Pates

I always take the team sheet with a grain of salt, I remembered there being some downright laughable ones at one stage. Having said that, this was one of my concerns with going Jackson over Weids, I still see TMac as our main FF though hopefully getting back to the mobility that made him so hard to play on in 2018, Jackson will need to provide an option that if nothing else brings the ball to ground around Kozzi and Bennell. Ultimately we have to USE our forward entries, if the first quarter see us bombing aimlessly you will have to wonder exactly what is being told to the players. Fritch and Melksham have good hands and are quick on the lead, let them use the space in front of them. As for another Watts like debut, they put him in in front of a big crowd, against one of our fiercest rivals. This weekend Jackson plays against a team who at least should be on the same level in front of no one, no way should it be anything like Watts.

I know the line up can mean little at time’s but Jones was named in defence, which doesn’t really track, I thought he’s been predominantly playing/training either as a mid or HFF. I also agree he is one that takes that split second pause to kick to advantage. Something that Viney, Oliver, and Brayshaw need to start doing again (they did it in 2018!).

Quite a few surprises in there, Hunt coming in for one, I was also expecting OMac to be retained but I understand the theory with a smaller Blues forward line. Lockhart and Oscar the only two unlucky, the rest are fair. Seven changes means little from round one given the time off, this might as well just be a new round one with some teams starting behind. Bring on footy!!!

A lot of people have OMac out, everything we’ve seen in the past points to Oscar being Goody’s preferred 2nd tall defender and for that matter he actually did his job quite well vs WC.

Didn't think it was worth creating a new thread but seems we don't have any love coming our way from the Fox Footy experts. As always there's a love in for Hawthorn though. I will say this, if people were hoping to see significant improvements or changes in round one this year compared to 2019 then understandably they would have been disappointed with what we put up. For me that is why this match is so crucial to us getting our season started again, confidence is a funny thing in sport and we have been so low on it in the last 12-18 months. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/an-afl-great-has-ranked-every-team-118-theres-a-shock-bolter-just-outside-the-top-four/news-story/e6c0ce24b0c145a90f6c9841f3393233

We have had a habit of being lackluster vs Carlton in the past and after their upswing last year and out plummet there have reasons to be confident. But we have a close to full strength team to pick from and the injection of HB should give us plenty of confidence coming into this game. Simply put this has to be translated into a win, on paper this should be a better team than the one that got through to the prelim only a couple of years ago.

I'm joining a bit of a chorus here that I think Harmes should be placed into a run with role on Cripps, he is a really damaging player and if left unchecked could really hurt us.

I think he was a different person then, it's almost like he needed to go to Freo and fail before he was ready to start fresh as a new person. I suspect we would've got closer to a Mitch Clark back then. I'm tempering my expectations on his for his first game, I'd like him to get his first goal out of the way and be involved in a number of good passages of play. If he can get say 12-15 damaging possessions and a goal or two that would be a great result. What was interesting was hearing the presser and how he mentioned Goodwin, he said that Goody knows he can play footy, it's more about the mentoring of Harley on a personal level that he's thrived on.

This is the good news story of the year, he was a risk and the club took him on under conditions that they set out for him which he has knocked out of the park. It’s a shame he won’t be able to make his Dees debut in front of a roaring crowd but I can wait to see him in the red and blue.

I’d expect to see Hibberd out instead of OMac. Very similar types of players. Really excited for the footy now, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep the Friday night! I’m a little surprised at Jackson’s debut, there’s been little talk of him and I still don’t know what role they’ve settled for him at this stage. Still Carlton is probably a good team for him to get this first game against with no clear top line ruckman. You’d imagine he’ll replace Brown, what does that mean for Weiderman if so? Another option is we sacrifice a taller body down back in OMac (which appears to be what a lot of people want) and we go with Weids and TMac as our two key forwards and Jackson moves into a more midfield/floater/ruckman role.

100% one match at a time. We just need to get our season going, get that first win to get some confidence.

I know a lot of the talk has (fairly) been on Bennell, but Weiderman is someone that I hope the club is lighting a rocket under. He is getting to an age where potential has to be turned into results or we look at options to replace him moving forward. I would like to see a forward structure that utilises TMac as the focal point but Weiderman tries to create the second option that almost demands the ball more. Now has to be the time for him to deliver. Really hoping that Jackson is showing some dangerous forward work, competition for spots can always help in these cases.

