Preview Changes & Pre-match Discussion - Round 18 vs. Port Adelaide - Gabba, Mon 21/09 @ 7:15pm AEST

[Harry O]

Its a groin, hip issue. He was being loosened up all of the half time break, physio was with him the whole time. Groin/adductors hence the lack of spring and speed.

Has been wearing the bike pants under the shorts recently too, which would indicate some sort of groin issue

 

[gouki88]

Revising my changes because at this point I feel less changes the better (and am free of my beer-induced haze immediately post-match!)

OUT: C. Brown - Varcoe
IN: Stephenson - Sier

FB: Maynard - Roughead - Madgen
HB: Crisp - Moore - Quaynor
C: Daicos - Adams - Greenwood
HF: Elliott - Cox - Mihocek
FF: Stephenson - De Goey - Thomas
FOL: Grundy - Pendlebury - Adams
INT: Sier - Hoskin-Elliott - T. Brown - Noble

 

[Somebody]

Agree with your observations about the prospects of resting Grundy. Best we try and beat Port, go into the finals with real confidence and avoid the Eagles week 1, albeit they look less menacing in Qld.

Grundy's tapwork was ineffectual again last night. Too often our rovers are not on the move though. He taps to his feet and the rovers simply get caught and they have to re-bounce again. It's frustrating to watch over and over particularly when we don't have a big bodied mid in the mix.
At least Treloar looks like getting the ball while on the move.

Rather than injury, and I have suspected he has been playing hurt since the Richmond game, it was Grundy's touch which was poor tonight. He fumbled everything early, meaning he was unable to bring his clearance game or other players into the game either.
I think we simply concede that he'll be below par for the rest of this season and play him in any case.

The other thing that I noticed is that our forwards don't tend to lead anywhere hard enough toward our oncoming players with the ball.
Cox wants the ball kind of lobbed on top of his head or nearby, DeGoey wants to contest and slip out the back of bigger opponents.
Clearly we struggle to hit targets while streaming toward our goals in any case, but there is a distinct lack of options often.
But Thomas, Brown, Varcoe don't lead toward the oncoming player.
Elliott has been playing from the midfield.

WHE and Stephenson are options to do so, but neither wants to find themselves heading toward a contest at present.
I still think that Stephenson offering darting leads from the square has a place in our team and then can circle back and help out closer to goal to get at the feet of Cox and De Goey. De Goey can also stay back deeper.
It may be only one forward who can physically starts from the square, but DeGoey can start in the pocket and stay back close to that goal square position, moving into the space vacated by Stephenson.

dont we get them in perth in 1st final if they finish above us?

 

[slugger01]

Its a groin, hip issue. He was being loosened up all of the half time break, physio was with him the whole time. Groin/adductors hence the lack of spring and speed.

Definitely a hip issue------------- Caused by the weight of the wallet he now carries. Can't jump, and the weight slows him down, only a huge inflation increase in our economy will fix the issue...

 

[Chrispiesssss]

dont we get them in perth in 1st final if they finish above us?

If we beat port, we finish 6th/7th. We only travel to Perth if we finish 8th.

 

[magpies42]

He did some nice things, but he just goes missing for me and I don’t like soft players, but that’s just me. I doubt he’ll get dropped anyways. He goes missing for games, and never gets dropped. So doubt he’ll get dropped after being half useful.

Agree with you re. Soft players, but also we have to understand not everybody can be tough, skilful and quick. Those players are very rare. I’m happy if we carry a soft or potentially two In any given game but no more!

Players that go missing are often players that play roles for the team. Ie. they don’t have a license to roam free to hunt the ball, they are plugging holes, tagging, running patterns through the middle of the ground where we never go...too much emphasis is given to disposal counts.

 

[Carringbush2010]

You think we need to kick 100 goals a game????

Let's call it a figure of speech shall we?

 

[Albert Parker]

I watched Butters closely for 4 quarters recently against Geelong and he squibbed it all game

You didn't watch him 'ride the bump with a grin' against North when Ziebell lined him up and came off second best? Kid is pretty hard, especially for his size.
Has laid 39 tackles this year vs WHE 15.

