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

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Okay personally, I'd make 4 changes.

Grundy (Rested) -> M.Lynch (As we can't miss finals, not go higher than 6th, I think Grundy should be rested and have 2 weeks off. He still seems to really be battling and while his effort his there, his body doesn't appear to be. 2 weeks off to prep him for a match with a high-quality ruckman in Nic Nat or Rowan Marshall would be the way to go. Plus we get to see Lynch in his natural role of ruck as opposed to a key forward.
A.Treloar (Rested) -> J.Rantall (Another one I'd be keen to rest due to our circumstances. I don't want to lose Treloar and the one game last week was good for him but a further 2 weeks off should help him. Rantall comes in and never know, if he plays well, could have a best 22 player on our hands, if not, then he gets a game of experience)
Greenwood (Rested) -> R.Wills (I believe Levi has played every game since his injury and I do believe a break is in order. I love what Rupert brings to the table tbh. His skills arent amazing but he is strong, always goes in for the hardball and his pressure is through the roof. I would love to see him get one more run before finals)
T.Varcoe (Omitted) -> J.Stephenson (This has to be done. Varcoe is generally in our worst players. Although Stevo has struggled, a forward line with Cox, De Goey and Mihocek playing will take stacks of pressure off him. I do believe it will be his chance to bounce back. When at full flight, Stevo is very good and this is a smart and logical move to make)

This does mean we will be making a lot of changes in the first week of the finals with Treloar, Grundy, Mayne & Howe all locks to come in you'd imagine.
 
Where's Dunn? I haven't been paying close attention to the team selections the past few weeks.

Club must rate Roughead above. TBH, I rate Dunn above but both are pretty average and I'd like to see him play but Idon't think the club will make a switch. They will most likely use Roughead for the rest of the year.
 
Club must rate Roughead above. TBH, I rate Dunn above but both are pretty average and I'd like to see him play but Idon't think the club will make a switch. They will most likely use Roughead for the rest of the year.

Roughead is back to his best. Miles ahead of Dunn... and taller too.
 
Being a genuine shot at beating Port this week i don't think we make many changes. Only ones i would consider are:
  • Stevo for JT: While Jaidyn's form doesn't warrant automatic selection, he adds another dimension to our forward line and i think we need to give him one more chance to build some confidence going into finals. A fit, confident Stevo has match winning qualities that could give us an edge in finals.
  • Sier for Cal Brown: I didn't hate Cal's game this week, but i think moving into finals, knowing what we know about the conditions we're likely to face in QLD, Cal is just too fumbly. Sier comes in to add some more physicality around the ball.
 

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Being a genuine shot at beating Port this week i don't think we make many changes. Only ones i would consider are:
  • Stevo for JT: While Jaidyn's form doesn't warrant automatic selection, he adds another dimension to our forward line and i think we need to give him one more chance to build some confidence going into finals. A fit, confident Stevo has match winning qualities that could give us an edge in finals.
  • Sier for Cal Brown: I didn't hate Cal's game this week, but i think moving into finals, knowing what we know about the conditions we're likely to face in QLD, Cal is just too fumbly. Sier comes in to add some more physicality around the ball.

Sier is a big no for finals for me. He is slow and not a good user plus very one dimensional. Prefer Wills. Plus, why drop JT or Brown over Varcoe. JT has had a good 2 months or so and Brown is younger and hungrier. Varcoe goes before either.
 
Sier is a big no for finals for me. He is slow and not a good user plus very one dimensional. Prefer Wills. Plus, why drop JT or Brown over Varcoe. JT has had a good 2 months or so and Brown is younger and hungrier. Varcoe goes before either.
Ughhhh, god no. He is not slow by any measure, is at worst our 2nd best clearance player, has great hands which opens it up for Treloar, Sidebottom and Daicos, and is probably our best at roving Grundy's taps - something pined for week-in week-out. Wills should hopefully never see senior footy again
 
Sier is a big no for finals for me. He is slow and not a good user plus very one dimensional. Prefer Wills. Plus, why drop JT or Brown over Varcoe. JT has had a good 2 months or so and Brown is younger and hungrier. Varcoe goes before either.

Are you sure you haven't got Sier and Wills mixed up ? What you said about Sier pretty much describes Wills... No data to hand but my impression is our center clearance efficiency rises markedly when Sier is in there...
 
