Unofficial Preview Changes / discussion v Bombers Round 9

[Section 5]

We won and won easily so no unforced changes are likely.

Coleman is either a cramp or a slight hamstring injury that he has had before.
Ashcroft was quiet so maybe a week off will do him good as it is a long season. You don't win premierships in May.

I think Cockatoo is looking good in the VFL.
No getting a heap of stats like some but what he does will translate to AFL level.

 

[knaf]

Prior would have wanted to put up a better performance today in the VFL to put some pressure on the selectors, thought he was fairly invisible.

On todays form in the VFL, some bloke called Archie would be a better option.

 

[SizeMatters]

Personally I think we are a better side without Richy now, he is past his best, puts in the occasional good performance but they are few and far between these days, I would give Prior a permanent crack at that role, he could grow into much like Payne did his.

He isn't getting dropped though.

Very interesting to see most sink the boot into daicos for his apparent easy touches from kick in play ons yet rich prob gets 8-10 touches a game doing this… nothing from here on it but he’s a club champion. Rich would be a good sub imo. Unleash him on the attacking wing in the last quarter.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Very interesting to see most sink the boot into daicos for his apparent easy touches from kick in play ons yet rich prob gets 8-10 touches a game doing this… nothing from here on it but he’s a club champion. Rich would be a good sub imo. Unleash him on the attacking wing in the last quarter.

One is being referred to as a good half back distributor the other as a certain brownlow medallist and God. Some perspective is required

 

[Doc Hattori]

Yes, on TV you also miss much of what players do off the ball and I would say Answerth and Sharp contributed a lot to our pressure around the ground being so good, very hard to come in for one off games and settle straight in, you need a run of games to get up to AFL pace... anyone at the game live notice them?

Yep Sharp especially played much better on TV with his ability to run both ways. I would give him another game & see what he can produce. Only option for Prior (who I rate) is to drop Wilmott the cult figure. Definitely play Answerth next week given Bombers small fwds. Lester was fine, so his spot depends on match ups. Rayner, Wilmott & Oscar should be the ones under the pump.

 

[briztoon]

Listening SEN on the way home, and Zorko was special commentator for the GC game, and he mentioned he hopes to back for the Essendon game.

 

[Elixuh]

Listening SEN on the way home, and Zorko was special commentator for the GC game, and he mentioned he hopes to back for the Essendon game.

Yeah only on the very minor end.

 

[Dalions]

Listening SEN on the way home, and Zorko was special commentator for the GC game, and he mentioned he hopes to back for the Essendon game.

Surely with his history, they give him another week at least.

 

[Ray Button]

I couldn't work out from the telecast who Saad was on for most of the game (or vice versa). Zac looked to be on him a bit, but although Saad made a few upfield runs with the ball he didn't seem to get away too often.
Not a hugh influence on the game.

 

[briztoon]

I couldn't work out from the telecast who Saad was on for most of the game (or vice versa). Zac looked to be on him a bit, but although Saad made a few upfield runs with the ball he didn't seem to get away too often.
Not a hugh influence on the game.

Thought Charlie for a fair bit in the second half.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Nunez I get you're trying to pump him up at every opportunity and good on you for that but being realistic Ah Chee and Prior are a long way ahead of him imo. He looked to play better once the team got into full swing . He didn't give up ,so there were positives . But he gets brushed aside far too easily at this point. It was a big ask for him last night and no knock on him other than we have better players on the list.

Answerth I just can't have at all on the role they seem to have annointed him for. Far too sloppy. Once again not questioning his effort.

Gunston did some better things last night but again really hurts us the other way . He's way too slow .Everyone at the club keeps pumping him up and I suppose he'll kick 5 or 6 one day. We have a run of what looks like easier games so I guess we'll stick and those players ,well there's no hope of Gunston ever getting replaced ,should improve a bit. But I'd rather put time into players we know are competitive in high level pressure games like Ah Chee and Prior. Even Dev was good in finals last year.

Wilmot and Ashcroft are looking a bit tired but young guys can bounce back quickly with a quiet week .

We're here to give opinions and they're mine. Happy for fans to get behind players which we do at every game but part of what we do is analysing our best fits and being realistic isn't necessarily being unsupportive.

Apart from that if there were no changes ,as I expect , they'll probably go ok ,I just don't see them at the level required at the pointy end. If I was one of those missing out I'd be a bit miffed.

Love to get Fort in next week but likewise see little hope of that.

I agree with every word of this post. Great analysis!

 

[3KZ is Football]

Sharp had some good touches after the first quarter. Had a better game than Wilmot.

I reckon changes will depend on how the VFL boys go.

Hey Nunez. Under Fagan, team selection seldom, if ever, depends on how the VFL boys go.

