Salem (and maybe Hibberd) equals "several premiership Dees"?  

The coach indicated in his press conference today that Gus would be staying down back and Salo may need to be eased back into the team after missing 10 games. Jeeezzzzzz I’m glad that I am not on the selection panel Salo, Gus, Hunt, Bowey and Riv can’t fit into our backline.!!!

Gus stays down back. Jordon on the wing frees up a midfield spot - which Harmes fills, and also means a less rotation for Viney, Petracca and Oliver. So that’s good. We had a mid too many in there. Gus down back helps our backline sync up better with our wings, which will only help Salem and Bowey. The more we get different lines working in sync the smoother our transition into the forward line is.Hopefully translating to more goals which means more wins

Edited May 18, 20222 yr by KingDingAling

don't think it's going to happen (because there's no one obvious to drop) but would kinda love to see Salem play a bit at half forward.  I know our forward connection has improved significantly the last two years but with him kicking it in it would probably go up a notch or two!

Maybe if Sparrow gets more midfield time when Harmes is out it could be looked at?

I think I will wait till Salem gets back in to answer that question saves the headache. 

On 5/10/2022 at 2:07 PM, daisycutter said:

i wonder if salem couldn't play the left wing well

being a left footer an advantage

getting salem's exquisite delivery into the fwd 50 a big advantage too

just a thought

And a good one at that.. I'd like to see Salem given a go on the wing. Harmes out this week who comes in for him.. Dunstan?

It’s no wonder teams can’t score against us is it. Wondering where a player of Salem’s ilk fits back in is a ridiculous luxury. Brayshaw, May, Lever, Petty, Bowey, Rivers and Hunt  is just an awesome array of back talent. 

Given Cameron’s role fr the lions  and what he did to us in the final last year  Hunt imo has to stay. It’s super super tough on either of them but it’s between JJ and Rivers.

This is what it’s like when you’re the premiership team and 9-0 the following year! Gotta drink this in while the era lasts. You never know the length of time it will be. 

 

1 hour ago, Wells 11 said:

It’s no wonder teams can’t score against us is it. Wondering where a player of Salem’s ilk fits back in is a ridiculous luxury. Brayshaw, May, Lever, Petty, Bowey, Rivers and Hunt  is just an awesome array of back talent. 

Given Cameron’s role fr the lions  and what he did to us in the final last year  Hunt imo has to stay. It’s super super tough on either of them but it’s between JJ and Rivers.

This is what it’s like when you’re the premiership team and 9-0 the following year! Gotta drink this in while the era lasts. You never know the length of time it will be. 

 

No way JJ will get dropped. Too versatile a player.

My one and only small criticism of Salem is that he avoids physical contact. He will often pull out of a contest if if looks like he will be knocked. One small observation of a brilliant player. This is the attribute that Gus has in spades. He will commit and win. He goes back and takes marks knowing he will cop some attention. I love Salem and want him in the team but I have loved seeing brayshaw lock down that flank with courage . A difficult decision indeed for selectors. 

21 minutes ago, Grouse said:

My one and only small criticism of Salem is that he avoids physical contact

The polar opposite for me, never seen him avoid anything, other than a dumb decision. Picks his moments smartly, but is one of the hardest nuts at the club. 

Last time I was on Demonland , Tom Gillies was playing in the back line . The team has changed but i see a lot of familiar names here on Demonland 

Hunt has to stay in the team. We need him to defend the opposition players best small forward.

Once we lose a game Salo comes in for Bowey.

Now where did I put that helmet and body armour?

13 hours ago, Grouse said:

My one and only small criticism of Salem is that he avoids physical contact.

Yep, I can see that at around the 9 sec mark of this video...not.

 

17 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

It’s no wonder teams can’t score against us is it. Wondering where a player of Salem’s ilk fits back in is a ridiculous luxury. Brayshaw, May, Lever, Petty, Bowey, Rivers and Hunt  is just an awesome array of back talent. 

Given Cameron’s role fr the lions  and what he did to us in the final last year  Hunt imo has to stay. It’s super super tough on either of them but it’s between JJ and Rivers.

This is what it’s like when you’re the premiership team and 9-0 the following year! Gotta drink this in while the era lasts. You never know the length of time it will be. 

 

You can't stop Cameron when he is on, it doesn't matter who you put on him. It is like trying to stop Kozzie when he is on, you just can't do it. You can sweat on him in stoppages but someone will get put in a block and he is gone. The only way to limit players of Cameron's skill is to limit the number of ground balls (ie. intercept incredibly well) and have more than one person keeping an eye on him (and a body) in forward half stoppage. Hunt has really lifted his game since earlier in the year but I wouldn't describe him as a gun lockdown defender. He has solid defensive skills, speed and a willingness to run and carry.

13 hours ago, Grouse said:

My one and only small criticism of Salem is that he avoids physical contact. He will often pull out of a contest if if looks like he will be knocked. One small observation of a brilliant player. This is the attribute that Gus has in spades. He will commit and win. He goes back and takes marks knowing he will cop some attention. I love Salem and want him in the team but I have loved seeing brayshaw lock down that flank with courage . A difficult decision indeed for selectors. 

You might want to go back and watch the GF again. Salem not committing to a contested mark is not something you will see on there.

Gus is a beauty that can play anywhere although I don’t think we’ve tried him as a third ruck option as yet. Something to ponder.

It's all becoming clear in my mind now. Melksham's playing this week so he can get to 199. Clearly he's going to have a great day because we're playing North which will provide justification for him staying in the side to play his 200th against Freo. If Bedford had been picked amd Melksham made medisib it would have been impossible to drop Bedford for next week and you can't pick Melksham as medisub for his 200th. So Melksham gets to 200 and by then Salem will be ready to come back into the side. Melksham can safely go out without any ongoing concerns about not getting to 200 before his contract expires.

I'm not sure what we do when James Harmes comes back though. I haven't got that far in my thought process. 

Reckon Brayshaw will go back to his wing as we haven't got a player who can play that position anywhere near as well as Gus (apart from Langdon on the other wing)

So Salem slots back to the HBF with Rivers on the other back flank.  Bowey as the floater

With Langdon on the other wing we have great contrast and a huge headache for the opposition

And a proven way of using defensive & offensive avenues to scoring (that works)

The talk might be just that ... talk.  But not a bad tactic to mess with the opposition with regards to what they might be able to do as a counter measure ... and the options that we may or may not use

We're in a position of strength but I doubt that we'll mess with a winning formula