did anything for the dogs and I doubt anyone could have stopped him. As a unit our backs were very good 

    The irony that our best defender who was still fit in May was the one who got soundly beaten!

    If we had to bring in a tall, I'd have Mitch Brown in, he's a meat and potatoes footballer but wouldn't be found out like a rookie would. Clearly they think that Turner will be the next long term key defender given the looks he had in pre-season but he's not quite ready yet..

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    Been saying for 2 years Weideman should be trialled as a CHB for periods at Casey to see whether he is a natural defender and build his confidence, he would appear to have the attributes. Petty forward, Weideman back might be a good combo. Now with injuries we need the option of another tall back. 

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    6 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    During the 2nd Quarter we got creamed out of the Center. Had little to do with Defence. 
    TMac went down back to cover for Salem and did a good job

    whilst Lever and Salem are out of the side, TMac will be a defender. 
     

    What doesn’t make sense anus?

    Name calling when titan makes totally valid points. Pretty toxic behaviour.  I was behind that pocket and tmac was in defence for a majority of the doggies run. I would say that our defence was definitely not tight during that period. E.g. Treloar goaling fromt and centre and loose defending. Not sure i'd attribute that to TMac but to me I think we structure up better TMac ahead of the ball

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