I really want us to trial AJ as forward ruck against Fremantle to see how it looks and whether his value is also there forward. Doing it against Fremantle with Reidy/Jackson will be a worthy test. I am starting to think the McVee and AMW injuries may force our hand to temporarily shift Rivers back into defence. Wee are looking thin there and Howes did not do enough to lock a spot yesterday. Other key points that I am unsure of yet.  Wings are still up for grabs but likely a Billings, Taj, Lindsay rotation like yesterday. Who takes the speed forward roles aside from Sharp. No round 1 Koz and Chandler any lacked impact yesterday.I would like to see Kynan given more than a 1 quarter run to see what he can bring to it across 4 quarters. If I had to pick it now. More likely won’t be surprised to see Henderson get a run there next week and impavt and sneak a round spot. As it stands and based on who Chaplain said would be available next week if I had to pick round 1 for next week.

Backs Bowey May Lever

HB Salem Petty Windsor

C Billings Oliver Lindsay

HF Trac Turner Sharp

F Chandler Van Rooyen Fritsch

R Gawn Langdon Viney

IC Langford Rivers Johnson Sparrow

Sub Woewodin 

Em Campbell McDonald Howes 

 

35 minutes ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

I really want us to trial AJ as forward ruck against Fremantle to see how it looks and whether his value is also there forward. Doing it against Fremantle with Reidy/Jackson will be a worthy test. I am starting to think the McVee and AMW injuries may force our hand to temporarily shift Rivers back into defence. Wee are looking thin there and Howes did not do enough to lock a spot yesterday. Other key points that I am unsure of yet.  Wings are still up for grabs but likely a Billings, Taj, Lindsay rotation like yesterday. Who takes the speed forward roles aside from Sharp. No round 1 Koz and Chandler any lacked impact yesterday.I would like to see Kynan given more than a 1 quarter run to see what he can bring to it across 4 quarters. If I had to pick it now. More likely won’t be surprised to see Henderson get a run there next week and impavt and sneak a round spot. As it stands and based on who Chaplain said would be available next week if I had to pick round 1 for next week.

Backs Bowey May Lever

HB Salem Petty Windsor

C Billings Oliver Lindsay

HF Trac Turner Sharp

F Chandler Van Rooyen Fritsch

R Gawn Langdon Viney

IC Langford Rivers Johnson Sparrow

Sub Woewodin 

Em Campbell McDonald Howes 

 

Nice effort. Gone fairly similar:

R1 TEAM

B: Bowey May McDonald 

HB: Windsor Petty Lever 

C: Lindsay Trac Billings

HF: Sparrow Turner Chandler

FF: Langford JVR Fritsch 

R: Gawn, Oliver, Rivers

IC: Langdon, Salem, Sharp, Johnson, Viney

EMERG: Campbell, Woewodin, Jefferson

I agree that small/running defenders are an issue - both defensively and offensively. 

Bowey is and has always been a very poor 1v1 defender and tackler. I've always wanted to see him up the ground but didn't love the look of that yesterday either tbh. Just doesn't have any tricks and for an elite user, overkicks frequently. A real shame about AMW. 

Howes is an enigma. Does some ok things but I hate his kicking and think he often makes the wrong decision coming out of defence, which is where a lot of play is supposed to be setup. If you could combine his height and reach with Salem's decision making we'd have a player.....Ah well. 

The other glaring issue I thought was in the air. It's always obvious when Gawn doesn't play and May missing didn't help...but gee we just lacked any sort of dominance in the air either forward or back. Lever/Tom Mc/Petty offered very little. JVR looked ok but didn't offer any marking option on the wing, and Jefferson isn't strong enough. Turner is a good mark but he's a hybrid size and isn't going to win contested marks on the wing in a pack of 4 unless he takes a hanger. 

I liked what Langford brought - seems to get footy and Understand time and space. He's exciting. Not sure why anyone is surprised by lack of pace...we knew it going in. His issue at the top level will be defensive - will get run off and the lack of pace will show most without the ball. 

Lindsay looked ok but I'm yet to be convinced he could hold down the wing in the 1s. These types of pre season games often throw up heaps of space as each team is usually missing some best 22 players and it only takes a few weak links in the chain to mess with the structures. 

Billings was ok but can't kick under any sort of pressure. Chandler quiet but has proven what he can offer in my view. He starts round 1. 

Sharp was handy and better than I thought. Didn't think he had that level of goalsense. A messy player if ever I've seen one but 100% effort, endurance and speed is valuable if he can play within his limits. 

I know we were experimenting and missing senior players but felt our transition defence was still mostly very poor. Most turnovers we engineer in the middle were Koz coming up the ground to interfere and apply pressure. We have no one else who has his speed energy or physicality and it's a big hole when he's not there. 

