Age says that " . . . if Swans coach John Longmire is questioning whether he wants more of a like-for-like replacement for McGlynn." which would leave us less exposed vis-a-vis legspeed. Despite that it predicts Grundy in and McGlynn out.
Pies expect Dawes to play despite injury
Wouldn't it be great if we had another swift midfielder handy, perhaps something to remember at draft time.
Loose translation from the Latin is - I am tall, so I hit out.
I thought Spangher was really disappointing yesterday in the NEAFL grand final. In a physical contest, I thought he really struggled to have a good influence (I know he spent a fair bit of the game dropping back as a loose man) and didn't do a lot, so I don't think he'll be in the mix for the Prelim team, especially considering he hasn't played a senior game all year.
Spang won't play after playing yesterday unless there's an injury. Clearly Morton is still in the frame or he would have suited up in Canberra. Unless there's illness or a training mishap it's down to Reg, Benny and Mitch for the last spot.
Today's a draft of your epitaph
Armstrong has probably been the best in the ressies of late, but can't see any change other than Grundy coming in for McGlynn. Collingwood will play 3 tall forwards. If Dawes doesn't come up, Paine will come in. So I think there are matches for all of LRT, Grundy and Richards. Johnson has covered shorter opponents in the past, and can take a Fasolo or Didak if need be. Someone needs to pick up Jolly when he goes forward, so the 4th tall could be handy. Also, one of the talls can play loose man in defence, which seems to happen a lot in finals, with a defensive mindset. Pyke is a liability in defence, as he makes too many errors under pressure, so should only play in the ruck and forward. So that leaves Reid and the Pyke and perhaps Mummy up forward. We were very ineffective bombing the ball into the forward line last time we played the Pies, so don't think it is a particularly good strategy. It's very unlikely that we will be taking many contested marks in the forward fifty. But with a few big bodies in the forward line we should have a reasonable chance of bringing the ball to ground when there are no other options. Goodes to play midfield-wing. I think most of our scoring will come from the midfield. Collingwood defence showed that it can cover a tall forward line even without Maxwell. They are more vulnerable against smaller forwards and mids moving into space. The Reid brothers will probably play on each other. I would be happy if Sam can keep his brother from getting much of the ball. How the matchups go on Harry O, Shaw and Toovey will be critical. We need to keep the pressure on them and stop them from starting drives out of their defence.
I watched the ressies yesterday and think the idea of swapping Spang for Mitch is insane. Sure Spang took some easy marks (in the 2s) but he looked a lot less ready for seniors than Mitch. Likewise, the idea of dropping LRT for Grundy as our defensive forward is a pretty odd suggestion. LRT did a great job down back but he's also a well worn part of our forward structure, such as it is. It's like we're all channelling Malcolm Blight - it's time to do something different so my suggestion is we use this PF to try Sam Reid in the ruck and move Mummy to FF. Can't do any harm.
Something that will be occupying the minds of the selection panel -
Sydney area
- Min 14
- Max 22
- Shower or two.
Partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Winds easterly 15 to 20 km/h turning south to southeasterly later in the day.
He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)
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