Every team tries to win the contest, not every team relies on it
There's more than one way to win a game of footy
We need all our pieces on the board to prove we can do it
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AFLW 2024 - Round 2 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Prediction Changes Round 20 vs. West Coast
- Thread starter YelloMit
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There's more than one way to win a game of footy
We need all our pieces on the board to prove we can do it
Eagles seek inspiration from Derby upset, reinforcements on the way
Jayden Hunt says West Coast will use the last five weeks of the season to build into next year
www.afl.com.au
I think when you know a key player isn't going to play the team can prepare for it, but trying to fill holes when they go down becomes a bigger challenge. I think we dropped off a bit when we lost Pearce on the weekend. Hopefully we can be more psychologically prepared, and our two vice captains now have more experience.
I noticed when Pearce went off, Fyfe started really rallying the forwards. We are lucky to have a few experienced leaders out there.
Taylor
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Given we were starting quarters with Sean Darcy standing in the goal square I suspect we took the foot off the pedal because we were nearly ten goes up and are playing a side next week who has rested players with an extra night at home in their own beds recovering.
Lets agree to disagree because I genuinely can't be bothered arguing.
Snuffaluphagus
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I feel Pearce is being under rated and Darcy over rated because of who we played on the weekend. Both very important but I really think Pearce makes us a couple goals better down back. His form this yeare was unreal and he'll be even more important in finals IMO.
Taylor
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- #107
The only thing that beats a contested game style is a skilled game style. I refer you to the AFLW which has premierships won by the biggest and strongest players since the beginning, slowly moving to speed and skill - but ultimately the larger players win the contests and win the games.
Against Melbourne, Freo outplayed them in both contest and skill. Just look at the handballs to space that landed in the arms of team mates who knew where to be.
If you had a player who could kick off both feet, run a 10s 100m dash and bounce the ball like a basketball the whole way they'd make $1.5m a year - but almost all the rest of the best paid players will be contested beasts.
Against Melbourne, Freo outplayed them in both contest and skill. Just look at the handballs to space that landed in the arms of team mates who knew where to be.
If you had a player who could kick off both feet, run a 10s 100m dash and bounce the ball like a basketball the whole way they'd make $1.5m a year - but almost all the rest of the best paid players will be contested beasts.
That may be true but I think we cover Pearce easier than we cover Darcy. We should have played Reidy against the Hawks.
Darcy out and Voss in is much more of a loss than Pearce out and Draper in
Snuffaluphagus
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I dont think I agree, as good as Draper is, there's no substitute for your borderline AA 28 year old KPD captain. Voss is having like 4 shots on goal a game when he plays and Jackson is still pretty good in the ruck.
If we finish top 4 he would've been a very good shout for AA skipper tbh
Definitely being underrated on here
Jackson played crap against the form ruck of the competition
If Voss could kick straight then he is a very very solid in, I'd prefer to be playing Voss in a final over Draper, especially since Draper is having to play in defense, much easier to shuffle roles and cover a forward.
The issue is Jackson has been woefully out of form tbh, hopefully it clicks again for him soon
That's me & I never hated him, just didn't rate him
In between I was yyou
(1st change i cracked the sh1ts after losing 2 port power in the finals, & 2nd change was due to a change in email, because of a work change)
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I think at this point we're debating in absolutes about things that are quite subjective - where one can make a case either way depending on opposition on any given day.
I think we bloody well could have done with Darcy against the hawks against Meek, but there have been plenty of games where Jackson has been fine carrying the ruck load all by himself.
Same game though - Pearce probably would have stopped at least one or two of Sicily's goals which ended up being the difference in the end.
Both vitally important players in terms of being us being full strength.
Snuffaluphagus
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Yeah, it's as much a philosophy thing for me as anything, I think the focal point your defence is built around is just about the most important player in a team these days. Look how much better Dogs look with AA FB Lobb out there. Incredibly, the only player I'd argue is actually more important to us this year (not necessarily better than everyone else), is Treacy...
Which is why we should bring in Reidy if we lose Darcy again. Treacy has become too important to take out of the forward line to ruck.
Always a massive shout. Structure is so important for the forward line. V Richmond it was clicking, Darcy goes out and Treacy is forced to ruck- it stagnated. Darcy comes in, it’s humming again.
Coaches surely have to start to being mindful of this.
Having Pearce down there gives the whole back line (especially guys like Cox and Ryan) the confidence that they can just play their roles, with Draper/Davies they have to worry about whether they need to help out the youngest and it takes them off their own game. Pearce adds a lot more than just what he does personally
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I have Pearce as the most important player for us but its close and I agree the next three would be Hodor, Young and Treacy and not necessarily in that order.
