Preview Changes: R3 vs Port Adelaide

[Scorpus]

IN:
Murphy, Laird, Frampton

OUT:
Sloane (adductor), Pedlar, Murray, Soligo (medi-sub)

 

[CrowBloke]

Thanks. I really appreciate the considered response.

Silly follow up question, why the long drives? Can’t you dump the bodies closer to home?

WheresGroomgone asked me as well, but without nefarious suggestions. My reply (EDIT: I see now that you've seen it):

2) Thanks for asking. I'm semi-retired but still involved in opal mining/buying/cutting/selling. I used to teach year 12 English/Maths (still do tutoring) but turned my hobby into a business over 30 years ago.

1) My ex- used to keep a fluffy blanket in the car, for the same reasons, or so she said. I think it was just an excuse to have a woobie/blankie and pillows to build a girl's-"nest" on the front seat.

Flying Adelaide ==> Sydney ==> Dubbo ==> LRidge is way too expensive now and has been for years

• I enjoy the drives
• I take a lot of stuff with me, too much for flights.

 

[GreyCrow]

People often ask me similar questions, especially about driving such long distances so often, mostly solo (sometimes with a friend/partner). I calculate that I have driven the equivalent of to-the-moon-and-back, more than twice .

It's an acquired taste, ha!

I'm a bit of a loner/hermit and enjoy the solitude, the time for reflection, plus it makes me realise how big and empty is Australia, with its rugged beauty and profusion of wildlife even in the most isolated and dry-looking regions.
I've learned to focus on the moment; to BE where I am. Instead of resenting what others might perceive to be boredom, I embrace it and focus on little things.

To pass the time, well, there's ABC radio. Test Cricket is a great time-killer on a long drive. There are also Regional radio stations all of which have their own slant/outlook/character.
I've also made several eclectic (very) mixed CDs with music ranging from Classical to jazz to Hillbilly/Bluegrass, both kinds of music (Country and Western), pop, rock, rap, songs from movies/musicals, heavy metal, all kinds, and many odd, unusual bits'n'pieces eg Stan Freberg ("Dragonet"), Arlo Guthrie ("The Pickle Song"), the "Ladybugs Picnic"/ "The Alligator King" songs and others from SESAME STREET .
They have to be mixed and varied to keep me awake, but they often fake me out too --- sometimes I go "Oh, I love this [whatever it is]", then have to laugh @ myself because, well, I made the CD (duh).

There are many one-off bonuses:
--- burning dawns, flaming sunsets, rainbows, awesome storm cells, dust storms, grasshopper plagues etc
--- roos play-boxing in a cloud of cold morning steam, magnificent eagles, birds, clumps of emus and their stripey chicks
--- hundreds of kilometres of flatnothing around the Hay plains, with odd trees that have their own little ecosystem beneath eg 30Kms NW of Hay:
View attachment 1359200
--- huge, burnt-orange moonrises
--- transitional changes from seasons and events, sandy-dry creekbeds that teem with floods after rain
and much, much more.

One drawback, well, apart from the end-of-9/10-hour-drive tiredness; I always drive with the aircon ON, with cool air blowing on my face/legs, rain or shine, hot or cold weather.
It keeps me awake, of course, but makes me an impossible passenger in others' vehicles.

Apologies for the thread-irrelevant, long ramble-rant-rave , but you did ask .

Same. Podcasts, radio or cd.

Doing 1-2 trips a week to the mines gives plenty of thinking and listening time

 

[Sanders]

I take a lot of stuff with me, too much for flights.

The good old days of being able to check the bodies of missing persons into hold luggage are long gone. Political correctness gone mad!

 

[DaKids]

Yeah, it's tiring.
Adelaide ==> Broken Hill, 6 hours, Day 1.
BHill ==> Gilgandra, 8 hours, Day 2.
Gilgandra ==> Lightning Ridge, 3 hours, morning Day 3.
There are slightly shorter ways but that's the route I chose this time, for variety

Before oldness kicked in, lol@me, I used to do the drive in one hit, stopping only for SERVO fuel/food/toilet, 15 hours.
As I said, gives me the chance to think a lot, plus I tend to play tourist and stop and look around more than I used to .

