AFL Round 14 Melbourne V Brisbane Lions Official Thread

[Hollow Knight]

Welcome back Braddles

Nathan Carroll just logged on to BigFooty to check the teams. He is now curled up on the floor, gently rocking back and forth in the fetal position, sobbing quietly.

 

[Hollow Knight]

What's wrong with Merrett? I haven't heard he was injured?

Have you applied for the private board? We put training reports there.

At training yesterday, Merrett sat out most of the session with ice on his knee.

He said he was all good though (may have just been avoiding a very fired up Lethal)... so we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Grimreepah]

We seem to have a debutante every week.

By the way, don't listen to Browndog.

 

[Hollow Knight]

By the way, don't listen to Browndog.

Or the Australian Cricket Selectors.

 

[Grimreepah]

Or the Australian Cricket Selectors.

Don't listen to Weevil either.

 

[CoZi36]

Nathan Carroll just logged on to BigFooty to check the teams. He is now curled up on the floor, gently rocking back and forth in the fetal position, sobbing quietly.

Haha, Carroll is an emergency though .

 

[madvass]

Have you applied for the private board?

I did about a week ago but aint heard nothing since. Thanks

 

[JasRulz63]

We have a private board

 

[Hollow Knight]

I did about a week ago but aint heard nothing since. Thanks

Lousy, good for nothing mods. *











*Watch them magically appear now.

 

[Hollow Knight]

We have a private board

Yep, details here.

 

[Old Den]

I did about a week ago but aint heard nothing since. Thanks

Ditto for me

 

[BigCat2]

Good to see Clouston named. I think he'll get a game as rarely are rookies elevated only to be cut from the final team.

Copeland is retained (named in a forward pocket) even with the return of Bradshaw, interesting.

Looking at the extended 7 man bench:
Collier
Clouston
Hooper
Polkinghorne
Stiller
Johnstone
Selwood

I think Hooper, Johnstone and Collier are safe from that list. If Clouston is retained then it means Polkinghorne, Stiller and Selwood go out. With the club's recent regular selection of Selwood though I wouldn't be surprised to see Copeland miss the cut, even though he's named in the run on side.

 

[JasRulz63]

Yep, details here.

Thanks

 

[Ray Button]

If Clouston is retained then it means Polkinghorne, Stiller and Selwood go out. With the club's recent regular selection of Selwood though I wouldn't be surprised to see Copeland miss the cut, even though he's named in the run on side.

Maybe the selectors figure that Melbourne doesn't have anyone that requires tagging out of the game, or possibly that Sherman can do that job?

 

[Hollow Knight]

Maybe the selectors figure that Melbourne doesn't have anyone that requires tagging out of the game, or possibly that Sherman can do that job?

Would be dangerous to let Jones and McLean have a free run.

 

[Grimreepah]

Melbourne's defence looks very vulnerable to say the least. Can't help thinking they're going to play a few loose men.

 

[campbell]

Good to see Clouston named. I think he'll get a game as rarely are rookies elevated only to be cut from the final team.

Copeland is retained (named in a forward pocket) even with the return of Bradshaw, interesting.

Looking at the extended 7 man bench:
Collier
Clouston
Hooper
Polkinghorne
Stiller
Johnstone
Selwood

I think Hooper, Johnstone and Collier are safe from that list. If Clouston is retained then it means Polkinghorne, Stiller and Selwood go out. With the club's recent regular selection of Selwood though I wouldn't be surprised to see Copeland miss the cut, even though he's named in the run on side.

Is Johnstone over his injury?

 

[Quigley]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quigley
Promote - Begley
Rookies retained for third year - Clousten and Tippett. They have changed it so that you can now retain rookies for a third year without delisting them although I am not sure if that was only one per club or not. I will assume not. Clousten and Tippett are both key positions and have shown good ability at stages this year. In fact Clousten would be close to being our reserve FB. Garner I think is young enough to be rookied for a second year for his elite kicking skills if nothing else.

Right on the money there Quigley - very encouraging for those of us(which includes me) who would like to see him permanently elevated or retained on the rookie list at season's end(if permitted)

Clousten has also been kicking goals in the reserves so I think he provides coverage at both ends with some injury concerns coming into the match over Merrett, Bradshaw and Brown. Looking at that bench I would expect Clousten to only play if one of those guys doesn't come up and I wouldn't mind betting that one is in serious doubt. The Lions don't usually promote a player and not play them.

