Preview Round 11: Carlton v Essendon, Friday 7th June 7:50pm, MCG - Team post #834

[ESKIE]

Or maybe he just gets injured very softly....

 

[The Grover]

Wouldn't be surprised if we rotate Walks and Yaz a lot this week. Both give us the run, and by rotating we could cause headaches for their match ups. They will not let us dictate who Walker lines up on. We need to be ready for that by playing him off against his opponents weakness, which we can do as he is versatile.

If he can beet everyone they throw at him, we then may get the match u we want.

Agree with this, teams will start locking down Walker, if Yarran in defence as well then we don't lose the run.

Also don't think Betts,Garlett,Armfield,Yarran can all play in forward line together. Add Menzel in the mix up forward, makes sense Yarran to play back line or maybe wing.

 

[Samji]

he's had a bad run. But saying he's soft is just so wrong it's not funny. He usually gets injured because he hits the contest so hard. Sorry, but there's one thing you can't accuse Hurley of and it's being soft

I'm going to bite my tongue and agree with this.
Hurleys a pretty fair at it bloke, he just doesn't recover well.
Hits things hard just doesn't get back up.
I genuinely like the guy, great defender and an ok forward on a good day.

 

[Silvagnis]

In: Judd Warnock Betts Lucas
Out: Menzel Casboult Bootsma Bell

B: White Jamison Tuohy
HB: Walker Henderson Simpson
C: Gibbs Mclean Curnow
HF: Robinson Kreuzer Yarran
F: Garlett Waite Armfield
R: Warnock Judd Murphy

I/C: Scotland Betts Cachia Sub: Lucas

 

[JustaBattler]

Essendon should be clear favourites to win on Friday night and many would say for good reason. They are more established at both ends of the ground with good structure and capable role players with a few genuine A graders in the mix.

Goddard has been an outstanding inclusion - with him playing their defence and rebound is much stronger than last year. The combination of Fletcher and Goddard has allowed their less experienced players to play with more confidence. Rebound through better Goddard kicking or running has been a strength. Up front they have good talls and generally accurate kicks to go with each - Crameri is my favourite but Bellchambers/Ryder/Hurley/Gumbleton all provide plenty of tall options. Their small forwards aren't in the same class as Carlton's - but they don't have to be - the Essendon talls can all take contested marks and kick.

In the middle Watson plays champion football week in week out and Heppell is proving he can handle a more inside role when asked to. Their outside runners in Stanton Zaharakis are no slouches - both capable of breaking lines from Watson deliveries. Essendon have a couple of strong taggers with big motors.

Carlton matches up shorter in defence - but faster. Walker/Jamison and Henderson are combining well - rotations via Tuohey/Simpson/Gibbs and Scotland keep the freshness up - but clean delivery to Essendon talls would be a disaster. In the middle Essendon are likely to be confused by the absence of Judd and or Murphy who are rotating to HFF or pocket - this will drag a couple of the better taggers out of where it matters in open ground where speed will be an advantage to Carlton - a strategy that has proven a little difficult for most teams to manage against Carlton so far. How well Cachia/Curnow and McLean can stifle Watson and win their own ball will go a long way to determining the outcome of the match. I get the feeling Carlton's less experienced mids combined with Betts/Gibbs/Garlett rotating through the middle - might end up swinging the game Carlton's way over four quarters. Carlton can't afford to coast at any time in this game -the dreaded fade outs particularly in 'red time' could very well be too costly - against a side who is harder to score against than previous years.

This a real test of the team's development so far this year - and no doubt depending on performances on the big stage - will go a long way to solidifying Malthouse's preferred starting line-up. A win would set up a nice start to the next three big games coming. Carlton by 2 goals in a close one - thanks to some three amigo magic and a Malthouse surprise or two.

 

[BM123]

Selections are going to be interesting since its going to be hard to get the right amount of speed/inside grunt in the team.

 

[Weiterbot23]

Surely we will put in a good performance for this one, confidence is building!!

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Take a page out of North's book .... and stick a player on Goddard to just annoy the hell out of him.

They did this well last year, with Wright getting under his skin and throwing him off his game.

Goddard is a mental pigmy.

 

[Sublime]

GOD I HOPE WE SMASH THIS MOB!!!

My hatred grows for them each day!

*rant over*

Pretty average rant, lack of content, 1.5/10

I expect great improvement next time.

 

[happydude]

Take a page out of North's book .... and stick a player on Goddard to just annoy the hell out of him.

They did this well last year, with Wright getting under his skin and throwing him off his game.

Goddard is a mental pigmy.

I remember one of gibbs best games was on goddard. He is a good match up in most ways

 

[HARKER]

In: Judd Warnock Betts Lucas
Out: Menzel Casboult Bootsma Bell

I'm split on that one and can make an argument for either player.