Hearing you brother. long drives my absolute sanctuary. You’re totally alone with your own thoughts and reflections - Soon as the dear old Mrs starts on with the chat It’s “sorry luv I’m concentrating on the road”

It’s really the only place you get away with that response ha ha

 

[CrowBloke]

The good old days of being able to check the bodies of missing persons into hold luggage are long gone. Political correctness gone mad!

"" Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way ...""

 

[CrowBloke]

Same. Podcasts, radio or cd.

Doing 1-2 trips a week to the mines gives plenty of thinking and listening time

'the mines" ...?

 

[MrBarry]

I hate feeling this way about Sloane.

He really has been a good player for us, always gives his all (and more). The definition of a football warrior.


Unfortunately it is this trait, coupled with our coach's unwillingness to see the bigger picture, that is diminishing his legacy.

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I've never felt particularly strongly about Sloaney as a player or a captain, Walker and Ricciuto have been out stand out captains - and they have been several levels above Sloane as actual players as well.

However, I'm now starting to be actively annoyed by Sloane, which is not something I felt before. At the moment he is kind of just 'there' and I kind of feel it's actually hurting the teams ability to develop further.

 

[dogs105]

What ever happened to all that talk by Nicks in the preseason about playing Sloane in a position that best suits the team.
He gave the impression that he needed to be moved out of the CBA's but it hasn't looked like happening so far this year ?
Even when he injured himself early on, we still didn't move him to a less demanding position

Less demanding - like SANFL forward pocket?

 

[maxlilly]

Less demanding - like SANFL forward pocket?

I'd be happy with AFL forward pocket at the moment

 

[Vader]

I realise that is dramatising it, but fu** this selection night, go 0-3 could be the beginning of the end or is it the end of the beginning?

If we were Port, it would be the beginning of the end. For Adelaide, it is neither, it is just another step in a lengthy rebuild.

 

[footy4ever]

Acid-melting-steel sarcasm, ouch!

It's actually become very boring. After all, it is the lowest form of wit.

 

[BACCS]

 

[Vader]

Some time ago it was stated and believed by most clubs that at their best all of the clubs were only a small percentage apart. Now if that theory is to be believed we drop dramatically when we have players in the 22 that are not performing in that position. Currently you could list McHenry not providing anything as a HF, Himmel ditto as CH/FF, Fog glimpses, Sloane although better week 2, RT [2022]- already that's four/five.

If you look at the age & experience stats from last week, you can see why most clubs are "only a small percentage apart".

Most teams have an average age of 25-26 years, and 75-100 games experience. While there are a number of teams which are over/under on one of these stats, only Geelong (28yrs 1mth & 158 games) and Adelaide (23yrs 7mths & 55 games) miss both. Hawthorn is slightly under on age (24yrs 11mths), while Sydney & Brisbane are slightly over on games. Freo is significantly below average for games, but is average for age.

Adelaide & Geelong are massive outliers. In Adelaide's case, our youth & inexperience means that our "best" is currently well below the best that the other teams could produce. Our "best" is good enough to catch them on a bad day - but we're not going to beat too many other teams if they are playing well.

 

[Ciao Giacomo]

During the two trial games and the first 2 matches of the season, when available;
1) Crouch has been a full time inside mid (but has played reduced ToG as he builds match fitness)
2) Laird has been used full time as an inside mid.
3) Schoenberg has been used as a full time mid (until the second half last week) and has increased his ToG. Unfortunately his form has been ****house.
4) Keays has spent quite a bit of time as a forward (40/60) but has struggled when forward
5) Sloane has spent more time forward and has struggled in both roles.

The crunch will come when we have all five of our mids fit and available. The next group of inside mids are hardly demanding selection;
1) Pedlar is, imho, part of the long term solution but is far from AFL midfield fit
2) Hately has improved this season (from a very low base) and will be given a shot soon.
3) I like Berry but he needs to start dominating the SANFL.
4) The new lads (Soligo, Taylor, Namkervis) need to show they can stand up against mature bodies in the SANFL before they get AFL midfield minutes.

