Preview 2nd Semi Final, 2020: Richmond v St.Kilda - Metricon Stadium, Friday 9th October, 7:50PM AEDT

[St Muir]

is there currently a quarantine law between NSW and QLD? because if not, lets say hypothetically the baby is born today/tomorrow. could he be a chance to spend a few days with his family for the birth and be back by friday night? I know thats a massive and would be cutting things a bit fine. Also would mean he doesn't train at all this week.

Hopefully we can win without him and he'll be back fro the prelim.

It’s been eased for northern NSW but opening in full won’t happen until November 1

 

[Old Man Rooey]

They will have Caddy , J Roo, Lynch and Dusty at times forward , we are going to need some big bodies back there and he really hasn't proved he can kick goals

I'm with you on this. He played as a back at the Pies. Would like to see Marshall spend sometime up forward, particularly if Battle does not come up.

 

[St Muir]

I think going back to plan A is our only hope now. Fast, crazy/brave and play on at all costs. We might get a hiding or we might get a win. I doubt playing any other way sees us win.
Marsh and Hind in. Robbo if Battle doesn’t get up.

 

[Joffaboy]

I think going back to plan A is our only hope now. Fast, crazy/brave and play on at all costs. We might get a hiding or we might get a win. I doubt playing any other way sees us win.
Marsh and Hind in. Robbo if Battle doesn’t get up.

I reckon we need Steele to shut down Martin, with Hanners and Jones running through the guts, I reckon Seb has regained a lot of form and we could use him going forward from the centre into our forward fifty.

Reckon Steele can do the job on Martin to nullify him.

looking at the replay, Sebs close in stuff was really really good, Kent and Billings seemed not to do much, but while they couldn't get into the game like some, some of their 1%'ers were crucial in scoring and stopping goals.

 

[TheEnsign]

I think Long should get off. His counsel will no doubt present two options to the Tribunal:

1) Long didn't collect him high; it was shoulder to shoulder. The vision can support this view;

2) The circumstances were almost exactly the same as the Pickett / Heeney bump in terms of the mechanics of the impact, effect on the player bumped etc. I don't think the Tribunal can rely on the Christian BS 'visual look of the incident' - the Tribunal takes a much more technical / legal view and 'visual look' is just babble.

Put both together and he's a good shot at getting a fine.

 

[robjude]

my opinion is anybody that bumps intentionally and makes head contact should be rubbed out.

WE HAVE A MARSHMALLOW ALERT HERE! FFS! if the guy is injured yes agree, but he clearly wasn't, played out the rest of the game with no problem.

 

[ScrappyDo]

"the visual look" - what a joke!!

So if the MRP thinks it "looks bad" irrespective of whether it actually had any impact - they can suspend a player.

Can only assume that the MRP thinks that punching people in the guts 40 metres off the ball (Lynch) doesn't look bad!!!!

The MRP isn't what it was supposed to be.
IIRC it was supposed to be a cheap and quick way to get a ruling so clubs had selection certainty where sometimes the tribunal would run into Wednesdays or later.

What it has become, is a purposefully opaque tool of the AFL to engineer results to suit their brand image and profitability.

Anything proper serious: Tribunal

Anything else: Decision =
Looks ok = dismissed / fine

Looks bad =
Star player = >revenue= dismissed
Non star = <revenue = suspended

Now that it costs 10 thousand to lodge a tribunal appeal, the AFL has successfully shifted the MRP process to a discretionary cultural and marketing tool of which clubs have no way out.

Even if you have a star player that can't escape because the "look" is so bad, he'll be slapped with charges that won't stick, and escape via the tribunal.

It's all just a song and dance. Zero integrity, %100 corrupted.
AFL is a corporate entity now. Not a sport.

 

[Old Man Rooey]

I think going back to plan A is our only hope now. Fast, crazy/brave and play on at all costs. We might get a hiding or we might get a win. I doubt playing any other way sees us win.
Marsh and Hind in. Robbo if Battle doesn’t get up.

Agree. The other part you have to add to that is stop the Tiges intercept marking. That well below average against Brisbane and a key reason why they won.