I thought we looked a team in the range of 6th to 10th. Add in the stars - which are the difference to any team - and who knows.

But I'm relatively unconvinced by our 2nd/3rd stringers overall or whether our 2nd tier premiership players - Sparrow, Bowey, Laurie, Howes - have the levels required to make us a really good team again. 

9 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Chandler should and likely will play round 1.

Creates a good outlet from wing to inside 50 and has tremendous goal sense. Without Kozzie we’re, down a small forward and we’re going to have to find 13-15 goals to beat GWS and Chandler’s proven that he can snag 2-3 at the G when on song.

I agree with you that Howes and Laurie provide no point of difference as players.

 

 

BBP agree on Chandler, need him in the side, still not sold on Bill needs to kick the door off its hinges at Casey, whereas I feel that Howes fills a need and should force his way in, mind you we now have legitimate depth, so disappointed for Andy Moniz-Wakefield he looked like he had arrived.

Lever    May   Hore 

Windsor TMac  Salem 

Langdon  Oliver   Billings 

Fritsch     Turner    Sparrow

Sharp   Van Rooyen  Chandler 

Gawn     Viney      Petracca 

Rivers, Lindsay, Langford, Petty, Bowey (Sub)

FB: Bowey May Lever
HB: Windsor Petty Salem
C: Langdon Viney Billings
HF: Sharp Turner Petracca
FF: Fritsch JVR Chandler
R: Gawn Oliver Rivers
I/C: Langford Jefferson Sparrow Howes
SUB: Melksham

Noteable absentees: Pickett, McVee, McDonald, Lindsay, Tholstrup, Spargo

• Pickett an enormous loss, McVee too as it means we're forced to play fringe guys like Howes or Woey in defence
• Jeffo is ahead of AJ at the moment in Goodwin's pecking order, if that remains the case in the Freo praccy game he'll get the nod in R1
• Langford (AFL debut) & Sharp (club debut) are certainties 
• Don't think Lindsay's performance against Norf was compelling enough to add another debutant to the line up, I do really like him as a prospect though and expect he eventually pushes Billings out the side
• Billings' two nothing kicks where he bombed the ball long to two Norf players on their own undid any of the good stuff he did for mine, but he'll play until Lindsay is ready
• Sparrow to play a permanent pressure forward role in lieu of another small forward

Edited February 23Feb 23 by adonski

On 22/02/2025 at 09:21, Roost it far said:

Ooops, forgot McVee, 

Minus jeffo and chandler

Plus Sharp 

16 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

I read where Sestan was impressive off half back in the two’s. Is he a chance for a run next week to take AMW’s spot? I’d certainly like to see him given a shot.

I reckon he's Salem's understudy 

3 hours ago, Tolstoys Nudge said:

Nice effort. Gone fairly similar:

R1 TEAM

B: Bowey May McDonald 

HB: Windsor Petty Lever 

C: Lindsay Trac Billings

HF: Sparrow Turner Chandler

FF: Langford JVR Fritsch 

R: Gawn, Oliver, Rivers

IC: Langdon, Salem, Sharp, Johnson, Viney

EMERG: Campbell, Woewodin, Jefferson

I kown Langdon is rotating through the midfield this year but if Billings starts on the ground round 1 and Lingers doesn't i will eat my 2021 Melbourne Premiership hat

3 hours ago, fr_ap said:

I agree that small/running defenders are an issue - both defensively and offensively. 

Bowey is and has always been a very poor 1v1 defender and tackler. I've always wanted to see him up the ground but didn't love the look of that yesterday either tbh. Just doesn't have any tricks and for an elite user, overkicks frequently. A real shame about AMW. 

Howes is an enigma. Does some ok things but I hate his kicking and think he often makes the wrong decision coming out of defence, which is where a lot of play is supposed to be setup. If you could combine his height and reach with Salem's decision making we'd have a player.....Ah well. 

The other glaring issue I thought was in the air. It's always obvious when Gawn doesn't play and May missing didn't help...but gee we just lacked any sort of dominance in the air either forward or back. Lever/Tom Mc/Petty offered very little. JVR looked ok but didn't offer any marking option on the wing, and Jefferson isn't strong enough. Turner is a good mark but he's a hybrid size and isn't going to win contested marks on the wing in a pack of 4 unless he takes a hanger. 

I liked what Langford brought - seems to get footy and Understand time and space. He's exciting. Not sure why anyone is surprised by lack of pace...we knew it going in. His issue at the top level will be defensive - will get run off and the lack of pace will show most without the ball. 

