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It's good that it seems Ross and the selection panel have taken the root of only making changes in the case of injury, suspension or poor form. After a game like that nobody deserved to be dropped and nobody did (bar Ballantyne). It's going to be tough for some to get into the team this year.
 
It's good that it seems Ross and the selection panel have taken the root of only making changes in the case of injury, suspension or poor form. After a game like that nobody deserved to be dropped and nobody did (bar Ballantyne). It's going to be tough for some to get into the team this year.
Give it a few games, it will all even out in the wash.
 
To be fair, pressure acts isn’t a perfect measure. Players who play within congestion can rack up pressure acts, when the reality is, it’s easier to apply pressure if there’s 5 blokes within arms reach.
Yeah agreed. But a first gamer in Schultz who played almost exclusively in the forward line (similar to Ballas) still managed to get five times more PA than Ballas. As a leader/experienced player, shouldn’t Ballas be setting the example - my concern is he sets the wrong one - On match day and at the selection table (not Ballas fault but still not great). He’s getting by on past performances way more so than what he’s delivering at the moment / past few years. I love him, by its time to let him go.
 

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It's good that it seems Ross and the selection panel have taken the root of only making changes in the case of injury, suspension or poor form. After a game like that nobody deserved to be dropped and nobody did (bar Ballantyne). It's going to be tough for some to get into the team this year.
I might be on my own here, but I think 2-3 changes each game isn’t a bad thing. I think Hughes and Colyer were lucky to not get the chop. They were both very average - particularly Hughes’ turnovers. Winning shouldn’t gloss over the cracks. Keep everyone on their toes and reward those pushing for a place - although it’s hard when the proper WAFL season hasn’t started yet. Otherwise you run the risk of not rewarding good performance from the two’s and not having that exposure for them when injures do strike. You end up with a best 25 or so, instead of a best 30 or so.
 
When I watched the replay I got pretty angry with Ballas at the start of the game - the reasons for him being 'open' often weren't good ones. Please go and watch the first 8 minutes and focus on his performance, especially the passage when Alex Pearce runs through the middle of the ground and kicks to him in space but he drops it. Watch what he does from then on up until Tabs earns a HtB. If you don't come away from it thinking Ballas probably would have been dropped regardless I'd be very surprised. Thank god Brayshaw came in to help McCarthy. Pretty sure he was on the bench getting a serve after that, and Ross' comments about being too loyal seem to align. Everyone has an expiry date, I think it's time to call time like Danyle did last season.


When I watched the replay I got pretty angry with Ballas at the start of the game - the reasons for him being 'open' often weren't good ones. Please go and watch the first 8 minutes and focus on his performance, especially the passage when Alex Pearce runs through the middle of the ground and kicks to him in space but he drops it. Watch what he does from then on up until Tabs earns a HtB. If you don't come away from it thinking Ballas probably would have been dropped regardless I'd be very surprised. Thank god Brayshaw came in to help McCarthy. Pretty sure he was on the bench getting a serve after that, and Ross' comments about being too loyal seem to align. Everyone has an expiry date, I think it's time to call time like Danyle did last season.
Yeah alright fair point on reflection.He got free and could have kicked more goals is true. But so is the reason why he was free not being because of merit a couple of times. Modern footy with the structures is a bit weird that way. A bad turnover from defence and the player not following team instructions kicks a goal. My personal view its worth while for a forward to let his man run off once a game or so and stay forward as there seems to be goals kicked from that situation enough to warrant a gamble every now and then.
 
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Hughes killed Mason Wood. Colyer's all round pressure was great and his pace meant we wont nearly as slow in defence as we were in the preseason. There is more to football then stats and turnovers.
Our midfield killed theirs which rendered their forward line useless, pretty much.

I’ld day it’s a toss of a coin between Hughes and Duman as to who gets the nod. Hughes was terrible with ball in hand and swapping him out would send a message. But without the WAFL on, it’s hard for others to press their case.

Colyer was ok, but not sure he offers much more than Giro on game day, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to keep Colyer on his toes (both his JLTs were quite ordinary too) and expose Giro a bit more at AFL level. Crowden or North could also play a role.

I’m not having a pot shot at Hughes or Colyer, just saying that they were both quite ordinary in the game (imo Hughes more so than Colyer). And that just because we win, shouldn’t mean we don’t make changes... assuming there’s pressure in for spots - hard to really assess without WAFL form.
 
Hughes was terrible with ball in hand and swapping him out would send a message. But without the WAFL on, it’s hard for others to press their case.
No he wasn't. He made a few more mistakes than you'd want him to (mostly in Q1) but he also did arguably the best i50 kick of the day to Lobb, and at least another 3 really attacking kicks that led to scores. Read the ball well for the intercepts, took a couple of contested marks, did a great tackle that resulted in a turnover, put his body on the line a few times and whipped a couple of solid handballs out of congestion to the outside that got us moving. Not his best game but still a fair way ahead of what any of the other options for that role showed during JLT or at Peel from what I've heard.

Colyer's quick handball on the wing to BHill was a thing of beauty. Earned a spot in my mind just for that. But yeah he'll want to keep improving as well. Think both he and Hughes look better when they are aggressive at the ball and play with instinct. They make mistakes when they over think things imo.
 
