Preview Changes: R16 vs Melbourne, Saturday July 2, 4.05pm ACST @ Adelaide Oval

[arsene wenger1]

Nicks has no idea about a rebuild. Players like newchurch can potentially fast track a rebuild.

Playing dead wood will keep you competitive at best with no light at the end of the tunnel.

We are more worried about being competitive while losing, rather than potentially discovering a future star, while still losing at the same time

Either way we’re losing. Just play the kid ffs

 

[Trigger13]

Newchurch aside, what really irks me is that one of our most talented young players (Cook) remains on the outer. Get nicked AFC.

 

[1990crow]

Newchurch aside, what really irks me is that one of our most talented young players (Cook) remains on the outer. Get nicked AFC.

Players like Cook, Pedlar, Newchurch are the types we need to be getting games into. Good skills, classy players.

Instead we get Murphy, McHenry, Rowe trio who just don't kick goals.

 

[pjcrows]

Playing against a pressure team, with the absence of probably our highest pressure player won’t affect the outcome?

Correct.

 

[1970crow]

Ordinarily I’d be excited that there’s doubts over Laird given it’s a rebuild and injury creates opportunity for kids. But we know it’ll just be Crouch standing at ROBs feet at the opening bounce if he misses.

 

[1970crow]

Ya reckon ? Just think he’s not much good , not horrible but average

Occasionally puts it all together

Competed with Goldstein and wasn’t beaten

Would drop him if we had someone better than him

And that’s the exact belief that has us mired in ordinariness for the better part of 2 decades. Sometimes it’s not about improving in that game because the only thing that matters is this week’s 4 points. Perhaps it’s about sending a message that plodding along and being barely better than the next in line isn’t good enough when we’ve see how you can perform after being dropped.

He backed up an outstanding game in the SANFL with one against the Cats. And now he knows his spot is secure for a couple of months he’s dropped off again. I don’t care if Strachan’s best only equals what ROB brings half-hearted, playing Strachan is about forcing ROB to consistently play closer to his peak. That Strachan won’t be much worse, if at all, is an aside.

 

[Jetwa5h]

Ordinarily I’d be excited that there’s doubts over Laird given it’s a rebuild and injury creates opportunity for kids. But we know it’ll just be Crouch standing at ROBs feet at the opening bounce if he misses.

Based on the Teamsheet Id hope they move Hately of the wing into the middle Newchurch to the forwards line and Soligio back to the Wing

 

[George Kramer]

Based on the Teamsheet Id hope they move Hately of the wing into the middle Newchurch to the forwards line and Soligio back to the Wing

That’s too logical, so we will go with Crouch

 

[Geoffa32]

Ordinarily I’d be excited that there’s doubts over Laird given it’s a rebuild and injury creates opportunity for kids. But we know it’ll just be Crouch standing at ROBs feet at the opening bounce if he misses.

Would be interesting to see how Crouch goes without Laird though.



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[Jeffcrowe]

And that’s the exact belief that has us mired in ordinariness for the better part of 2 decades. Sometimes it’s not about improving in that game because the only thing that matters is this week’s 4 points. Perhaps it’s about sending a message that plodding along and being barely better than the next in line isn’t good enough when we’ve see how you can perform after being dropped.

He backed up an outstanding game in the SANFL with one against the Cats. And now he knows his spot is secure for a couple of months he’s dropped off again. I don’t care if Strachan’s best only equals what ROB brings half-hearted, playing Strachan is about forcing ROB to consistently play closer to his peak. That Strachan won’t be much worse, if at all, is an aside.

I don’t think ROB is half hearted , he’s just is what he is

He’s also been ok since coming back , was he beaten by Goldstein ? Probably split the points

The Geelong game was next level , not sure what enables him to play at that level more consistently as I don’t think he has much talent

 

[Crow till I die]

Would be interesting to see how Crouch goes without Laird though.



