Unofficial Preview Changes & discussion v Crows

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Begs the question; has there ever been an AFL squad in the history of the game that has players out with an ACL irrespective of the players return?

I know a lot of people like to say when predicting teams for the following year that we’ll have certain players back, but 5 x players with ACL’s is pretty tenuous that all will get back to anything close to their best in that first year back. Maybe Ash gets back to something resembling pre ACL form next year but I wouldn’t be holding my breath on the other four.
 

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Begs the question; has there ever been an AFL squad in the history of the game that has players out with an ACL irrespective of the players return?

I know a lot of people like to say when predicting teams for the following year that we’ll have certain players back, but 5 x players with ACL’s is pretty tenuous that all will get back to anything close to their best in that first year back. Maybe Ash gets back to something resembling pre ACL form next year but I wouldn’t be holding my breath on the other four.

Yep this is the massive concern and especially for Linc. At his age, a year recovery followed by another year to get back to his best. ACLs generally take two years to recover from completely, so Linc’s is just terrible.
 
From the named team last week.

Outs: Starce, McCarthy, Gardiner, Answerth.

Ins: Brain, Sharp, Morris, hopefully AhChee.
And Tunstill for Sub.

Can’t bring Lyons back in against Adelaide in Adelaide, cardinal sin. Everyone who played last night will struggle to run out the game so we don’t need one who can’t run out a quarter.
 
I’d go the following and bring in any experience we can:

In Prior, Ryan and Starcevich / Ah Chee if either can get up (not a huge fan but Tunstill if the other two don’t get up)
Out Answerth, McCarthy, Gardiner

Morris as sub - they boy must be knackered.

If only Dev and Zac were available
 
Will be interesting to see ZoBlitz's breakdown on wing attendance, but I get the feeling Fletcher and Berry were both rotating off half back with Fletcher spending some time on the wing and Berry in the middle. Looked like Sharp spent most of the time on one wing, and Reville/Fletcher rotating on the other.

From the named team last week.

Outs: Starce, McCarthy, Gardiner, Answerth.

Ins: Brain, Sharp, Morris, hopefully AhChee.
And Tunstill for Sub.

Can’t bring Lyons back in against Adelaide in Adelaide, cardinal sin. Everyone who played last night will struggle to run out the game so we don’t need one who can’t run out a quarter.

I do agree these are the changes I would like to see though. I can see the match committee temptation to bring in Prior, but Brain has earnt his shot with how he's performed in the reserves.
 

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Will be an interesting game this one. Crom are having the same issues as us. Their forward 50 entries have been low quality and their forwards are simply not doing enough to create opportunities. They're 14th in the competition in scores per inside 50 (41%), 13th in forward half intercepts (20) and 17th in points from forward half intercepts (18.1).

Coming up against our back group will be a huge challenge for them no doubt. Harris and Frog deserve as much recognition as we can give them this season. We are fifth in the AFL in points against from turnover (42.7), and second in turnover to score against percentage (16%). We are ranked 14th in the competition in points against. Despite injuries and disruptions, they have kept that group running crisp. Real genuine leadership there.

Where Crom are strong is defending. They have conceded 43.3 points from turnover this season so far (ranked sixth in the AFL). We'll need to be patient with the ball and pick through their set-up, I'm confident in our ability to do this. We picked Melbourne apart at the MCG not that long ago. If we begin losing the stoppage/clearance game and we revert to rushing and blazing away, they'll simply create turnovers and run through us all night.

Crom are currently ranked 6th this year in corridor use compared to 10th last year. They have clearly been given a message to be more daring coming out of defense. That dare doesn't seem to be translating to other areas of the ground for them however, so where this will be won or lost for us is whether our forward group is up to playing our trademark pressure game or not. If we can do that, I can't see us not generating enough opportunity to win.

Whether we capitalise on that or not is the mystery of 2024 for us...

---

Assuming Starce doesn't get up.

Gardiner - Morris
Linc - Ah Chee (strong marking presence, will apply forward 50 pressure)
Answerth - Sharp (Sharp to play up the wing and Wilmot to stay back)
Starce - Prior (I see the temptation to debut Brain but Prior has experience)

Can't help but feel Bailey and Dev Rob would be handy right about now. Still confident in the team we have though.
 
Will be an interesting game this one. Crom are having the same issues as us. Their forward 50 entries have been low quality and their forwards are simply not doing enough to create opportunities. They're 14th in the competition in scores per inside 50 (41%), 13th in forward half intercepts (20) and 17th in points from forward half intercepts (18.1).

Coming up against our back group will be a huge challenge for them no doubt. Harris and Frog deserve as much recognition as we can give them this season. We are fifth in the AFL in points against from turnover (42.7), and second in turnover to score against percentage (16%). We are ranked 14th in the competition in points against. Despite injuries and disruptions, they have kept that group running crisp. Real genuine leadership there.

Where Crom are strong is defending. They have conceded 43.3 points from turnover this season so far (ranked sixth in the AFL). We'll need to be patient with the ball and pick through their set-up, I'm confident in our ability to do this. We picked Melbourne apart at the MCG not that long ago. If we begin losing the stoppage/clearance game and we revert to rushing and blazing away, they'll simply create turnovers and run through us all night.