 

[luthor]

surely they finally drop McCarthy, hasn't contributed much, would rather play rainer/bailey forward a bit more to cover his spot and bring in a Dev

I think you are showing a total lack of understanding of playing a role.

McCarthy has been an integral part of the defensive forward pressure we have been bringing over the last 4-5 weeks and he is nearly always good for a clutch goal, even if he's not kicking multiples.

Won't be dropped anytime soon.

 

[Elixuh]

Hey Nunez. Under Fagan, team selection seldom, if ever, depends on how the VFL boys go.

Of course it does. No team will indiscriminately bring in whoever is playing well. You have to bring in like for like insofar as you can unless you are willing to constantly change your structure.

 

[rye]

I couldn't work out from the telecast who Saad was on for most of the game (or vice versa). Zac looked to be on him a bit, but although Saad made a few upfield runs with the ball he didn't seem to get away too often.
Not a hugh influence on the game.

nearly every time he tried to run past for the handball receive from the man on the mark we had a player attached to his hip

very clear coaching instruction to curb his run and carry from half back

 

[luthor]

Of course it does. No team will indiscriminately bring in whoever is playing well. You have to bring in like for like insofar as you can unless you are willing to constantly change your structure.

Exactly.

It's not as simple as just bringing in the player or players who have been best on in the VFL last week, or even in the last three or four weeks.

The selection of Sharp over other more "experienced" VFL players was heavily criticized by some here, as was Answerth getting the nod.

Then there was the over the top criticism of these two players in the Game Day thread, like some were hoping they would go bad just so their own personal opinions of who "should" have been selected would be vindicated.

I'd say 5 wins in a row is a pretty good endorsement of the selection decisions made during the period.

Of course we can have opinions about what we would do as armchair experts but it always irks me when the game day thread turns into a "I told you so" competition, even as early as 5 or 10 minutes into the game.

How about letting the full game pan out before sinking the boot into the selections we don't like because of our our own prejudices?

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Hey Nunez. Under Fagan, team selection seldom, if ever, depends on how the VFL boys go.

True. Lester had been invisible in the VFL to start this season and somehow Fages picked him regardless. Getting beyond a joke now.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Was one of the best key forward games without a goal I'd seen (until he kicked one on the siren). His pure contest work was great.

He did shirk a marking contest at about 1 and a half minutes into the second quarter. Seconds before, Charlie showed how to do it .

There was also a time in the game where the Carlton backs marked everything and the only constant was Hippy was involved.

He wasn't bad overall but I was not impressed

 

[Elixuh]

True. Lester had been invisible in the VFL to start this season and somehow Fages picked him regardless. Getting beyond a joke now.

 

[luthor]

True. Lester had been invisible in the VFL to start this season and somehow Fages picked him regardless. Getting beyond a joke now.

Invisible Lester plucked to fill a need in the team, not because of his VFL form.

Does Fages have any clue what he's doing?

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Invisible Lester plucked to fill a need in the team, not because of his VFL form.

Does Fages have any clue what he's doing?

Couldn't agree more luthor.

We're talking about a guy who played a grand total of 4 games over the past two seasons (despite being fully fit almost that whole time), and yet Fagan rewarded him with another contract.

It's just unacceptable that Fagan would have pets like Lester.

I'm just glad Fages finally rewarded the form of some of our long-term VFL standouts in Sharp and Answerth. Hopefully a sign of him trending in the right direction.

 

[McIvor]

I don't worry about ins and outs anymore except when there are injuries. Like to pay back the Bombers for the COVID game loss!

I still maintain that we'd have won the game against the Bombers last year but for the brain fade at the selection table even accounting for the fact we had 8 or whatever outs to Covid. Leaving Matho out was plain dumb, but your right lets pay them back.

As for ins and outs - mine would be

Out - Sharp and Answerth - dropped
In - two of Ah Chee, Prior, Dev

It will be interesting if rest players older players the likes of Linc or just let him play - if they do, Kai could be getting close.

 

[rye]

i think the next step for sharp is to get accustomed to how much time he has at afl level

sometimes he overestimated it and got caught in a tackle, other times he kicked the ball when he probably should have ran and had a bounce and looked for a better option. this likely only comes with further exposure in the senior team.

the ground he covered and the spots he put himself in was very pleasing

 

[Mr Ripper]

I just want Harry to kick a goal at the Gabba.

 

[Grasshopper17]

nearly every time he tried to run past for the handball receive from the man on the mark we had a player attached to his hip

very clear coaching instruction to curb his run and carry from half back

Reckon Murray Davis has had/is having a massive impact on the attitudes of our forwards. It's been bloody outstanding, certainly since Round 3.

The tactics have been on point as well, but you still have to have players who actually want to do the job.