Prediction Changes: Round 15 Vs Essendon + prematch discussion

Remove this Banner Ad

For the Naam game he was out but we had all 8 in the Geelong game.

Edit: Sturt came on as sub in the game Walters was out, so we ended up with 8 forwards.
The Sturt sub game doesn't count because Jackson moved out to main ruck after Darcy got injured.

But yeah we did have 8 for Geelong, but it meant Jonno was sub and Ras was dropped.
 
The Sturt sub game doesn't count because Jackson moved out to main ruck after Darcy got injured.

But yeah we did have 8 for Geelong, but it meant Jonno was sub and Ras was dropped.
Fair enough, the point remains though that we happily played with all of Jackson, Amiss, Treacy and Banfield for all 4 games of that winning streak, so substituting Sturt for Banfield wouldnt be a structural change at all, whether we play all of Frederick, Schultz, Switta and Walters as well is a different question, one that may not need to be answered is Frederick doesn’t get up in time.

Edit: one of my concerns going into the GWS game was how small we were, when you add Serong and Henry we had 5 players under 180cm, I would suggest it’s one of the main reasons we’ve persisted with NOD on the wing despite his appalling form. Aish, JOM and Bradshaw aren’t exactly tall either, for that reason I’d like to get Erasmus into the team alongside Johnson.
 
Last edited:

Log in to remove this ad.

I think what the last couple of weeks shows is that we don't have any depth.

In: Darcy, Aish, Freddy and Erasmus
Out: Banfield, Sturt, Henry and Fyfe
Fyfe back to sub.
We can’t drop Henry and keep Noddy in the team, he’s been appalling last few games. I’d keep Sturt and have him Frederick, Erasmus and Johnson rotate through the wing.
In: Darcy, Aish, Frederick and Erasmus
Out: Banfield, Henry, NOD, Fyfe
Fyfe to play super Sub again.
 
Dont know enough about who can come in to talk nitty gritty on changes but seems obvious we need to improve at contest and everything else is just window dressing. It comes back to Freo having a young midfield who get chewed up by bigger, more experienced, bodies. Changing out Banfield et al aint gonna do the job. Its a development thing for the mids of which we have some good ones but we are awaiting 'the bull' to halve contests straighten us up and calm the horses when the whips start cracking. They all deserve a spray after last weekend tho. It was freaking pathetic.
 
Dont know enough about who can come in to talk nitty gritty on changes but seems obvious we need to improve at contest and everything else is just window dressing. It comes back to Freo having a young midfield who get chewed up by bigger, more experienced, bodies. Changing out Banfield et al aint gonna do the job. Its a development thing for the mids of which we have some good ones but we are awaiting 'the bull' to halve contests straighten us up and calm the horses when the whips start cracking. They all deserve a spray after last weekend tho. It was freaking pathetic.

Yep. I think they’re desperately hoping Fyfe can come good. He himself said he’s still lacking a lot of power to jump & also change direction laterally because he can’t drive through his foot properly yet. Him being something like his old self goes a long way to get the midfield going.

It seemed like they had it sorted with O’Meara for those 4 games but that’s fallen apart again.

From the outside it seems obvious to let Erasmus loose in their but they’re holding him back for whatever development reasons they have.

I don’t really understand why they take players like Worner (wing) & Draper (forward) & immediately shove them down back when we’re screaming out for more class forward of center.
 
IN: Ruckman,
Out: ?

We won 3 out of 4 games in a row and the first 3 we scored >100, our forward line functioned well

We had 2 Rucks (1 resting FWD) and 2 talls (Treacy, Amiss) to compliment our forwardline.
We lost Darcy in the 2nd qrt of the 4th game and we won, but we didn't score >100.

I called for Reidy to come in for Darcy as I felt that is the balance we need and seemed to be working.

If Darcy isn't fit and Reidy is next cab of the rank he should come in to straighten us up.

Jackson is not No 1 ruckman, the stats in the last two games show that. He is a great backup and adds a lot of flexibility and Treacy can help out if we lose one ruckman but we are damaging our ability to kick scores if we stay with that model.

Why can't our coaches see this?
 
Banfield, Schultz and Switta are huge barometers for our team. When those guys are impacting the game, we are a lock to win.

