Preview AFL Round 19 - Geelong v Melbourne, Skilled Stadium, 2:10PM Saturday 30 July

[AM]

Team is taking shape.

Eventually we could see...

Podsiadly for Mooney
Vardy for West
Menzel for Wojcinski

T Hunt, J Hunt and Wojcinski are all worthy but none will force Milburn out merely on pace. If any of them were superb one-on-one defenders they'd have a better case.

I reckon Moons will spend most of his time as a high forward this week cos his body and fitness won't allow him to cover the ground necessary these days at CHF. Throw in that high forward is Pods preferred position due to him not being strong below the knees and Tomahawk fires at CHF the match committee might find it hard to find a spot for Pods. Hmmm!

 

[winty]

In: Mooney Johnson Ling Ottens
Out: Podsiadly (soreness) J Hunt (back) Byrnes (calf) Cowan

Wonder if that was a result of quite a few posters on here jumping on his back in recent weeks.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

Taylor Hunt playing?

 

[Vdubs]

Just on Menzel, I understand it is back related, if so need to be cautious. The player he reminds me of, Paul Lynch, had disastrous luck with back related hamstrings. We want the comparisons to end with smooth approach to game!

Was a huge Lynchy fan, but he is a different animal to Menzel. Menzel has that SJ type kicking action, acutely across his body, and if susceptible, could predispose him to hip problems.

 

[yc168]

Yep gonna be an awesome game, can't wait to see mooney back in action!

 

[bing181]

If I was a Melbourne supporter I'd also be very critical of Sylvia, Rivers even some of the younger more talented players of Jones, Bate just haven't gone from being gun players to leaders and constantly pushing themselves when things are not going the teams way.

With you on Sylvia, Bate is an honest tryer probably nothing more, but disagree on Jones and Rivers. Rivers is very much the backline general (much as it might seem otherwise from outside looking in), and Jones, while not being a megastar, is consistent in his game and in taking responsibility.

Whether any of that will help on Saturday, is a moot point ...

 

[JUBJUB]

Taylor Hunt playing?

Must've had to spin the wheel this week as he's not playing in the magoos either

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I reckon Moons will spend most of his time as a high forward this week cos his body and fitness won't allow him to cover the ground necessary these days at CHF. Throw in that high forward is Pods preferred position due to him not being strong below the knees and Tomahawk fires at CHF the match committee might find it hard to find a spot for Pods. Hmmm!

I didn't know you were so good with jokes Ammo

 

[AM]

I didn't know you were so good with jokes Ammo

I just feel a pressing need to give the 'Podsyolics' a gentle prod every now and again in order to retain a semblance of balance here. As their devoted leader and chief spokesman I knew you'd leap to the great Pods defence and attend to my flippancy in one fell swoop.

Oh, and no sense of humour you say.......

A husband and wife were sitting watching a TV program about psychology and mixed emotions when he turned to his wife and said,
"Honey, that's a bunch of crap; I bet you can't tell me anything that will make me happy and sad at the same time."
She said, "You have the biggest penis of all your friends."

 

[Exhale You]

In all seriousness, what do we do if Moons stars tomorrow and Tommy keeps up his recent solid form?

To me there's only two scenarios, one i don't want to see happen and the other i don't think we'll see happen.
The first is to return to the three tall forward setup, and the second is to drop someone who is undeserving of such a fate.

It's probably not worth worrying about until/if it happens, but i've just got this nagging feeling we might, should Moons get through okay, return to the three tall forward setup and i really don't think that's sustainable.

 

[witsend]

In all seriousness, what do we do if Moons stars tomorrow and Tommy keeps up his recent solid form?

To me there's only two scenarios, one i don't want to see happen and the other i don't think we'll see happen.
The first is to return to the three tall forward setup, and the second is to drop someone who is undeserving of such a fate.

It's probably not worth worrying about until/if it happens, but i've just got this nagging feeling we might, should Moons get through okay, return to the three tall forward setup and i really don't think that's sustainable.

So Moons and Hawkins play Ruckman no 2. It will be a 4 tall setup. Ottens and 3 of Hawkins, Moons, Vardy, West and Simpson, dependent on form.

 

[Exhale You]

So Moons and Hawkins play Ruckman no 2. It will be a 4 tall setup. Ottens and 3 of Hawkins, Moons, Vardy, West and Simpson, dependent on form.

