Prediction Changes v Adelaide, Friday night, GHMBA Stadium

[Mad_Hatter]

What is the go with Rohan? Hasn't done much the last 5 or so games?

That's Rohan.
It's why the Swans were happy to see him gone, can be game breaking some weeks, then barely turn up.
He's been more consistent with us but these lulls continue to happen, and likely will.

 

[Turbocat]

The coach said at the Presser that a 1/3 of playing group didnt know about the bye thing... well they do know. Its another example how supporters wear this stuff far more than the players at times. They move on , play for other clubs , pay far less interest once they are not the centre of attention or getting well remunerated..while supporters are deemed to be locked in. So now they know and when when the finals come ..they should be aware of everytime its mentioned its their fault , they had a chance to kill the monkey and instead they feed it banana's and it put of weight. That Port perfromance may be just a blimp .. well the same could be said if they play like that in Sept off the bye ..and thats all ahead of them now because of such a dire effort.

So what changes ..?

Try winning some contested ball. Try some sort of connection between the ruckman and the mids at his feet. Get some sort alternate method of ball movement when the slow safe and steady means you are cooking our forwards. ... Crows have tried to be far more lock it in since we played them last time .. and they have a mid group that could match us for contested ball for sure. One loss ..even though it hurts our rep far more than it should cause its off the bye , the game V Port was only one game.. 2 games like that would start a lot of the questions again...but do we change much or just put it down to a bad night.. as much as the coach says our clearance work was horrible and they were slaughtered around the ball.. how much will he put into that one loss compared to the 11 previous wins. I doubt we change much... we will just try to do it better.

Twice we have been beaten badly around the ball. GWS caught us when everyone looked off ..and had a close losss.. Well GWS have a midfield full of #1 picks. Then Port came at us hard like it was a far more important game for them than us. They were prepared to push the physical side of the game.. do they question our ability to withstand that? Maybe they do .. what ever it worked.

Fort out or Rohan etc will do nothing unless we solve our centre bounce abomination. Hawkins could not get a kick cause of the lack of quality service. Stanley and the other young mids did nothing to convince me that they are our long term a grade players. That Stanley is our best options shows a huge chink in our armour for when it counts. He killed OBrien last time it will be worth observation to see how he responds this week

 

[Chinacats]

Fringe players that don’t have an impact are glaring in a game where the heat is on.
Any of Fort, Clarke, O’Connor, Atkins, Rohan would be looking over their shoulder.
Constable could be a chance given crows slow midfield, scooter will get a chance some time. Fogarty for Rohan maybe if doesn’t get up. I want cocky!

 

[Down at K Park]

Menegola won’t play. Not ready yet.

Scott said in the presser sav will play. Fort should never be played again. Complete liability.

Since our contested ball work was so poor, wouldn’t mind seeing constable back in to help in this area.

Rohan might have to miss a week. Wasn’t that his second concussion for the season? I’d bring in krueger to replace him if he doesn’t get up.

 

[Cursed Cat]

The coach said at the Presser that a 1/3 of playing group didnt know about the bye thing... well they do know. Its another example how supporters wear this stuff far more than the players at times. They move on , play for other clubs , pay far less interest once they are not the centre of attention or getting well remunerated..while supporters are deemed to be locked in. So now they know and when when the finals come ..they should be aware of everytime its mentioned its their fault , they had a chance to kill the monkey and instead they feed it banana's and it put of weight. That Port perfromance may be just a blimp .. well the same could be said if they play like that in Sept off the bye ..and thats all ahead of them now because of such a dire effort.

So what changes ..?

Try winning some contested ball. Try some sort of connection between the ruckman and the mids at his feet. Get some sort alternate method of ball movement when the slow safe and steady means you are cooking our forwards. ... Crows have tried to be far more lock it in since we played them last time .. and they have a mid group that could match us for contested ball for sure. One loss ..even though it hurts our rep far more than it should cause its off the bye , the game V Port was only one game.. 2 games like that would start a lot of the questions again...but do we change much or just put it down to a bad night.. as much as the coach says our clearance work was horrible and they were slaughtered around the ball.. how much will he put into that one loss compared to the 11 previous wins. I doubt we change much... we will just try to do it better.

