Preview Changes Rnd 11 vs Brisbane Bears, Sunday twilight at AO

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At the game missed what Rankine did
What Rankine did was go for the ball. The Bulldog milked the contact and holding his head dropped like Neymar, then bounced back up again fulla energy after the free was given.
Still, the MRO needs very little to suspend a Crow.

Speaking of Rankine, he appeared to get very frustrated yesterday and behaved at times like an entitled brat. I like him --- talent to burn --- but he needs to pull his head in.
but as long as Himmelberg is out don’t really care about the rest of changes
This. Himmelberg out of our AFL side, full stop. Nicks should know by now what Himmelberg can do at AFL level and that's not much. See below:
We would have been better off picking anyone else and rucking Parnell
Gold :roflv1:.
 
What Rankine did was go for the ball. The Bulldog milked the contact and holding his head dropped like Neymar, then bounced back up again fulla energy after the free was given.
Still, the MRO needs very little to suspend a Crow.

Speaking of Rankine, he appeared to get very frustrated yesterday and behaved at times like an entitled brat. I like him --- talent to burn --- but he needs to pull his head in.

This. Himmelberg out of our AFL side, full stop. Nicks should know by now what Himmelberg can do at AFL level and that's not much. See below:

Gold :roflv1:.
I just found the contact from Rankine. Hands on ball contact not to head so “should” be fine.

Will undoubtedly get 6 and cost us 3 first round picks.
 

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1) what's up with Scorpus, please? If he's unwell, best wishes for a full recovery.
He's fine, just because it was hours after the game and he hadn't started the changes thread which he usually puts up within minutes of the final siren
 
Sloane too.

We should have a plan over the next few weeks to rotate players.
Yes, IF Nicks is looking to next year and 2023 as he should.
Rotating players is essential for list/depth development.

However, I suspect he can smell 7th or 8th and will be going all out for wins (as he did vs. Geelong).
 
Gollant missed two easy goals, nothing to do with delivery.
Many questions were asked of the Crows yesterday and Gollant is not one of the answers.
Half the bulldogs side missed easy goals too.
 
Half the bulldogs side missed easy goals too.
True, fair enough and this is not aimed at you but I don't give a Blight's tossbag about what the Bulldogs kicked like.
The Bulldogs' misses don't excuse Gollant's.

Gollant had an opportunity yesterday (via Tex resting) to tell Nicks that he's AFL level, and 2 opportunities (out of not many) to kick goals to prove his AFL-worth. In another post I acknowledged that Gollant might be a project KPF but he's not best-22. Yet.
 

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This is where I see the gaps in our side in the midfield and forward line in the future, but is becoming an emerging issue

R O'Brien - Dawson - Laird
C Jones - Pedlar - ???

HF Rachele - Fogarty - Rankine
F Thilthorpe - Walker - ???

I Soligo - ??? - Murphy/Keays - [7th Defender]

The issues as I see it:

1) We require one elite inside midfielder, not just an accumulator, an elite ball winner and user. As far as I see it our core midfield is one player short. We've got four players (Dawson, Laird, Pedlar, Soligo) earmarked for there with Rachele playing a split mid/forward role, likely rotating with Pedlar. Currently the 5th mid is Sloane and it's not cutting it.

2) We require an outside ball user who isn't Sholl, and isn't a defender, inside midfielder or small forward playing wing (Milera, Crouch, Hately, McHenry, Murphy, etc).

3) I don't think there is room for both Murphy and Keays in the side and IMO it's rare for both to have an impact in the same match. This role should be condensed into one player (Murphy is leading the race) leaving room for another forward, either a small forward or half forward, but they must be a genuine goal kicker.

Currently I don't think the players required for 1 or 2 are on our list, and the ideal candidate for 3 is McAdam who is injured for another 2-3 weeks.

Based on this the changes I'd make are

Out: Hinge (concussion), Himmelberg, Gollant, Sholl, Sloane, Parnell
In: Worrell, Thilthorpe, Walker, Cook, Berry, Doedee

Sub: Parnell

Forward line restored

Keays gets a temporary reprieve until McAdam is ready. At that time assess who is performing worse (Murphy or Keays) and replace them with McAdam

Cook in for Sholl, with the goal of rotating through the most in form wing options

Berry in for Sloane, though I would also be happy with Schoenberg. This is really just a placeholder role in the side until we draft or trade in a suitable midfielder, so rotate through the most in form player and give Sloane heaps of rests. Also can be used to assess which of the players on our list are worth keeping if they can perform in this spot.

Doedee in for Parnell. I prefer us with a taller structure in defense. Parnell competing with Milera and Smith for a spot. I honestly wouldn't mind if any of those three were dropped or moved to sub role (Smith unlikely and the best performed recently)

Worrell in for Hinge, but with the goal of Worrell staying in the side. When Hinge returns he can replace the worst performed half back or wing (eg Cook, Milera, Smith, etc). Probably will replace Milera.
Really good, food-for-thought post :thumbsu:.
I'm not convinced that Berry is ready yet; his tackling has all but disappeared, inexplicably.

I'd like to see Worrell in, Sholl dropped, with Hinge and Jones on the wings since they can/do run both ways and deliver well. Can also kick goals.
 