I am with JL, the preparation for the games must be called into question. I still think the leadership in the team is lacking, is Moose driving the team hard enough?
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Was Schultz playing further up the ground as saw him few times in defensive half. We need him to provide the defensive in our fwd line
 
I don't have time for a replay this week with the ashes and a busy work schedule, can anyone else who does go back through and watches them weekly please check if Noddy was actually sent to defense in the last quarter?

He might have gone there when Young move to the mids
 
I don't have time for a replay this week with the ashes and a busy work schedule, can anyone else who does go back through and watches them weekly please check if Noddy was actually sent to defense in the last quarter?

He might have gone there when Young move to the mids
Not sure why they didn't try NOD as inside mid as well
 
Was Schultz playing further up the ground as saw him few times in defensive half. We need him to provide the defensive in our fwd line
Schultz often plays high. With Sturt in the team he seems to play even higher with Sturt playing deeper and consequently Sturt having more space around him.

This looks very deliberate. Schultz isn't freelancing -- he is playing the role he is being asked to play.

It wouldn't surprise me if about two thirds of Schultz's possessions in the last couple of weeks have come from the defensive half.

Its a reason he isnt kicking as many goals now as he was in the first two months of the season.
 
Schultz often plays high. With Sturt in the team he seems to play even higher with Sturt playing deeper and consequently Sturt having more space around him.

This looks very deliberate. Schultz isn't freelancing -- he is playing the role he is being asked to play.

It wouldn't surprise me if about two thirds of Schultz's possessions in the last couple of weeks have come from the defensive half.

Its a reason he isnt kicking as many goals now as he was in the first two months of the season.
Eh, Sturt played Walters role last week and then Freddys this week

It all comes back to the midfield getting belted, in general small forwards look shit when the midfield looks shit
 
Undoubtedly the midfield and contested possession is the key to us kicking a winning score.

But Schultz is playing very high since the bye ... getting a lot of possesions around the wing and halfback compared to earlier in the season. Way more than half his possies would be in the defensive half in the last two weeks. That wasn't the case earlier in the year. He was getting a lot of ball close to goal.

And at the same time Sturt comes into rhe team. And he gets most (nearly all?) his ball inside F50. Where all the space is.

Perhaps this is all accidental. Perhaps not. Perhaps Schultz is playing high because the midfield is getting belted and he is sent up there to help out.

I really doubt that Schultz is playing differently on a whim.
 
JOM was supposed to be the grunt added back in after a poor showing against the tiges but he only managed 15 touches, 9 contested. we relied almost entirely on serong (17 contested) and a bit of brayshaw (10). GWS had green kelly, cogs and callaghan over 25 touches just belted us.

need JOM to stand up, NOD out brayshaw to a wing and brodie in? get some bigger bodies and more clearances winners while maintaing brayshaws running ability
 
Eh, Sturt played Walters role last week and then Freddys this week

It all comes back to the midfield getting belted, in general small forwards look s**t when the midfield looks s**t

And part of the reason the midfield looks shit is because our small forwards are often in that midfield.

Regardless, small forwards can look shit no matter what. Especially in big games. Pickett and Spargo were the two worst Melbourne players on the ground when they won the GF. Weightman was the Bulldogs worst even when they were leading for 2.5 quarters. Stengle had a good GF last year, so it goes both ways.

It is a position that can be so hot and cold. It's one of the many reasons I am so against playing 4 x small forwards (and sometimes it is even 5 if you include Banfield). Especially when they don't have much midfield pedigree apart from Walters. The top sides usually play 2 or 3 maximum, and are much less reliant on them having good games.
 
Schultz often plays high. With Sturt in the team he seems to play even higher with Sturt playing deeper and consequently Sturt having more space around him.

This looks very deliberate. Schultz isn't freelancing -- he is playing the role he is being asked to play.

It wouldn't surprise me if about two thirds of Schultz's possessions in the last couple of weeks have come from the defensive half.

Its a reason he isnt kicking as many goals now as he was in the first two months of the season.
Yeh, I didnt think it wasn't based on his role. Guess, we lack that forward pressure if he isn't there as he brings it. But at same time, if we getting belted in the clearances and not going down there as much, it's catch 22, where best to exploit his pressure most
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Prediction Changes: Round 15 Vs Essendon + prematch discussion

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top