Twice we have been beaten badly around the ball. GWS caught us when everyone looked off ..and had a close losss.. Well GWS have a midfield full of #1 picks. Then Port came at us hard like it was a far more important game for them than us. They were prepared to push the physical side of the game.. do they question our ability to withstand that? Maybe they do .. what ever it worked.

Fort out or Rohan etc will do nothing unless we solve our centre bounce abomination. Hawkins could not get a kick cause of the lack of quality service. Stanley and the other young mids did nothing to convince me that they are our long term a grade players. That Stanley is our best options shows a huge chink in our armour for when it counts. He killed OBrien last time it will be worth observation to see how he responds this week

enjoyed your thoughts Turbo ...

for mine the midfield has been just going for a few weeks now; we've often been resolute down back and efficient up forward without getting a ton from the midfield group - basically we plug Dangerfield in and hope Kelly will come along for the ride (he most usually does, too) - apart from those two though we are relying on our half-forwards like Miers, Atkins, Dahlhaus and Ablett to win a lot of the ball up around the wings and high half-forward, as Guthrie and Selwood just aren't producing enough quality inside work to bolster the efforts of Danger and Kelly.

We look at least one genuine midfielder short; I've been down on Menegola for quite a while now but would be prepared to revisit his tenure.

Mitch Duncan has been winning a lot of the ball and generally directing things well a kick behind the play, but do we need him in more of a central role? I know he's never really been a particularly effective clearance player, but he is playing a luxury role at the moment when we may actually need him positioning more as a centreman than a half-back/winger type. I'd be inclined to swap him and Guthrie's roles to get a feel for whether it might be a more effective set up.

 

[catempire]

We look at least one genuine midfielder short; I've been down on Menegola for quite a while now but would be prepared to revisit his tenure.

Menegola will come back into his high half forward role but I think it’s Constable we need. The former is a link up player and the latter a contested ball winner at the coalface.

 

[iameviljez]

Stanley, Smith, Stanley, Smith... it's the same problem we have had since 2016, namely:

One is a 4/10. One is a 5/10. Which one of these two ruckmen is the 7/10 that we require?

 

[Cursed Cat]

Menegola will come back into his high half forward role but I think it’s Constable we need. The former is a link up player and the latter a contested ball winner at the coalface.

Must admit he wasn't in my purview, but he should've been; I liked what Constable was producing earlier in the year. Get him back in.

But yeah; the rotation - and contributions therein - has looked a little thin; even against Richmond I thought we looked a bit down on clearance power despite the healthy result.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Stanley, Smith, Stanley, Smith... it's the same problem we have had since 2016, namely:

One is a 4/10. One is a 5/10. Which one of these two ruckmen is the 7/10 that we require?

Problem is both players have shown stretches where they are capable of that 7/10 kind of output, even for a good block of form - I liked what Smith produced for probably 6-7 weeks in 2017, same with Stanley for a similar period last year - but both find it difficult to sustain this form. I'd argue that there's only really 3-4 ruckmen in the entire comp capable of sustaining that kind of consistent output over an entire season, so we're not alone in our worries - not that this helps much.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Menegola will come back into his high half forward role but I think it’s Constable we need. The former is a link up player and the latter a contested ball winner at the coalface.

Those 2 for Clark and Guthrie would be ok by me.
I'm not doom and gloom about those 2 but IMO they are the bottom of the group who could make way.
Dare I say it, but Selwood looks a yard short too.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Stanley, Smith, Stanley, Smith... it's the same problem we have had since 2016, namely:

One is a 4/10. One is a 5/10. Which one of these two ruckmen is the 7/10 that we require?

Stanley.
He had a poor game but he's been one of the best ruckman in the game since the bye last year.
Even Gawn has a bad game every now and then.

 

[Chinacats]

Jonas speaking on SEN. Port focused on geelong’s groundball advantage up forward and backed one man in the air and kept numbers on the ground to negate this advantage cats have had. Over to you Scott!

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Have to see how the sore guys pull up but Sav for Fort is a must. Stanley probably gets another chance off the back of an otherwise good season but he lost a LOT of credits last night.

