Preview Round 2, 2022: Port v Hawthorn, AO 7.40pm, Saturday 26th March

[Dazza the Viking]

Worpel was average today, whether he gets dropped is another
thing, Maguinnes chopped the ball by foot today, he will be the one to make way if Day comes in

Lynch Worpel out
McEvoy Breust in

Presuming there was no injuries

Maguinnes out Day in, if he comes in, would be stiff

Phillips sub again

Grainger-Barras stays in for me, thought his last quarter was very good

 

[WWSD]

Koschitzke had about 5 scoring shots in the VFL practice game against North Melbourne. Given how good Lewis and Gunston were, I don’t think Sam Mitchell will make any changes to the forward-line.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I guess that it’s still part of the “we will see how it settles down” period, but is it a good sign that Lachie Bramble was not in a moon boot in the rooms?

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Not sure that Finn would be well served with an omission after the sheer volume of work he did in a win today. I honestly don’t think we can carry Mitchell and Worpel in the same side at present - both are painfully slow to chase and I’m sick of watching teams just blitz through us if we turn it over trying to get it inside 50. Mitchell did some frustrating (saw him just get brushed past and then just stop chasing at one point in the third and for one of our leaders I thought it was absolutely slack) things today but Worpel probably needs a spell to find his touch again coming off a poor practice match also.

In: McEvoy, Breust, Day
Out: Worpel, Lynch, Phillips

Shiels as sub. Let the youth get another shot at it.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Not sure that Finn would be well served with an omission after the sheer volume of work he did in a win today. I honestly don’t think we can carry Mitchell and Worpel in the same side at present - both are painfully slow to chase and I’m sick of watching teams just blitz through us if we turn it over trying to get it inside 50. Mitchell did some frustrating (saw him just get brushed past and then just stop chasing at one point in the third and for one of our leaders I thought it was absolutely slack) things today but Worpel probably needs a spell to find his touch again coming off a poor practice match also.

In: McEvoy, Breust, Day
Out: Worpel, Lynch, Phillips

Shiels as sub. Let the youth get another shot at it.

I agree on Mitchell in patches but he really lifted in the second, seemed to work into the game alot better, and may like many be better for the run.

Worpel or Jager for mine, kicking and leg speed the issue, i thought worpel actually was better in patches but then dropped his head a bit. I go back to the early succcess and the fact his still trying to hard that it isnt coming to him naturally. Is it a limitation of his game now that he needs become more aware of or just an issue at the moment. His forward 50 kicking was alot better..

Jager will be better for the run but have my concerns

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I agree on Mitchell in patches but he really lifted in the second, seemed to work into the game alot better, and may like many be better for the run.

Worpel or Jager for mine, kicking and leg speed the issue, i thought worpel actually was better in patches but then dropped his head a bit. I go back to the early succcess and the fact his still trying to hard that it isnt coming to him naturally. Is it a limitation of his game now that he needs become more aware of or just an issue at the moment. His forward 50 kicking was alot better..

Jager will be better for the run but have my concerns

Jaeger worried me at times also today but he was playing more of a sacrificial role and was often blocking to allow others to find space. Noticed him doing a lot of work off the ball in the forward 50 that wouldn’t make the highlight reels but did what it needed to.

Mitchell didn’t have a shocker by any measure - just little silly things he does at times it would be great if he could minimise more. Just think Worps might benefit from a game or 2 at Box Hill to freshen up a bit.

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

Can’t believe people aren’t picking Day. If he got through todays hit out, he’s a must.

in: Day, Breust, McEvoy, Kosi
Out: Maginess, Worpel, Nash, Lynch

Would like to see Mitchell persist with, DGB, Ward and MacDonald

Nash not getting dumped after that display.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

McGuiness had a crack but feel he's not up to it yet. Burnt it a few times noticeably
Lynch won't play

I like Kosi but Lewis looked ominous in the first half especially so keep the forward structure for now

Would like to see Day back but no need to rush him

McGuire's ran 16km (4km more than the next)
Running that hard for that long opens up the ground, even without possession.

He burnt it, but you keep him as it keeps the opposition accountable

 

[Slainte]

McGuire's ran 16km (4km more than the next)
Running that hard for that long opens up the ground, even without possession.

He burnt it, but you keep him as it keeps the opposition accountable

We don't have a McGuire (or a McGuiness for that matter)

 

[Ned Ryerson]

We don't have a McGuire (or a McGuiness for that matter)

Smartphone autocorrects really hate Finn’s surname.