Lindsay looked ok but I'm yet to be convinced he could hold down the wing in the 1s. These types of pre season games often throw up heaps of space as each team is usually missing some best 22 players and it only takes a few weak links in the chain to mess with the structures. 

Billings was ok but can't kick under any sort of pressure. Chandler quiet but has proven what he can offer in my view. He starts round 1. 

Sharp was handy and better than I thought. Didn't think he had that level of goalsense. A messy player if ever I've seen one but 100% effort, endurance and speed is valuable if he can play within his limits. 

I know we were experimenting and missing senior players but felt our transition defence was still mostly very poor. Most turnovers we engineer in the middle were Koz coming up the ground to interfere and apply pressure. We have no one else who has his speed energy or physicality and it's a big hole when he's not there. 

I thought we looked a team in the range of 6th to 10th. Add in the stars - which are the difference to any team - and who knows.

But I'm relatively unconvinced by our 2nd/3rd stringers overall or whether our 2nd tier premiership players - Sparrow, Bowey, Laurie, Howes - have the levels required to make us a really good team again. 

Are you trolling?

Bowey is a reliable if not elite 1v1 aerial defender. His tackling lacks slightly because he is our go to kick when the ball hit's the ground and it's his job to make play. 

Sharp kicks 4 and we all thought we got him for his aerobic capcity but he was messy? He had a clanger early on but was very Sharp after that.

Chandler has the energy and speed of Kozzie to apply pressure. He's no Kozzie, no one is, but doesn't lack that aspect.

 

4 hours ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Backs Bowey May Lever

HB Salem Petty Windsor

C Billings Oliver Lindsay

HF Trac Turner Sharp

F Chandler Van Rooyen Fritsch

R Gawn Langdon Viney

IC Langford Rivers Johnson Sparrow

Sub Woewodin 

Em Campbell McDonald Howes 

 

You've got two mids and two forwards on the interchange.  

Traditionally we have two mids, one defender and one forward on the bench to manage rotations.

 I think Howes will play rd 1.

I like your call on Lindsay, but I reckon the FD will make sure he's 100% by playing him in the VFL to start with.   Woewodin to play wing maybe with possibly Laurie or Melksham (if fit) to play sub. 

14 minutes ago, Wrecker46 said:

Are you trolling?

Bowey is a reliable if not elite 1v1 aerial defender. His tackling lacks slightly because he is our go to kick when the ball hit's the ground and it's his job to make play. 

Sharp kicks 4 and we all thought we got him for his aerobic capcity but he was messy? He had a clanger early on but was very Sharp after that.

Chandler has the energy and speed of Kozzie to apply pressure. He's no Kozzie, no one is, but doesn't lack that aspect.

 

No I'm not. Bowey has many fooled but if you pay attention - and watch games from previous years - has a lot of goals kicked on him from defensive lapses/1v1 losses. He is a long way from an elite defender. A long way. 

I'm well aware it's not a popular opinion. Let me put it to you this way...

Who do you think is a better defender - Mcvee or Bowey? Now who do you think is a better rebounder - Mcvee or Bowey? 

I think most would agree the answer to both is Mcvee. Bowey is currently not a great small defender - and also not a great rebounder. He could be - but he's not there yet and been around for quite a while now (longer than Mcvee). He seems to escape any sort of criticism because he's got a nice looking kick and gives a lot of effort. AMW cops it for defensive unaccountability but Bowey does not. AMW also brings better ball carrying ability, tricks and better tackling than Bowey atm. 

Sharp is messy. Don't let 4 in a practise game fool you. You'll see. As I said, I'm ok with it as he looks to bring a lot of other attributes to the table. 

As for Chandler - yes he's 2nd best in that spot. If you don't agree that there is a big gap between him and Koz - both offensively and defensively - not sure what you're watching. 

2 hours ago, Ted Lasso said:

Lever    May   Hore 

Windsor TMac  Salem 

Langdon  Oliver   Billings 

Fritsch     Turner    Sparrow

Sharp   Van Rooyen  Chandler 

Gawn     Viney      Petracca 

Rivers, Lindsay, Langford, Petty, Bowey (Sub)

Marty was subbed off pretty early yesterday for Jed Adams - was he injured?

4 minutes ago, grazman said:

You've got two mids and two forwards on the interchange.  

Traditionally we have two mids, one defender and one forward on the bench to manage rotations.

 I think Howes will play rd 1.

I like your call on Lindsay, but I reckon the FD will make sure he's 100% by playing him in the VFL to start with.   Woewodin to play wing maybe with possibly Laurie or Melksham (if fit) to play sub. 

I think Rivers needs to play defence without Judd and AMW.

