Changes v Sydney

[SirJimi05]

NLM is the PERFECT type vs Sydney. Not sure where his fitness is but to me he could run with Goodes, certainly if he used as a sub in the second half when he'll have fresh legs.

Think you will find that Myers is going to be playing on Goodes.

No changes this week people. Davey for Howlett depending on how he pulls up.

 

[SirJimi05]

Top 3 for defence in the Melbourne game.

Believe what you want though.

I thought you meant top 3 for defence at the club?

 

[BrunoV]

But you take a key piece out of the middle and replace him with who ?

IMO people do not know how important players like Lonergan who keep crashing in non stop really are. You need the 4 or 5 of them.
Winderlich is no good in there and neither is Stanton. It is not Jettas go and Zaka is not ready or is not really that type anyway.

One that could work is Crameri but he is working well in the forward half.

To me if you are getting Davey in the side then one of Monfries, Jetta or Winderlich has to go out.

I take it that you think that Monfrie's body or style isn't up to the role.

I thought that his defensive forward game could translate into "crash and bash" midfield role.

 

[Godzke]

But you take a key piece out of the middle and replace him with who ?

IMO people do not know how important players like Lonergan who keep crashing in non stop really are. You need the 4 or 5 of them.
Winderlich is no good in there and neither is Stanton. It is not Jettas go and Zaka is not ready or is not really that type anyway.

One that could work is Crameri but he is working well in the forward half.

To me if you are getting Davey in the side then one of Monfries, Jetta or Winderlich has to go out.

I'm not saying he hasn't played well or he's not important ... but this IS Davey we're talking about. Plus you're underrating Winderlich. He managed an extra CP on Lonergan. Not saying he's a built bullocker in the middle but he's not "no good".

Either him or Winders are in the firing line imo. Davey just gives that something else mowing down rebounding defenders. Too valuable to pass on.

 

[stugots]

like to see Davey in but unless someone doesnt come up it would be great to see the lineup unchanged

 

[Impromptu]

Looks like Hibberd is going to have to wait for a game now.

Maybe Hibberd in for Lonergan, with Heppell moving to the midfield.

my mail is they may make room quickly for a Davey and Hibberd, but the rest arent seen as best 22 and will have to earn a spot.

like to see Davey in but unless someone doesnt come up it would be great to see the lineup unchanged

I think there will be NO changes..even though Hird said this [before the win]:

"Heppell would be the only debutant for the Bombers, with Michael Hibberd likely to play in round two"

http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=109892

 

[ant555]

I don't particularly care, I just find it amusing you guys can't let it go.


I'm not saying he hasn't played well or he's not important ... but this IS Davey we're talking about. Plus you're underrating Winderlich. He managed an extra CP on Lonergan. Not saying he's a built bullocker in the middle but he's not "no good".

Either him or Winders are in the firing line imo. Davey just gives that something else mowing down rebounding defenders. Too valuable to pass on.

Winderlich is no good in the middle. He is too light. His role will be defensive forward or wing where he has looked good not only this but also a couple of seasons ago.

You guys need to look at the obvious. The big body boys have done the best for us all season so far. Do we go back to where we where ?

Yes it is Davey so to get him in you have to take out one of the other small/medium forwards.

 

[yaco55]

Think that NLM will either come into the 21 or play for Bendigo.

He needs more match practice after missing three weeks.

 

[Burzum]

But you take a key piece out of the middle and replace him with who ?

IMO people do not know how important players like Lonergan who keep crashing in non stop really are. You need the 4 or 5 of them.
Winderlich is no good in there and neither is Stanton. It is not Jettas go and Zaka is not ready or is not really that type anyway.

One that could work is Crameri but he is working well in the forward half.

To me if you are getting Davey in the side then one of Monfries, Jetta or Winderlich has to go out.

I thought Monfries was average on the weekend so I wouldn't be upset if he was to be omitted.

