Preview Round 5- Lions v Bulldogs, Etihad stadium, Saturday 22nd April 1.45pm.

[jackess]

Dawson not deserving of a call up Im afraid.
Harwood, Barrett, Bastinac, Witherden all before him.

Why?

 

[KissKiss]

Calls for them to be dropped shouldn't necessarily be seen a negative thing mate. It is more about trying to get the balance right and manufacture a best 22 that they can thrive in. If that means they have to drop back to the NEAFL for a couple weeks and work on their games at that level whilst we chop and change a few things it could be beneficial both in the short and long term.

Thats about it for me. I want them to get experience quickly but need to balance it overall. It would have been ideal to have one of them in the team at a time for about 3-4 games each and then rotate between them. It gives them all a taste and a chance to get used to the speed of the game but then keep developing physically

 

[royboys4eva]

In : Dawson - Close - Christensen

Out: Cutler - Hippy - Berry

B : Gardiner McStay Dawson
HB : Mayes Andrews Rich
C : Bewick D.Beams Robertson
HF : Robinson Close Taylor
F: Lester Schache Christensen
R : Martin Rocky Zorko

I : Bell McCluggage Cox C. Beams

Would like to see Nick Robbo get a run on the wing. Think he plays better there and we can utilise his speed and two way running. Tell him to run his guts out for 10mins then Bell or McCluggage comes on for 10mins etc.

Think Bewick needs a big game - was good pre season and did some handy things vs Saints but needs to lift.

 

[mikey127]

In: our womens team
Out: Our mens team

At least they will play with heart and won't play bruise free footy

 

[Mr Ripper]

A lot of bad habits reemerged on Sunday. Need a strong remedial week on the track.

 

[Dylan12]

The circle jerk around Robert Murphy will be in full effect this week in the footy media to the point of suffocation.

Shame Simon Black didn't get a tenth of the attention that most 300 gamers receive, yet Murphy's will no doubt be off the richter scale.

Hopefully the boys can pull off a massive upset and ruin "Bob's" day.

 

[harvester]

Mccluggage And Berry should go to reserves for a good stint. The reserves are playing well currently, And this shouldn't be seen as a negative. Bring in Christensen for obvious reasons, And Harwood. I know he can play very well And give him a good run in the seniors. Keep C. Beams, who deserves a to keep his spot andprove himself this year. Close also deserves the opportunity, And offers leadership And maturity to the forward line.(Out Hipwood for a few weeks And see how Scache performs with Close).
For Cutler, bring in Dawson

 

[jackess]

I think McCluggage needs to be moved in Bewicks wing role. Too small to win contested footy.

 

[dlanod]

The circle jerk around Robert Murphy will be in full effect this week in the footy media to the point of suffocation.

Shame Simon Black didn't get a tenth of the attention that most 300 gamers receive, yet Murphy's will no doubt be off the richter scale.

Hopefully the boys can pull off a massive upset and ruin "Bob's" day.

It would be appreciated if no one else combines the concepts of "circle jerk" and "suffocation" anywhere else on this thread.

 

[lions27]

Mccluggage And Berry should go to reserves for a good stint. The reserves are playing well currently, And this shouldn't be seen as a negative. Bring in Christensen for obvious reasons, And Harwood. I know he can play very well And give him a good run in the seniors. Keep C. Beams, who deserves a to keep his spot andprove himself this year. Close also deserves the opportunity, And offers leadership And maturity to the forward line.(Out Hipwood for a few weeks And see how Scache performs with Close).
For Cutler, bring in Dawson

Why does C.Beams deserve to keep his spot?

 

[lionshine]

Why does C.Beams deserve to keep his spot?

He has played 1 senior game after earning a spot through some good reserves form. Give him at least 2 games to readjust to the pace of AFL and build some form.

 

[fanackapan]

He has played 1 senior game after earning a spot through some good reserves form. Give him at least 2 games to readjust to the pace of AFL and build some form.

Yeah, this. I'd add, too, that he had 17 disposals at 82% efficiency, with 4 rebound 50s and 3 inside 50s, and 8 marks. Although he had a couple of conspicuously bad moments (the HTB on the wing was the one that stood out for me), he was far from our worst, and he plays a position that will be weaker this week with Cutler likely to miss.