Reckon this will give the MC a bit of a head-ache come Thursday, if they haven't made their minds up already.

 

[ESKIE]

I'm split on that one and can make an argument for either player.

Reckon this will give the MC a bit of a head-ache come Thursday, if they haven't made their minds up already.

Tough one,

Casboult for me..

 

[SpaceCow]

I'm split on that one and can make an argument for either player.

Reckon this will give the MC a bit of a head-ache come Thursday, if they haven't made their minds up already.

Yep, same here Harks. Probably the most genuine selection dilemma this week. Could potentially be a minor thought as to Cachia/Bell too but that's a bit more in favour of Cachia.

 

[raymagoo]

I'd like to take this time to also remind a lot of people that it is spelt Tuohy. Not Touhy. Thanks!

It Is also Adrian Hickmott not hickmont ffs get it right peeps!

 

[BlueBelle]

Hurley was on SEN this morning and said he will play Friday night

 

[HARKER]

Take a page out of North's book .... and stick a player on Goddard to just annoy the hell out of him.
They did this well last year, with Wright getting under his skin and throwing him off his game.

Goddard is a mental pigmy.

He's averaging 26 possessions a game and if they actually start becoming productive, they could hurt.

We may be tempted to play Gibbs on him but I just think that Mick will back his players first and defend second.

 

[HARKER]

It Is also Adrian Hickmott not hickmont ffs get it right peeps!

Don't stop there:

Garlett not Gartlett
Jamison not Jamieson
Robert Warnock not Matthew Warnock
Laidler not Laidlaw

Anyone else notice just how often the commentators call the wrong player lately?

 

[raymagoo]

Tough one,

Casboult for me..

Cas over warnock any day for me!
Kreuzer comes into his own as start ruck & cas can mark & contest around the ground & can kick for goal!

 

[mike ockerts]

Where's 40yr???? Doesn't he have the mail on Essendon?

 

[Jatz]

Tough one,

Casboult for me..

I'd go the other way. Even though warnock doesnt get any of the ball on the deck, his tap work is superb and gives our mids great first use. I'd consider that more important friday night. If we can get on top in the midfield, we go a long way to winning.

 

[Big Sim]

At the risk of starting another lengthy debate about the relative merits of our 3 rucks and Casboult, does nobody think there is any chance of Hammer/Kreuzer combo this week?

I'm just not sure that Knockers passed his audition and I'm not sure Casboult did either.

 

[Blue Dimension]

Inside word says Levi is playing Friday. Mick says if he produces consistently what he did last week he'll be playing every week. Just needs to slot those goals.

 

[ESKIE]

I'd go the other way. Even though warnock doesnt get any of the ball on the deck, his tap work is superb and gives our mids great first use. I'd consider that more important friday night. If we can get on top in the midfield, we go a long way to winning.

Nic Nat won ost of the tap outs the other night, it doesn't always work to advantage, it can be exploited.

 

[ESKIE]

Inside word says Levi is playing Friday. Mick says if he produces consistently what he did last week he'll be playing every week. Just needs to slot those goals.

He offers more flexibility..

Pleased to hear this, good incentive for Levi to perform

Is warnock fully fit anyway

 

[Jade]

I'd go the other way. Even though warnock doesnt get any of the ball on the deck, his tap work is superb and gives our mids great first use. I'd consider that more important friday night. If we can get on top in the midfield, we go a long way to winning.

If you get on top in the middle you'll win. If you get a good supply inside fifty your smalls will cause us fits - particularly with Dempsey missing. I think we'll be a fair chance to name Hardingham to try and fill that void.

I don't believe your ruck division will trouble Bellchambers or Ryder IF Paddy has come to play. Frustratingly he just goes off every now and then; hopefully not this week.

It goes without saying I know, but Watson is where the real danger lies. If you can't stop or negate him he'll monster your midfield. He's been successfully tagged out of a game once this year (GWS), and Sydney's monumental team pressure also negated his impact. Richmond tried simply running off him by playing Cotchin alongside him and that backfired spectacularly - so I doubt your guys will try the same. Do you try and tag him and lose the player? As a few of you have stated, if we win enough of the ball inside we have more than enough outside mids to deliver the ball inside 50; which will hurt you.

Selection is going to be interesting on our end. We get the ball inside 50 as well as any side, but we're having some issues converting up forward. Hurley will come in no doubt - he makes a tremendous difference to our forward line function - but what to do with the other tall spot is interesting. Do we dump Crameri and use Hurley in that role? What about Gumbleton, who had a shocker against Sydney but is very capable on the MCG. Do we give in to the temptation and finally name Daniher?

Gonna be interesting to see selection tomorrow.