Teams like Port and Richmond are where they are due to sustained and even pressure across the ground.
It's a point of advantage that they take into games.
If we can match Port this week for pressure around the ball, we have enough talent to beat them.

 

[unplugged]

You didn't watch him 'ride the bump with a grin' against North when Ziebell lined him up and came off second best? Kid is pretty hard, especially for his size.
Has laid 39 tackles this year vs WHE 15.

Teams like Port and Richmond are where they are due to sustained and even pressure across the ground.
It's a point of advantage that they take into games.
If we can match Port this week for pressure around the ball, we have enough talent to beat them.

The key to beating them is definitely the pressure on the ball carrier. They're very prone to bombing it inside 50 at the best of times, let alone when it's hot in the kitchen.

Geelong took them to school by intercepting everything that came in with height. Our defence is even better aerially than Geelong's IMO.

We have some good match ups for them. Stop Charlie (start with Roughead) and Gray (start with Maynard) and I'd be surprised if they kick a winning score.

 

[Piestration]

You didn't watch him 'ride the bump with a grin' against North when Ziebell lined him up and came off second best? Kid is pretty hard, especially for his size.
Has laid 39 tackles this year vs WHE 15.

Teams like Port and Richmond are where they are due to sustained and even pressure across the ground.
It's a point of advantage that they take into games.
If we can match Port this week for pressure around the ball, we have enough talent to beat them.

Hence the reason Stevo isn't and shouldn't be playing. Until he can atleast defend and apply pressure in his area when without the ball then he is a weakness in our structure.

 

[jackcass]

I don't think those stats really mean anything. There are so many variables that contribute to the result and score of a football game, singleing out one player makes no sense.

I actually singled out 2. It was purely in response to all the "Stevo is a goal kicker and we need to score" type posts and is aimed purely to show that we score more without them and we concede less without them. Better offensively, better defensively. I would have posted the figures regardless of the outcome but that's what they show.

 

[mike123]

Your consistency is admirable...

Consistency will be rewarded eventually

 

[LuckyLee]

Has Sier recovered from injury?

If so, he should come in for Cal Brown, who has become the new Jarryd Blair - small, slow, can’t kick and rarely scores, yet never gets dropped.

Sier has his flaws too but his possessions are highly impactful and we need more of that if we’re going to progress beyond first week of finals.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[anshell]

Has Sier recovered from injury?

If so, he should come in for Cal Brown, who has become the new Jarryd Blair - small, slow, can’t kick and rarely scores, yet never gets dropped.

Sier has his flaws too but his possessions are highly impactful and we need more of that if we’re going to progress beyond first week of finals.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

I agree with that.Sier improves our midfield significantly,especially around the centre clearances,which always seems to be a problem for us.

 

[anshell]

I actually singled out 2. It was purely in response to all the "Stevo is a goal kicker and we need to score" type posts and is aimed purely to show that we score more without them and we concede less without them. Better offensively, better defensively. I would have posted the figures regardless of the outcome but that's what they show.

You have to take in account of who he played against before those statistics mean anything.For example he played against Brisbane a top two side,and didn’t play against the Gold Coast a bottom four side.It’s much easier to score against a bettom side than a top side,and in the Gold Coasr game,we also had DeGoey come into the side which helped our scoring power significantly.

 

[jackcass]

You have to take in account of who he played against before those statistics mean anything.For example he played against Brisbane a top two side,and didn’t play against the Gold Coast a bottom four side.It’s much easier to score against a bettom side than a top side,and in the Gold Coasr game,we also had DeGoey come into the side which helped our scoring power significantly.

I understand what you're saying but he's played against 6 of the bottom 8 side in his 11 matches year to date, the Suns and North the only 2 he didn't play against. He's also had JDG play in 4 of those 11 games for 2W - 2L. The averages don't lie.

 

[Jen2310]

You have to take in account of who he played against before those statistics mean anything.For example he played against Brisbane a top two side,and didn’t play against the Gold Coast a bottom four side.It’s much easier to score against a bettom side than a top side,and in the Gold Coasr game,we also had DeGoey come into the side which helped our scoring power significantly.