 

[puppy_dog7]

I think Long should get off. His counsel will no doubt present two options to the Tribunal:

1) Long didn't collect him high; it was shoulder to shoulder. The vision can support this view;

2) The circumstances were almost exactly the same as the Pickett / Heeney bump in terms of the mechanics of the impact, effect on the player bumped etc. I don't think the Tribunal can rely on the Christian BS 'visual look of the incident' - the Tribunal takes a much more technical / legal view and 'visual look' is just babble.

Put both together and he's a good shot at getting a fine.

I agree, he should get off when you compare it to Pickett's earlier in the year. But they went to Longy's record in NT to give hime 3 weeks earlier in the year on Darcy. With his record there's no way they'll let him off. Which is BS, but saints have always copped the rough end of it at the tribunal.

Also, have looked at the replay again. Macrae tries to sidestep him and ducks into the shoulder. Surely they take that into consideration

 

[lewdogs]

I think the thing that is frustrating with the Long decision is they seem to have shifted the goal posts. They have been going off the outcome for ages now... player gets concussed, the impact is medium or high. In this case the player didn't get injured though. So why shift the goal posts now?

I know they don't like Long and how he is going about it, and maybe that's fair enough. He does need to get these types of things out of his game. But this just doesn't seem fair.

 

[St Kilda Death]

Absolutely bullshit rubbed out a week Macrae the flopper played on.
Surprised they didn’t give him another week for laying out hanners.
Corrupt.

 

[St Kilda Death]

It’s so when they don’t rub out the big ticket money makers eg fyfe, Lynch, Dusty, danger and are questioned by the media about the integrity of the mrp they can say “we made an example of Ben long”

 

[jwikked]

my opinion is anybody that bumps intentionally and makes head contact should be rubbed out.

Nah. Unless they ban the bump, accidental head contact is going to occur. It shouldn't come down to a lucky dip of whether or not someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's a contact sport, incidental head contact is always going to occur. You can't legislate against it. It's pretty clear Long realised he couldn't pull out so braced for impact, not much else he could do.

I can tell the AFL desperately wants to stop rewarding players for getting to the ball first, but it's an important part of the game that shouldn't be jeopardized by arbitrary punishments that don't reflect intent or outcome.

 

[Ducky Tie]

I don't think it's that simple.
You have a split second to decide and so many variables in play.

Longy is also lighter in frame than the inside mids he's targeting, so a front on tackle at full speed would see him KO'd and bones broken, so it's appropriate to bump in that situation.

The tactic of using Long in this way is a good one.
It's a weapon at Ratt's disposal, and it's his call as to how it's used.

If anything, Long's last comeback demonstrated that he needs to play on the edge to produce the goods.

His aim and discretion will improve with time, and till then you back him in, and you back the coach.

It takes courage to tackle front on, no doubt about that. If he uses good technique though, there's no reason he couldn't have tackled. You don't keep your head upright when tackling. I agree that it's not simple, but it is a recurring thing with Long, and there's a reason pretty much no clubs have players charging in off the square to bump. It's appropriate to bump if he gets low enough to not hit the opponents head, but in this case, he gets the head and he was pretty lucky he didn't do any damage. For all the AFL's rubbish changes, moving away from the bump has been good. It's incredibly dangerous. Not only that, but he also then puts himself in this position where he might miss a final. In this case, I think the suspension should be reversed. With the grading system the AFL has in place, I don't see how this is medium impact. It seems to fit the criteria for low impact based on past decisons and the fact that Macrae was ok.

 

[stfan]

Well at this stage we are down Ryder, Carlisle and Long. But hopefully get Battle back.

Ryder and Carlisle are huge outs. Long we can cover.


SEIZE THE DAY SAINTS - WE CAN STILL BE A CHANCE TO WIN BUT MUST PLAY QUICK AND ATTACKING FOOTBALL ( Note this does not mean reverting to the roost)

Our only chance with the Tigers is to play to our strengths.

Tigers are most likely going to play only one ruck.

Tigers will probably be happy to play an attacking shootout. This suits us well and gives us a chance. We are quicker than the Tigers.



Ruck with Marshall who will need to take most of the centre bounces. He can then also rotate with Battle at CHF. Battle to play as follower and exploit Nankervis. Battle can easily out run him, as can Marshall.

Long. Webster or Savage to fill his spot if the appeal is unsuccessful. Webster has extra hardness and is better defensively, but has not played all season. Whereas Savage has played more recently, plus has played finals including a GF at the Hawks.

