No change to a winning side.

No change unless anyone is sore or injured

As great as Max was today we still need to manage his game time and not overwork him

And playing interstate is where the opportunity to give him some decent help works best

Coach King being a ex top-notch ruckman will have a good idea on what to do

Heath comes in if it's one of those games where we want to lessen the work-load with Max

But it might be a bit early in the season so probably 'No Change'

Edited yesterday at 13:151 day by Macca

9 hours ago, Mt. Dee-Maaan said:

Koltyn went ok in the end, but had a slow start.. Liked that he got more creative in the second half. He tried hard. Reckon the new gameplan will suit him. Not sure that I can see this athleticism that King and a few others have spoken about?..

Kolt’s athleticism is in the combination of a big tank, above average speed, and the agility to jump on a couple of loose balls and fire handballs out.

He hasn’t always looked quick or agile because he’s been adapting to AFL footy. But the tank has generally been evident and it was on display running off Nas before half time to get involved in several scores.

What a ballsy move by a new coach to send the 20 game much maligned Kolt to Nas in your first game as coach. He doesn’t want us to play safe and he lived the mantra himself. Loved the press conference during the week where he copped it for saying we would back our system against Nas when he had Kolt planned for him for nearly a month. Nas may have kicked 3 but they really missed his connection and carry up field and Kolt hurt him with getting involved in scores back the other way.

Highlights for me. Trelly goal obviously. JVRs clean marks and accurate kicks. Gawn playing Immortal. Sharps hard nosed touches in the last.

Concerns to address. What to do with Lever. Sparrow inability to find the pill. Langford’s lack of chase. How easily we were carved through the middle at time.

Tough task next, 6 day break, travel, talent and taller structure but cant wait to see how we approach it.

NB: sorry was meant to put this in the post game thread

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by Lil_red_fire_engine

9 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Those players looking "a step off the pace" weren't all that bad though, but regardless, how much was that caused by St Kilda having played last week?

individually most were fine and certainly 1.5 practice games against bad sides doesn’t compare with St Kilda having a proper first game.

It’s just going to be a big balancing act for King and Co to find the right mids and flankers with so many imperfect options.

Culley forward gave us another target, added pace to a midfield mix that needs it with Steele and Langford, but took away a ball winner.

14 minutes ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

What a ballsy move by a new coach to send the 20 game much maligned Kolt to Nas in your first game as coach.

It just really intrigues me what people think the assistant + development coaches do. Sit around all day playing Pokemon on their phones and then putting out the cones for training?

Melksham and Heath/ T Mac will be considered carefully this week

Langford and Sparrow should be worried

Melksham’s kicking either our new game style will be so important for fwd connection

12 hours ago, seventyfour said:

Ask any Hawthorn supporter and they'll tell you that Jiath is a lemon. He was very poor today, ran around defending ghosts and did nothing to hurt the Saints offensively.

I'd be happy to go with no change but I would prefer McDonald.

Ask most Melbourne supporters and they'll tell you JVR and Sharp are lemons, but truth is most supporters have no idea and post on emotion only.

I am bracing for a sizable loss against Freo. They are top 4 quality and highly skilled. I don’t King will be interested in changing game styles to reduce blowouts as we need to imbed our style

Once we see the same method and players improving i’ll be happy enough

23 minutes ago, bing181 said:

It just really intrigues me what people think the assistant + development coaches do. Sit around all day playing Pokemon on their phones and then putting out the cones for training?

Not saying the coaching group did not have input but it's King who would have given such a vital move the final tick on the day and the commitment to it all day.
It would have been King explaining it in a press conference if we lost.

9 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

IMO the only change we should be considering is getting in another tall, which by virtue of injuries has to be Heath, to help Gawn combat Darcy/Jackson, and/or to avoid Petty having to ruck when we have to cover Treacy, Voss and Amiss.

Obviously will disrupt our balance but there's a chance we went the extra runner today because Marshall was out and we wanted to up our run as they'd played last week. We went into the Richmond game with Kentfield in the side so our plan may well have always been to have another tall.

325 metres gained plus 10 defensive half pressure acts (third behind Petty and Turner).

He was gassed late but was far, far better than this.

Those players looking "a step off the pace" weren't all that bad though, but regardless, how much was that caused by St Kilda having played last week?

This ^^^^ ... a better account of the day me thinks.

That was our first dance of the year...and yes it looked like it at times... but at other times it gave a glimpse of things to come.

We've had all summer to learn new patterns but reality is ever so often more demanding than practice. Not all the gears meshed at times... but when they did !! 👍

Strangely I dont expect CJ to be perfect but he does have a specific quality that showed yesterday... he has bravado, speed and can break lines... On several occasions he changed the ebb by simply having half of Stkildas forward attack suddenly all in wrong positions. That's GOLD. I saw some quite decent k I king at times...and some nonsense special. I thought he did OK.. He'll do better. There's a lot a players that will similarly get better

I think our defence needs more work. It will be sorely tested against the Fockers.