 

[eth-dog]

NLM------>Bendigo
Dempsey------>Sub
Davey------>Bench

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

I'm thinking ..

Davey - in
NLM - Bendigo
Howlett - sub

Howlett to come in about 5-10 minutes into the third. Lets chance our arm and hope we don't get an injury.

Forward defensive pressure has killed the Swans the past few years. Just look at what Collingwood has done to them.

If we add Davey we get better in that aspect. It might counter the loss of another harder mid rotation.

 

[Childish Gambino]

That's exactly what I'm getting at.
If anyone can point out where the balance went wrong last week I'd be interested to know because it looked pretty much right to me for what they want to do.

At best, I could see NLM (does win contested footy, did very well early last year) coming into Sammy's spot, and someone else entirely as the sub - but I don't think he's done anything wrong whatsoever.
He'd be useless as the sub - IMHO you want someone who's versatile, can spark a few goals & run and carry it.

I thought we were one key forward short at times during the game. Not sure if this was a result of us bombing long to the pack constantly or us not choosing to hit up a target going forward.

Not sure who I'd take out though.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

If I ever catch you whinging about Knights' selection policy, I'll remember that post...

Doubt Lonergan will be dropped, he was solid - his best game since 2009.
I'd hardly go dropping a mid for a back to slot a skinny kid in for a big body.
Regardless, Hibberd's still injured isn't he?

I think Hibberd is close.

If he's to come in, someone has to be squeezed out, whoever that is. If it's Winderlich, then it's an awkward one to re-arrange. If it's a midfielder, it's doable, and Lonergan, although decent, was probably the bottom of the midfielders (Howlett I guess would be another option).

IMO, the only people who could really be considered for being dropped are Winderlich, Lonergan, NLM and Howlett, and Hibberd and Davey would be the only ones to come in. Not sure if they'll make the changes though.

I thought you meant top 3 for defence at the club?

I only had info for that one game.

Having said that, defensive ability isn't really something that would fluctuate like attacking ability - it's a mindset not a skill.

 

[Yoda_]

To be honest, we are all purely assuming Hibberd is a best 22 player.

To us he is, to the coaching staff?

Yes a small defender would be nice but the guys that played on the weekend did a fantastic job.

The only player that could be considered to be straight into the side would be Davey as his forward pressure is quality, especially against a Sydney side that boasts some of the better back flank runners in the AFL.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

I think Heppell lacked a bit as a pure defender at times (which is a funny thing to say given he mauled Cooney) and would be better suited in the midfield, which opens a spot for Hibberd (or Slattery/Welsh etc.)

Lonergan spent a little time in the BP as well.

 

[Darealrath]

If Howlett is injured then bring in NLM with Colyer as the sub. Otherwise keep it the same.

NLM could be handy if the Myers on Goodes match up isn't working or Myers gets injured and is a good sub to have anyway for his versatility. Probably not ideal to have the same sub but oh well.

I'd play it a bit safe with Davey and give him the extra week to be honest. Tempting to bring in Reimers as the sub but I think it could be better for him to have another good game at Bendigo and get more match fitness before bringing him back.

 

[lamaros]

Though Heppell was good defensively apart from a few tackles that didn't stick. Body position and spoiling was good.

 

[GoldenboyHird_5]

Just as a side issue about the midfield, Brereton raised an interesting point after watching the game.

Commented that our spread was surprisingly good, but more importantly, noted, like ant, the specific mix that we have at the moment in our midfield group.

He claimed that Hird has deliberately stationed Lonergan, Hocking, Howlett and Watson in the middle, leaving the likes of Jetta, Melksham, Winderlich etc. on the flanks to accelerate with the ball when the inside guys finally dig it out.

On face value it's not a revolutionary observation, but for the past couple of years I can recall numerous times where we saw the combination of Stanton and Winderlich at centre bounces constantly getting bullied off the ball.

What was even more interesting was what he identified as a 'weakness' of Hird's current set-up. He noted that the midfield combination of Boyd and Cross would pale in comparison to the Judd who, with acceleration and pace, would be able to both win the ball of our 'bigger bodies' while also galloping away from them.