Longer term, part of his problem as I see it is that he's built his NEAFL game on his running, but when he plays the level up, he doesn't have the pace to do that, and needs to look dispose of the ball earlier rather than gaining territory with his run first. He's a bit like Rich, but Rich has more awareness of his shortcomings when it comes to pace (I reckon Beams might be a better one-on-one defender than Rich, though). Whether we can carry two players with this trade-off is debatable.

 

[davemc_lions]

He has played 1 senior game after earning a spot through some good reserves form. Give him at least 2 games to readjust to the pace of AFL and build some form.

Yes I agree.. If they play 3 games in firsts then if they struggle, then put them back for a few games.
Then give them another try after a few tries if they still failing to pickup things. Then either more time in the NEAFL or maybe they looking elsewhere next year.

I say the same for the young guys and the older players McStay, Bewick, Bell etc as well.

We not making finals this year or honestly probably next.
There been some good signs this year. Remember GWS blooded young kids and they learnt now look at them.
Not to say our young kids all first round picks although some seem to have some talent.
Actually a lot of our players can show great talent in bursts be it great marking, kicking etc then they drop off.
Its the drop off that needs to be evened out.
Even though I get pissed like the rest of you guys we cannot just swap and change 5-6 each week.
Some of the guys who played 3-4 weeks and been below standard in all need to go, those just in game 1 or 2 can get another week

 

[jackess]

Yes I agree.. If they play 3 games in firsts then if they struggle, then put them back for a few games.
Then give them another try after a few tries if they still failing to pickup things. Then either more time in the NEAFL or maybe they looking elsewhere next year.

I say the same for the young guys and the older players McStay, Bewick, Bell etc as well.

We not making finals this year or honestly probably next.
There been some good signs this year. Remember GWS blooded young kids and they learnt now look at them.
Not to say our young kids all first round picks although some seem to have some talent.
Actually a lot of our players can show great talent in bursts be it great marking, kicking etc then they drop off.
Its the drop off that needs to be evened out.
Even though I get pissed like the rest of you guys we cannot just swap and change 5-6 each week.
Some of the guys who played 3-4 weeks and been below standard in all need to go, those just in game 1 or 2 can get another week

Who wants to make that many changes each week?

We have been playing progressively worse each week and quite a few on this board put that partially down to poor changes to our team; mainly dropping Close and playing 3 youngsters instead of more experienced players like Harwood or Bastinac.

I don't know if the coaches will agree that these were mistakes but I think it's pretty valid that it has hurt our structures.

 

[briztoon]

Yes I agree.. If they play 3 games in firsts then if they struggle, then put them back for a few games.
Then give them another try after a few tries if they still failing to pickup things. Then either more time in the NEAFL or maybe they looking elsewhere next year.

I say the same for the young guys and the older players McStay, Bewick, Bell etc as well.

We not making finals this year or honestly probably next.
There been some good signs this year. Remember GWS blooded young kids and they learnt now look at them.
Not to say our young kids all first round picks although some seem to have some talent.
Actually a lot of our players can show great talent in bursts be it great marking, kicking etc then they drop off.
Its the drop off that needs to be evened out.
Even though I get pissed like the rest of you guys we cannot just swap and change 5-6 each week.
Some of the guys who played 3-4 weeks and been below standard in all need to go, those just in game 1 or 2 can get another week

We are not making finals next year unless quite a few teams fall off the cliff a la Hawthorn.

 

[jackess]

Fagan has been trying to give the players confidence and instill the attitude that we can win each week. This will be made difficult if we keep playing the kids at the expense of the older guys.

 

[Shaq attack]

Think, I'll give this one a miss. Can't see us getting close, unfortunately.

We already have Close?

 

[davemc_lions]

I agree on Close need someone up there bigger bodied then the the young two I would not of dropped him.
I had him emergency in supercoach the last two weeks thinking he get a game

 

[davemc_lions]

We are not making finals next year unless quite a few teams fall off the cliff a la Hawthorn.

