The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #1
Every week we see supporters complaining about selection issues. Why is Wiggins there? Why is McGrath and Teague there? Bring Livo back. Get rid of Livo. Where is Bryan? And so it goes on.
What I want to see is everybody nominating their side each week prior to the game, bearing in mind the injury list.
I don't think everyone realises how many we have played this year, how many have been injured and how we can't elevate rookies without a nominated LTI.
I'll tell you something, I can't nominate a side right now without putting someone in there that someone else considers a hack.
So nominate what side you would want to see at the Gabba on Saturday night out of the available players, not who you think will play. If you have De Luca in your team, then you can't come in here bagging Pagan for playing him after the game. It's not as easy as it looks.
My team for Saturday against Brisbane:
B: Walker Thornton Bannister
HB:Russell Whitnall Lappin
C: Simpson Scotland Carrazzo
HF:Kennedy De Luca Houlihan
F: Wiggins Fevola Betts
R: French Stevens Murphy
Int: *Bryan Blackwell McGrath Bentick
In: Bryan Kennedy
Out: McLaren Teague
I expect McLaren to play against his old team and in a way I'd like to see how he goes but he was so ordinary on Friday that I feel he deserves to be dropped again. Bryan on the other hand has not earned a recall but maybe a senior game will lift him. Plus he might catch the Lions out with some booming kicks inside our attacking 50. I won't be bagging Pagan for playing McLaren though as I can see merit in both.
Ordinarily I would leave Bannister out, probably send Bentick back to the VFL for a week again, probably give McGrath a rest too, and probably banish De Luca permanently. One quarter out of many does not give me hope. However we don't have the luxury of doing this, we have no depth.
Who else to play? Prendergast? Chambers? Saddington? Livingston? Hartlett if he passes his fitness test? Bower? I do want to see Bower in action but I think he has had a few injury concerns (is he even available) and we have so many young players in there at the moment.
Anyway, there you have it. My (reluctant) side for this week. You won't see me bagging Pagan for picking any of these players this week. We have no magic stockpile of ready made replacements hidden away for a rainy day.
When you look at our talls or so called ruck backups .... French, McLaren, DeLuca, Prendergast, Bryan ... and what they have done this year, you can kind of understand why De Luca keeps getting a run. He showed on Friday that he can be a forward target whereas none of the rest of them have those skills. Pagan obviously knows what he can do but the fact that he hasn't done it to date, makes the selection look dumb. It is DeLuca who must repay Pagan's faith.
What I want to see is everybody nominating their side each week prior to the game, bearing in mind the injury list.
I don't think everyone realises how many we have played this year, how many have been injured and how we can't elevate rookies without a nominated LTI.
I'll tell you something, I can't nominate a side right now without putting someone in there that someone else considers a hack.
So nominate what side you would want to see at the Gabba on Saturday night out of the available players, not who you think will play. If you have De Luca in your team, then you can't come in here bagging Pagan for playing him after the game. It's not as easy as it looks.
My team for Saturday against Brisbane:
B: Walker Thornton Bannister
HB:Russell Whitnall Lappin
C: Simpson Scotland Carrazzo
HF:Kennedy De Luca Houlihan
F: Wiggins Fevola Betts
R: French Stevens Murphy
Int: *Bryan Blackwell McGrath Bentick
In: Bryan Kennedy
Out: McLaren Teague
I expect McLaren to play against his old team and in a way I'd like to see how he goes but he was so ordinary on Friday that I feel he deserves to be dropped again. Bryan on the other hand has not earned a recall but maybe a senior game will lift him. Plus he might catch the Lions out with some booming kicks inside our attacking 50. I won't be bagging Pagan for playing McLaren though as I can see merit in both.
Ordinarily I would leave Bannister out, probably send Bentick back to the VFL for a week again, probably give McGrath a rest too, and probably banish De Luca permanently. One quarter out of many does not give me hope. However we don't have the luxury of doing this, we have no depth.
Who else to play? Prendergast? Chambers? Saddington? Livingston? Hartlett if he passes his fitness test? Bower? I do want to see Bower in action but I think he has had a few injury concerns (is he even available) and we have so many young players in there at the moment.
Anyway, there you have it. My (reluctant) side for this week. You won't see me bagging Pagan for picking any of these players this week. We have no magic stockpile of ready made replacements hidden away for a rainy day.
When you look at our talls or so called ruck backups .... French, McLaren, DeLuca, Prendergast, Bryan ... and what they have done this year, you can kind of understand why De Luca keeps getting a run. He showed on Friday that he can be a forward target whereas none of the rest of them have those skills. Pagan obviously knows what he can do but the fact that he hasn't done it to date, makes the selection look dumb. It is DeLuca who must repay Pagan's faith.
