CHF

Looked at the topics and could not, find a home for this so I created this topic. I would love to attend a buffet lunch with Ratten and Dew to video the action so I could watch it in slo-mo to see which one ate all the party pies and which one ate all the cream buns.

Ok, as a coaching panel you look at a player and see that he is very limited in what he excels at. In Harmes' case he was a very good tagger in the midfield but could do very little else. The coaching panel look at that and try to get some flexibility into his game by looking at playing him in defence. Unfortunately, this has not worked and his form and confidence have both suffered to the point where he needs to be dropped so he can step back and regain some confidence and form. If this is the case, and this is only my way of reading the situation, then it is a good call. Drop him back and give him run with/tagging roles in the scratch games and then, if his forms turns around, slot him into the 22 on an as required basis. Personally, I would have dropped him a few rounds ago as I do not see him ahead of Petracca, Viney, Brayshaw or Oliver in the middle and if he was to be tagging someone who was at the center bounce then we are one down on our best three in the middle.

If the reason for Harmes' lack of form is not being played as a tagger then it does not say much for his mental fortitude. From my observation, he has not employed his talent to the defensive requirements of his role which, to my mind are not too different to a tagging role. Does Goodwin need to tell him to tag an opposition attacking player rather than tell him he is playing in defence? With regard to Josh Wagner, I will be interested to see how they use him. I could see him rotating to a wing or playing forward of the center and using his defensive abilities to lock the ball in. In 2018 he had solid form.

Cannot agree with this. His form has been woeful. Badly directed disposals and fumbles game after game . if that is your form, it does not matter where you play.

I like this team. A couple of changes forced with Sparrow hurt and Fritsch not showing up on time. Gawn and Jones bother fit now are back into the side and I have no problem with that. TMac and Harmes out, again, I have no problem with that either as both have been in bad form and not playing to the standards that they are capable of. Lockhart was a surprise to me a, but that may be management of the player. I look at this selection through the prism of the fixture over the following two rounds with a 5 day break and then a 4 day break. With the selections that have been made I will be looking forward to what structure we play too. There might be a few surprises with different players moving into attacking positions. Look forward to it and I will back a narrow win just to see the posters on here that might have to remove some egg. Dees by 13 pts.

In my opinion and based on his form, fumbles and disposals in recent games I would give him a rest from the team completely. give him time to re-set in mind and body. Once he is back to form playing in scratch matches and training give him a role as a run with player. Not justifying his place in the team at the moment.

First change I would make is to bring back Max if he is good to go for Preuss. I like the fact that we have Preuss as back up in the ruck but Max gives us so much more. Second change I would make is to drop Harmes for Rivers. I understand the call for Harmes to be given a role as a tagger and I do not agree, but his form is so far below his best at the moment I do not think he rates a place in the 22, give him a break to get his head right and confidence back. his disposal has been very bad so far this season. Third and last change for the Saints would be Jordan for Sparrow. I think it is time to see what he has and what he might bring to the team. He has been on the list for a bit and I would like to see how we have developed him. A couple of players from lat week need to step up or they may find themselves 'managed' in the next few weeks. Looking at AvB, Hannan, Melksham and a couple of others. Besides the three changes above I can see an argument for a couple more, Bedford or Bennell for either of Spargo or Pickett. Brown for TMac. However, I think that we will change a maximum of 3.

Don’t mind the three ins but I would drop Harmes as he looks to be well down on confidence and I don’t think that will be back with a change of role. He needs a break to get his head right. Rivers in for Harmes and Jordan in for Sparrow along with the other tow changes you suggest.

Tough (edit) to watch that second half but there were signs of the problems in the first half. nNo midfield pressure, no concentration on effective disposals, seemingly no reactions from the coaches box to the moves that the opposition made. defence was good. If they were not as effective as hey were you could add another 4 goals to that defeat. Our attack was limited with us not getting much from Spargo or Pickett. Bad kicking from Fritsch and Melksham did not help. Forget about proactive coaching, we did not look to make any reactive moves either. What to do? 1. drop Melksham for his lack of discipline and bad kicking. 2. Drop Harmes as he is lacking confidence and his delivery by both hand and foot are as bad as I have seen. I don’t think giving him a tagging role will make any difference to his game. He needs a break and to come back when his mind is reset. we cannot go on week to week and not make sure that the mistakes the players make have consequences not on and off the field. I am sure that the coaches and players put in a lot of work into the opposition but it seems to be to little effect. We did not have any responses to what they were doing and we did not have any moves that troubled them.

Still Friday where I am and the game starts at 5.45am for me so it will all be over by breakfast. Looking forward to the alarm going off so I can watch the game. Should be a cracking game and it will be close up to three quarter time with our fitness making the difference in the last quarter. Dees by 3 goals. Petracca BOG

Good selection. Looking at the emergencies, it shows me that we have a very fit list at the moment with a lot of depth. Any of those four could have been slotted in and there would be little argument.

