Preview R1: Changes for 2025

[Scorpus]

And Neale-Bullen? Possibly Dowling, Edwards and even Milera if he can get going.

Neal-Bullen and Murphy will play in the same side

And I say this because I believe Nicks will play both to allow more midfield time for players like Rankine

 

[hugecannon]

Neal-Bullen and Murphy will play in the same side

Dear god no!!!!

No more Murphy!!!!

 

[Scorpus]

Dear god no!!!!

No more Murphy!!!!

The way I see it is this.

Rankine had significant CBA time in five games: vs Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood, Sydney and GWS

Against Collingwood, Sydney and GWS we played all of Rachele, Keays, Murphy and Cook
Against Carlton and Melbourne we played Rachele, Cook, Keays and McHenry

In all five games we added (or retained or shuffled) a half forward to accommodate Rankine's move into stoppages

I believe when playing Rankine in the midfield (which will be most weeks) we will play Rachele, Keays, Neal-Bullen and Murphy in the forward/half-forward roles

Pedlar, or several other players, has a clear opportunity in this structure and very little competition for his spot

 

[Cromulant]

The way I see it is this.

Rankine had significant CBA time in five games: vs Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood, Sydney and GWS

Against Collingwood and GWS we played all of Rachele, Keays, Murphy and Cook
Against Carlton and Melbourne we played Rachele, Cook, Keays and McHenry

In four of the five games we added a half forward to accommodate Rankine's move into stoppages

I believe when playing Rankine in the midfield (which will be most weeks) we will play Rachele, Keays, Neal-Bullen and Murphy in the forward/half-forward roles

Just can't see Murphy being in that side even in that scenario.

Peatling is more likely to play half forward than Murphy IMO

 

[Scorpus]

Just can't see Murphy being in that side even in that scenario.

Peatling is more likely to play half forward than Murphy IMO

I see Peatling as more of a replacement for Dowling, Taylor, or Berry

(from Matthew Nicks perspective)

 

[Cromulant]

I see Peatling as more of a replacement for Dowling, Taylor, or Berry

(from Matthew Nicks perspective)

That's a fair assumption, I'd be inclined to play Taylor instead of Murphy, even Berry

 

[Eddie Murphy]

It's a big if though

He went backwards big time

That's a big if (getting to 2023 level). He has more competition now and talent only gets you so far.

Talent alone got Pedlar far enough in 2023. It’s a fair expectation that he can, as a 22 year old, recapture the form he was displaying a year ago. Easy to forget that outside of that dull defence-oriented opening few weeks he only played 5 minutes of AFL footy this season before that shoulder became an obvious issue.

No doubt a dynamic half forward like him is one of the most impacted by slow, gradual ball movement and weak forward entry like we showed in that opening month. Didn’t help that we only wanted to play him deep and didn’t explore other ways of involving him.

 

[1990crow]

Talent alone got Pedlar far enough in 2023. It’s a fair expectation that he can, as a 22 year old, recapture the form he was displaying a year ago. Easy to forget that outside of that dull defence-oriented opening few weeks he only played 5 minutes of AFL footy this season before that shoulder became an obvious issue.

No doubt a dynamic half forward like him is one of the most impacted by slow, gradual ball movement and weak forward entry like we showed in that opening month. Didn’t help that we only wanted to play him deep and didn’t explore other ways of involving him.

I don't think you put Pedlars season down to the club. It was his fault - looked disinterested and/or unfit.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

I don't think you put Pedlars season down to the club. It was his fault - looked disinterested and/or unfit.

I don’t think fitness, endurance and involvement over the whole game were core parts of Pedlar’s game in 2023. You’re right - they’re areas he needs to work on. But my argument is his flaws as a dynamic, talent-over-endurance player were compounded by our play style in the opening month and we never really got the opportunity to see him outside that play style for the year.

Working on those weaknesses would make him a very dangerous player and closer to that ceiling on his. However, to merely reach that 2023 form (which, with depth we currently have in the half forward role, is good enough to make our team) is not a big ask. At least, from a performance perspective. Injuries may be another issue.

 

[1970crow]

Curtin absolutely must play in the foward half IMO, with bursts on ball. Assuming he won't have a big enough tank to be a full time mid.

He had a few stints up forward at AFL level this year, and always hit the scoreboard when he did. He's shown to do the same at SANFL level when given the chance.

He's a fantastic shot on goal whether on the run, around the body or set shot. Beautiful set shot technique. And tall enough to cause headaches overhead playing off a flank/pocket.

Agree, but issue is loose ball pressure with him, Tex, Fog and TT all ahead of the ball. The belief that having a pressure forward can make up for the limitations of that group is insanity. But I think we’ll just have to wear it because half forward moving up to the middle seems the best role to get him going.