Finally, will Milera, Jones, McHenry transition into the midfield????

 

[maxlilly]

Marshall's the luckiest footballer going around.
He's been looking for form for the last 5 years.
I don't know how Kenny has kept the faith with him

 

[footy4ever]

A tweet from yesterday...or the day before, said Dixon had a further setback with his ankle injury.

Not good for the big guy if true. Ankle injuries are bad enough for the small guys but seem exacerbated in big guys carrying all that weight around.

 

[skam85]

Finlayson is a giant potato but he's the exact kind of player that would kick 6 in a Showdown

 

[chrisso crow]

Dixon was never going to play IMO, but thought Gray would. Does that mean that Hayes will be getting a call up? Can't expect Lycett to ruck for the whole game.

Any word on McKenzie? Him out would leave them extremely small in the back (if only we had some good talls to take advantage of this).

They have got that many outs of their best 22 but I still can't see us beating them, that's how bad our first 2 weeks have been (bar 1 quarter).

 

[maxlilly]

Dixon was never going to play IMO, but thought Gray would. Does that mean that Hayes will be getting a call up? Can't expect Lycett to ruck for the whole game.

Any word on McKenzie? Him out would leave them extremely small in the back (if only we had some good talls to take advantage of this).

They have got that many outs of their best 22 but I still can't see us beating them, that's how bad our first 2 weeks have been (bar 1 quarter).

Surely it's about time Port start exposing Hayes to some AFL games ?
How long has he been on their list for ?
He is getting into Ben Davis territory

 

[ams4crows]

Marshall's the luckiest footballer going around.
He's been looking for form for the last 5 years.
I don't know how Kenny has kept the faith with him

If Marshall and Geordiades is all we have to focus on tall wise Butts and Murray have them covered.
If they play two rucks then we might have to think what we're gonna do.

I'm glad if Gray and Dixon aren't playing, they take value resources away from the back line to cover them as both are team barometers if up and about

 

[chrisso crow]

Surely it's about time Port start exposing Hayes to some AFL games ?
How long has he been on their list for ?
He is getting into Ben Davis territory

Is Hayes capable of playing up forward or is he just a ruckman?

This is why they traded Finlayson in as he could play mainly as a forward and chop out in the ruck when required. I think Lycett and Hayes are main ruckmen types and aren't likely to play in the same team.

I could be wrong as I've seen little of Hayes.

 

[chrisso crow]

If Marshall and Geordiades is all we have to focus on tall wise Butts and Murray have them covered.
If they play two rucks then we might have to think what we're gonna do.

I'm glad if Gray and Dixon aren't playing, they take value resources away from the back line to cover them as both are team barometers if up and about

Their midfield will likely still monster ours so their forwards will have more supply than ours.

I'm still tempering my expectations.

 

[BACCS]

Dixon was never going to play IMO, but thought Gray would. Does that mean that Hayes will be getting a call up? Can't expect Lycett to ruck for the whole game.

Any word on McKenzie? Him out would leave them extremely small in the back (if only we had some good talls to take advantage of this).

They have got that many outs of their best 22 but I still can't see us beating them, that's how bad our first 2 weeks have been (bar 1 quarter).

Dixon, Gray and especially Aliir in recent Showdown’s have been very important in their wins. Without Aliir last year we win the 2nd Showdown. I expect Lycett to play forward more and Hayes to come in.

 

[BACCS]

Their midfield will likely still monster ours so their forwards will have more supply than ours.

I'm still tempering my expectations.

Our midfield haven’t had issues with getting clearances, our biggest issue are turnovers and defending turnovers. Laird back helps majorly too. Hoping our starting 3 mids are Keays, Laird and Schoey/Crouch, with small bursts from Rachele.

 

[Mutineer]

Is Hayes capable of playing up forward or is he just a ruckman?

This is why they traded Finlayson in as he could play mainly as a forward and chop out in the ruck when required. I think Lycett and Hayes are main ruckmen types and aren't likely to play in the same team.

I could be wrong as I've seen little of Hayes.

Pure Ruckman