2 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

After seeing some footage of Gus’ loose checking, I wonder to what extent he is prioritising getting his 25-30 touches each week, vs defensive efforts, stopping goals etc. 

Has anyone been watching him closely enough to make a call on this? 

I thought Salem had the balance (attack vs defence) pretty right prior to this season.

Let's put it this way - Gus is averaging 1.5 tackles per game this year. 24.9 disposals of which 18.6 are uncontested. And 8.6 marks, of which 0.7 are contested.

Not sure it's fair to say he's prioritising getting touches, just not that sort of bloke IMO, but he's the loosest of loose men and personally I'd much rather Salem being afforded that time and space as I think his kicking is usually more productive for us. On top of that, I reckon Gus is a million times better at reading the play than Jordon, and we have Bowey and Hunt both in good form at Casey; so there seems an easy win there at selection if Goody wants to go for it.

2 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

I think Fritsch’s was also pretty damning. Last year I seemed to recall him do plenty of forward 50 tackles and chase downs. I feel his defensive pressure has dropped off.

His stats this year vs last are exceptionally close - except for tackles - averaged nearly twice as many last year. In fairness though, he's pretty much the same for tackles inside 50. Maybe he's staying deep more often this year?

Beware the surface of Premiership Stadium. 

 

7 hours ago, MrFreeze said:

I think Salem is suffering because Angus is playing that interceptor/outlet role. JJ is also playing well on the wing which makes it hard to shift gus back there. 

I wonder if Gus could find a place in the forward mid mix, I think his neat disposal could be utilised there.

Could he move into the Harmes-type role I wonder? We seemed to cover for Harmes well at certain points last year

8 hours ago, loges said:

Would help if half forwards actually played in front for the quick kick out of the centre. Caught behind time after time 

That happened at least a dozen times on the night, infuriating to say the least.

Jordan with the knee surely is likely to miss???

If so, Lever in, Brayshaw to wing, Salem more dropping off defender

Hunt or Bowey to Sub

3 minutes ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Jordan with the knee surely is likely to miss???

If so, Lever in, Brayshaw to wing, Salem more dropping off defender

Hunt or Bowey to Sub

There's no way we go with 4 tall defenders, particularly with rain forecast. It's still Lever for Tomlinson for mine 

Trying Viney in the defensive forward role again might be worth a shot, just to address the inside 50 tackling. Seemed to make a nice impact there, hard as it may be with him in career best form in the middle lately. Started the season with 5 goals in 5 games too

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by Clayton spirit

22 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Beware the surface of Premiership Stadium. 

 

There were complaints from the EPL clubs tht played on it the other night. We better wear the correct boots when we play. Especially James Harmes and Jack Viney, who constantly seem to slip over.

I guess the key question should be...Do we play Jacko against his possible new club? 

Would switching Hibbo onto a flank and Salem into the back pocket be sensible? We're not getting much drive from Salem at present.

8 minutes ago, Boots and all said:

Would switching Hibbo onto a flank and Salem into the back pocket be sensible? We're not getting much drive from Salem at present.

It might work. Hibberd made one play where he sprinted 60 metres to be a link in the chain further up the field which I was very impressed with. His head seems to be in the game more than Salem at the moment.

9 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

I haven’t read much of the VFL write up, but I think:

In: Lever, Hunt

Out: Tomlinson, Rivers.

We need someone seriously quick for Frederick and Hunt is the obvious choice.

Hibberd will take Walters.

Hunt was serviceable against the Doggies.  Superb against the Cats the week before after half time and basically kick started the momentum back in Casey's favour.  Others then jumped on board for a great win in horrid conditions.

Frederick gave us the run around last time.  Hunt is an absolute must 'in' to cover here this week.  We will see if SG & the FD have learned from the first match.

I would also seriously consider Chandler for Harmes who is badly out of form atm.  Chandler was pretty much arm wrestling Baker for BOG against the doggies yesterday and looks ready for a stint at the next level IMV.

Harmes might need some 'managed' weeks to sort his game out and freshen up (fine tune his fitness?) a little.

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by Demon Dynasty

12 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Hunt was serviceable against the Doggies.  Superb against the Cats the week before after half time and basically kick started the momentum back in Casey's favour.  Others then jumped on board for a great win in horrid conditions.

Frederick gave us the run around last time.  Hunt is an absolute must 'in' to cover here this week.  We will see if SG & the FD have learned from the first match.

I would also seriously consider Chandler for Harmes who is badly out of form atm.  Chandler was pretty much arm wrestling Baker for BOG against the doggies yesterday and looks ready for a stint at the next level IMV.

Harmes might need some 'managed' weeks to sort his game out and freshen up (fine tune his fitness?) a little.

We need to develop a different d50 exit strategy. We have one of the best runners and serviceable utility in Hunt sitting in the 2s. 

Id say move Brayshaw to the wing, JJ rest Hunt in. 