I don't like that at all.
If you've got Mooney and Pods forward, and then you've got Hawkins and Ottens as the ruckmen, you're either going to be one down on the bench or be forced to clog the forward line.
Obviously there are times when you can exploit an opposition defence with three talls, but i don't think it's sustainable long term.

And that's the best case scenario because for me, if we're playing four tall forwards/rucks, there's no spot in that group for a strict, ruckman only type, so that discounts Dawse, and i don't want Trent West playing forward in finals, either.

I don't know what the solution is because i want Moons playing (and don't want him rucking or in defence), but at the same time, i like a setup of Pods and Hawkins forward, Ottens rucking with Hawkins and Ottens alternating when Otto needs a rest.
That way we'd be able to give Otto a spell whilst still maintaining a maximum midfield rotation off the bench.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

In all seriousness, what do we do if Moons stars tomorrow and Tommy keeps up his recent solid form?

To me there's only two scenarios, one i don't want to see happen and the other i don't think we'll see happen.
The first is to return to the three tall forward setup, and the second is to drop someone who is undeserving of such a fate.

It's probably not worth worrying about until/if it happens, but i've just got this nagging feeling we might, should Moons get through okay, return to the three tall forward setup and i really don't think that's sustainable.

Pods won't get dropped, no chance, and Hawkins shouldn't be.

The scenario that will happen if Moons hits form is that Hawkins will become the second ruckman, we will play 4 talls, and Mooney will replace Vardy/West.

I don't want that to happen, partly because it's bad for Tom's development when he's starting to play well as a forward, but partly because I think we're better off with the 2 ruckmen and 2 tall forwards rather than 3 tall forwards and one ruckman.

To be honest Scott is going to have to do a pretty big backflip to include Moons no matter how well he plays. I say that because playing 3 talls all year has increased the load considerably on our two most hard to replace players (obviously Scarlett's in front of them though when it comes to being utterly irreplacable) Ottens and Pods, which on the face of it doesn't seem like a smart idea. So the obvious and fairly reasonable assumption is that Scott has been doing it all year because he's concerned about our forward pressure and ability to cover the ground if we play the extra tall, therefore if he was to play Mooney now it would be an admission that that strategy wasn't right then and isn't right now. That said, they're playing West this weekend as well so maybe they are re-thinking the strategy and thinking of the extra tall.

Either way I think it will be very hard for Moons to get a spot even if his body holds up, which is still a pretty dicey proposition at this stage.

 

[goyoucatters]

Was a huge Lynchy fan, but he is a different animal to Menzel. Menzel has that SJ type kicking action, acutely across his body, and if susceptible, could predispose him to hip problems.

According to Balmey on SEN, Menz has issues with his ribs.

Could be missing a couple to a few more by the sounds of it.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

With you on Sylvia, Bate is an honest tryer probably nothing more, but disagree on Jones and Rivers. Rivers is very much the backline general (much as it might seem otherwise from outside looking in), and Jones, while not being a megastar, is consistent in his game and in taking responsibility.

Whether any of that will help on Saturday, is a moot point ...

Sylvia should play on Kelly this week and be told to run with him the entire match and nullify his influence, he'd get a good indication of what it takes to become truly elite. Jones well..you know more than me but am pretty confident he'll get the hardball here and there but won't push himself as hard as some of the other 23 year olds making a name for themselves in the game. Actually would be pretty interesting to see Christensen play on Jones, the new kid has something special although outweighed 6 or 7kg more than others in his position

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I don't like that at all.
If you've got Mooney and Pods forward, and then you've got Hawkins and Ottens as the ruckmen, you're either going to be one down on the bench or be forced to clog the forward line.
Obviously there are times when you can exploit an opposition defence with three talls, but i don't think it's sustainable long term.

And that's the best case scenario because for me, if we're playing four tall forwards/rucks, there's no spot in that group for a strict, ruckman only type, so that discounts Dawse, and i don't want Trent West playing forward in finals, either.

I don't know what the solution is because i want Moons playing (and don't want him rucking or in defence), but at the same time, i like a setup of Pods and Hawkins forward, Ottens rucking with Hawkins and Ottens alternating when Otto needs a rest.

