CHANGES 2022

[DeeSpencer 25,385]

On 9/16/2022 at 12:00 PM, old55 said:

think Will Hamill at Adelaide could be a handy pick-up, he's got some size, pace and is a nice left-foot kick.  Victorian too.  He has had concussion issues which is a concern.  I don't think he'd necessarily solve our lockdown issue but I think he could be a decent trade for Sparrow.  He's contracted to the end of 2024, but so is Sparrow.

You want to trade Sparrow - a super dynamic forward/mid with elite pressure - for a half back flanker who can’t string together games for Adelaide? No thanks.

Our elite defending comes from Sparrow and guys like him sealing the corridor. His ball use can sharpen back up when the forwards and runners are predictable to him. JJ has cleaner hands but he doesn’t have the speed to pressure and play half forward like Sparrow does. Kicking is no better either. JJ is wing/mid. Sparrow is forward/mid. Both are vital. 

Look at Casey - we have no midfield depth. Bowey at least gives us backline depth. 

Robbie Fox is Sydney’s lockdown defender. Geelong rotate Zuthrie, Bews and Kolo. If Hunt stays I think he can do the job as he did until Hibbo came back in this year. I’d definitely be scanning the delistings and state leagues for a specialist. 

[Lucifers Hero 39,390]

In the next few days we should get the delistings and retirements.  And maybe some trade requests.

Players remaining OOC:

• Hibberd, Melksham:  reported to have been offered a contract
• Hunt, Bedford:  reported to have been offered an mfc contract and other clubs showing interest
• M. Brown (R):  reported to be retiring
• Baker, Rosman:  candidates for delisting

That suggests a max of 5 changes on the list and 2-3 spots in our selected 22.  More if contracted players are traded.

We just have to make room for JVR, Turner, Chandler, Woewodin, Laurie and possibly Howes to break into the selected 22 at some stage next year.  With the exception of Howes who spent a large part of the year injured, they all seem to have put on some bulk and will be stronger with another preseason.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Lucifers Hero

[BW511 2,633]

15 hours ago, layzie said:

Can we rookie Lockhart again?

I was always confused with the circumstances when he was delisted.

Was in the side consistently, made a couple of errors and smiled and never sighted again.

[chook fowler 19,432]

Chandler looks to have jumped ahead of Bedford and Laurie. He has been very good in the midfield as well as a small forward. I hope he gets his opportunity next year.

[inanunda 345]

Really liked Chandler's game yesterday.  You can tell how players REALLY play in the wet when skills are a premium and the toughness stakes go through the roof.  The Roo was exceptional in the way he hits packs and moves around the ground.  Combine him with Petty and Fritch and you have the makings of a potent forward lime.  Woey surprised me as I haven't seen much of him, I think we might have one there as well.  Just need to give these kids time in the spotlight like Oliver, Trac, Salem, Viney did in the lean years. Turner and Bedford also on my watch this space radar as well.

[BW511 2,633]

Yesterday was my first exposure to JVR.

I can see why people are excited about him, he's going to be a good one. His attack on the footy in the air (on a horror day for a KPF) was brilliant and his follow up work is very good.

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,443]

9 minutes ago, BW511 said:

Yesterday was my first exposure to JVR.

I can see why people are excited about him, he's going to be a good one. His attack on the footy in the air (on a horror day for a KPF) was brilliant and his follow up work is very good.

The other thing that's exciting is how much size he has put on in his first season.

Can't wait to see what he looks like after his second pre-season.

[rpfc 28,239]

13 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

You want to trade Sparrow - a super dynamic forward/mid with elite pressure - for a half back flanker who can’t string together games for Adelaide? No thanks.

Our elite defending comes from Sparrow and guys like him sealing the corridor. His ball use can sharpen back up when the forwards and runners are predictable to him. JJ has cleaner hands but he doesn’t have the speed to pressure and play half forward like Sparrow does. Kicking is no better either. JJ is wing/mid. Sparrow is forward/mid. Both are vital. 