Agreed, no doubt the plan would’ve been title the game time slow at VFL to get his pace for the game back up to scratch. I’d be inclined to ply him predominantly as a forward for much of his early time. Add another exciting element to our forward line with Kozzie, while it will give him a chance to get a feel for the pace of the game.

There’ll definitely a few having to eat some humble pie should he get a decent amount of games into him. Coronavirus could end up being the best thing to happen for him, it’s allowed him to continue his rehab work with zero pressure to get on the field. Over to you Burgess!

Agreed, it would be extremely risky bringing both in when they’ve been on the long term injury list for so long. You’d have to imagine both will be on limited game time when they do return.

Ultimately the jury is out, we won’t know until the end of the year. If we have less injuries then the midfield is stacked with his style, although I think for certain matches we could see him moved back into a run with role. It was something we did with Vince so don’t be surprised if Harmes does it as well.

I keep forgetting Betts is back at Carlton, Martin also killed it for the Blues against Richmond so Jetta might get a run on him should he play forward at times. I think Hibberd (with runs on the board) is more likely to get a run in round 2 but as you said he’s on thin ice.

At his best he is an absolute class player, albeit flawed with his set shot (boy that sounds familiar). His body really seems to be wrecked but perhaps with the (hopeful) success of Harley Bennell our fitness staff may be able to work their magic on him. The questions I have would be centered around his commitment, and also the asking price.

I can't see both Jetta and Hibberd being dropped, maybe one of them. Hibberd for me had the worse game of the two, though Jetta was well off as well. I admit I can't remember that far back but I don't remember OMac being particularly awful, I mean I know in general his bar is set kinda low for a lot of people. I can see Rivers coming in for Hibberd, I've been hearing a lot of positive things about the kid, and he looked good in the scratch match vs North. This is what I think, make of it what you will. I'd love to say HB gets a gig but I think they're going to play a longer game with him and make him tick more boxes before they bring him in. B: JETTA , MAY, LEVER HB: SALEM, OMAC, HARMES C : LANGDON, PETRACCA, TOMLINSON HF: PICKETT, WEIDEMAN , JONES F: MELKSHAM, T.MCDONALD, FRITSCH FOLL: GAWN, OLIVER, VINEY IC: BRAYSHAW, HANNAN, RIVERS, AVB (if fit) or JACKSON (or BENNELL a smokey) EMRG: HIBBERD, LOCKHART, SMITH, JACKSON

Then again how many times have we been done in red time for 20min quarters?

They sure did look flat in the first quarter against Geelong of the elimination final too.

I remember reading all the comments of opposition fans saying he won’t last the pre-season and that he’ll be back on the turps (or worse) in no time. The fact that he has knuckled down and done the hard work with his body (as well as I’m sure his mind) is a credit to him and the club. I’m cautious to get too excited about him because I know we’ve had history of things taking drastic turns but all you can hope is he keeps putting in the hours and we will all see reward on the field.

This is an interesting point, with no crowds the venue will be getting very little revenue with them then having to pay for more staff at the games (security in particular). I think food and drink is still a possibility, like you have said with the toilets if you have someone at the entrance counting the number of people and possibly having someone outside ensuring the line is distanced. I also wonder whether they may leave entire bays empty to make it so that you are sectioned in a specific area and reduce the potential numbers of people. I agree that end of the game could be a difficult prospect as you can have staggered entrances but everyone will want to leave at the same time. It might have to be as simple as asking people politely to be patient and wait, or perhaps suggest to people they leave a little early if the result is clear.

It’s pretty grim, sign of where we still sit. We’re a little unlucky in that COVID has followed a year in which our two blockbuster games were away games (still feel as though we should’ve pushed to have them flip every year) as well as a horrid time on the field really hurting the bottom line. I think they’ll do a donation drive at some point but they should make sure to let everything breathe for a bit while people count the cost of what they’ve lost. Just on the doggies and why they are one of the self-sustainable clubs, do they own Whitten Oval? They’ve had a very good membership ever since their premiership year and I feel like they rode a wave of good fortune and good management since then. Their crowd figures are still pretty mediocre so it’s not from there they get their money.

It would be quite something if we get him out on the park and we have both him and Kozzie in the forward line, after last year being so sapped of excitement up front. They could really be a lethal combo. Still I ain’t counting any chickens yet, this week was his first contact run in years so let’s see how he pulls up.