I think they'll all stay. The 4 big men have done genereraly well this year and it's the best setup we have given available personnel. More of a problem for next year.Originally Posted by JudesaGun
I think they'll all stay. The 4 big men have done genereraly well this year and it's the best setup we have given available personnel. More of a problem for next year.
How did we get so close in Round 23 but capitulate so bad on Friday?! Horses for Courses, sort out the issues and win next week. Very frustrating. All I know is hat something has to change to give us a fighting chance. Also Rampe, Jack and White aren't going anywhere. Pretty much everyone else needs to sort themselves out. Oh yeah Bird was good too. And Richards and Pyke. I think I saw McGlynn and White clash and it appears McGlynn had a few choice words to say to White when he was on the ground which I thought was a bit rich.
Just bring in FIT players, whether they are kids or not, give them finals experience and not worry about the result. We are not going to win the flag and a win next week allows us to play freo in Perth in a preliminary with them wanting to make their first GF! No way known we would win that, don't mean to be negative but it has got to the stage, due to injuries, we need to look towards 2014 and come back fit and firing.
I think one of the worst decisions was to give Jesse the job of minding Hodge. Reminds me of the sorcerer and the apprentice. Hodge requires a hard-nosed defensive forward, otherwise he sets up play after play. He is probably the single most destructive force on the ground, along with Roughead.
Another thing that bothers me over the last few weeks is the way we win the clearance, i.e. get first hands on the ball, and within two or three passes the opposition has it. There is something the matter with our centre set-up and the lack of positioning to enable (relatively) uncontested ball movement.
Also we need to give some thought to regaining our run out of the back. Malceski is doing OK, but his strength is more in his penetrating kick rather than sheer pace; we are really missing Shaw, and I don't think we have a ready-made replacement. Perhaps it's the sort of job Harry C can do, but I doubt that he's quite ready for it just yet.
Rampe is already a good player, and perhaps he's the one who can give a chop out for Ted and Reg occasionally. We could do a bit more of that.
And last but not least, crumbing. Benny can do it, but doesn't seem to be in position often enough. The one I'd like to see on the job is Morton.
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)
Totally agree. I don't know how this happened. Also your suggestion of putting Benny on him is a good one. I think Benny needs to be a tagger. You've got to put a smart player on Hodge. Bird is the other possibility. The problem with Hawthorn is that too many of their players need to be tagged. Maybe we should ask Ross Lyon what to do?
Selections need to think of the next three weeks, not just next week. If a player needs a rest, rest him. If a player needs game time, play him. Id risk goodes, jetta against tiges/blues if it gave them the conditioning required for prelim/granny.
No point conditioning players for games you may not get to.
Doc Larkins on 3AW just gave an injury summary from the finals games that have been completed. He said:
McVeigh- Bone on bone bruising (will struggle to come up....normally several weeks to repair)
Hanners - Similar to McVeigh. Been carrying it for weeks and struggled in the second half.
Bolton - Knee, doubtful.
Rohan - Sore calf. Common with players coming back after a serious leg break (ie Nathan Brown, Goose McGuire). Struggled to run in the 2nd half.
The above, with an under done Jetta, and you can see why we faded in the last half. The message. You may get away with one injured/under done player but not several in a final. We need fit legs so we need to bite the bullet and go with some players who can give us a contest. I also feel that we are one tall too many up forward.....we need more movement/flexibility. Membrey, Cunningham, Biggs, Lamb, Morton need to be considered. Not all ins but I think we need to make at least 4 changes to be some chance progressing deeper this month. The selectors need to be courageous this week.
That is illuminating. I watched the game live (ie at the ground) and haven't watched a replay (I won't be) so wasn't aware we had so many players carrying injuries. Hanners I knew was, and I saw Rohan limping at some point. McVeigh had a shocker for him, so it is reassuring to know injury is some explanation. I think you can also add Tippett to the list. Whatever kept him out last week was clearly still troubling him.
Biggs in for Macca, if Macca can't come up (or shouldn't even try). Jed for Bolton, Harry for Hanners (though I suspect they may try and nurse Hanners through). If Rohan really is sore, maybe it's worth risking Goodes in his place. Alternatively, Membrey would be the next best option, unless they want pace, in which case Towers.
Would be a shame for many of those players to miss their own GF next weekend, though.
McVeigh's injury occurred right at the end though so we can't really use that as an excuse. In any case Doc Larkins has a very suspect record in diagnosing players off the footage
Might as well rely on anything BT has to say.
McVeigh returned to the field after half time with a bandaged calf. The injury to his knee was the one that happened near the end of the game. Either way he looked done before he did the knee.
Carlton looked very fast when they overran the tigers today. I think we could be too slow over many parts of the ground next week.
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