Correct so time to see what a few players can do. So how many players do we play who will not be here in 4-5 years once we might play finals?
Although thats the bad part if we do the GWS loose by 100 points each week not sure what that does for anyone confidence wise.
Honestly we do not have a team of pick 1,2 and 3's to blood

 

[Nunez]

The argument we've had is: did dropping Close, Bastinac and Harwood and replacing them with rookies effect our teams performance and structures? The answer is yes.

The question we SHOULD be asking is did Close, Bastinac and Harwood do enough to keep their spots in the best 22? The only one you could really argue a case for is Close, but certainly not Basti or Harwood.

Sending the three to the NEAFL with a message of "give us a reason to promote you again, and if you earn that promotion, show us you're hungry and have the desire to keep it" realistically should be the message they need to bust their way back in and hold their spots. We know all 3 have AFL level skills and are best 22 when on form - they just need to show the hunger and desire a best 22 player needs to show. I'd argue only Close did so. If they come back in with Bundy this week, I'd expect them to play good games.

 

[scott_the_man]

Claye had an absolute stinker against the tiges, but I think we should persist with him. If he gets a good run of games at the top level I'm confident he will grow in confidence and play much better footy. I'm still very confident in his ability

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

With the possible exception of Bundy, not sure any of the proposed ins will immediately solve our turnover issue. Bastinac, Harwood and Dawson have all had their problems in that regard. I've got little doubt they will bring Close in, probably at the expense of Eric. Schache did enough. He does seem tentative at the moment but that's probably just a confidence thing. Also reflected in his goal kicking. Dawson would seem the logical replacement for Cutler.

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

I think we are going to be annihilated sadly

Still, there's always hope and beer.

North Melbourne supporters were saying the same thing before last weekend.
We are only just going at the moment.
Liked the way you guys played in the JLT against us.

 

[13Beast]

The issue is turnovers and the equation is simple. Out - turnover merchants. In - our better ball users. At least until we bridge the gap, close the loop etc.

Based on this you play Harwood, Close, Basti and Dawson. Witherden when it's right.

Witherden 26 disposals in the reserves. Reckon he'll get a call up soon...maybe sooner than we think knowing Fagan not being shy to play someone if they show form in the ressies regardless of age.

 

[13Beast]

With a performance like ours last week, I think JasonPM and lionshine hit the nail on the head naming 6 or 7 players to be out. But, its unlikely that'll happen (even though it probably should!).

So, my absolute must OUTS - both Bell and McStay for LENGTHY time in the ressies to seriously sort themselves out. If we don't see them again all season in the 1sts it wouldn't faze me in the slightest. Cutler out due to injury.

Absolute must INS - Close, Walker, Christensen. Fagan can experiment during the game and swap Walker/Close around between back and forward. Could be interesting.

Ideally, I really would love to chop out Bewick as well as give the 3 kids a rest, but its probably too many changes all at once. Probably another run this week for Cox, Hugh and Berry, with Basti, Keays, Paparone coming in for them next week. Bewick definitely out next week, never to be seen again, if another stinker. He's been around long enough to know that is not acceptable. Let's see if he lifts his game next week. If he can prove last week was an anomaly, he keeps his spot. If not, seeya later, and bring in Paps, or shift McLuggage to that outside role.

Although Schache and Hipwood sub-par last week, with Walker/Close in there, it should take a lot of the pressure off them. I wouldn't even mind seeing Hipwood thrown in defence at some point this season if he is not firing up forward. Schache isn't as positionally flexible, and I am wary of sending him to the 2s (unless his body needs a rest), as I think he will benefit much more being played in the seniors. If we find a forward structure that clicks, we'll be golden. And that forward structure will almost certainly have Schache in there. It's just who else we surround him with.

Claye Beams deserves the opportunity to string together a few games, to get back into form and show what he's got, just like we've done with Bewick running all JLT and the first 4 games this season. Unlike Bewick who has just about exhausted his "run", Claye has barely started his. I feel its make or break time with both those players this season, so you'd want the coaching staff to be certain. The same could possibly be said for Walker/Close, getting an extended run of games...and also a certain Jono Freeman who deserves a shot up forward too if the others just can't seem to make it work.