Look at Casey - we have no midfield depth. Bowey at least gives us backline depth. 

Robbie Fox is Sydney’s lockdown defender. Geelong rotate Zuthrie, Bews and Kolo. If Hunt stays I think he can do the job as he did until Hibbo came back in this year. I’d definitely be scanning the delistings and state leagues for a specialist. 

Sparrow is super dynamic? He is strong mid with a possible future to become a power mid that pushes out of stoppages.

Sparrow a forward with elite pressure? Not from what I have seen. He is lost in the forward line, and plays his best footy when he is on the ball. Elite pressure around the footy maybe, but that’s because he is a mid. He rarely gets ball from forward craft or knowing where the ball will fall.

I would definitely look to trade him if we don’t see an opening soon. Brayshaw into the middle now has to have shoved the door shut on someone - maybe it is Tom.

[rpfc 28,239]

Just now, rpfc said:

Sparrow is super dynamic? He is strong mid with a possible future to become a power mid that pushes out of stoppages.

Sparrow a forward with elite pressure? Not from what I have seen. He is lost in the forward line, and plays his best footy when he is on the ball. Elite pressure around the footy maybe, but that’s because he is a mid. He rarely gets ball from forward craft or knowing where the ball will fall.

I would definitely look to trade him if we don’t see an opening soon. Brayshaw into the middle now has to have shoved the door shut on someone - maybe it is Tom.

We carry far too many ‘non-forwards’ in that forward line.

[DeeSpencer 25,385]

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

Sparrow is super dynamic? He is strong mid with a possible future to become a power mid that pushes out of stoppages.

Sparrow a forward with elite pressure? Not from what I have seen. He is lost in the forward line, and plays his best footy when he is on the ball. Elite pressure around the footy maybe, but that’s because he is a mid. He rarely gets ball from forward craft or knowing where the ball will fall.

I would definitely look to trade him if we don’t see an opening soon. Brayshaw into the middle now has to have shoved the door shut on someone - maybe it is Tom.

Sparrow’s not amazing at pressure but on transition he cuts off the corridor with his defensive motor, change of direction and frame. Plus he wins or nullifies contests on the outer ring of contests. His defensive running tops the Telstra tracker each week and highlights why we don’t get opened up in the middle.

He plays a lot of midfield when Petracca takes a centre bounce and goes forward.

Brayshaw’s made our midfield too slow, too ball focussed and hasn’t added any skill. We started playing just like 2018 again. It was worth a try but the Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca midfield has never worked against the best teams. Plus we still have stuff all depth unless we’re planning to draft the Casey bash brothers in Mitch White and Jimmy Munro.

[dazzledavey36 54,119]

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

Sparrow is super dynamic? He is strong mid with a possible future to become a power mid that pushes out of stoppages.

Sparrow a forward with elite pressure? Not from what I have seen. He is lost in the forward line, and plays his best footy when he is on the ball. Elite pressure around the footy maybe, but that’s because he is a mid. He rarely gets ball from forward craft or knowing where the ball will fall.

I would definitely look to trade him if we don’t see an opening soon. Brayshaw into the middle now has to have shoved the door shut on someone - maybe it is Tom.

Agree.

Sparrow is an inside mid only. He's useless any where else on the ground.

 

[rpfc 28,239]

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

Sparrow’s not amazing at pressure but on transition he cuts off the corridor with his defensive motor, change of direction and frame. Plus he wins or nullifies contests on the outer ring of contests. His defensive running tops the Telstra tracker each week and highlights why we don’t get opened up in the middle.

He plays a lot of midfield when Petracca takes a centre bounce and goes forward.

Brayshaw’s made our midfield too slow, too ball focussed and hasn’t added any skill. We started playing just like 2018 again. It was worth a try but the Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca midfield has never worked against the best teams. Plus we still have stuff all depth unless we’re planning to draft the Casey bash brothers in Mitch White and Jimmy Munro.