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Be even more interesting to see how we go without crouch and laird and run hately in the middle and bring in newchurch. If they did that, even if we went down heavily, its a step in the right direction to see a younger different mix in the middle

 

[Geoffa32]

Be even more intersting to see how we go without crouch and laird and run hately in the middle and bring in newchurch. If they did that, even if we went down heavily, its a step in the right direction to see a younger different mix in the middle

Agree

But we all know what is going to happen.

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[Mutineer]

Ordinarily I’d be excited that there’s doubts over Laird given it’s a rebuild and injury creates opportunity for kids. But we know it’ll just be Crouch standing at ROBs feet at the opening bounce if he misses.

So if Laird misses Matt is absolutely the right player to take his place as the 1st possession player whether you like it or not.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Be even more intersting to see how we go without crouch and laird and run hately in the middle and bring in newchurch. If they did that, even if we went down heavily, its a step in the right direction to see a younger different mix in the middle

Maybe even time split between Murphy and Hately in middle and Newchurch forward

 

[Jeffcrowe]

So if Laird misses Matt is absolutely the right player to take his place as the 1st possession player whether you like it or not.

Prefer to see a different look re Murphy spending time in there with Hately

 

[George Kramer]

Prefer to see a different look re Murphy spending time in there with Hately

Mutineer is finding it hard to let go of Matt

 

[beartoo]

Bitterly disappointed.

Here is the email i just typed up:

Hello Mr Silvers,

I am writing to you tonight as a bitterly disappointed member of the AFC. I am absolutely frustrated by the baffling selection decisions from the coaches week in and week out in 2022. I am not going to sit here and think I know more about football than these people. I don't. But i need to vent as tonight's selection has made me more angry and more disappointed in my football club than ever before and i will not sit back and be voiceless anymore

Some of my frustrations:
1. Playing the inexperienced players out of position, which in turn then makes them look like they didn't play well and they get dropped again,
2. The lack of opportunity after some good SANFL form for some players (Newchurch, Worrell, Pedlar)
3. Dropping the young players after what seemed like good form (Jones)
4. Moving Hately out of the midfield after some really good form in the guts across a few games (best of his short career) once Crouch was brought back into the team
5. Playing a midfield most weeks of 185 cm slow football players. All who have rotated through there at times are good footballers in their own rights, but they are all basically the same height, speed and skill level (Laird, Keays, Crouch, Hately, Berry, Sloane etc before his injury). Easy to plan for opposition coaches IMO
6. The regression of Thilthorpe and Rachele. Thilthorpe looks a shell of the player he was 12 months ago and Rachele came into the league as the most in form first year player in the first 6 weeks and now can't get near it. Why? Maybe the first year caught up with Rachele, but that doesn't explain Thilthorpe

And tonight was the final straw. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for a young player to get an opportunity (i.e. Newchurch in this week after some amazing SANFL form) for McHenry who is injured, yet we select Lachlan Murphy

4

Lachlan Murphy

Age

25

Ht

174cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

5.8

2star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.4

5star

G

0.9

4star

D

8.8

2star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.0

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

G

0.7

4star

D

9.0

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

5star

G

1.0

4star

, a player we have seen and know what output we'll get. I do not believe for 1 second that we are better off with him in the team over Newchurch in this situation of where the team is at development and ladder wise

When we are supposedly going through a "rebuild" some of the decisions though 2022 have been baffling to say the least. There have been some positives. Dawson is an absolute gun. Great recruit. Berry has been put in his best position and has thrived. Fogarty seems to have turned the corner. Burgess seems to have been an amazing pick up for our fitness

I want to get one thing clear. I am ok with losing whilst rebuilding..... IF there is some semblance of a plan for the future.