Carlisle is the tricky one. However at least Riewoldt is not a giant at 193c, While Wilkie can possibly take him, I think Wilkie may be better used on Dusty when he plays forward. Ross to go to Dusty when he plays midfield.

So for Carlisle the options are Marsh, Robbo and Austin. Robbo is the best intercepting mark and is the most skilled, classy, talented and experienced, but has only played 5 games in 3 seasons. Austin has not played since 2018. Marsh has played 5 games this year and to me would be safer bet than Austin. Marsh can also play up forward and give Marshall a chop out in the ruck (not well though). Marsh is very quick though.

Kent: Form has been down, but I doubt Ratts will want to make too many extra changes. Role has been more running midfield link than small forward of late. Kent is quick though. Hinds recent record is no better, but he may be a smidgeon quicker, but Kent is more physically robust and Tiges will be physical. So that would leave Phillips or Bytel as possible changes. So I think that they will just stick with Kent.


Geary: I assume and hope he will play as a defensive forward where he has done well this year except when he was played on the much taller Stewart. Houli would look to be a good match up. As a defender I think the Tiger's forwards smalls are too quick for him. So play him up forward.

King: Max showed us how good he can be against the Dogs. However Max still lacks core body strength and the Doggie defenders unlike most of Max's opponents this year failed to maintain body contact on him as much as they should. Hardwick will be reminding his backs to not be so generous with Max. So Ratts must really think on how we can try and get Max free so that he can use his run and jump more. Just standing in packs will see the Tiges bodying him to spoil the ball. J If the game is close achieving this may be the difference between winning and losing the game.

 

[FQFjt]

I like Long as a player, especially his aggression impacting the contest. But he is one of the easiest of our 22 to cover with our depth. I won't be losing any sleep either way over this one.

 

[Stewart66]

Yep but unfortunately both Kent & Hind have only kicked one goal each from their past six games.

Hence why you throw something different at Tigers .


Just my opinion ..

Would play Marsh and down back on Jack in place of Carlisle.

Would pick Roberton who could then play Half Back / Wing releases Clark at times in midfield in
rotations .

The bloke would give a lot of thought too is Logan Austin forward and play through him
because Grimes will zone off intent on denying King one on one .
He is mobile and could pinch hit ruck when Marshall rests forward.

As said we have nothing to lose in trying different things this game.

 

[gringo2011]

Hence why you throw something different at Tigers .


Just my opinion ..

Would play Marsh and down back on Jack in place of Carlisle.

Would pick Roberton who could then play Half Back / Wing releases Clark at times in midfield in
rotations .

The bloke would give a lot of thought too is Logan Austin forward and play through him
because Grimes will zone off intent on denying King one on one .
He is mobile and could pinch hit ruck when Marshall rests forward.

As said we have nothing to lose in trying different things this game.

Austin kicked a bag a couple of weeks ago so can convert.

 

[puppy_dog7]

well.. Carlisle not coming back. Just confirmed saturday was his last game for the season

 

[CaptainRisky]

Austin kicked a bag a couple of weeks ago so can convert.

And plays similar to Jake --Loose . but can take intercept marks as he has done in the past , I think there could be a few wildcard selections this week , nothing to lose

 

[SaintsSeptember]

JWeb has only been in full training the last 4-6 weeks after an injury I think. Looks fit and was named in the bests in the last scratch match highlighting his precision kicking. If fit and in form, out of Savage and Jimmy I would go with Jimmy. Harder at the ball, better defensively and hits up targets. Not bagging out Savage by saying this. I just rate JWeb highly

I think Webster came out of the side during 2019, needing hand surgery.
During 2019 he came back into the VFL but didn't get back into AFL.

Back and Hamstring issues this year.

 

[kernelT]

I wonder if that was Jake's last game for us.

 

[puppy_dog7]

I wonder if that was Jake's last game for us.

read somewhere that apparently we've offered him a contract. So unless he wants to leave I'd say he'll be staying

 

[jwikked]

I wonder if that was Jake's last game for us.

Hope not. We'd be mad to let him walk.

 

[BrutThough]

Austin kicked a bag a couple of weeks ago so can convert.

How quick is he?

Imagine him coming in for his first game in two years, the nobody we ended up with in 2017 after being promised a big fish, he's swung forward and kicks a bag to win us the game.

Even in 2020, that would just be wild.