That way we'd be able to give Otto a spell whilst still maintaining a maximum midfield rotation off the bench.

Firstly I don't really think the benefit of squeezing Moons in outweighs the negative of watching Kreuzer give Carlton an armchair ride at the bounces while Hawk continually mistimes it and outjumps himself, but anyway let's assume that's not a problem, the structure still only works if Moons had the mobility to reprise his 2007 role (high half forward leading up to the wings type stuff, mark, usually below the knees, give and go etc). Now I recognise we're not playing through the corridor nearly as much as we used to but the reality is if we're going to play three talls one of them needs to spend the majority of the time leading between the 50 arcs, even if that is largely up the flanks. Moons, based on his own comments, probably can't cover the ground to do this anymore, I'm not sure Hawkins is fit enough to do it and while Pods might be, his best asset (contested marking) is to a certain degree wasted in that role. It seems to me that we have three tall forwards we are discussing who are probably all a good fit for a deep forward role (although Pods is clearly the best of them at the moment, Hawkins has been showing good signs there and Mooney we will see) but none are a good fit for a high forward role.

While I do think we need the fourth tall the structure only works if one of them can be effective at roaming the arcs, and ensuring that if a tall takes a mark at half back (be it Pods or whoever), they've got an option to kick it to that doesn't involve sitting it on Stokes' head. I actually thought Vardy showed some reasonable signs leading high around the ground and getting involved, but as is understandable for a young tall he's tapered off since then.

It's a conundrum because we really need the fourth tall I think, but we haven't got anyone who's an ideal fit for a high leading role to make it work well.

 

[AM]

Hawkins has all the attributes to play a high forward role. Pods is not suited to that role because he is weak below the knees and Moons doesn't have the physical capacity to play that role consistently anymore

Whether Moons holds his place as a deep forward depends on his form and whether the match committee decide to go with three talls in the forward half. Something Chris has said the match committee is yet to take a definitive position on. Clearly, the best structure for the forward half is the one weighing most heavily on their mind.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hawkins has all the attributes to play a high forward role. Pods is not suited to that role because he is weak below the knees and Moons doesn't have the physical capacity to play that role consistently anymore

Whether Moons holds his place as a deep forward depends on his form and whether the match committee decide to go with three talls in the forward half. Something Chris has said the match committee is yet to take a definitive position on. Clearly, the best structure for the forward half is the one weighing most heavily on their mind.

He does, when a) he gets enough of an injury un-interrupted run to develop top shelf endurance and b) the willingness to hit packs single mindedly at the footy without propping (and giving the defender time to get the spoil in). At this point he wouldn't be a guaranteed success in the role until he fixes those things.

But yes, I agree with you he is more suited to the role than the other two, who are most definitely not suited to it for the reasons you indicated.

Moons place is up in the air both based on whether his body holds up, and how many talls they want. I suspect they'll revert from 4 to 3 at some stage but we'll see.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I just feel a pressing need to give the 'Podsyolics' a gentle prod every now and again in order to retain a semblance of balance here. As their devoted leader and chief spokesman I knew you'd leap to the great Pods defence and attend to my flippancy in one fell swoop.

Oh, and no sense of humour you say.......

A husband and wife were sitting watching a TV program about psychology and mixed emotions when he turned to his wife and said,
"Honey, that's a bunch of crap; I bet you can't tell me anything that will make me happy and sad at the same time."
She said, "You have the biggest penis of all your friends."

No probs Ammo, happy to assist.

I've gotta say my greatest joy so far of this year to last is not having to worry about whether a certain bloke's name will make the team sheet each thursday, now I can just take it as pretty much a given.

 

[Vdubs]

No probs Ammo, happy to assist.

I've gotta say my greatest joy so far of this year to last is not having to worry about whether a certain bloke's name will make the team sheet each thursday, now I can just take it as pretty much a given.

And to think I thought you'd gone off Trav!

 

[Pure_Ownage]

And to think I thought you'd gone off Trav!

Haha. Will pay that. Good call.

 

[Renegade]

I'm off to the game today, first time for about 2 years. Pumped!

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

I'm off to the game today, first time for about 2 years. Pumped!

Stevie J will boot 7 goals today, put money on that and thank me later

 

[SJ]

Continue match discussion here.