Preview R3: Changes vs. North Melbourne

[Cromulant]

3 weeks ago everybody recognised Keane made mistakes but that you took the good with the bad

Now they want him out? This is why some of you would never make it as coaches

How much bad is there before it starts to outweigh the good ??

Bearing in mind that we've played 2 average sides with no tall forward threat ??

 

[GreyCrow]

How much bad is there before it starts to outweigh the good ??

Bearing in mind that we've played 2 average sides with no tall forward threat ??

Then we wait and see - dont fantasise about things that havent happened

 

[VictorianCrow85]

3 weeks ago everybody recognised Keane made mistakes but that you took the good with the bad

Now they want him out? This is why some of you would never make it as coaches

2 poor preseason games, a decent game last week, a really poor one yesterday. That's 3/4 in the bad category. I'm ok to persist for a bit but I do think Butts may be better for us right now.

Keane had a really good patch for us earlier part of last year but since then he's been more liability than great. I was hoping another preseason & learning the game a bit more would cut out some of his real brain fade & poor execution but signs aren't great so far.

How long is too long to persist?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

We should not drop either, but it would be Murray before Keane. Some of you have forgotten how terrible we have recently been at getting the ball out of defence.

Murray played one of his best games in a while yesterday & was far better than Keane.

I'm more comfortable with a Murray 1 on 1 contest than Keane.

 

[Cromulant]

Then we wait and see - dont fantasise about things that havent happened

I'd keep him in, but at the same time when we've got someone as good as Buttsy as cover you've gotta be better.

 

[NSolis]

I'd take Keanes brain farts over Butts everyday of the week.
I love his aggression.
Butts panics with the ball and only negates his opponent. Has nowhere near the same output as Keane does.

No changes to the team. Maintain consistency and confidence.
Reward and recognition for the players who are delivering and they all are.
Sid to stay as sub. Hes building nicely.

Problem with Keane is if he ends up on a goalkicking forward who absolutely smokes him and has a dominant game. There's not that many candidates out there, as presumably Murray gets the #1 key forward each week, but we do need to watch for it against some teams who have multiple capable KPFs. Freo, GWS, Carlton etc.

If Keane is playing as the 2nd KPD and doesn't have to shut down a dangerous forward I think his offensive skills are essential.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Think you are just carrying your opinion from last year.

Laird has been a very good ball user so far this year.

When he is in the midfield and under pressure he is not a particularly good user (a la Ben Keays). We saw the past couple of years he just threw it on the boot blindly.

This year he has 52 possessions, 44 of which are uncontested and his DE is 90%.

No Crows Defender has more meters gained or Score Involvements than Laird so far this year.

Laird has been very good so far this year reverting to the backline.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Murray played one of his best games in a while yesterday & was far better than Keane.

I'm more comfortable with a Murray 1 on 1 contest than Keane.

Murray was terrific yesterday, probably his best since the knee injury which come as he was really emerging.

 

[Danger in Texas]

Did not like Keane's game yesterday, but if he actually puts it all together, I think his intercepting and aggressiveness with the ball will be important for how we play

Give him the first month and a half/two months to sort his jitters

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I'd take Keanes brain farts over Butts everyday of the week.
I love his aggression.
Butts panics with the ball and only negates his opponent. Has nowhere near the same output as Keane does.

No changes to the team. Maintain consistency and confidence.
Reward and recognition for the players who are delivering and they all are.
Sid to stay as sub. Hes building nicely.

For me it depends on the opposition.

If they have a dangerous big key forward, I prefer we play Butts to minimise their impact on the game.

Horses for courses.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Did not like Keane's game yesterday, but if he actually puts it all together, I think his intercepting and aggressiveness with the ball will be important for how we play

Give him the first month and a half/two months to sort his jitters

Whilst we are winning that's probably fair, never know when things just click or a player suddenly comes on. I'm not a big fan of what I've seen from Keane this year (aside from some of his intercept game last week which that element was terrific) so would prefer switch to Butts, but agree in that if Keane can put it together he probably lifts our ceiling more than Butts.

Pretty handy to have a KPD as solid as Butts as back up anyway.

 

[Jars458]

Laird has been very good so far this year reverting to the backline.

He’s certainly worth his spot but still struggled under pressure to make good decisions.