 

[1970crow]

Recency bias with Pedlar is crazy. With Izak going into midfield, if Pedlar can stay injury free and find his 2023 form ALONE that’s enough to warrant selection. If he can build on that and develop closer to his extremely high ceiling, that’s an excellent bonus.

There’s a fair bit of competition though, they can’t all play. If we play Curtin forward of the ball, there’s 4 spots taken up by talls. Add Rachele, Keays and ANB and there’s 7 forwards, so looking at bench and stoppage rotations. Crouch, Soligo, Dawson, Rankine, Peatling and pick 4 is 3 on the field and one too many on the bench. And that’s before considering players like Berry or Taylor.

I rate Pedlar very highly but he’s at risk of finding himself a depth player.

 

[Golumless]

The lack of a gun rebounder since Smith's decline is a bigger issue for us than the wings.

Top four sides nearly always have an AA quality player behind the ball.

Very keen to see how Cumming goes without having to play second fiddle to Whitfield.

Big time.

We got away with it in 2023 with Hinge/Milera putting up solid numbers (seeing our outside numbers were very good), but you can only last so long trying trying to make up for a gun player by committee.

And controversially, I don't think we should discount using pick 4 here next year as a pitstop whilst whoever we pick builds up to being a midfielder. But that depends on who we pick.

Josh Daicos won their BnF, solid player..... he's a bit more than that.

Yeah, I did say you could talk me into his 2023 just scraping into the gun wing classification. There isn't a lot of damage for his disposal counts though, seeing it's 0.6 goals/0.3 goal assists/5.1 score involvements for 25 disposals in 2023.

Curtin absolutely must play in the foward half IMO, with bursts on ball. Assuming he won't have a big enough tank to be a full time mid.

He had a few stints up forward at AFL level this year, and always hit the scoreboard when he did. He's shown to do the same at SANFL level when given the chance.

He's a fantastic shot on goal whether on the run, around the body or set shot. Beautiful set shot technique. And tall enough to cause headaches overhead playing off a flank/pocket.

The other option is wing, but that's on the proviso we see Curtin as an inside midfielder in 2-3 years.

It does have a smoother pathway to being an inside midfielder than half-forward, and it would help to round out Dan's outside game before he makes the move (seeing he's already quite solid on the inside). Equally, it would tell us ahead of time if midfield is a viable option for Curtin, as if a player can't find some form of success on a wing, they're not going to do much on the inside.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Big time.

We got away with it in 2023 with Hinge/Milera putting up solid numbers (seeing our outside numbers were very good), but you can only last so long trying trying to make up for a gun player by committee.

And controversially, I don't think we should discount using pick 4 here next year as a pitstop whilst whoever we pick builds up to being a midfielder. But that depends on who we pick.



Yeah, I did say you could talk me into his 2023 just scraping into the gun wing classification. There isn't a lot of damage for his disposal counts though, seeing it's 0.6 goals/0.3 goal assists/5.1 score involvements for 25 disposals in 2023.



The other option is wing, but that's on the proviso we see Curtin as an inside midfielder in 2-3 years.

It does have a smoother pathway to being an inside midfielder than half-forward, and it would help to round out Dan's outside game before he makes the move (seeing he's already quite solid on the inside). Equally, it would tell us ahead of time if midfield is a viable option for Curtin, as if a player can't find some form of success on a wing, they're not going to do much on the inside.

When Tex plays, would like to see Curtin play on a wing, but with stints inside.

When Tex is rested, swap his wing time for a half forward flank, pushing up like Lynch did.

 

[Jinglebells32]

You highlighted 2 sentences that were completely separate thoughts.

His score involvements are fine but also, who cares. They can be involvements leading to a rushed behind. It's his goal involvements that's appalling and that matter. 3 in an entire season, 20 games, 2000 minutes of football. We scored 279 goals, he was involved in 3 of them. As a wingman, that is wildly terrible. Ranked in the bottom rung AFL wide, including defenders.

He does no damage, if we want to be better, players like him can't be in the side.

I'm sure he kicked a few goals himself, so I can't understand how he was only involved in 3 goals for the year.

 

[Gtowncrow]

Neal-Bullen and Murphy will play in the same side

And I say this because I believe Nicks will play both to allow more midfield time for players like Rankine

I've never wanted a post to be so wrong.
Izak is an impact/burst player. I don't want him grinding away as a grunting midfielder. Periodic...yes. Forward half stoppages...yes.
But I'm still hoping for 40 goals this year from him. He's a forward, a gifted one, who can add dynamism to the midfield in bursts

As far as Murphy goes, we're all scared you might be right but unless Nicks wants to commit career suicide, he'll work out it's impossible. The fans won't allow it. We've got multiple options better than Murph now.

