heath55

Do you drop McDonald and bring in brown after that? Doubt they drop JVR - they’ll want to get some games in him…good problem to have but a problem nonethless

Lynch could be in trouble for his hit - especially because he was concussed… two weeks would be handy

Who do you pick as the tall replacement instead of TMac? Because they were always picking a tall - Goodwin indicated as much during his presser

The Jordan one is really stuff…Sparrow would want to have a solid, impactful game as Jordan was excellent last week Reality is that no one deserved to be dropped, but someone had to for Pickett.. would be interesting to hear the thought process behind the decision

Why name Pickett on the bench when he’s Cleary playing….it could mean something or it could mean nothing… if they do go brown for Pickett, it’s not a bad week to take a punt on a smaller team considering the outs WC have, but I’d be surprised if they did go that small

Goodwin specifically spoke about not wanting to go too small and being wary of ruck relief (if Grundy off field, you only have one tall in the forward line) wouldn’t surprise me if Petty goes back, Hibbo misses out and Pickett comes in for Hibbo with McDonald coming in for Brown - but that could be just something Goodwin said during his presser today and goes ina different direction…we’ll find out tomorrow!

Does Hibbo go out, Petty back (thus replacing the def) and then Pickett comes in for Hibbo - I think they’ll go with Petty on a case by case basis, I don’t think this is now a permanent thing - especially as he played the defensive forward/nullifying the aerial intercept role…it’s definitely not the last time he plays there, but it might be just a case of moving the magnets around on certain weeks…

i honestly have no idea what you’ve been watching? He’s the third leading defender who took the best forwards whilst may was out - in other words, he played a different role and did it well. He then played the forward defensive role and look how efficient we were going forward….that isn’t by chance

A lot saying Brown out for Kosi which makes a lot of sense at face value. My question is what happens when Grundy is off and JVR or Petty are secondary ruck? It only leaves one genuine tall in the forward line for that period of time - we saw last season that could be an issue…if they rest brown and bring TMac back, at least you’re tall for tall… good problem to have, but the question isn’t whether Pickett plays, it’s who then comes out for him? Sparrow is a non stats per say KPI player, he distrusts stoppages so it’s not as simple as ‘only 10 touches’, JJ was fantastic, ANB and Spargo both play roles….it’s just a really tough decision - do they run with one less defender after Hibbo came in for Gawn? Viney I thought was average with his decision making and disposal, unlikely to be dropped, but boy….everyone has arguments to stay in the team

I think Chandler has shown enough to stay in, as you mentioned, Harmes I’m not completely sold on…he’s sort of lost a specific spot and is behind others in terms of midfield minutes…tough gig that’s for sure

We didn’t get 60 to the grand final replay in round 1 last year, dogs aren’t a big crowd club…

You’re kidding? He’s so crucial to our structure - outside of kicking goals. Go to a game and just watch how and where he moves; no coincidence that the drop off last season started after he was out….

We haven’t even played a game yet and you’re able to draw that conclusion? At least wait to see how they go against the dogs first! not to mention, the defences were decimated last night

Spot on…Geelong had their chances to run away with it, but look like they just couldn’t sustain the pace -it was a low tackle count and pure offensive footy with both teams losing key defensive anchors. Geelong showed Collingwood can be burnt the way they play, but they’re so damaging when they get it right - it shows how much the game can open up with kicking and forward movement, something we entirely lacked last year - our ability to put pace on and move the ball in any fashion.

Especially when there was a clear difference between McDonald playing and when he was out the 2nd half of the year in terms of forward structure and entry - I doubt they’ll mess with that and it would be more and in game move if it was needed

Spot on…it could be a tough season if we come out on the bad end of these first three games…

The wind wasn’t that great that it was seeing balls sail through, I’ve seen him regularly kick over that distance throughout last year… To say it’s low value if it’s a point, can’t be accurate as it’s more on the action of it being deemed low value, irrespective of the result…if he kicks the goal, is it then a good shot? you’re spot on about hitting people up, but running into the 50 with no one in front of them, I don’t necessarily think it’s a terrible choice - especially if he doesn’t have people leading at him…but that’s just me

I mean he was running into goal and clearly had the leg for the distance…he kicked the ball 60 odd meters - as you say Spargo knows his limitations, he has no other choice than to not take a shot there

I disagree to an extent about the leading patterns, they were leading, some were blocked off and there were a number of occasions balls were kicked on top of heads - Brown being a constant recipient of that whilst being out numbered…I thought they function rather well IMO, it’s a stark contrast to the way we moved the ball last season

He was the most like for like and his form hasn’t been as good as Bowey Hunt plays a different role to Rivers and you wouldn’t have Salem or Rivers then playing that role; Hunt has played it well this year. I called it a few weeks ago on a FB group that I thought Rivers would be the most logical replacement….it’s stiff, but that’s what this team has gotten to now

Played on the wing, so completely changed his role… Might take a reshuffle to get him back at half forward and have others on the wing

For what it’s worth, Tom Browne said today that he thinks the Jackson/Brayshaw deals are linked in the sense of if Melbourne pay Jackson, then it’ll drop the amount they can offer Brayshaw and he’ll then take that Freo money…but who knows…

I’m not sure if it’s as much of a ‘gap’ as it is just that the 22 haven’t done anything wrong to the point that someone has needed to be or is in danger of being dropped. If players are playing well, it’s almost irrelevant how well the others are playing in the VFL, players won’t get dropped when they haven’t necessarily played poorly. The only exception to this would be Weids/McDonald position