Preview Discussion and changes for Crows

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IN: Hibberd, Hooker, Hurley, Dyson,
OUT: Baguley, Kavanagh, Davey, Dell'Olio

B: Hardingham-Hooker-Fletcher
HB: Dempsey-Carlisle-Hibberd
C: Stanton-Watson-Heppell
HF: Gumbleton-Hurley-Monfries
F: Winderlich-Hille-Jetta
R: Bellchambers-Hocking-Howlett
I: Browne-Dyson-Melksham-NLM

We needed more midfield rotations against the Hawks, as well as better midfield rotations. Dropping Davey and Dell'Olio allows Winderlich to play as a forward, and Monfries to be in his best role: rotating through the midfield and forward line.

This is the best 22 swaps:

Zaharakis for Dyson
Crameri for Monfries
Ryder for Hille
 

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No point doing this until we find out who our 2 Thursday-training injuries are this week.

I wanted to hit the like button in support of the cold hard truth - but **** me I don't like it at all.
 
OUT: Hille, Dell, Melksham, Baguley, Kav
IN: CramDog, Hurley, Hibbo, Pears, Myers.

Not_sure_if_serious.jpg
 
Pending injuries... (we know there will be some) we need to correct our structure. At the moment we have Davey, Dell'Olio, Jetta, Monfires and Winderlich all playing as small forwards.

I agree with Ben, we should drop both Davey and Dell'Olio and play Jetta closer to goal.

Hopefully Crameri is fit and comes straight back into the team along with Hurley. If Hibberd is ready I would also bring him in straight swap for Baguley.

Now the problems with these changes is they don't fix our midfield problem. I'm more than happy for Browne to continue getting games and I wouldn't mind seeing anther game from Kavanagh.
 
It doesnt really matter which 22 we send over there as long as they all have a dip.
Unlike the tripe that has been served up for th last 4 weeks.

I don't know about having a dip or not, but I don't think it matters all that much which 22 play either.
If we were getting beaten by 20pts or less in a competitive game, fair enough that we might think that the players out would have made the difference.

I don't think injuries have affected us as badly as many are saying. The main ones are Hurley, Ryder, Crameri and Zaharakis. After that, most of the injured and unavailable have replacements who are not much worse, depending on the vagaries of form etc. And even within that group of 4 vital players, Gumby has been an adequate replacement for Hurley, and Ryder has not left a gaping hole, given that we are still winning the ruck contests each week.

It is more a matter of how well or badly the 22 we do select play relative to their ability.

Even against Hawthorn, we won almost 50% of contested possessions and clearances. It is what we are able to do with the ball when we have it, and what we are allowing the opposition to do with it when they have it, that is killing us. Some of this is down to ability (eg some of "adequate" players are just not in the class of the bulk of Hawthorn/Geelong players when it comes to disposal and decision making, but this didn't seem to be a problem early in the season, and I don't think St. Kilda are so much better than us in this regard.

I think it is something more basic. We really lack the ability to run and spread when we have the ball at the moment, and when the opposition have it, our run and pressure has dropped away alarmingly. We are making teams look better than they are by not being able to apply consistent pressure.

All adds up to fitness to me. Maybe the easing off of training to try to stem the soft tissue injuries is hurting us.

In any event, I don't think it matters all that much which 22 we play. Look at Carlton at the moment - performing ok despite missing vital players (Judd, Simpson, Waite, Henderson, Hampson, Robinson, Walker)
 

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I don't think injuries have affected us as badly as many are saying. The main ones are Hurley, Ryder, Crameri and Zaharakis.

So with the exception of Watson, we are missing arguably our four best players.

I ask you, how many injuries do we need before its affecting us as badly as many are saying??
 
Look at Carlton at the moment - performing ok despite missing vital players (Judd, Simpson, Waite, Henderson, Hampson, Robinson, Walker)

Against the mighty Bulldogs and the mighty Tigers, of course.
 
Out: Stanton (inj), Hooker (omit)

In: Lonergan, Pears.

Nat Rat to start and play Melksham as sub and tell him the next step is Bendigo....
 
Against the mighty Bulldogs and the mighty Tigers, of course.

Fair enough the Bulldogs aren't great measuring sticks. But Richmond are about the same as St. Kilda and North at the moment, and we would be more than happy to be playing at a standard that could match them right now.
 
In: Hurley (if fit) Dyson (If fit) Hibberd (if fit) Reimers (if fit) Crameri (if fit) Ryder (if fit) Myers (if fit) Pears, Hooker (both if mentally fit)
Colyer&Lonergan (if staying on our 2013 list)

Out: Stanton (inj) Davey (inj) Gumbleton (inj) Fletch (inj/rested) jetta (inj?)Dell (omitted) Kav Browne (rested) Melsham Hille (omitted)
 
Still a lot of unknowns but I'll have a go.

In: Hurley, Dyson, Pears, Hooker
Out: Dell'Olio, Kavanagh, Melksham, Stanton (assuming he's injured)

Fletcher Hooker Dempsey
Pears Carlisle Hardingham
Heppell Watson Dyson
Jetta Gumbleton Monfries
Davey Hurley Hille
Bellchambers Howlett Hocking
NLM Winderlich Browne Baguely (s)
 
I'm not expecting much this week. Hopefully a few players back and a lift in the teams effort. We will probably struggle for run with so many under done players but our structure should probably be a little better and hopefully there will be less running around like headless chooks. Nobody really has a clue which players are in or out at the revolving door which is our list right now but Hurley/Crameri would make a huge difference to our forward line and even help our midfield out by giving them some better targets.
I'm praying for a win somehow, but don't anticipate it happening.
 
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