With Pickett and Spargo already in the team I prefer to have a similar type of player to replace Sparrow (If he is to be rested)

One other PLEASING aspect to the broadcast of the game was the vision of the rest of the list's reaction to the win and the smiles and cheering from the race. they look like a happy mob.

Gawn in for Preuss if Max is 100% fit and ready to go. I would like to see Harmes given a rest a he is not in good form at all. Rivers to take his spot. If Sparrow is in need of a rest then I would be inclined to give Jordan a run in his place. These would be the only changes I would contemplate to last week's team. We do have a solid block of travel and games coming up and I could see a lot of 'management' decisions related to selection over the coming weeks.

My one word analysis of the Pies game - PLEASING PLEASING - To beat this mob anytime, any place any how. PLEASING - To win three in a row is such convincing fashion. PLEASING - to see Spargo snag a few with good positioning and movement. He also looks to have benefited physically from a good pre-season PLEASING - to beat this team by 10 goals PLEASING - to see a full 4 quarter performance from the team PLEASING - to see a good even performance from the midfield. PLEASING - to see Sparrow develop very well and look at home in a top class midfield PLEASING - to watch Preuss' performance in the absence of Max PLEASING PLEASING PLEASING

Gawn for Pruess if Max is fit. Harmes out and maybe give Jordan a run.

It is a pretty complex situation with the ladder at the moment with the postponed Bombers game and the byes spread out the way that they are. With the remaining games locked in through Round 18, and as the ladder sits at the moment, just about all the games for us will be 8 point games. MFC prior to Round 12 we sit 10th on the ladder with 20 points and 110% Round 12 - Vs Collingwood they sit 7th on the ladder 6 points better and +6% Round 13 - Vs Bulldogs they sit 11th on the ladder same points -20% Round 14 - Vs Saints they sit 5th on the ladder 8 points better +1.5% Round 15 - Vs Swans they sit 16th on the ladder 4 points less -25% Round 16 - Vs Dockers they sit 17th on the ladder 4 points less -22% Round 17 - Vs Giants they sit 8th on the ladder 4 points better -12% Round 18 - Vs Bombers They sit 9th on the ladder 2 points better -20% Still to have bye weekends of that group are Bulldogs, Saints and Collingwood. Finals play is very much in our own hands given the games we play from here on in. I predict 5 wins from the last seven rounds and all the way to the line our season will be on a knife edge.

I think that, given the injuries we have at present this is a good a team as you could get. There are arguments both ways for the inclusions and exclusions that were made and it will depend on how/where the coaching staff look to utilise the strength of the players. My opinion is that Preuss was a certainty once Jackson and Gawn were confirmed outs. It will be interesting to see how he performs. I hope he is hungry for the game and has sat down with Stafford, Gawn and the midfield to talk through the way they want it to go. I want to see our inside mids really hunting the ball at the bounces. Viney in is a big positive. Personally I would have dropped either Jones or Harmes to make the space. Jones looks to be hlf a pace off it at the moment but Harmes is completely out of touch with fumbles and giving away silly frees. Lockhart for Rivers is a toss up in my book. we would not have lost/gained much either way if we have retained Rivers. the coaches may be looking at matchups. I think we will win going away from them in the lat quarter and a half. 26pts.

What is the big deal? If/when Max is assessed as fit, I am sure he will be named in the team. I believe that was the case before the Adelaide game. He was assessed, found to be fit to play and played. The fact that he injured a knee, in no way related to his shoulder injury, towards the end of the game is not relevant. When the selectors sit down to put together a team for Saturday I am sure that the first question asked will be "Is Max fit?". Selections will then be made dependent upon the answer. Rinse and repeat next week.

One of the things that we have been developing is the flexibility of the players in being able to play multiple roles within the team as required. I can see no problem with having Oliver, Petracca, Viney and Brayshaw all in the one team with all of them rotating through a couple of different role during a game. It might be to a forward pocket or to a forward flank or even to a wing for a time but each of them have strengths and weaknesses that we need to be able to use to advantage. I can imagine a scenario where a player was being tagged hard and to break the tag or to move an effective opposition player to a less critical position we would rotate one of them forward and the other into the middle. that way we keep the quality in the middle and around the ball and move quality/intensity to another section of the ground. Having these four gives us an edge and good flexibility. we just need the coaching to push the envelope a bit.

I hope we do better......

agreed

Pies do not look good a I watch the Crows play in a similar fashion to the way they did against us. Wonder if they will run out of legs in the last.

Walker causes so many turnovers....... I imagine he thinks he looks good doing it and cannot understand these pesky black and white jumpers getting in the way....

A question to all those wanting TMac to return to defence: Why? As I recall he was a bit of a liability with his disposal when he was playing back there. He also lacked agility and acceleration. I do not believe he has improved any of those elements of his game and has not been part of the defensive structure at the club for a number of years. We have built a bit of understanding and stability in the back 50 and I believe that the introduction of TMac back there would screw up the defence that is beginning to look good. If he cannot make it these days at a forward then changes have to be made.