4 hours ago, Tolstoys Nudge said:

IC: Langdon, Salem, Sharp, Johnson, Viney

Five on the interchange bench, or did you intend Johnson to be the sub?

28 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

No I'm not. Bowey has many fooled but if you pay attention - and watch games from previous years - has a lot of goals kicked on him from defensive lapses/1v1 losses. He is a long way from an elite defender. A long way. 

I'm well aware it's not a popular opinion. Let me put it to you this way...

Who do you think is a better defender - Mcvee or Bowey? Now who do you think is a better rebounder - Mcvee or Bowey? 

I think most would agree the answer to both is Mcvee. Bowey is currently not a great small defender - and also not a great rebounder. He could be - but he's not there yet and been around for quite a while now (longer than Mcvee). He seems to escape any sort of criticism because he's got a nice looking kick and gives a lot of effort. AMW cops it for defensive unaccountability but Bowey does not. AMW also brings better ball carrying ability, tricks and better tackling than Bowey atm. 

Sharp is messy. Don't let 4 in a practise game fool you. You'll see. As I said, I'm ok with it as he looks to bring a lot of other attributes to the table. 

As for Chandler - yes he's 2nd best in that spot. If you don't agree that there is a big gap between him and Koz - both offensively and defensively - not sure what you're watching. 

I agee with most of that but not your original post.

I've only seen Sharp once so perhaps i'm wrong on that but he was anything but messy besides his early clanger

The Team for round one will be:

Backs: Bowey May Salem

HB:    Salem McDonald Lever

C:     Langdon Oliver Windsor

HF:  Frirsch Turner Sparrow

F:   Chandler VanRooyen Sharp

Foll: Gawn, Viney, Trac

IC:  Rivers Langford Petty Johnson Billings

Sub: Woey

24 minutes ago, David-Demon said:

The Team for round one will be:

Backs: Bowey May Salem

HB:    Salem McDonald Lever

C:     Langdon Oliver Windsor

HF:  Frirsch Turner Sparrow

F:   Chandler VanRooyen Sharp

Foll: Gawn, Viney, Trac

IC:  Rivers Langford Petty Johnson Billings

Sub: Woey

Salem 2 times.

1 hour ago, David-Demon said:

The Team for round one will be:

Backs: Bowey May Salem

HB:    Salem McDonald Lever

C:     Langdon Oliver Windsor

HF:  Frirsch Turner Sparrow

F:   Chandler VanRooyen Sharp

Foll: Gawn, Viney, Trac

IC:  Rivers Langford Petty Johnson Billings

Sub: Woey

salo so good he makes the side twice

I'll be amazed if Rivers plays defence.

He's played every minute as a mid and has thrived in this role.

With Windsor, Salem, Howes, Hore, and Bowey, the defence is covered.  Lindsay played a lot of half-back as a junior, so it's not beyond the pale for him to go back if needed.  The last thing I'd be doing is sending Rivers back when he's looked great through the middle during preseason.

18 hours ago, Spirit of '87 said:

*Billings, not Billing’s 

There’s no apostrophe in his name. 

Sad.

From the snippets I saw of Langford yesterday he has to play. Absolute gun in the making.

On 22/02/2025 at 15:26, whatwhat say what said:

hard to argue with the make-up of the team but for opening bounce - and it's purely semantics - i don't think viney and petracca will be starting on the pine, nor windsor 

B: Howes - May - Lever
HB: Windsor - Petty - Salem
C: Billings - Rivers - Bowey 
HF: Fritsch - Turner - Sharp
FF: Petracca - van Rooyen - Chandler
Foll: Gawn - Oliver - Viney
Int: Langdon - Langford - Lindsay - Sparrow 
Sub: Woewodin

very interested to see how we mix up that running half-back and defensive wingman role in 2025 - windsor, salem, bowey, lindsay, and woey 2.0 all look more than capable of waxing and waning in the position

Langdon won't start on the bench it will be either half forward or wing.

17 minutes ago, WERRIDEE said:

Langdon won't start on the bench it will be either half forward or wing.

fine, swap him in / out for sharp

B: Howes - May - Lever
HB: Windsor - Petty - Salem
C: Billings - Rivers - Bowey 
HF: Fritsch - Turner - Langdon
FF: Petracca - van Rooyen - Chandler
Foll: Gawn - Oliver - Viney
Int: Langford - Lindsay - Sharp - Sparrow 
Sub: Woewodin

3 hours ago, grazman said:

Marty was subbed off pretty early yesterday for Jed Adams - was he injured?

Just posted on MFC website Marty has multiple breaks in his hand requires surgery, AMW has unfortunately copped the trifecta ACL, MCL and PCL…!!! Out for the year….😢😪