Preview Round 2, 2019: Essendon v St.Kilda - Marvel Stadium, Saturday 30th March, 4:35PM AEDT

[WhiskySaint]

In regards to playing a third tall forward that some have suggested, by swapping out Pierce for Marshal we basically can achieve the same thing. (Pierce had no marks for the game)

We could even ruck battle in the back 50 and Bruce in the front allowing Marshal to roam between the arcs.

 

[Longmembrey]

Are we playing 23. That forces battle forward. Not sure they will want to do that

Probably Kent out imo

Why wouldn't they want Battle forward at some stages?

 

[cooperrules]

I’ve have been restricting my melts re Marshal as the board has been doing it for me. However if the prospect is still out of the team on Thursday I will burn with the heat of a thousand suns. He’s been killing it all preseason, obviously offers more than Lewie at the moment.

If richo keeps playing lewie he may as well walk.

 

[plugger66]

Probably Kent out imo

Why wouldn't they want Battle forward at some stages?

I think the time they have put in to train his as a back. A lot of great backs were failed forwards. He didn’t even fail

 

[Longmembrey]

I think the time they have put in to train his as a back. A lot of great backs were failed forwards. He didn’t even fail

Yeah - versatility can be a great weapon. With Paddy out and King not ready, I think we need to be prepared to push Battle forward when required - especially when Bruce goes in to the ruck

 

[Dr Spaceman]

You know you're struggling when even the trees don't turn up for round one...

Probably saw what was happening to their grass mates and hightailed it outta there!

 

[aussierulesrules]

7 pages in and some interesting names being regularly suggested to go out.

Reckon there's almost no chance that any of Dunstan, D-Mac, Sinclair, or Long get dropped.

Kent if he was just some guy we'd picked in the rookie draft or something would probably be dropped for Acres, Clark or even Roma, but I think we'll be very very reluctant to drop him after one game- after signing him for 3 years, on what is probably decent coin.

 

[gringo2011]

7 pages in and some interesting names being regularly suggested to go out.

Reckon there's almost no chance that any of Dunstan, D-Mac, Sinclair, or Long get dropped.

Kent if he was just some guy we'd picked in the rookie draft or something would probably be dropped for Acres, Clark or even Roma, but I think we'll be very very reluctant to drop him after one game- after signing him for 3 years, on what is probably decent coin.

Yeah, Kent is lucky he's the highest profile ring in we have. He was probably our least effective player with someone breathing down his neck. Young deserves a crack off his VFL game.

 

[aussierulesrules]

I think you are on the money with the Battle move. I think the club will be really reluctant to do it as Battle is playing quite well down there but structural we need another tall forward.

I think the two options to fix the structure are either swing Battle forward or bring in Marshal as a tall forward. I’m not sure what is the best option but I think we should do one.

The only other option would be to play Acres as a medium forward, which I think he is okay at.

Yep, I definitely felt at the ground that we were really lacking in the air, and as per usual when we only have the two main marking targets up forward, that we really miss that 3rd one, to give us a good marking target up around the wings, when we're bringing the ball out of defence- especially for the long kick down the line.

I didn't like the balance of the team going into the game and felt on the day that we were missing one or two key structural pieces, and I would definitely like us to either move Battle forward, or bring in Roma, to play the forward/ruck role he was playing for most of last year.

Either way I feel that Roma is clearly best 22 at the moment (hence being in our best few in his only game for us this year) and needs to come in.

If he plays mainly forward then Pierce gets a lucky reprieve until he either improves dramatically, or Billy returns, or else he can replace Pierce and play mainly ruck.

Acres is another one that when fit and in form is best 22 and as such I hope he's back in asap, as we need as many of our best hands on deck as possible at the moment.

 

[Premium]

Yep, I definitely felt at the ground that we were really lacking in the air, and as per usual when we only have the two main marking targets up forward, that we really miss that 3rd one, to give us a good marking target up around the wings, when we're bringing the ball out of defence- especially for the long kick down the line.

I didn't like the balance of the team going into the game and felt on the day that we were missing one or two key structural pieces, and I would definitely like us to either move Battle forward, or bring in Roma, to play the forward/ruck role he was playing for most of last year.

Either way I feel that Roma is clearly best 22 at the moment (hence being in our best few in his only game for us this year) and needs to come in.

If he plays mainly forward then Pierce gets a lucky reprieve until he either improves dramatically, or Billy returns, or else he can replace Pierce and play mainly ruck.

Acres is another one that when fit and in form is best 22 and as such I hope he's back in asap, as we need as many of our best hands on deck as possible at the moment.

Brown = naturally he comes back in - no one better than him in that position / Joyce or Wilkie dropped
Marshall = Pierce was a disappointment , if a guy can't take one mark when he is over 2m tall , why play him / Pierce dropped
Acres = class player who can pick up 30 touches a game , plays no matter what / Savage , Lonie or Kent dropped

 

[FQFjt]

It really shits me that there is this orthodoxy whereby we need to wait for a loss before we can pick our best side. We should make as many necessary changes that will improve the team as required, regardless of what happened the week before.

 

[VDS66]

Lol you don't trade a player in for a purpose and then drop them after one game.

Now watch him get dropped...

 

[VDS66]

It really shits me that there is this orthodoxy whereby we need to wait for a loss before we can pick our best side. We should make as many necessary changes that will improve the team as required, regardless of what happened the week before.

I think you'll find that isn't the case.

If a player like Acres is deemed best 22 and he's ready to go, he will come in regardless of the result.

Problem is that we have too many that haven't cemented a best 22 place.

 

[borderbarry]

I have always found it easier to decide who I want to bring in, than who makes way for them. This week I want to bring in Acres, Brown, Clarke, and Marshall, but there is no way I can find four to drop.

