I think Petty's inclusion after limited minutes in his first VFL game show how highly rated he is. 

Posters really do overrate Smith because of his sparkly athleticism whilst constantly missing his defensive blunders. 

Glad that Petty is back, Lever loves how he plays and at 197cm he has the size and pace to cover most forwards.!!

  On 14/04/2022 at 10:03, JimmyGadson said:

I think Petty's inclusion after limited minutes in his first VFL game show how highly rated he is. 

Posters really do overrate Smith because of his sparkly athleticism whilst constantly missing his defensive blunders. 

Forget the fans, the FD brought him in for a QF. So go have a go at Richo and co.

Feel really bad for Tomlinson. He hasn't been dominating games, but has done enough to keep his spot. Glad to have Petty back, but playing in the 22 is now so pressured. I hope Smith gets the nod for medi sub over the other 3, as much as I am not a fan of him really. 

Poor Tomlinson couldn’t get the game against his old mob. Petty is such an important player for us - the Gorilla tamer to aide May.

  On 14/04/2022 at 10:02, The Lobster Effect said:

We actually bid on Flynn in the draft (way back in the Oliver/Weid draft in 2015) but GWS matched our bid. We then picked Mitch King. 

Who??

  On 14/04/2022 at 09:11, Diamond_Jim said:

Who is the ruck for GWS?

Hopefully we dominate the clearances

We often dominate the hit outs but don’t convert to clearances.  If we converted the majority we would be just about unbeatable ( like late 3 rd and early 4th Q 2021 GF). 

  On 14/04/2022 at 11:24, monoccular said:

We often dominate the hit outs but don’t convert to clearances.  If we converted the majority we would be just about unbeatable ( like late 3 rd and early 4th Q 2021 GF). 

Agree, frustrating to watch Max dominate hitouts but clearance figures don’t match.

Max marking and movement around ground terrific, but I feel Ryder & Naitanui both better tapping to teams advantage. I feel his tap work was better 4-5 years back when he had a great connection with Viney & at times Brayshaw.

  On 14/04/2022 at 10:24, rpfc said:

Poor Tomlinson couldn’t get the game against his old mob. Petty is such an important player for us - the Gorilla tamer to aide May.

Petty combined perfectly with Lever & May as last season went on, particularly the finals.

Tomo still very good, just seems to be moving a little slower off the back off his knee surgery/recovery!

Tomlinson did nothing wrong but Petty is, rightly, in front of him in the pecking order.

Smith was unlucky to lose his spot but now that he has, he's on the outer. With Lever back, we have enough height down there that his versatility isn't as important as it was when both Lever and Petty were missing.

It is still less than a year since Tommo did his A. Wasn't expected to be in  the side in the early part of the year but Pettys injury forced the selectors hand .Tommo was underdone and in the circumstances did a wonderful job .Without him we had a huge problem especially with Lever out .He now has a chance to go back to Casey and get more match conditioning without the pressure .

  On 14/04/2022 at 08:48, Larry, Moe or Curly said:

Really looking forward to the May/Hogan clash. How many games has he played against us since leaving?

I think he's only played the one with Freo but was injured early in the game

Good to see Petty get a run at AFL level before the Richmond game. They have a few handy talls in their front half

Really looking forward to seeing Petty return. Probably go straight to Himmelberg. 

I think Tomlinson is stiff - being dropped as a key defender after a game where we conceded 36 (36!) points interstate, many of which were in junk time, is pretty rough.

  On 14/04/2022 at 09:06, Diamond_Jim said:

Didn't see that move coming this week.. Petty v Tomlinson

On the sub .... Smith is the perfect sub. He can cover the big man down issue

On Petty.. he strikes me as an agressive backman willing to take the play on. Tomlinson on the other is an excellent defensive backman but lacks that play on thrust.

Just watching the Essendon replay and Smith definitely showing glimpses

I'd reckon that 'those glimpses' would have educated JSmith in a variety of defensive strategies of an elite backline. Could this mean - in the days of the Weidemann redemption for all sins (and there have been a continuous series over several games, seasons and opportunities) - that the JSmith backline education system has better prepared him for a more permanent run in his role as a forward ball-getting, goal-kicking skills machine, replacing Weidemann for mere reliability alone?

Maybe his time 'up-back' has been a deliberated final cut and polish for our forward line.