Ughhhh, god no. He is not slow by any measure, is at worst our 2nd best clearance player, has great hands which opens it up for Treloar, Sidebottom and Daicos, and is probably our best at roving Grundy's taps - something pined for week-in week-out. Wills should hopefully never see senior footy again

Sier doesn't know how to kick and he is very one dimensional. Ideally, we play neither but I personally prefer Wills as he goes in harder and provides more pressure. Both are very one dimensional and would take Greenwood over both but if I had to pick one, give me Wills. Both are below average with their feet but Wills lays 4.8 tackles compared to Sier with 3.3. Take away the game that bucks only played Wills 40% game-time and the average the same amount of touches. Sier, however, turns it over 3.3 times a game compared to Wills 2.4 which is funny because Wills uses his feet more which is harder to execute successfully. Sier is a little better around the contest but loses it with his worse pressure and ball-use
 
Are you sure you haven't got Sier and Wills mixed up ? What you said about Sier pretty much describes Wills... No data to hand but my impression is our center clearance efficiency rises markedly when Sier is in there...
As stated earlier, Sier is a better clearance player. Both go at 42% by foot but Sier turns it over 3.3 times a game compared to Wills 2.4, even though Wills kicks the ball more often. Wills is also the superior pressure player laying 1.5 more tackles per game. Both are poor from a metres gained perspective. Both are also similar from a ground ball gets perspective. This leads me to suggest Wills works harder and is a safer player while being more sound defensively
 
Sier is a big no for finals for me. He is slow and not a good user plus very one dimensional. Prefer Wills. Plus, why drop JT or Brown over Varcoe. JT has had a good 2 months or so and Brown is younger and hungrier. Varcoe goes before either.

Sorry mate but i dont think Sier is slow, or a bad kick, he is twice the player Wills is, and was a solid contributor to our 2018 finals campaign. Players don't need to have multiple dimensions to their game, they need to play their role well, and compliment the team dynamic. I think Sier does this.

Varcoe actually provided a bit of spark up forward against GC, only reason i would keep him in is to see if its a one off, or he can build something leading into finals. He might be old and on the way out, but he has finals runs on the board, and adds a different threat to the forward line.

I agree JT has slowly built some form, but for the amount of games he's played its just not enough for me. Same as Brown. I think we know what we get out of both of them at this stage, and its not enough.
 
Sier doesn't know how to kick and he is very one dimensional. Ideally, we play neither but I personally prefer Wills as he goes in harder and provides more pressure. Both are very one dimensional and would take Greenwood over both but if I had to pick one, give me Wills. Both are below average with their feet but Wills lays 4.8 tackles compared to Sier with 3.3. Take away the game that bucks only played Wills 40% game-time and the average the same amount of touches. Sier, however, turns it over 3.3 times a game compared to Wills 2.4 which is funny because Wills uses his feet more which is harder to execute successfully. Sier is a little better around the contest but loses it with his worse pressure and ball-use
I'm glad you brought some statistical analysis into this.

Sier averages 17 disposals a game, including a game where he did his quad early on but played through, his disposal efficiency is 76.9%, he averages over 156 metres gained per game, averages nearly 5 clearances a game and averages 21 pressure acts a game.

Compare this to Wills, who averages 15 disposals a game at 71%, gains only 72 metres per game (this is terrible!), averages just over 2.6 clearances a game AND averages 17 pressure acts per game.

So yeah, Wills lays more tackles. But he actually applies less pressure to the opposition, disposes of it far more ineffectively in terms of both not moving it forward and not being statistically effective, and he's 4.5 years older than Sier. There's no way you can convince me Wills, a VFL-level player, is better than Sier, who was crucial to our GF run as a kid
 
Sorry mate but i dont think Sier is slow, or a bad kick, he is twice the player Wills is, and was a solid contributor to our 2018 finals campaign. Players don't need to have multiple dimensions to their game, they need to play their role well, and compliment the team dynamic. I think Sier does this.

Varcoe actually provided a bit of spark up forward against GC, only reason i would keep him in is to see if its a one off, or he can build something leading into finals. He might be old and on the way out, but he has finals runs on the board, and adds a different threat to the forward line.

I agree JT has slowly built some form, but for the amount of games he's played its just not enough for me. Same as Brown. I think we know what we get out of both of them at this stage, and its not enough.

Varcoe provides less than either. If you really want, drop Thomas not Brown

As for Sier v Wills, they both go at 42% by foot. Both are not good users in the slightest. Sier turns it over more as well as I've stated and Wills pressures more. For that reason, I'd rather Wills if I had to pick but by finals, none will be best 22 as we will have Mayne, Phillips & Sidebottom back.
 
So I thought I read somewhere a while back that if Sidey is going to be available for finals, then 16 September was the latest that he could leave Melbourne to get back into the hub.

If that's so, then I guess he's missed that boat and we can assume that he'll be staying at home to look after the new bub?
 
So I thought I read somewhere a while back that if Sidey is going to be available for finals, then 16 September was the latest that he could leave Melbourne to get back into the hub.

If that's so, then I guess he's missed that boat and we can assume that he'll be staying at home to look after the new bub?

Talk he might go to Darwin to get back
 

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

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