Crom are currently ranked 6th this year in corridor use compared to 10th last year. They have clearly been given a message to be more daring coming out of defense. That dare doesn't seem to be translating to other areas of the ground for them however, so where this will be won or lost for us is whether our forward group is up to playing our trademark pressure game or not. If we can do that, I can't see us not generating enough opportunity to win.

Whether we capitalise on that or not is the mystery of 2024 for us...

---

Assuming Starce doesn't get up.

Gardiner - Morris
Linc - Ah Chee (strong marking presence, will apply forward 50 pressure)
Answerth - Sharp (Sharp to play up the wing and Wilmot to stay back)
Starce - Prior (I see the temptation to debut Brain but Prior has experience)

Can't help but feel Bailey and Dev Rob would be handy right about now. Still confident in the team we have though.
Agree with all except Prior. I'm a fan of his but he has been ordinary in the VFL. Brain continues to impress and is another good kick to help improve our disposal efficiency. Reville's kicking last night was excellent.
 
Agree with all except Prior. I'm a fan of his but he has been ordinary in the VFL. Brain continues to impress and is another good kick to help improve our disposal efficiency. Reville's kicking last night was excellent.
Fair point! I always am cautious when comparing VFL form to AFL potential. We've not seen Brain, yet we have seen Prior play exceptional football at AFL level many times. I wouldn't be upset to see Brain debut though.
 
Agree with all except Prior. I'm a fan of his but he has been ordinary in the VFL. Brain continues to impress and is another good kick to help improve our disposal efficiency. Reville's kicking last night was excellent.

And Prior can't defend. Whoever comes in could get the Rankine matchup
 
Beating the Crows at home will be a big task under the circumstances.
With our injuries we really are getting thin on replacements.
We need to be careful and not have too many inexperienced players running around v Crows at AO.
After watching Sharp this year in the VFL and his game yesterday i think he has turned the corner as an AFL player.
He needs to keep showing stuff like that goal and keep his disposals numbers and pressure up and he could keep that spot.

If Starcevich can somehow make it and Ah Chee available that will help.

The team below is about how we lined up on Sunday evening.
In brackets my thoughts on replacements.

[43] Noah Answerth (Starcevich/Ah-Chee/Prior/Brain),[40] Jack Payne,[35] Ryan Lester

[44] Darcy Wilmot,[31] Harris Andrews,[15] Dayne Zorko


[28] Jaspa Fletcher,[6] Hugh McCluggage,[38] Bruce Reville


[23] Charlie Cameron,[30] Eric Hipwood,[16] Cam Rayner

[11] Lincoln McCarthy (Ah-Chee/Lyons/Tunstill),[3] Joe Daniher,[27] Darcy Gardiner (Morris)

[46] Oscar McInerney,[5] Josh Dunkley,[9] Lachie Neale

I/C: [1] Kai Lohmann,[7] Jarrod Berry,, [26] Conor McKenna,[22] Harry Sharp

SUB:[13] Logan Morris
 
You would think Tunstill and Prior would be in line for a call up. Do we have any ther guys who can play small forward in the VFL?

How's Madden going in reserves. He could be an option with a simple job - use all your pace, put pressure and make sure no one gets a clean possession from D50.
 
Huge game.

I still think this year is doomed, increasingly so with 4 out permanently with ACLs. It means if we have 2-3 out at any given time we really have 6-7.

BUT if we win this week, we will start to get some players back and be 6-5 by the bye.

I'm assuming Answerth is out even though he apparently didn't actually have concussion. And assuming Ah Chee is fine given it was a one weeker that happened last Thursday. But we'd want to be careful with him given his history. Also assuming starce out although haven't heard about his calf, anyone hear what Fagan said?

OUT Linc IN Ah Chee. Play like for like, all about tackling pressure, linking up attack, good set shots!

OUT Gardiner IN Morris. I am assuming Morrison pulls up okay! If not, Brandon Ryan.

OUT Answerth IN Brain. Bit of a gamble here. Must admit i don't know how much he can lock down given the crafty crows small forwards, but i don't really rate Prior's ability to be lockdown on pacey players, and Madden is injured

Sharp to the 22, Tunstill to sub


FB: McKenna Payne Wilmot
HB: Zorko Andrews Lester
C: Fletcher Dunkley Berry
HF: Lohman Hipwood Rayner
F: Morris Daniher Cameron
F: Mcinerney Neale McCluggage

IC: Sharp (wing) Reville (mid) Brain (back) Ah Chee (forward)

Sub: Tunstill

Emerg: Lyons / Tunstilll

I am slightly wary of having so much inexperience. I would not play Lyons as we are not missing mids apart from Ashcroft and that's Lyons' only position.

We also blend in the newbies - Morris forward, Reville mid, Brain back.

We still have off the top of my head 14 100 gamers in the side.

But a win in Adelaide would be pretty impressive. We have outs including:

Best 23: Ashcroft, McCarthy, Doedee, Coleman, Gardiner, Bailey, Starcevich, Answerth 8 players
Borderline best 23: Roberston

Crows have Thilthorpe out. Maybe Pedlar is best 22?
 
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