Adam The God

It won't happen. Selection tells us everything about the mindset of the MC. We want continuity and simplicity. That means they'll keep the defensive structure as is. Pulling Hunt and Rivers out of the back 6 completely disrupts us and would be a bad coaching move IMO. The second wing position will come from JJ, Melksham and Kozzy.

Neale is too dangerous not to tag given the Lions create the majority of their scores from stoppage. Harmes goes to him. I've no doubt. If he can quell Neale, it might go a long way to winning the match. Lyons and Zorko worry me too though, but I'm comfortable with Clarry and Trac going head to head with them. If Zorko and Lyons are winning it, that'll bring McLuggage and Rich into it, so if they do win clearance, that post clearance pressure is going to be vital.

Just on this again. Carlton really did [censored] the bed last off season and completely lost their nerve. They'd been building through the draft and filling holes with cheap ex high draft pick Giants and had built arguably the best spine in the league, all essentially 25 and under. They then had a star in Cripps in the middle and a rising young superstar in Walsh joining him, but they had little else besides an aging Ed Curnow to assist them. They desperately needed to go after genuine A grade or at the very least B+ grade mids from other clubs and/or go to the draft again to find them. Instead, they decided to throw multiple first rounders away for two half backs. Mind bogglingly stupid and may well have undermined their rebuild. It has certainly put them back at least a year. And they also paid through the tooth for a very average Jack Martin. Incredible stuff. The sort of list management that keeps a team mired in mid table mediocrity. And I love that Carlton continue to fumble about in the dark. Long may it continue. Pity Essendon can't join them.

The ability of our wingers to defend and cover the ground, in particular Langdon, is what sets us up and will defeat any and every team this year provided we bring the work rate across the rest of the ground. Minus Langdon it will be very interesting to see how our defensive shape goes. As for Brisbane, they're a good team, but they haven't exactly been tested yet. Their two best wins against Richmond and Port were both at home. Sure, no Neale, their best player, but their forwards are very hit and miss. Daniher usually gets a heap of it against us and shanks many. Hipwood is hot and cold. Cameron is the match winner down there. Whereas, this year we've tended to have a more even contribution across the ground. I think we'll drop this one, but we'll win if we bring the same intensity as last week. Can we bring that level and focus two weeks in a row?

Don't get me wrong. Langdon and Gus are our two wingers for the majority of matches, but Jordon, Melksham and Kozzy have all played some wing time this year.

Haha, we were all saying this at the time. Spot on.

Those two have a habit of giving up what's happening inside the club. That's almost all that show is. Gawn or Gus putting their foot in it and saying something they're not supposed to let slip and Benny trying to cover for them. Anyway, I think the MC is almost certain to add Sparrow and push JJ to the wing. It gives us an extra mid rotation too. JJ has played quite a bit of wing, so I reckon he'll play 70 pr 80% wing and they'll fill the remainder with a Melksham and Kozzy. The latter two have had wing time too.

Each to their own, but I don't think we'll be stupid enough to trade a first rounder for a B grade half back. I like Maynard, he's a nice player, but you don't give up a first rounder for a player of his type.

Gee, he even moves a bit like Lever from that footage. No way Maynard is worth a first. A second should get it done if there's genuine interest.

He'll need to be to come into a new zonal defence and learn how we want to play. I've thought this is the toughest thing about bringing in someone mid season. How do they adjust to the system the team is playing? Will be fascinating to see how he goes at Casey. Thanks as always for the insights mate.

Thanks mate.

Would have thought that'd be a bit of a problem for a footballer, but I'm sure the Dr and his intellect knows best.

@dazzledavey36, do you know much about him, mate?

They went into Golburn apparently, so given it's regional I think we'll be alright.

Going back a little bit on my earlier post, I must say, McLuggage and his score assists this year have been outrageously elite, so they may well decide that Zorko can go head to head with Petracca or Oliver and that we look to tag McLuggage even if Neale comes in. I still think the stopping the clearance at the source is the best method to stop Brisbane though. What have they got when we pressure their clearance and can we reduce their scores from stoppage by bringing our interceptors into play?

Yeah, we definitely showed the +1 behind the ball will almost always work for us against any team, provided we get that post clearance pressure right. Good analysis that too.

There's always that fine balance between trying to shut down half the opposition's playmakers versus playing the game a bit more head to head and backing in our guys. I think they'll have plans for all those guys you mention, but since they score such a high percentage of their scores from stoppage, I think we'll go to stopping them at the source again, which will hopefully nullify the influence of the likes of McLuggage, Rich and these types. The question remains, is the source Neale or someone else?

I reckon Neale could well get up for this game, which will pose a problem for us. Do we go Zorko or Neale? I'd be tempted to still go Harmes to Neale and if Neale doesn't get up, then play Harmes on Zorko. But as Harmes mentioned in his post match interview the other night, he'll join in on offence as well as stoppage watch, so it's not like we'd be committing a completely negative role to the midfield. Neale may have some questions over his body, so I'd make sure Harmes is ultra physical (but fair) with him to put that question in his mind. If it ends up just being Zorko that plays, he is a slightly different sort of match up to Neale or Libba in that he's quick. Harmes has the pace to go with him of course, but he might have to play him a different way. @george_on_the_outer on podcast made a really good point that Harmes played from in front of Libba. I need to rewatch the match to see how he did this, but there's a danger if he plays Zorko that way that he gets done on the outside. Zorko is also clever enough to push his opponent into stoppages, so he'd have to be very carefully if he played it the same way. I did think Neale wasn't due back for another week yet, but Fagan said last night on 360 that he trained last week and would push for selection this week. AFL Tonight this evening showed some footage of him at training that seemed quite ambiguous as to whether it was light ot medium level work for him at training, but he's no doubt training with the main group again. I just wonder if there are a few games being played by Brisbane and that in fact he won't be back this week, but they'll force us to plan for him just in case. It'll be interesting to see. I think it's clear they want Harmes to have a clearly defined defensive role most weeks, so I think you're right and that they'll plan some sort of negating role for Harmes.

This doesn't seem to discuss it. Wrong link? It mentions how we tried to exploit Ziebell with Fritsch after the North game.

Gotcha, but not exactly a fortress. We may well wake up tomorrow and find out that this can't be played there now anyway.

When you say we play well there, when are you referring to? We've never beaten GWS at the ground... https://finalsiren.com/PreviousGames.asp?Team1ID=21&Team2ID=13&Go=Go

Let's see how Weideman does against Harris Andrews if he gets him as an opponent. That'll be a good yard stick for where he's at. Even then, if he gets Andrews, all he might need to do is create a contest and snag one or two and that might be enough if it allows McDonald or Fritsch to get off the leash.

I don't rate him, but if May or Lever went down, I'd be looking at Joel Smith for back there too.

Yep, I would be very surprised if we don't have a back up plan for our zonal defence if another goes down. Given we've got every guy on the list training for two roles, I'd say we'll also have contingencies we can go to if necessary with injuries. It most likely won't be as strong as our current set up, but with the exception of the 2016 Bulldogs, to win a flag, you usually need everything going right for you.

Love that Choco has the younger players researching the MFC's past players. What an acquisition. Well spoken, Trent.