The point, really, was that he thought our inside types, while pretty good at getting the scrum going and feeding the handpass or quick kick out, were slow and could be exposed by the quick explosive types.

I think this could be something to look out for if Goodes moves into the midfield this week; if not, when we play Ablett/GC and, more interestingly, Judd/Carlton.

 

[Skeeta Olly]

Hirdy might change the set up for those type of players though, we'll have to find out.

 

[lamaros]

Brereton is an idiot, though. Why would you listen to him?

You run a ball out of a stoppage with attributes other than speed. Getting a hard ball with speed and then breaking out is an entirely different skill to getting it in a scrum or a stoppage.

Winders is pretty good at getting the hard ball like that, as is Myers. Nothing to do with centre-bounce setups though.

Lonergan, Watson, Hocking and Howlett will get in and under to extract it, Winders, Jetta, Zaka and so forth will run through that pack when it bobbles free and try to shark it, or sit outside looking for the receive.

Brereton confusing these two different roles doesn't all of a sudden make us lack them, nor need to have players who can do both (as the elite midfielders can).

 

[fishardansin]

Brereton may be an idiot on some things but he know his footy, even if he sometimes over complicates the description of a one on one. His point about our weakness is half right. A Judd or even NicNat could expose us running from a stoppage. However, the Dogs had some pace around them and didn't this week. We wont have this problem around the ground because our flanker set up around the stoppage it is really just a center square problem. Of course players like Judd will be tagged when we play Carlton and Winderlich may be light but he can go alright at a stoppage. Also Zaka isn't too slow. Last time we played West Coast it seemed that we always had Hille v Nic Nat and Ryder v Cox. This year I hope we make sure the battles go the other way. Ryder will match Nic Nat for athletism and Hille will match Cox for smarts.

Most importantly the numbers we get around the ball mean that our slower but stronger inside mids aren't exposed away from the center bounce. Lonergan and Howlett working hard at stoppages allowed us to play Watson forward for long periods on the weekend. That lead to a lot of creativity around contested situations in our forward 50.

For this reason Davey can not replace a mid. I think that with our forward press Davey becomes one of our most important players and will be picked every week he is fit. I'm not sure who comes out for him. Providing there are no injuries at training this week that is the only change I'd make.

We also have another 5+ players who could easily be selected. This is great to keep the pressure on the players currently in the side. With the improvement of TBell even Hille and Ryder can't afford to slack off.

I would like Gumbleton to play as well but I also like the idea of him and Carlisle switching between CHB and CHF in the VFL and to be in top form before they are selected.

 

[Slattery_20]

If Howlett is injured then bring in NLM with Colyer as the sub. Otherwise keep it the same.

Con-friggen-cur.

Though Heppell was good defensively apart from a few tackles that didn't stick. Body position and spoiling was good.

Yep.

On the big/slow inside crew. Welsh's tagged Judd (successfully). Doubt it'd physically be beyond Hocking - he's quicker than Welsh. He'll get first go at it, then Howlett. Neither are real mud-runners, won't catch Ablett/Swan but shouldn't have too many issues with Judd's pace. if that doesn't work it'd probably be NLM who does have size & pace just not disposal.

 

[ant555]

I am not bagging Monfries, i just think to bring another small forward in then you have to take one out and not start chipping away at the fringe of the midfield that belted the Dogs into the ground.

IMO too many think about the side in terms of best 22 ability wise rather than best 22 balance wise including match ups.

Winderlich played well but he would be the one to go if we made a change IMO as he does not seem to want to have a shot at goal.

Given the strength of the win maybe only the sub gets changed. Tough to leave anyone out of the 21.

 

[Kong]

In: Davey
Out: NLM

Sub: Winderlich

?

 

[Yoda_]

People talk about "Judd galoping away from the pack", doesnt bother me when Welsh towells him up