GC are a bottom 5 side, their 14th not 15th.

 

[slugger01]

I understand what you're saying but he's played against 6 of the bottom 8 side in his 11 matches year to date, the Suns and North the only 2 he didn't play against. He's also had JDG play in 4 of those 11 games for 2W - 2L. The averages don't lie.

You can make raw stats back up any argument for, or against any player.
So, i blame Wills. In the games Stephenson played, Wills also played in 7 of them. When Wills played, our scoring stunk.
So, i blame Sidebottom. In the 11 games Stephenson played, Sidebottom didn't play in 6 of them. but he played in 4 of the 5 games that Stephenson didn't.

So, when Sidebottom doesn't play, and when Wills plays, our scoring is crap. Stephenson is just a coincidence..

See how you can use raw stats to present an argument?

 

[anshell]

I understand what you're saying but he's played against 6 of the bottom 8 side in his 11 matches year to date, the Suns and North the only 2 he didn't play against. He's also had JDG play in 4 of those 11 games for 2W - 2L. The averages don't lie.

The point I was trying to make is that you have to look at all the factors involved,like who he played against,how we were playing at the time,and who was with him in the team at the time.For example,we had our worst loss of the year against West Coast,a game he played in.Was it his fault that we lost so badly?Obviously not.Was it his fault that we were only able to kick 34 points,against the Lions,while we were able to kick 68 points against Gold Coast with a stronger side?Obvoiusly not.Statistics don’t mean anything unlesss their provided in a proper context.

 

[jackcass]

The point I was trying to make is that you have to look at all the factors involved,like who he played against,how we were playing at the time,and who was with him in the team at the time.For example,we had our worst loss of the year against West Coast,a game he played in.Was it his fault that we lost so badly?Obviously not.Was it his fault that we were only able to kick 34 points,against the Lions,while we were able to kick 68 points against Gold Coast with a stronger side?Obvoiusly not.Statistics don’t mean anything unlesss their provided in a proper context.

And our 2nd worst loss this year was against Melbourne where he didn't play. Our best win of the year was against the Doggies where he didn't play, our 2nd against the Saints where he did. There's balance across the data.

Look, I'm not potting Stevo. He's had a poor year but I think he is a gun and will recapture that again at some stage. I'd love it to be against Port on Monday night but it may not even be this year. I'm also not laying blame at his feet but the biggest factor in both those massive defeats was a lack of team defense. We couldn't stop their run. I do think that Stevo is a factor in that aspect in 2020. I also think that Ruscoe is guilty of the same, as is WHE. Thomas and Brown for all their limitations this year have conversely been among the top players week to week in terms of pressure. So if they can bring that and we can still score more than we do with either Stevo and/or Ruscoe, then that is a positive.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

And our 2nd worst loss this year was against Melbourne where he didn't play. Our best win of the year was against the Doggies where he didn't play, our 2nd against the Saints where he did. There's balance across the data.

Look, I'm not potting Stevo. He's had a poor year but I think he is a gun and will recapture that again at some stage. I'd love it to be against Port on Monday night but it may not even be this year. I'm also not laying blame at his feet but the biggest factor in both those massive defeats was a lack of team defense. We couldn't stop their run. I do think that Stevo is a factor in that aspect in 2020. I also think that Ruscoe is guilty of the same, as is WHE. Thomas and Brown for all their limitations this year have conversely been among the top players week to week in terms of pressure. So if they can bring that and we can still score more than we do with either Stevo and/or Ruscoe, then that is a positive.

thats a succinct explanation.

 

[jackcass]

thats a succinct explanation.

Sorry, my bad, it won't happen again.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Sorry, my bad, it won't happen again.

Succinct means good..... not “ it sucks”

 

[stormskye]

I know who I’d rather have playing in a GF between Stevo and C brown. pretty simple really

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I know who I’d rather have playing in a GF between Stevo and C brown. pretty simple really

I’ll take Sier