1 minute ago, CYB said:

We need to develop a different d50 exit strategy. We have one of the best runners and serviceable utility in Hunt sitting in the 2s. 

Id say move Brayshaw to the wing, JJ rest Hunt in. 

100% CYB.  As much as JJ is performing at a solid level the above adjustment is the best option for mine as well.

Unfortunately JJ has to take one for the betterment of the team.

I’d get Brayshaw out of the backline and bring Bowey back in. Salem and Bowey are good kicks, and that can start the sequence. Move Brayshaw back to the wing. JJ can replace Sparrow in the middle. In: Bowey, Chandler, Lever. Out: Sparrow, Spargo, Tomlinson.

Edited July 24, 20222 yr by KingDingAling

9 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

I’d get Brayshaw out of the backline and bring Bowey back in. Salem and Bowey are good kicks, and that can start the sequence. Move Brayshaw back to the wing. JJ can replace Sparrow in the middle. In: Bowey, Chandler, Lever. Out: Sparrow, Spargo, Tomlinson.

I really like sparrows work in the middle, give jj a rest and then he can take Harmes role as atm he's a liability 

What does everyone think??

 

Ive not seen a more compelling case for being dropped, than Tomlinson's game on Saturday.

Id not play him again.

14 hours ago, Demon3 said:

We have been outcoached a few times, and in the losses, selection at times has been questionable,   just maybe not responding to things, a bit stubborn. Think it happens, i dont reckon they are at the top of the game, just my opinion.

 

 

I don’t know what Mark Williams does.

He seems to sit back in the bleachers, chewing gum, not talking to anybody.

One man too many enjoying the view when he could be in the box.

Seems to be heading down the same path as Macca.

5 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

What does everyone think??

 

Petty was impressive in 2019 as a key forward. I think he is a more natural defender but we have great depth there.

The question is if Petty is a better key forward than Weideman and/or Brown and how much we lose by including Tomlinson or Turner to replace him.

I think we could ask the same question about swinging May forward.

15 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

What does everyone think??

 

I would love to see it but it relies on us having a good enough replacement for him in the backline. I rate Tomlinson and would love for him to have a permanent spot in our best 22, but I don't know if we've seen enough from him this year to have him fill that role in the last four weeks and in a finals series. I am also excited to see what Turner can do over the next couple of years but I doubt we'll see him again until next year and he will benefit from another preseason under his belt.

The other consideration is how many goals we are saving + scoring from rebound with Petty in the backline as opposed to the amount we would gain from moving him forward. If our defence and contest are working and we are getting a lot of inside 50s then Petty up forward could be a huge advantage and a difference maker. But if we're under the pump and are conceding a lot of inside 50s, then his absence could be the difference between conceding multiple goals or absorbing the opposition's pressure and keeping them to a low score. 

If the past is any indicator, we'll keep Petty in defence and persevere with our increasingly makeshift forward line. We know that Goody values defence and contest above everything, and if those two aspects of our game are in check, we're still able to score heavily. But jeez there is still a part of me that would love to role the dice and see what happens 😅

 

On watching Goodwin's post game interview and looking at the team stats... i've found a glaring hole.

We had 0 tackles inside 50 - https://www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/3968#team-stats

We are number 1 in that stat and ave. 11 in 2022. 0 tackles inside 50 will kill the coaches, it will be a huge focus this week and the reason why we gave up 110 points. Our game is built off Fwd half pressure. 

Melksham had 7 tackles last week but 0 this week. He will suit Optus and has a beautiful field kick. I do think he provides a point of difference and some class up forward. But if he stays, then Spargo, Neal-Bullen, Pickett need be laser focus on Fwd half pressure. 

Spargo needs a spell in my opinion. He just doesn't hurt you enough offensively or defensively. Got beaten at half forward multiple times 1-1. I would like to see Chandler get a go. He is more explosive than spargo and can defend too.

How can we have a small forward that literally averages a goal every 4 weeks. 

Also Tomlinson is so weak in the 1-1 contest. But the defensive back 7 always looks better with pressure up the ground...

15 hours ago, deanox said:

@Diamond Jimif that's the case, do you think he is competing with Spargo/ANB who have been playing further up field and deliver forward, or Pickett who tends to stay closer to goal?

I'd also add that Melksham tended to stay quite deep on Sat I think, regularly starting in the square. So that could add to him being a reasonable like for like positional swap.

His VFL success has been as an attacking forward positioned between 35 and 60m out. Not to say he isn't but I can't recall much outstanding link play.

He's very different to Spargo who I've always regarded as a defensive up the ground player who provides important linkage.

For me it's Melksham out and then assuming BBB comes back in it's either Chandler or Weid. I say this simply because we have to add firepower to the forward line. Others may have a different view on the ability of Melksham to contribute.

Just looking at the weekend forecast for Perth it could be quite wet. If so I'd opt for Chandler.

On form, Chandler to come in. On form, Harmes out.