Preview Round 3 vs Melbourne @ THE Melbourne Cricket Ground - Sat. 29 March @ 12:20pm

[ProgUbud13]

Andrew> ballard
Walter> holman
Flanders> sexton
Budarick sub

Hopefully no suspensions

Like it

 

[RowellAnderson12]

I’m not touching Graham.

Collins Andrew powel Uwland Jeffrey noble Rioli Budarick is enough

 

[Jirik13]

Mac on the track according to Suns.

 

[robo_1]

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Mac on the track according to Suns.

Also Flanders looked to be moving well

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Thinking of some guys that I can't wait to see play again

Bailey Humphrey - Looked much fitter - able to stay in the game for longer rather than 1-2 impacts then unsighted for half the quarter. Was in the middle for ~1/3 of the centre bounces which helped. Looked as though he added a bit of explosively to the mix - actually added value rather than gifted minutes in the middle.

Jake Rogers - Goes at a million miles an hour, sometimes to the point where he can't execute. Was around the ball a lot when we went forward. Can he stay as involved against a higher quality opponent. If he can, that gives me much more confidence for our forward line this year.

Ethan Read - Can the young guy clunk a few marks again? Outperformed my expectations last round

Wil Powell - Too good to only touch the ball 13 times. Don't want to see him taking a back seat with the arrival of Noble, Rioli.

 

[GC2015]

Thinking of some guys that I can't wait to see play again

Bailey Humphrey - Looked much fitter - able to stay in the game for longer rather than 1-2 impacts then unsighted for half the quarter. Was in the middle for ~1/3 of the centre bounces which helped. Looked as though he added a bit of explosively to the mix - actually added value rather than gifted minutes in the middle.

Jake Rogers - Goes at a million miles an hour, sometimes to the point where he can't execute. Was around the ball a lot when we went forward. Can he stay as involved against a higher quality opponent. If he can, that gives me much more confidence for our forward line this year.

Ethan Read - Can the young guy clunk a few marks again? Outperformed my expectations last round

Wil Powell - Too good to only touch the ball 13 times. Don't want to see him taking a back seat with the arrival of Noble, Rioli.

Agree with all of that and I would add Jed Walter to the list as well. As good as those guys listed above were, I was even more impressed with what I saw from Jed in the Brisbane + Collingwood preseason games. I just don't see how the Dees are going to keep King, Read AND Walter quiet. We know they've lost Steven May for at least a few weeks so they'll be forced to use Lever, McDonald and Petty as their tall defenders in this game. I have a feeling it's not going to end well for them and our tall forwards have a have opportunity to have a day out at the G.

The midfield battle is going to be the most fascinating part for me. Petracca, Oliver and Viney sound intimidating but I'm backing our boys in to continue their hot start to the season. Can't wait!

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Agree with all of that and I would add Jed Walter to the list as well. As good as those guys listed above were, I was even more impressed with what I saw from Jed in the Brisbane + Collingwood preseason games. I just don't see how the Dees are going to keep King, Read AND Walter quiet. We know they've lost Steven May for at least a few weeks so they'll be forced to use Lever, McDonald and Petty as their tall defenders in this game. I have a feeling it's not going to end well for them and our tall forwards have a have opportunity to have a day out at the G.

The midfield battle is going to be the most fascinating part for me. Petracca, Oliver and Viney sound intimidating but I'm backing our boys in to continue their hot start to the season. Can't wait!

I didn't see any of the pre season so also keen to hear what the Walter hype is about.
Showed endeavour but didn't quite some ready for AFL last year.

Lever, McDonald and Petty I would say are pretty solid, experienced AFL players - won't make it easy for our very inexperienced tall forwards - I wouldn't be so confident that we'll dominate them. Yes, obviously one of the best midfields on paper - the game will be won there. I think our defenders can hold their own against their forwards.

 

[RowellAnderson12]

Cleaner entries will win the game again, we can get the ball.

Crows are using the space well today and they haven’t won here since 2017.

 

[Jen2310]

If you watch the insta stories of match sim today..

Was that Team A v Team B? If so... Crab was in the yellow..

 

[TheGoldPersons]

If Crab gets selected I'm setting myself on fire at the next home game

 

[Young_Guns]

Crab definitely in the black bib up against Kingy on IG. Then again, Nobes, Rioli, Uwland and Jeffrey were in black in one shot. But with Ballard out for the year and Mac coming back from injury, chances are we will likely see Graham in the 1’s at some stage.