I don’t think the half a dozen games is enough of a sample size to know how it will go. But I do know that they are going ahead with that foursome as our primary mids into 2023. Which means that we have to find complimentary players to take the rest of the minutes in the midfield. And I think that would mean quicker players with precise skills that play outside would be desirable. 

Added to that, these 2 or 3 players also have to be forwards first IMO as that is where they will play predominantly. This is to make our forward line more dangerous than it is now.

The above doesn’t describe Swallow, Jordan, and Harmes in my view. You can get away with 1 non-factor in the fwd line, but more than that??

[whatwhat say what 22,590]

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Agree.

Sparrow is an inside mid only. He's useless any where else on the ground.

 

and as witnessed in the back half of this year in particular, he's not a particularly useful one at that 

[old55 23,333]

Sparrow has positive attributes - his size and power, he's strong overhead, he's a booming kick and reliable long range goal kicker.

But he's not a clean ball handler and combined with ANB in attacking chains is an almost guaranteed broken link.

[DeeSpencer 25,385]

I better dig out the thread from late last year when I got howled down for suggesting Sparrow is a solid role player and not a future star. So many of you attacked me for dare questioning a grand final hero.

Now you’re all lining up to trade or relegate to the reserves the same guy, who plays the same way and I’m having to defend him!

Sparrow’s an excellent role player in the high half forward/midfield mix and that’s absolutely fine. He’ll never be the cleanest or most skilled but there’s other spots to upgrade to bring more out of his game. To begin with getting some proper mobile key forwards will help the decision making and skills of every player in the side.

[adonski 11,671]

Sparrows strengths are brought undone by being unable to execute the basics consistently

I suspect he will play 200 games under Goodwin though

[BW511 2,633]

4 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Sparrow’s not amazing at pressure but on transition he cuts off the corridor with his defensive motor, change of direction and frame. Plus he wins or nullifies contests on the outer ring of contests. His defensive running tops the Telstra tracker each week and highlights why we don’t get opened up in the middle.

He plays a lot of midfield when Petracca takes a centre bounce and goes forward.

Brayshaw’s made our midfield too slow, too ball focussed and hasn’t added any skill. We started playing just like 2018 again. It was worth a try but the Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca midfield has never worked against the best teams. Plus we still have stuff all depth unless we’re planning to draft the Casey bash brothers in Mitch White and Jimmy Munro.

I tend to agree with the view that Brayshaw has not helped our midfield dynamic. In my opinion his most valuable position for us is the half back role. I feel exactly the same in that we’ve come full circle to 2018 and are crying out for the exact same thing (skills and speed)

I’m genuinely curious as to why there was some talk about contracts demanding midfield minutes and him suddenly being in the mix from that week onwards. It’s quite tinfoil hat, I know, but there was some sort of promise made there to keep him

Edited September 19, 2022 by BW511

[adonski 11,671]

2 minutes ago, BW511 said:

I tend to agree with the view that Brayshaw has not helped our midfield dynamic. In my opinion his most valuable position for us is the half back role. I feel exactly the same in that we’ve come full circle to 2018 and are crying out for the exact same thing (skills and speed)

I’m genuinely curious as to why there was some talk about contracts demanding midfield minutes and him suddenly being in the mix from that week onwards. It’s quite tinfoil hat, I know, but there was some sort of promise made there to keep him

If I was Brayshaw and I saw Harmes & Sparrow getting midfield minutes ahead of me, I'd be on the first plane to Perth.

I wouldn't blame him if there was a request (promise?) made to play more inside mins 

[BW511 2,633]

16 minutes ago, adonski said:

If I was Brayshaw and I saw Harmes & Sparrow getting midfield minutes ahead of me, I'd be on the first plane to Perth.

I wouldn't blame him if there was a request (promise?) made to play more inside mins 

I also agree with that to an extent, our midfield lacks some points of difference

[DeeSpencer 25,385]

17 minutes ago, adonski said:

If I was Brayshaw and I saw Harmes & Sparrow getting midfield minutes ahead of me, I'd be on the first plane to Perth.