Imho we did miss what May brings to defence yesterday and we need to find someone..or tactics to better do that. Im sure King and Co have been working on that ... keep.working ;)

Id like to see Tommy back... but not thinking thats Kings preference.. It occurs to me when both May and Tmac were in defence...it clicked well....left Ricky to do Ricky stuff. With neither on the park 🤷🤷 Disco and Petty need to step up again. I didn't think Petty was too bad actually... latter in game beating two opponents when it mattered was excellent.... but dropping a chest mark... not so much. Again I think we'll play better v freo for the hit out yesterday. We'll need to. Freo ought to go well this year.

Tis very early in season, and I notice the bookies are giving us NO respect..

Am thinking another close game coming up.

I'd be happy taking the choccies by any margin.

Be interesting if any changes. Im not expecting any.

10 hours ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Max Heath needs to be considered. Jackson's athleticism is outstanding and his endurance is almost as good as Gawn's. Add Darcy to that and we have a midfield first use problem.

Between Lever, Petty and co our defenders can match their forwards, but Josh Treacy is a problem. I can't see one of our defender able to match him.

For us, I reckon Latrelle and Cully might give Freo problems.

tmac

Max will be knackered after yesterday, you could see it in the post-match interview.

I suspect a very light week ahead with the six day turnaround and cross-country flights!

Sparrow has done enough in the pre-season to keep his place but he will need to improve his production before others go past him. Culley is one I think will end up getting midfield minutes.

6 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

Sparrow has done enough in the pre-season to keep his place but he will need to improve his production before others go past him. Culley is one I think will end up getting midfield minutes.

The more I watch Culley, the more I find the West Coast delisting perplexing.

14 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

The more I watch Culley, the more I find the West Coast delisting perplexing.

Culley has a really unique skill set and you’re right, it is perplexing. Thankfully, we are the beneficiary.

4 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Strangely I dont expect CJ to be perfect but he does have a specific quality that showed yesterday... he has bravado, speed and can break lines... On several occasions he changed the ebb by simply having half of Stkildas forward attack suddenly all in wrong positions. That's GOLD. I saw some quite decent k I king at times...and some nonsense special. I thought he did OK.. He'll do better. There's a lot a players that will similarly get better

I dont mind CJ too, yes you do have your heart in the mouth when he has the ball (ala Frost) but his speed and ability to turn a defensive action into a positive is a plus. He will need time to find that balance but there is enough to work with.

5 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

Culley has a really unique skill set and you’re right, it is perplexing. Thankfully, we are the beneficiary.

Could use Culley as the long down the line marking option instead of Gawn if needed, such is his aerial game

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

I am bracing for a sizable loss against Freo. They are top 4 quality and highly skilled. I don’t King will be interested in changing game styles to reduce blowouts as we need to imbed our style

Once we see the same method and players improving i’ll be happy enough

No coach worth his pay is sending in his team without some adaptions to the opposition's strengths. We have to match or beat Freo around stoppage to be any chance. We have to defend much better than we did against the Saints. Lever's not getting dropped, TMac's not the answer, we desperately miss Bowey and AMW is likely way underdone. Does Koltyn run with Serong and do we play Heath or watch Max get smashed into by Darcy and jumped over by Jackson?

Of course it's unlikely we win but apparently we weren't a chance to beat the saints either......Bring it on.

11 minutes ago, adonski said:

Could use Culley as the long down the line marking option instead of Gawn if needed, such is his aerial game

Yep. We can't play 100km/hour footy for 120 minutes over 22 weeks. And even if we wanted to, we still have to kick long down the line every now and then. Culley is a great target. So is Mihocek. I really hope Langford can be, as well.

11 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

I dont mind CJ too, yes you do have your heart in the mouth when he has the ball (ala Frost) but his speed and ability to turn a defensive action into a positive is a plus. He will need time to find that balance but there is enough to work with.

A keen observer may have noticed at the start of the lead up to Trelly's goal .... Max had ball ...looking to offload... he picked CJ... who broke clear ( again ) and had the wherewithal/foresight to Roost it out into clean air in vicinity of 2 Dees.. the ability to allow the Kolt to run on to that and deliver it down the wing to Trelly should not be undervalued.

7 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

A keen observer may have noticed at the start of the lead up to Trelly's goal .... Max had ball ...looking to offload... he picked CJ... who broke clear ( again ) and had the wherewithal/foresight to Roost it out into clean air in vicinity of 2 Dees.. the ability to allow the Kolt to run on to that and deliver it down the wing to Trelly should not be undervalued.

Just be careful using Trademarked names as descriptive text. Legally you owe me $3200 for the use but I'll give you this one such is my happiness over yesterday.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Roost it far

1 hour ago, Dannyz said:

Sparrow has done enough in the pre-season to keep his place but he will need to improve his production before others go past him. Culley is one I think will end up getting midfield minutes.

Don’t disagree but if we choose to bring in Heath to combat the taller Fremantle (which we should) it would be Sparrow that comes out for mine.

Would look to send Tholstrup to Young as a starting point as he’s their Nas equivalent and then move to Brayshaw/Serong if required