 

[Stewart66]

100% you could and you would get spread. Acres is the closest thing we have to a Fyfe or Cripps. Let’s see what we actually have in Acres the bonafide midfielder.

Don’t tell Richo he might actually try it.

 

[Stewart66]

I have always found it easier to decide who I want to bring in, than who makes way for them. This week I want to bring in Acres, Brown, Clarke, and Marshall, but there is no way I can find four to drop.

Pretty easy for me.

Long , Kent , Savage & Pierce .....play Battle Forward

 

[Sheeza69]

If richo keeps playing lewie he may as well walk.

Preuss wanted an opportunity to play senior footy..
With the changing of the rules the importance of ruckwork was going to go to another level..
Our club had tunnel vision for a banged up Hannebery & publicly it appeared we showed zip interest in chasing Preuss..
Preuss is clearly a better option than Pierce & Longer as I see Marshall as more a KF/2nd Ruck..
Melbourne have declared there preference is to play one ruckman only..
The manager of Preuss should hang his head in shame, because I would've done my utmost to sell him to a club like the Saints..
At the same time whoever was behind the decision at our club, NOT to chase a recognized Ruckman should slam the door after they leave..

 

[Crusty Undies]

You are right, I didn't have my rose coloured glasses on.

Seems like you didn't have any glasses on tbh. You know it's still 2 for 1 at specsavers

 

[aussierulesrules]

100% agree . We lacked another Key foward. That was plain to see. We continued to move the ball as though we did have another tall only to be kicking it to a Lonie or Parker. It was frustrating to watch

This. We've been playing with this structure for years and generally go much better with it than without, we trained it all preseason, and it's the one we'll presumably have going forward once King comes in or Paddy comes back, so it makes a whole lot of sense to stick with it now, especially with Marshall in good form.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Has Marshall ever had a game for us as the no 1 Ruck (and not as a FWD/No2 ruck)?

Yes, against Adelaide early last year. Started terrifically (pushing forward and taking marks, going in really hard, etc) but then died out of it as the game wore on.

Finished with 18 hitouts, 14 disposals, 6 marks, 5 inside-50's, 4 tackles, 2 clearances, 1 contested mark.

 

[StJHD]

Marshall for Pierce (no explanation needed)
Brown for Joyce (Joyce will be very good, still a bit to learn, see him challenging Brown mid-season)
Acres for Kent/Dunstan (If Kent stays needs to do better which he can; if Dunstan stays needs to cover more ground, not sure if he can

 

[jslats]

Preuss wanted an opportunity to play senior footy..
With the changing of the rules the importance of ruckwork was going to go to another level..
Our club had tunnel vision for a banged up Hannebery & publicly it appeared we showed zip interest in chasing Preuss..
Preuss is clearly a better option than Pierce & Longer as I see Marshall as more a KF/2nd Ruck..
Melbourne have declared there preference is to play one ruckman only..
The manager of Preuss should hang his head in shame, because I would've done my utmost to sell him to a club like the Saints..
At the same time whoever was behind the decision at our club, NOT to chase a recognized Ruckman should slam the door after they leave..

You bring in a player that is maybe as good as the ones we have most likely better and at a cost then have to sell off the ones we have with no value and change alot of the structure for a position that is not going to do much for our development this year. Plus the fact that any of our ruckman who are younger and could have a good season lose development and confidence and we have a half good ruckman and 3 that are being under developed going into a season that we should be pushing for finals (next season) what's the point? See how the boys go best case one becomes above average worst case sell for something and pick a above average ruck for good money going into a way more important season

 

[Sheepey]

Marshall for Pierce
Brown for Joyce
Acres for Dunstan

All selections make the team stronger. Wanted to fit in Clark but I can't. Savage, Kent, D Mac and Sinclair on notice.

 

[Barrels]

Boys don't forget we have female Saints using this site

Don’t see anything objectionable along gender sensitivity lines in anything anyone said in their solless responses to the hypothetical.

Think that’s a bit soft TBH.

Any of our female Saints would be welcome to flip the script, or give a view on the standard hypothetical as they so choose; we’re mostly adults here after all.

 

[aussierulesrules]

It says Longer 1-2 weeks - Hamstring.

Take it he is no chance? It said 1-2 weeks last week also, so if it was 1 week last week then maybe?

Is he back in full training?

We missed his big body in there yesterday. Smashed in the hit outs, from memory he usually wins his fair share.

According to the injury report yesty, he's actually been back in full training for 4 weeks now, and once he's got another week of it under his belt, he'll be declared fit to resume playing.

I loved hearing that for two reasons:

1- It suggests that we might not be rushing those who are or were injured back as soon as we have in the past, which is great, if so.

This time last year he likewise got injured just before the season, but instead of making him do a really solid block of training like this year, before letting him play again, we rushed him back into playing when he was way underdone, and it resulted in him being much less competitive in the ruck contests than the previous year, and thus very ordinary overall (so like Pierce is now!), and he never really got going from there all year.

2- If the club thinks that Pierce is the better ruck option out of him and Roma, then we need Billy back and in form A-f'ing-sap, because Pierce, on the evidence of his last 3 senior AFL games, is nowhere near AFL standard. He makes Billy look like Sandi.

We were also hearing some really encouraging reports on how Billy was going (and also looking, fitness-wise) in match sim prior to him doing his hammy (and Gringo said he was looking slim when he passed him on Sunday), so it may just be that Billy's in the best nick of his career (not hard!), and as such ready to get back to at least 2017 form (when he got in the coaches votes 3 or 4 times and was 2nd in the comp for hitouts per game), if not better.