 

[Golumless]

I've never wanted a post to be so wrong.
Izak is an impact/burst player. I don't want him grinding away as a grunting midfielder. Periodic...yes. Forward half stoppages...yes.
But I'm still hoping for 40 goals this year from him. He's a forward, a gifted one, who can add dynamism to the midfield in bursts

As far as Murphy goes, we're all scared you might be right but unless Nicks wants to commit career suicide, he'll work out it's impossible. The fans won't allow it. We've got multiple options better than Murph now.

The fans are completely and utterly irrelevant to Nicks contract extension talks and whether Murphy gets games or not.

Heck, if Murphy doesn't get games, it won't take a day for fans to find someone else they don't like or rate. Effectively, you just have to treat fan opinion on players as irrelevant noise. For Nicks, it is all about wins, nothing else. He cannot afford another year out of finals, no matter if he's planning for the future or going all-in with his selections.

If Nicks is serious about saving his job, Rankine transitions to a full-time midfielder this year. Adelaide needs that class and damage in its inside midfield unit and with Rachele/Keays, it doesn't need Rankine the forward as much.

 

[skam85]

The fans are completely and utterly irrelevant to Nicks contract extension talks and whether Murphy gets games or not.

Heck, if Murphy doesn't get games, it won't take a day for fans to find someone else they don't like or rate. Effectively, you just have to treat fan opinion on players as irrelevant noise. For Nicks, it is all about wins, nothing else. He cannot afford another year out of finals, no matter if he's planning for the future or going all-in with his selections.

If Nicks is serious about saving his job, Rankine transitions to a full-time midfielder this year. Adelaide needs that class and damage in its inside midfield unit and with Rachele/Keays, it doesn't need Rankine the forward as much.

Correct and we arent going to see a 40,000 protest with nobody show up because Lachlan Murphy gets AFL games.

 

[MsTopG]

I've never wanted a post to be so wrong.
Izak is an impact/burst player. I don't want him grinding away as a grunting midfielder. Periodic...yes. Forward half stoppages...yes.
But I'm still hoping for 40 goals this year from him. He's a forward, a gifted one, who can add dynamism to the midfield in bursts

As far as Murphy goes, we're all scared you might be right but unless Nicks wants to commit career suicide, he'll work out it's impossible. The fans won't allow it. We've got multiple options better than Murph now.

Murphy, Smith, Laird all need to be playing in the Sanfl.

 

[FR0GGY]

Big time.

We got away with it in 2023 with Hinge/Milera putting up solid numbers (seeing our outside numbers were very good), but you can only last so long trying trying to make up for a gun player by committee.

And controversially, I don't think we should discount using pick 4 here next year as a pitstop whilst whoever we pick builds up to being a midfielder. But that depends on who we pick.



Yeah, I did say you could talk me into his 2023 just scraping into the gun wing classification. There isn't a lot of damage for his disposal counts though, seeing it's 0.6 goals/0.3 goal assists/5.1 score involvements for 25 disposals in 2023.



The other option is wing, but that's on the proviso we see Curtin as an inside midfielder in 2-3 years.

It does have a smoother pathway to being an inside midfielder than half-forward, and it would help to round out Dan's outside game before he makes the move (seeing he's already quite solid on the inside). Equally, it would tell us ahead of time if midfield is a viable option for Curtin, as if a player can't find some form of success on a wing, they're not going to do much on the inside.

Is Ryan our future rebounding defender we are pinning our hopes on? Nankervis?

 

[Cromulant]

Gee another one bites the dust, what did Kermit do ??

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Gee another one bites the dust, what did Kermit do ??

No idea, but croaked one time too many?

Is it a full moon & no one wants to be around for draft night?

 

[skam85]

Gee another one bites the dust, what did Kermit do ??

FR0GGY is the resident level headed good guy. Keeps the clappers, tools, trolls and cartel all on the same side. He's the glue that bonds the Adelaide Bigfooty board.

If frog man cops a ban this is the beginning of the end.

 

[cleanhands]

FR0GGY is the resident level headed good guy. Keeps the clappers, tools, trolls and cartel all on the same side. He's the glue that bonds the Adelaide Bigfooty board.

If frog man cops a ban this is the beginning of the end.

And one is suspended, I didn’t see anything that deserved it

 

[Geoffa32]

Draper and Curtin better be part of the midfield rotation from round 1.

 

[Golumless]

Draper and Curtin better be part of the midfield rotation from round 1.

Very unlikely both will be in any meaningful capacity, though it's quite likely one will end up on a wing. But that's more it's an easy spot to flick someone.

Especially with Peatling coming on the list and Rankine + Soligo minutes due to increase.