But when we keep going back to players who we have seen in action and know exactly what they offer (Murphy tonight, Crouch again recently) when we have potentially better players in amazing form and we still don't select them, then I can't see what that plan is. We need to see what some of these players in the SANFL have got. And when they're in form is the best time. But the club continues to "play it safe" even though we are losing more games than we're winning anyway

And if I don't believe there is a plan, I am afraid that my membership. My wife's membership and my 2 kid's memberships will not be renewed in 2023. I just have to make a stand and not throw away my hard earned $ year after year to see the same decisions being made over and over again. Its the definition of insanity

I hope you get a chance to read this email, I understand you are a busy man. I know I am not the only one feeling this frustration, I just hope to see some change at the AFC regarding our selection policies and the way the club looks at a rebuild and developing of our young players by giving them a shot on the big stage

Good stuff, hope he reads it.
What's his email address.

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[WeedsMullet84]

If Ned had more speed he’d survive AFL and potentially thrive with his current skillset

But given his lack of genuine speed / power he needs more offensive tricks , not sure where they will come from

No i think if Ned had other supporting players who also had genuine speed/power to complement his then he'd thrive. Agree he needs to work on offensive hurt factor for sure, but his defensive work is underrated because he's left to do the dirty work of closing down players all the time.

Watch Melbourne literally walk the ball out of their backline against us tomorrow, with Walker/Fog/Thilthorpe combo.

 

[WeedsMullet84]

Stat-less outside pressure - Wowee better rush him back in ASAP!

Selection panel obvious agrees with you thinking Ned is an important player, but we are a bottom 4 club so I wouldn't hang my hat on that.

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Works pretty well for Richmond.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

No i think if Ned had other supporting players who also had genuine speed/power to complement his then he'd thrive. Agree he needs to work on offensive hurt factor for sure, but his defensive work is underrated because he's left to do the dirty work of closing down players all the time.

Watch Melbourne literally walk the ball out of their backline against us tomorrow, with Walker/Fog/Thilthorpe combo.

Agree Re our lack of forward pressure is poor and Ned is ok at it

Wouldn’t say he’s great as doesn’t have the closing speed but he’s prob the best at it we’ve got due to intent

 

[WeedsMullet84]

Newchurch aside, what really irks me is that one of our most talented young players (Cook) remains on the outer. Get nicked AFC.

You obviously didn't see Cook play on the weekend. I did, i was there, and he was terrible. He's got raw talent but lacks a gut-running engine at the moment, and has a tendency to disappear from games entirely and look gassed. All of his stats at AFL level are, not surprisingly, below average, he just needs to learn his craft at a level he can build his confidence, and that's the SANFL. Another preseason is going to do him wonders.

Same people on this board who whinge about not 'getting games into the kids..' also whinge when we don't win games, which are sometimes not helped by the fact the we rush kids into the seniors.

On the other hand, does Newchurch deserve his chance? Absolutely. Is this the right game to get him into? Maybe not.

I think he tears it up against Glenelg this weekend and gets selected to play against Hawks at Marvel.

We're clearly going to go with a game plan tomorrow to bomb it into the F50 at every opportunity with our extra height, particularly if both Gawn and Jackson are out.

I don't envy Josh Rachele/Murphy going into this game, but at least both also have the ability to rotate through the middle.

 

[George Kramer]

Bitterly disappointed.

Here is the email i just typed up:

Hello Mr Silvers,

I am writing to you tonight as a bitterly disappointed member of the AFC. I am absolutely frustrated by the baffling selection decisions from the coaches week in and week out in 2022. I am not going to sit here and think I know more about football than these people. I don't. But i need to vent as tonight's selection has made me more angry and more disappointed in my football club than ever before and i will not sit back and be voiceless anymore

Some of my frustrations:
1. Playing the inexperienced players out of position, which in turn then makes them look like they didn't play well and they get dropped again,
2. The lack of opportunity after some good SANFL form for some players (Newchurch, Worrell, Pedlar)
3. Dropping the young players after what seemed like good form (Jones)
4. Moving Hately out of the midfield after some really good form in the guts across a few games (best of his short career) once Crouch was brought back into the team
5. Playing a midfield most weeks of 185 cm slow football players. All who have rotated through there at times are good footballers in their own rights, but they are all basically the same height, speed and skill level (Laird, Keays, Crouch, Hately, Berry, Sloane etc before his injury). Easy to plan for opposition coaches IMO
6. The regression of Thilthorpe and Rachele. Thilthorpe looks a shell of the player he was 12 months ago and Rachele came into the league as the most in form first year player in the first 6 weeks and now can't get near it. Why? Maybe the first year caught up with Rachele, but that doesn't explain Thilthorpe