Johnstone (if fit) and Hooper seem to be certs to play. Collier is coming off a good first up performance and Leigh reiterated during the week that he likes to play debutants at least two weeks in a row no matter how they play so you would expect him to play. Selwood has also done a pretty good job the last few weeks so he would have to be unlucky to be dropped. The only thing with Selwood is that Leigh might decide that he only needs one run with player (and Copeland as a backup) against the Demons and it is an opportunity to see how the young guys go.

 

[Cousin Jed]

Some quality posts in this thread. Very interesting to see Scotty named.

 

[POBT]

To play devil's advocate, how safe is Hooper? 2 goals in 4 weeks and fairly ordinary disposal numbers too. Defensive workrate is high as usual but he's not hurting the opposition when we've got the ball. Keeping in mind that TJ was named in a forward pocket before being withdrawn, is there a chance that Corrie and TJ will line up inside 50 with Hooper missing out?

 

[Hollow Knight]

To play devil's advocate, how safe is Hooper? 2 goals in 4 weeks and fairly ordinary disposal numbers too. Defensive workrate is high as usual but he's not hurting the opposition when we've got the ball. Keeping in mind that TJ was named in a forward pocket before being withdrawn, is there a chance that Corrie and TJ will line up inside 50 with Hooper missing out?

I was saying the same in conversation at training yesterday. We need more offensive output from Hooper. Can't fault his defensive efforts but at the end of the day, he is there to be an offensive weapon.

He had a field day against the Demons last time we played them, maybe this is the game to re-ignite his season.

 

[dlanod]

Looking at the extended 7 man bench:
Collier
Clouston
Hooper
Polkinghorne
Stiller
Johnstone
Selwood

I think Hooper, Johnstone and Collier are safe from that list. If Clouston is retained then it means Polkinghorne, Stiller and Selwood go out. With the club's recent regular selection of Selwood though I wouldn't be surprised to see Copeland miss the cut, even though he's named in the run on side.

I can only see Clouston making it in if he's replacing a KPP (although I've been wrong before) in a direct swap. I suspect two of Stiller, Selwood and Copeland will remain, and given our recent history probably Stiller will miss out.

 

[Cousin Jed]

To play devil's advocate, how safe is Hooper? 2 goals in 4 weeks and fairly ordinary disposal numbers too. Defensive workrate is high as usual but he's not hurting the opposition when we've got the ball. Keeping in mind that TJ was named in a forward pocket before being withdrawn, is there a chance that Corrie and TJ will line up inside 50 with Hooper missing out?

I was thinking before last week's game that his place should be in danger. He certainly doesn't seem to be the dangerous player we saw last year.

 

[Quigley]

To play devil's advocate, how safe is Hooper? 2 goals in 4 weeks and fairly ordinary disposal numbers too. Defensive workrate is high as usual but he's not hurting the opposition when we've got the ball. Keeping in mind that TJ was named in a forward pocket before being withdrawn, is there a chance that Corrie and TJ will line up inside 50 with Hooper missing out?

The thing is though that his defensive effort adds so much to our structure and game plan. That pressure coming from the front half makes things happen and should not be underestimated.

The issue I think is that Corrie is playing that float back role that we saw Hooper play so effectively at the end of last year. The Lions can't have both back too far and Hooper is the one who is having to hold the fort further up the ground. Notwithstanding that though I would like to see him get more of it.

 

[POBT]

The other thing possibly in Hooper's favour is that he had his best game of the year against Melbourne last time.

I wouldn't be totally surprised if he misses out, to be honest. I fully recognise the structural importance of his defensive pressure but recently I've been wondering if his obvious endeavour has meant that we haven't looked at his effectiveness as a player as closely as we should. There were at least 2 examples last week where he was totally out of position for a crumber. If he was simply following team orders and had kept to his structural role, then fine but I reckon the coaching staff expect him to get to dangerous positions more often.

I'm not saying that he has been terrible but there's a bit of pressure on for spots at the moment. That might cost him.