 

[chopflop]

McGuire's ran 16km (4km more than the next)
Running that hard for that long opens up the ground, even without possession.

He burnt it, but you keep him as it keeps the opposition accountable

Where can you find the KMs for each player?

 

[threesixpio]

Changes and all that in here.

Lynch will be out, but McEvoy and Breust will be back.

Also....

Day, Bruest and Macca

Who comes out?

Probably Finn, Lynch and ….hmmm

 

[TylerDurden]

We're not dropping Worpel.

 

[KermitJagger]

Where can you find the KMs for each player?

It's on the AFL app in the tracker tab, but he didn't run 4km more than anyone else he ran 1.3km more. Still about 10% more ground covered than the next best in Dylan Moore.

 

[hawkheart]

Mitch Lewis 13km - wow

 

[Mojo]

We're not dropping Worpel.

It might eventually come to that. He hasn't faced the pressure of being dropped before, it might actually do him good.

Tbh, there are players now nipping at his heels that potentially have greater scope and offer something different to the surplus of inside-mids we already have.

Food for thought perhaps.

 

[Brishawk]

Mitch Lewis 13km - wow

His fitness has come a long way!

 

[Simon Crawshay]

His fitness has come a long way!

If Mitch can run 13km or thereabouts every game he's going to get to a lot of contests and have a very, very good year.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I wonder if Lewis’ distance covered is going to be a regular thing or was purely out of necessity due to Lynch going down. Will be interesting to see if it continues as the season progresses.

 

[HawthornHawk]

How accurate are these stats? Seems pretty unusual to have such a significant difference between Finn and Moore.

 

[burner1]

Cleary BB will return. But I thought lynch injured helped us - the extra runner and smaller forward line worked (and contrasted to norths 3 talls that didn’t work + didn’t run out game as well). Nash was competitve enough as 2nd ruck. Reeves is a bit away from being able to carry the bulk of ruck work week in week out.

Ports defence is a weakness - outside Allie they don’t have any big defenders. So Gunston will likely again get a favourable matchup.

Hard to know who to drop for Breust. Could be a player or two who comes up sore and is rested. Worpel/JOM/Wingard were average, although JOM had a better 2nd half when in the centre clearances. Thought chad put in some poor efforts in the contest - not going hard enough/running over ball. Dropping any of the 3 would be a big call but worpel is one who seems to be struggling to find a role.

Finn is the other guy at risk - worked his arse off but burned the ball / made some bad errors. Seemed like he started to really run hard in 2nd half - you can see the upside if it clicks. His disposal was mixed - he often kicked with his opposite foot which was a bit strange as often shanked it. Reckon we give him a few more as his upside is massive.

If Day is fit a like for like would be Morrison but he was decent and Sam seems to rate him.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

We're not dropping Worpel.

I have to ask why though? I like Worps - but with a young and developing side there's an importance on form being rewarded. MacDonald and Ward have warranted another week, Finn lacked a bit of polish but made up for it with his work rate and gut running. Nash had a good game and was effective by foot. As critical as I am about Shiels - his game certainly didn't warrant him being dropped from the game day squad. I think DGB should continue to get games to gel with the backline and Jaeger and Tom aren't going to get dropped. We need to squeeze Breust and Day back into the side. I don't think there's a better time for Worpel to be informed that he's not going to be gifted games because he won the PCM in 2019. He was lacklustre vs Richmond and was probably our worst performed midfielder on Sunday (Jaeger didn't light up the stats sheet but absolutely worked off the ball). Possibly he still has credits in the bank in the match committee's eyes - but I don't know how he warrants selection based on player availability and form.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

If Day is fit a like for like would be Morrison but he was decent and Sam seems to rate him.

Morrison was a notch above decent yesterday - absolutely earning his spot at present.

 

[detox]

Agree. Morrison isn't going anywhere.

Outs apart from Lynch will likely come from either finn, phillips, nash, mcdonald or ward.

Worpel was poor but cant see us dropping him.

 

[KermitJagger]

Morrison was a notch above decent yesterday - absolutely earning his spot at present.

If Day comes in, the reality is he'd probably replace either Finn (Finn was playing Day's best role most of the day) OR Ward/MacDonald because they can still comfortably develop in the VFL - or potentially to rest Ward because he pulled up sore.

Would hate to see any of those things happen, but that's how it'll likely work out.