Would almost be tempted to play Graham deepest if he were to come in, with Sarge up at CHB in Ballard’s intercepting role. He is still a pretty elite interceptor especially compared to Graham who is a pure puncher. Although Sarge has settled back to his best at Full Back, you wouldn’t want to mess with that.

 

[Mini GF]

Jirik watches the games and he says he’s ok. Crab. He’s the logical next man up. He’s older now too so he’s got to at the very least be a much harder body to play on and he will surely be motivated.

 

[SUNS]

To all the naysayers on Crab . . . Remember Sammy Collins got delisted by Freo before he found his feet with us. Key defenders take time

 

[RowellAnderson12]

To all the naysayers on Crab . . . Remember Sammy Collins got delisted by Freo before he found his feet with us. Key defenders take time

Collins won 2 b&f by Crabs age.

 

[Stroppy]

The Year of the Crab incoming............

 

[robo_1]

If you watch the insta stories of match sim today..

Was that Team A v Team B? If so... Crab was in the yellow..

I think they were mixing it up because I saw Rioli and Ainsworth with black bibs on at one stage

 

[KaySwizzle]

I get what people are saying with Graham. But he was never, ever a good footballer. He’s like D-Mac level for talls, and we are just so far past that stage. To be effective, we’re talking about him making an astronomical jump in a year we need to improve to make finals.

To me, this looks fine:
Powell, Collins, Uwland
Rioli, Andrew, Noble
Budarick

And I prefer it to something like:
Collins, Graham, Uwland
Rioli, Andrew, Powell
Noble
Budarick sub.

But if coaches think we need three talls for structure, he is the logical choice. Personally, I don’t see it, but as always happy to be proven wrong.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

I think Graham could defend and spoil ok.
But he doesn't intercept mark like Collins, Ballard, Andrew or even Uwland or Powell
His skills are extremely basic.
Wouldn't have any faith he can move the ball quickly and effectively like Chucky can

I think he's a good back up for Collins and depending on how long Collins plays for - may well be his replacement.
But I don't see him fitting the philosophy of the side playing alongside Collins unless we really need 3 true tall defenders.

 

[GC2015]

I get what people are saying with Graham. But he was never, ever a good footballer. He’s like D-Mac level for talls, and we are just so far past that stage. To be effective, we’re talking about him making an astronomical jump in a year we need to improve to make finals.

To me, this looks fine:
Powell, Collins, Uwland
Rioli, Andrew, Noble
Budarick

And I prefer it to something like:
Collins, Graham, Uwland
Rioli, Andrew, Powell
Noble
Budarick sub.

But if coaches think we need three talls for structure, he is the logical choice. Personally, I don’t see it, but as always happy to be proven wrong.

I'm happy to keep rolling with Uwland playing as our lock down third tall defender and Powell playing as an intercepting loose who can help out with the talls or smalls. I know Bodhi lacks some height (188cm) but he makes up for it with his vertical leap and certainly seems strong enough to hold his own. That's my preferred option over Graham. Also, apparently one of the tall defenders in our academy named Max Hudson (who is over 190cm) has been turning heads lately so we should be able to plug that hole in our list relatively soon, but for now I'd just keep rolling with B.Uwland.

 

[SUNS]

Watching the Dee's now, we should be really pumped up at the thought of drawing blood at the MCG next week! They are playing like a football side with no confidence

 

[Mini GF]

They will be very motivated after a week of VFL media pressure

 

[The Kings Ransom]

I’m also listening on radio.

Heard Steve Johnson, Leigh Montana saying

‘Melbourne forwards no class’
‘Melbourne forwards just standing there, no movement, not blocking for each other’
‘Only lever they can pull is petracca in the middle or up forward’
‘Mistake riddled’
‘Melbourne gassed - mid 3rd quarter’

They don’t sound great. North Melbourne just a better team

 

[Supersuns]

We cannot lose to this club. They are fried.

 

[Southern Sun]

They will be absolutely smashed by the media this week so will have to respond. But possibly lost lever and Jefferson, they will rush may back ready or not. North have shown if you get on top in the middle they are very flakey, hope we can continue our form from last week in the stoppages.

 

[KaySwizzle]

Any team can beat anyone this year it seems.

We can’t get sucked into this. Dees will have a huge week where they will be under the torch, while we’ve had a week off.

Boys need their mental game on and ensure we can really put the away game form of last year to bed.

Our midfield should be good enough to keep pressure on their mids in order to ensure their entries are as terrible they were today. We do that, and we can intercept and rebound with impunity.