 

[Jars458]

No changes for me. Scholl to sub and a full game for Draper

 

[VictorianCrow85]

He’s certainly worth his spot but still struggled under pressure to make good decisions.

You won't really find a defender in the comp who doesn't make some poor decisions when they get swarmed & have to operate under the extreme forward pressure that can come. Is Lairds really any worse than anyone else?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

He’s certainly worth his spot but still struggled under pressure to make good decisions.

Went 100% efficiency, so I'll take that any week.

 

[Crowstar]

Whilst we are winning that's probably fair, never know when things just click or a player suddenly comes on. I'm not a big fan of what I've seen from Keane this year (aside from some of his intercept game last week which that element was terrific) so would prefer switch to Butts, but agree in that if Keane can put it together he probably lifts our ceiling more than Butts.

Pretty handy to have a KPD as solid as Butts as back up anyway.

Don't forget some of Butts howlers too. Keane definitely has some moments of insanity however I remember Butts was shocking with the ball on the last line on many occasions.
Atleast Keane has mongrel and an attacking mindset.

 

[Jars458]

Went 100% efficiency, so I'll take that any week.

That’s interesting. Indeed take that

 

[Jars458]

You won't really find a defender in the comp who doesn't make some poor decisions when they get swarmed & have to operate under the extreme forward pressure that can come. Is Lairds really any worse than anyone else?

Maybe not. I was huge Laird fan for years and maybe judging him too harshly on those standards.

 

[BRL121]

Laird has been very good so far this year reverting to the backline.

He's been noticeably nippier as well, going hard.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Maybe not. I was huge Laird fan for years and maybe judging him too harshly on those standards.

Yeah I don't know the answer, my gut feel is no. Did have a shocker in the first half against Brisbane in the preseason but rebounded ok in the 2nd half. Has put in 2 decent matches to start his new old role down back to kick off the real season. Probably learn more as we run into more challenging opposition.

 

[Mattrox]

Possessions per score involvement. Not really much in the stat and you have to remember that Crouch is deployed to the most stat rich aspect of the game. Not playing Crouch might cost us a few stats, but what we potentially gain in terms of spread and dynamism could more than make up for it.

Crouch 3.2
Keays 2.2
Soligo 3.0
Dawson 4.25
Rankine 2.5
Peatling 3.25
Draper 4.5 (2.67 last week)
ANB 2.6

10 score involvements....

Score involvements... successful possession chains that result in scores.

Why to miss the entire point.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Don't forget some of Butts howlers too. Keane definitely has some moments of insanity however I remember Butts was shocking with the ball on the last line on many occasions.
Atleast Keane has mongrel and an attacking mindset.

Yeah I actually thought Butts was really pretty good last year when in the side & he did try be a bit more attacking at times too, but obviously not at Keane levels. I really hope Keane can iron his game out. I'm ok with whichever route we choose on this front for the time being. I'd prefer get a look at Butts probably but no issues if coaches choose to stick with Keane. If this is one of the bigger problems we have right at the moment it's pretty good compared to last year lol.

 

[1990crow]

Don't forget some of Butts howlers too. Keane definitely has some moments of insanity however I remember Butts was shocking with the ball on the last line on many occasions.
Atleast Keane has mongrel and an attacking mindset.

Main worry with Keane vs Giant forwards is his height disadvantage. A horses for courses against those might not be the worst strategy.

 

[Crowstar]

Yeah I actually thought Butts was really pretty good last year when in the side & he did try be a bit more attacking at times too, but obviously not at Keane levels. I really hope Keane can iron his game out. I'm ok with whichever route we choose on this front for the time being. I'd prefer get a look at Butts probably but no issues if coaches choose to stick with Keane. If this is one of the bigger problems we have right at the moment it's pretty good compared to last year lol.

100% agree

 

[VictorianCrow85]

He's been noticeably nippier as well, going hard.

Shouldn't be quite so crash & bash down there, moments of heat for sure but not unrelenting which prob took a toll on his & all our mids bodies in recent years because we persisted with the same combo week in & week out. More guys going through there now should help us in this regard a lot as the season wares on. Dawson a great example, struggled to get separation so much of last year playing pretty much mostly as an inside mid. With his more diverse role he's gotten back to his absolute damaging best so far this year.