And tonight was the final straw. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for a young player to get an opportunity (i.e. Newchurch in this week after some amazing SANFL form) for McHenry who is injured, yet we select Lachlan Murphy, a player we have seen and know what output we'll get. I do not believe for 1 second that we are better off with him in the team over Newchurch in this situation of where the team is at development and ladder wise

When we are supposedly going through a "rebuild" some of the decisions though 2022 have been baffling to say the least. There have been some positives. Dawson is an absolute gun. Great recruit. Berry has been put in his best position and has thrived. Fogarty seems to have turned the corner. Burgess seems to have been an amazing pick up for our fitness

I want to get one thing clear. I am ok with losing whilst rebuilding..... IF there is some semblance of a plan for the future.

But when we keep going back to players who we have seen in action and know exactly what they offer (Murphy tonight, Crouch again recently) when we have potentially better players in amazing form and we still don't select them, then I can't see what that plan is. We need to see what some of these players in the SANFL have got. And when they're in form is the best time. But the club continues to "play it safe" even though we are losing more games than we're winning anyway

And if I don't believe there is a plan, I am afraid that my membership. My wife's membership and my 2 kid's memberships will not be renewed in 2023. I just have to make a stand and not throw away my hard earned $ year after year to see the same decisions being made over and over again. Its the definition of insanity

I hope you get a chance to read this email, I understand you are a busy man. I know I am not the only one feeling this frustration, I just hope to see some change at the AFC regarding our selection policies and the way the club looks at a rebuild and developing of our young players by giving them a shot on the big stage

Good email, the only thing I would have added is wasting our best player and best attacking player in Dawson in defence.

I have sent some emails in the past to Silvers, he takes a long time to respond, which is fine. Fagan and Trigg to his credit used to respond very quickly.

 

[George Kramer]

You obviously didn't see Cook play on the weekend. I did, i was there, and he was terrible. He's got raw talent but lacks a gut-running engine at the moment, and has a tendency to disappear from games entirely and look gassed. All of his stats at AFL level are, not surprisingly, below average, he just needs to learn his craft at a level he can build his confidence, and that's the SANFL. Another preseason is going to do him wonders.

Same people on this board who whinge about not 'getting games into the kids..' also whinge when we don't win games, which are sometimes not helped by the fact the we rush kids into the seniors.

On the other hand, does Newchurch deserve his chance? Absolutely. Is this the right game to get him into? Maybe not.

We're clearly going to go with a game plan to bomb it into the F50 at every opportunity with our extra height.

I don't envy Josh Rachele going into this game.

If the game plan is to bomb it in long, that makes even more sense for Newchurch to play over Murphy who cant kick a goal to save himself.

But against Melbourne that is a dumb strategy and the opposite of when we beat them.

 

[WeedsMullet84]

If the game plan is to bomb it in long, that makes even more sense for Newchurch to play over Murphy who cant kick a goal to save himself.

But against Melbourne that is a dumb strategy and the opposite of when we beat them.

Newchurch coming in against the reigning Premiers might be too much of an ask, and I can see why the selectors have gone that way.

Murphy is coming in to fill the McHenry void is my assumption, and they'll just rotate smalls/mids through the forward line. The comparison you're looking for is Thilthorpe coming in for McAdam, instead of Newchurch. They have gone for height, instead of a like-for-like Medium Forward.

 

[CrowBloke]

mcpherson was garbage on the weekend.. turnover merchant.. especially in that first quarter.. south’s were red hot in that first quarter and mcpherson might as well have been wearing a south’s guernsey because he was helping them immensely..

Then he'll fit in nicely with the AFL backline ...