I’m not sure why there is so much criticism of Hughes and suggestions he should be dropped.

Watching the game from the stands he positioned really well, was accountable and found a bit of the ball. He fumbled and cost us an early goal and may have turned it over a bit but he looked better and better as the game went on.

You can’t expect the guys to take the game on and then drop them when they turn the ball over. I heard this week that we averaged around 10 possessions per scoring shot. When it comes off it is electric and a joy to watch. They’ve all earned their spots this week in my opinion.
 
Cerra playing in the backline for me is like taking the Ferrari to do the weekly shopping, put in the midfield rotations
and it opens up a spot for a defender.
What concerns me is the development of Cox. Logue, Duman, Nyhius can fight for Cerra's spot.
But what do we do with Cox?
We have plenty of cover for KP injury, loss of form, maybe Ross needs to rest players more often during the year?
Losing players at the business end has derailed two of our campaigns before, player management could giive us an
edge and finish the year strong.
 
Our midfield killed theirs which rendered their forward line useless, pretty much.

I’ld day it’s a toss of a coin between Hughes and Duman as to who gets the nod. Hughes was terrible with ball in hand and swapping him out would send a message. But without the WAFL on, it’s hard for others to press their case.

Colyer was ok, but not sure he offers much more than Giro on game day, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to keep Colyer on his toes (both his JLTs were quite ordinary too) and expose Giro a bit more at AFL level. Crowden or North could also play a role.

I’m not having a pot shot at Hughes or Colyer, just saying that they were both quite ordinary in the game (imo Hughes more so than Colyer). And that just because we win, shouldn’t mean we don’t make changes... assuming there’s pressure in for spots - hard to really assess without WAFL form.
Probably came across harsher than intended with my Ballantyne response earlier. Apologies for that. I respectfully disagree on Hughes and his kicking/fumbling. In the North game Ethan's Kicking was way better than Duman's in the preseason where Duman turned thee ball over with a higher rate per possession of any freo player in the two games in my view. Personally think Duman's the worst kick of all our mid sized defenders and I dont think its close, but others always get criticism on here. Not sure what message is being sent if they drop Ethan. Hughes played his role and his fumbilng was gigantically overstated on here in my view.
 
Probably came across harsher than intended with my Ballantyne response earlier. Apologies for that. I respectfully disagree on Hughes and his kicking/fumbling. In the North game Ethan's Kicking was way better than Duman's in the preseason where Duman turned thee ball over with a higher rate per possession of any freo player in the two games in my view. Personally think Duman's the worst kick of all our mid sized defenders and I dont think its close, but others always get criticism on here. Not sure what message is being sent if they drop Ethan. Hughes played his role and his fumbilng was gigantically overstated on here in my view.
All good Sherrif. I didn’t mean to spark debate about Hughes or Colyer, just using them as examples this week. I still think we should make a few changes even if we win, rather than wait for injuries or losses to occur. Hasn’t really been an issue of late, with our lack of winning and plenty of injuries 🥴
 

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We should have drafted him in the first place and Naughton as well . The List Manager must have smelt the fumes from your paint can for too long and it affected his thinking on draft day and didn't select Tim English. He did the same when he didn't take Naughton

Do you even football

We got Cerra and Brayshaw. We picked up Logue then Darcy

We have talls galore. No point in taking Naughton and not Cerra when we have about 6 key forwards etc

Mundy ageing

The only paint fumes are wofting over your nose
 
Do you even football

We got Cerra and Brayshaw. We picked up Logue then Darcy

We have talls galore. No point in taking Naughton and not Cerra when we have about 6 key forwards etc

Mundy ageing

The only paint fumes are wofting over your nose


So if Pearce or Hamling goes down with Logue permanently injured who plays key back. Cox is also injured. Naughton would have been very handy
 
Personally think Duman's the worst kick of all our mid sized defenders and I don't think its close, but others always get criticism on here. Not sure what message is being sent if they drop Ethan. Hughes played his role and his fumbling was gigantically overstated on here in my view.

I just need to mention this (no shot at you, just this is what reminded me), but Logue isn't great at 15-35mtr kicks. In fact, he's terrible at them. But his 35+ kicks are a pure joy to watch. I just hope that Ross and co understand and use this to an advantage. Logues strengths are based around opening the game up, not chipping around for possession. He doesn't have a laser-like Wilson kick, but it's pretty good.

FWIW I would love to see Duman given more chances, but Hughes hasn't done anything wrong to be replaced yet. Not sure who I want to succeed going forward out of the two. Either offer great upside.
 
So if Pearce or Hamling goes down with Logue permanently injured who plays key back. Cox is also injured. Naughton would have been very handy

Absolutely he would be handy but you can't draft everyone

In the past two drafts we have chosen mids and key forwards abd backs plus traded for key forwards in Hogan and Lobb.

Are you saying we should of on top of that not taken Brayshaw or Cerra. Both who may captain the club and one who's a ferrari for another talented key back?

Obviously injuries happen that's what depth is for
 

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