I wouldn't blame him if there was a request (promise?) made to play more inside mins 

And I’d have driven him to the airport. 

It’s been a failed marriage since 2018 and we’ve got the dog (wing), we’ve tried sleeping in separate beds (half back) and now we’ve gone and had 6 kids in the hope that saves it. I still can’t believe it.

[old55 23,333]

13 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

And I’d have driven him to the airport. 

It’s been a failed marriage since 2018 and we’ve got the dog (wing), we’ve tried sleeping in separate beds (half back) and now we’ve gone and had 6 kids in the hope that saves it. I still can’t believe it.

You're going have a lot of backpedalling to do when he's an MFC Premiership captain

38 minutes ago, BW511 said:

I tend to agree with the view that Brayshaw has not helped our midfield dynamic. In my opinion his most valuable position for us is the half back role. I feel exactly the same in that we’ve come full circle to 2018 and are crying out for the exact same thing (skills and speed)

I’m genuinely curious as to why there was some talk about contracts demanding midfield minutes and him suddenly being in the mix from that week onwards. It’s quite tinfoil hat, I know, but there was some sort of promise made there to keep him

He moved there because the big 3 were beaten up.

[Paulo 285]

Jordon,  Laurie,   tomlinson , Melksham,  Dunstan are all too slow and lack defensive pressure and tackling 

[rpfc 28,239]

We have to find forwards with speed and decent skills to jump into the middle and not the other way around. That will completely change our fortunes in my view. Petracca and Oliver are bulls, they don’t need more bulls in there. Especially now that Viney and Brayshaw are there. They need skill to distribute to on the outside. Preferably skill that is at home in the F50 as they will be there for most of the time.

[58er 6,365]

On 9/14/2022 at 5:54 AM, WERRIDEE said:

I agree with you on Spargo had a very ordinary year, don't know what he gives us. Disagree on Neal-Bullen makes mistakes but is a heart and soul player, you know what you are gonna get from him. Wouldn't give up on Rivers yet had a very ordinary 22 only in his 3rd year. Agree with you on Hunt don't know why they signed him again. Ordinary user of the ball no real football smarts. Sparrow didn't come on like he was supposed to was lucky to be in the team, thought Jordon was better but they chose to drop Jordon. Salem was nearly AA in 21 had a terrible 22 I'm hoping like everyone else that he played injured. 

 

I think you have to change at least 5 players from your best 22 every year. We only changed 2 this year and that was Hunt and Melksham for McDonald and Bowey. I think that's a reason why we struggled at the end of the year not the only reason but one reason. Too complacent.

My best 22 has Bowey, Jordon, van Rooyen, McDonald, Grundy, Chandler, Bedford and J.Smith as fresh faces replacing

Hibberd, Hunt, Jackson, B.Brown, Sparrow, Melksham, Rivers and Spargo.

 

That might be too many changes but I think it's a start better than playing Goodwin's same olds.

If I had to change 5 it would be

B: Lever, May, Bowey

HB: Brayshaw, Petty, Salem

C: Langdon, Petracca, Jordon

HF: Neal-Bullen, van Rooyen, Pickett

F: Fritsch, McDonald, Gawn

FOLL: Grundy, Oliver, Viney

IC: Harmes, Sparrow, Spargo, Rivers

Of course Rovers and Salem played injured and were bought back straight into the AFL  We should learn and give long term injured a return in the VFL to allow some sort of recovery. Sparrow needs a few VFL games also. Many of our other players were injured and playing at the end of the year. We don't learn and thsts why we couldn't play out games to the full.

Goody  and the SC are guilty. 

[old dee 23,704]

13 hours ago, adonski said:

If I was Brayshaw and I saw Harmes & Sparrow getting midfield minutes ahead of me, I'd be on the first plane to Perth.

I wouldn't blame him if there was a request (promise?) made to play more inside mins 

Howe went to pies to play forward. How did that work out.