We would have won the Hawthorn game with either one of Hodor or Moose so yes, its subjective.
Moose is the only one with the pace, height, strength to cover the best of the best forwards in the comp, the guys who are going to win the big games off their own boots. Cox as important as he is, doesnt have the speed and dash of Moose and Drapes, my old buddy, doesnt yet have the strength or height of Moose.
The Skippers chalk bones are a big, big blow for our chances. Waiting for the next medical update with dread.
We would have won the Hawthorn game with either one of Hodor or Moose so yes, its subjective.
Moose is the only one with the pace, height, strength to cover the best of the best forwards in the comp, the guys who are going to win the big games off their own boots. Cox as important as he is, doesnt have the speed and dash of Moose and Drapes, my old buddy, doesnt yet have the strength or height of Moose.
The Skippers chalk bones are a big, big blow for our chances. Waiting for the next medical update with dread.
I agree to a certain degree. Pearce is uprb and one of the best backmen in the comp, but so is DArcy.
In regards to Darcy, you can only beat what is put in front of you. Look at the sticth up he gave one of the best in the league a couple of weeks ago, Brodie Grundy.
I think Darcy is undersold by many, but on his day will stitch up any of the big men. He makes our mids play taller and stronger having him in the team.
I would also, seriously consider, a trial of swinging the Unicorn to Centre Half Back ala Rory-born-again during the Eagles match. Im not saying a permanent move - maybe for a quarter or two but most clubs only have two bona fide talls up forward so its not an outrageous idea.
If Hodor is up and about and not injured and Jye and Josh have got their radar dialled in then we could experiment. You could put Drapes forward for a quarter and swap him and Jackson around, have a look to see if it might work.
I can easily imagine a do or die final at the G and one of the big forwards is running Coxy amuk and we need to stop him. Could Jackson back be the masterstroke that saves two goals and wins us the game?
Sicily just did it, Hunter for the Eagles famously did it once or twice, we have a Unicorn, why not add a trick to his hand?
If Hodor is up and about and not injured and Jye and Josh have got their radar dialled in then we could experiment. You could put Drapes forward for a quarter and swap him and Jackson around, have a look to see if it might work.
I can easily imagine a do or die final at the G and one of the big forwards is running Coxy amuk and we need to stop him. Could Jackson back be the masterstroke that saves two goals and wins us the game?
Sicily just did it, Hunter for the Eagles famously did it once or twice, we have a Unicorn, why not add a trick to his hand?
Perfect Purple
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Would rather we weren’t playing the Eagles at this stage of the H&A season.
Not because I think they will win, but because they will be out to inflict as many injuries as they can.
I still haven’t got that image of Fatty McGovern and Barrass sandwiching Jye and knocking him out within the first five minutes of the last game.
Likewise the image of that little Snot HR pushing Fyfe to the ground and grinning as he ran away. Arrogant little twerp.
We need to make sure that we not only have a good win but come away unscathed and not sucked in by their antics.
We do not need any suspensions at this stage of the game.
Not because I think they will win, but because they will be out to inflict as many injuries as they can.
I still haven’t got that image of Fatty McGovern and Barrass sandwiching Jye and knocking him out within the first five minutes of the last game.
Likewise the image of that little Snot HR pushing Fyfe to the ground and grinning as he ran away. Arrogant little twerp.
We need to make sure that we not only have a good win but come away unscathed and not sucked in by their antics.
We do not need any suspensions at this stage of the game.
I think you're getting a bit confused about Pearce's position? The way he was embarrassing a Kosi Pickett at ground level on Sunday, surely Moose plays the back pocket?
Purple Jesus
not jess
Treacy didn’t even know where Freo was on a map.
Purple Jesus
not jess
Agreed. We need to come out and flatten them ruthlessly from the first bounce and suck all hope from the start.
It's not really about if the substitute will bring the same thing though. It's about how it impacts the whole team. Of course no one is going to bring anything close to what Pearce does in defence. But when he comes out there's a direct replacement in terms of structure. The defence may have to shuffle their prefered roles a bit, but it's easier to cover.
If our midfield is playing well and we're dominating stoppages it's much easier on our defence. If we're getting smashed in clearances then Pearce might save 2-3 goals, but we're giving up a lot more than we would be otherwise if Darcy was playing and we were getting that dominance.
Not to mention the impact it has on Treacy and the rest of our forward line. Sure Voss get's plenty of chances, but they don't mean much when he's missing them all.
