In the cold hard light of day the Scott over Powell is easily explained by running ability. We need to be able to cover the ground.Just to provide a bit of context on the selection of Young ahead of Powell. Whoever came into the team to replace Josh Walker, who stands at 196 cm, needs to be both primarily a defender and have some height. Young is 189 cm and has played as a defender, Powell is 184 cm and is a midfielder. Lazzarro is 179 cm and is a small forward, Hayden is 186 cm and plays as a defender and Ford is, like Young, 189 cm but plays primarily as a forward.
If the Match Committee is doing its job properly, then it needs to take these matters into account when selecting a replacement for Walker; and in my view, that is why they have chosen Young. He best fits those two criteria.
Is Young a better footballer than Powell? No he is most certainly not, but, he is the best match for the role that needs to be performed this week.
On top of that, we are all rank outsiders when it comes to knowing where each player is at, what their strengths and weaknesses are and who is the best fit for any role in this Round 1 game.
The hawks are going in short up forward, the same set up we had last year. One key forward and a ruckman. Corr should be able to handle part timers who have never kicked a goal in afl football. The hawks don’t have Breust their leading goal kicker from last year and kosi who I think was third. So we have McDonald and JZ who are basically the same height as young. Do we need 3?
I don’t think we need 3, so then the question is who is in for young and the obvious answer is Powell. He could be critical in the last qtr when everyone else is gassed and making the wrong decisions and turning it over.
It’s a really strange turn of events.