Utter nonsense. He has so many credits given Smith and Abbott are shot. Bloody hell

 

[iameviljez]

Stanley.
He had a poor game but he's been one of the best ruckman in the game since the bye last year.

Stanley can be reasonably strong around the ground, but he's still poor in ruck contests. Statisically, we're now 5w, 1d, 7l for hitouts this year, and 4w 9l for clearances.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Stanley can be reasonably strong around the ground, but he's still poor in ruck contests. Statisically, we're now 5w, 1d, 7l for hitouts this year, and 4w 9l for clearances.

The hitout stat is utter pish. How many are to advantage is what counts.

He ranks #2 since the bye last season.

 

[Wojcinski]

Out: Rohan (inj), Dahlhaus (inj), Fort (omit)

In: Smith, Menegola, Fogarty

 

[fpm84]

Last night was the first time I’ve had real concerns for Selwood this season. He looked completely off the pace, worrying after a week off.

Sam Mclure has reported he is playing through knee tendinitis which would explain his form and the games he’s missed through soreness.

I wonder if 3-4 weeks off now would help him later in the season? We want him as fit as possible come finals time and surely playing him in duress now will mean he’s less and less likely to achieve that by September.

 

[Chinacats]

I noticed Lycett rucked against Hawkins inside our 50. That had been an advantage hitherto where Hawkins would treat it as a marking contest and clear the ball or even snap a goal. Not sure why Fort is in the team TBH. Rata in, Fogarty in, Bews for betts? Henry not doing much & O’Connor had a quiet one. I don’t see many changes. They’ll wait for a more winnable game to try scooter probably .

 

[fpm84]

Rata in, Fogarty in, Bews for betts? Henry not doing much & O’Connor had a quiet one. I don’t see many changes. They’ll wait for a more winnable game to try scooter probably .

Bews has a great record on Betts but would be a big ask for him in his first game back, given Betts is in reasonable form.

 

[year of the cat]

Utter nonsense. He has so many credits given Smith and Abbott are shot. Bloody hell

You really struggle with an alternative opinion to your own don’t you?

Smith in his last game was good i thought. He’s worth a shot. Abbott is hardly shot, he was just no bloody good in the first place.

Stanley was woeful last night. He’s been good this year but last night was a wake up call that we may need to look at another option for finals. It’s called being thorough, having a plan B, not assuming that everything will be alright.... got it?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

You really struggle with an alternative opinion to your own don’t you?

Smith in his last game was good i thought. He’s worth a shot. Abbott is hardly shot, he was just no bloody good in the first place.

Stanley was woeful last night. He’s been good this year but last night was a wake up call that we may need to look at another option for finals. It’s called being thorough, having a plan B, not assuming that everything will be alright.... got it?

No, I struggle with people talking shit.

I’m sorry but the idea of Stanley being DROPPED is utterly ridiculous.

He was poor last night, but he is streets ahead our best ruckman.

Oh and drop the condescension yotc. Advocating Smith over Stanley gives you no right.

Ciao

 

[year of the cat]

No, I struggle with people talking ****.

I’m sorry but the idea of Stanley being DROPPED is utterly ridiculous.

He was poor last night, but he is streets ahead our best ruckman.

Oh and drop the condescension yotc. Advocating Smith over Stanley gives you no right.

Ciao

“Drop the condescension” he says!!! Ok, perhaps you drop the abuse and I’ll start treating you like an adult. You are one aren’t you?

 

[Down at K Park]

Stanley was garbage last night, but dropping him after one bad game is silly. Especially when the other option is a mr nice guy, zero aggression zac smith.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

“Drop the condescension” he says!!! Ok, perhaps you drop the abuse and I’ll start treating you like an adult. You are one aren’t you?

I could give you abuse if you want it, challenging rubbish views isn't doing that.
The phrase "another chance" makes it sound like if he fails v Adelaide that's it. So far from the truth.

You seriously think Smith is even remotely close to him. The bloke wore down and beat Grundy and evened the ledger with Gawn. He's not in danger or being dropped. All he needs is solid backup like Sav. Fort was pretty horrific.

 

[Hamingja]

Stanley's problem is that he needs a consistent block of games to play well.

Since round 8 he has gone played, missed, played, missed, played, bye, played.

He is just not a natural footballer.