  On 14/04/2022 at 21:16, Deemania since 56 said:

I'd reckon that 'those glimpses' would have educated JSmith in a variety of defensive strategies of an elite backline. Could this mean - in the days of the Weidemann redemption for all sins (and there have been a continuous series over several games, seasons and opportunities) - that the JSmith backline education system has better prepared him for a more permanent run in his role as a forward ball-getting, goal-kicking skills machine, replacing Weidemann for mere reliability alone?

Maybe his time 'up-back' has been a deliberated final cut and polish for our forward line.

Smith has the following to me:

Pros:

- can play tall or small

- very athletic - quick for his size

Cons:

- lacking in football nous and gets caught out of position, he hasn’t played a lot of football but you can see he is improving. Compare him to Bowey at 10 games!

- gets injured too often, unfortunately

 

He is definitely rated by FD and provides flexibility off bench or as 23 man. I look back at Lions game in finals and Charlie C pantsed him, but Cameron is a very good player, Smith seemed out of position on a few of the goals. 
 

Im okay if he is in the team, but prefer May, Lever, Petty & Tomlinson as talls, and Salem, Bowey, Rivers, Hibberd, Hunt as smalls!

  On 14/04/2022 at 10:19, rpfc said:

Forget the fans, the FD brought him in for a QF. So go have a go at Richo and co.

Hunt and Hibberd were unavailable from memory so he was next in line to take a Brisbane small. 

Remember how he fared? I do. 

He's on the list, he has some positive traits. But posters like to think he's a walk up start and think the FD prefer him to most. Which they clearly don't. 

Edited April 14, 20223 yr by JimmyGadson

  On 14/04/2022 at 22:24, JimmyGadson said:

Hunt and Hibberd were unavailable from memory so he was next in line to take a Brisbane small. 

Remember how he fared? I do. 

He's on the list, he has some positive traits. But posters like to think he's a walk up start and think the FD prefer him to most. Which they clearly don't. 

Hibberd was dropped against Brisbane. 

  On 14/04/2022 at 22:28, Fat Tony said:

Hibberd was dropped against Brisbane. 

I stand corrected. 

So Smith took Hunt's spot for that game. And Cameron ran rings around him. 

  On 14/04/2022 at 10:19, rpfc said:

Forget the fans, the FD brought him in for a QF. So go have a go at Richo and co.

Smith was in the team prior to the QF rpfc, he  replaced Hunt for our R22 match after Hunt got injured in R21 and kept his spot until he was injured between QF and prelim weeks. 
I think some are forgetting that Hibbo was the one struggling for form late in the year having being dropped twice (R20 for Bowey and again R23 for May).

  On 14/04/2022 at 11:24, monoccular said:

We often dominate the hit outs but don’t convert to clearances.  If we converted the majority we would be just about unbeatable ( like late 3 rd and early 4th Q 2021 GF). 

We don't always tap it to Dees players. It's just as damaging to hit it to the opposition. We smash them and rebound from half back when they do a quick kick 

  On 14/04/2022 at 23:18, Dee Zephyr said:

Smith was in the team prior to the QF rpfc, he  replaced Hunt for our R22 match after Hunt got injured in R21 and kept his spot until he was injured between QF and prelim weeks. 
I think some are forgetting that Hibbo was the one struggling for form late in the year having being dropped twice (R20 for Bowey and again R23 for May).

My point is that the FD rate Smith, or have in the very recent past, so looking down your nose at posters is misguided. Look down at the FD. They are the ones with NFI…apparently.

Our team is close to best 22.  Salem and Brown to come in. 

Whoever goes out for them (JJ/Hunt 😿 , TMc/Weideman) would join Tomlinson, Smith and Hibberd as first backup for injuries.

Edited April 14, 20223 yr by Lucifers Hero

  On 14/04/2022 at 11:30, D4Life said:

Agree, frustrating to watch Max dominate hitouts but clearance figures don’t match.

Max marking and movement around ground terrific, but I feel Ryder & Naitanui both better tapping to teams advantage. I feel his tap work was better 4-5 years back when he had a great connection with Viney & at times Brayshaw.

Because he rarely hits down Clarrys or anyone else's throat! FWIW Dogga, hits more to advantage. Go back and watch some replays and you will see what I mean, which could also mean that The mids, might not be in the correct spots for seamless clearances.

Edited April 15, 20223 yr by picket fence

  On 14/04/2022 at 08:46, DubDee said:

Agree it is harsh on Smith.  But is he really in competition for a spot with Hunt?  not sure

i think he is, i'd love to see us let rivers lose as a kicking runner more than he is atm where he's playing more lockdown coz i think he's got the potential to do a better job than hunt does and then smith can lock down which suits him too