I have been a supporter of the berg for a number of years but he has been largely uncompetitive consistently this year and not brought any level of fight and intensity to his game. He always plays from behind does not work hard enough when ball is in area and his hands are harder than dried cement. Pity as he has high football IQ when he has ball in hands and gives off by foot or hand He has just not shown Any level of improvement this year. I thought he would have been chanting at the bit yesterday

I think it’s time we gave Strauchnie a go in ruck if filthy cannot play He could do no worse than the dragon yesterday who was certainly not breathing fire
 
Gollant missed two easy goals, nothing to do with delivery.
Many questions were asked of the Crows yesterday and Gollant is not one of the answers.
When you are on the fringe, you need to make every post a winner. Tex and thilthorpe are absolute certainties to be back this week assuming injury free permitting, so gollant needed to goal those 2 simple chances and he didn't. It might be some time before he gets another look in
 
Really good, food-for-thought post :thumbsu:.
I'm not convinced that Berry is ready yet; his tackling has all but disappeared, inexplicably.

I'd like to see Worrell in, Sholl dropped, with Hinge and Jones on the wings since they can/do run both ways and deliver well. Can also kick goals.
Berry's kicking has gone to shit. He looks like he:s also lost his confidence and composure.
 
Great post by:
Keays - 100 games, well done but the skills, the dumb shots at goal and his want to always run into trouble on his wrong side is surely just hard to continually turn a blind eye too; McHenry can do his role, has gone past him as a player and is 4 years younger.
For as long as I can remember, I've whinged about Keays' inability to kick with his R foot.
I'm resigned to believing that's not going to change, although I am still convinced that it's fixable.
Opposition players trap him on his wrong side, knowing that he will have to run around to get on his Left.
Nicks has confirmed that Keays thrives when he's given a specific job to do, but he looked like a headless chook yesterday --- did Nicks not give him a job to do? We'll never know. Goalsneak is not his gig.
I don't think that Ned has gone past him, well, not yet; Keays' tank is bigger for starters.
Worrell - I’m quite sick of this can’t find a spot for him nonsense, he is strong AFL quality, you find/create a bloody role for him.
This! Sholl OUT, Hinge onto his wing, Worrell IN to Hinge's ex-HB possie.
Sholl is a good kick but is too scrawny and contact-averse. The above changes mean the Crows lose nothing in terms of delivery (Hinge is also a goalkicker) and adds strength to the team.
Would also strongly start considering Billy Dowling for the rotation mid role, I’ve seen enough that he is the only next wave of midfielders on the list that has a chance of becoming a 1st rotation midfielder at AFL level now Berry has gone backwards at an alarming rate, there’s no point wasting anymore time with those who have previously been given a go in that position.
I can't comment on Dowling. Berry and Schoenberg have been very disappointing.
Also looking through the list how do you get in a position where Crouch, Hately, Berry, Brown & Schoenberg are your mid depth and not one of them can hit a target by foot?
This!
Who was it (Roo, on Ch7?) who claimed that the Crows had targeted players with speed and skill?
Crouch is yesterday's mid; his best is long gone and his kicking has always been suss. Hately has fallen into the same pit of coulda-been limbo as Berry and Schoenberg and as you said, none can hit a target by foot.
Brown, I dunno.
 
Great post by:

For as long as I can remember, I've whinged about Keays' inability to kick with his R foot.
I'm resigned to believing that's not going to change, although I am still convinced that it's fixable.
Opposition players trap him on his wrong side, knowing that he will have to run around to get on his Left.
Nicks has confirmed that Keays thrives when he's given a specific job to do, but he looked like a headless chook yesterday --- did Nicks not give him a job to do? We'll never know. Goalsneak is not his gig.
I don't think that Ned has gone past him, well, not yet; Keays' tank is bigger for starters.

This! Sholl OUT, Hinge onto his wing, Worrell IN to Hinge's ex-HB possie.
Sholl is a good kick but is too scrawny and contact-averse. The above changes mean the Crows lose nothing in terms of delivery (Hinge is also a goalkicker) and adds strength to the team.

I can't comment on Dowling. Berry and Schoenberg have been very disappointing.

This!
Who was it (Roo, on Ch7?) who claimed that the Crows had targeted players with speed and skill?
Crouch is yesterday's mid; his best is long gone and his kicking has always been suss. Hately has fallen into the same pit of coulda-been limbo as Berry and Schoenberg and as you said, none can hit a target by foot.
Brown, I dunno.
Dowling will most likely take Keays spot very soon. Sholl's kicking isn't as good as people say. He needs to learn to kick lower penetrating kicks. His kicks are high and loopy for the most part and easily dealt with. He's never going to be a contested player when it matters and needs to go back to the sanfl. Sounds like Worrell is about to sign another contract which is good because Nick's hasn't managed him overly well and seems very reluctant to play him which is a strange one when he's decent.
 
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Berry's kicking has gone to s**t. He looks like he:s also lost his confidence and composure.
His kicking has always been poor.

His accumulation and tackling have dropped away leaving him with not much to offer atm.

A new midfield coach might help.
 
His kicking has always been poor.

His accumulation and tackling have dropped away leaving him with not much to offer atm.

A new midfield coach might help.
I don't see an AFL career for Berry unless he can develop into a defender or defensive forward. He doesn't get enough of the ball or use it well enough to be considered a permanent midfielder.
 
Given we now suspend blokes for effectively standing still while the opponent takes a dive, I will assume Rankine is suspended.

My changes:

Out:
Himmelberg, Gollant, Rankine, Sholl

In:
Walker, Thilthorpe, McHenry, Berry

Sub: Cook

Sloane to the wing for first half, then middle in second half. He’s too slow early in the game. He played full time mid and had something like 6 disposals at half time. It’s not ok.

I really want to see Worrell back, but not sure how. Also want Nankervis to get a game soon
 

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Preview Changes Rnd 11 vs Brisbane Bears, Sunday twilight at AO

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