In. Tippett Franklin.
Out Pyke BJ
In. Tippett Franklin.
Out Pyke BJ
I think this is guaranteed pending fitness.
I guess cunningham will get the vest which is unfortunate as he has played pretty well but was a bit quiet compared to all other mids/fwds
In - Tippett, Franklin, LRT
Out - Pyke, Laidler, B.Jack
LRT will be needed as a back up ruckman and the 3rd tall in the backline to cover the rucking and forward marking ability of Hale and McVoy. This will allow Grundy to play on Roughead, Richards to play on Gunston, Rampe on Breust and Smith on Cyril.
When LRT goes into the ruck, then Sam Reid can switch down back and cover the resting ruckman.
Laidler has done nothing wrong, but there is no clear match up for him this week. I certainly would no feel comfortable with him playing on Hale. He comes straight back into the team when the opposition has a smaller forward line.
Franklin's one job against the Hawks is to drag Gibson away from the play. I would not care if Franklin got no touches as long as Gibson had no influence. You would then back Tippett, Goodes and Reid to beat the remaining defenders one on one, as it's likely the Hawks won't have Lake.
I would play Cunningham as the Sub as Lloyd gives you more as a midfielder than Cunningham.
I'm not sure, but I think Rampe played on Gunston a few times last year, and Gunston had good games against him. But Gunston has been playing well against lots of opposition. He's a difficult matchup because of his mobility. We really don't have an obvious matchup for him, but Laidler looks the best option. Someone like Rohan might do well, but I doubt he will be selected.
The matchups will depend on the Hawthorn selections. With Lake out, it would seem that Shoenmakers will play back, probably on Tippett, with Gibson and Stratton going with Reid and Goodes. That would leave Hawthorn playing 3 tall forwards, instead of the 4 they tend to go with when they have the personnel on board. All their other forwards take turns in the midfield, Luke Breust for example, which would make for a better matchup for Rampe.
Another option would be to play Laidler as a loose man in defence, but this setup doesn't seem to suit us, because it will probably leave Hodge in that spot for the Hawks; I think we loose that strategy.
Derickx will just have to go with McEvoy. We really don't have any other options. The Hawks will probably want to keep Hall forward as much as possible, so the backup ruckmen shouldn't be getting a whole lot of action.
Cyril has been running hot, and playing more through the midfield, so will be another big challenge for Smitty.
This is a season defining game for us. We are nearly at full strength. They've got a few key injuries. We are (technically) playing at home. They deserve to be heavy favourites, but it's a winnable game for us, and one we should win if we are serious premiership contenders. Geelong shows that it can be done.
Cunningham has had a challenging role in that some weeks he has had to tag a Stephen Hill and other weeks he has had to run himself into the ground on forward pressure
I think it will come down to matchups between Lloyd and Cunningham for a few weeks now and I cant pick it - but happy with either !
others are obvious !
"be tough, only when it gets tough"
Think run is more important, franklin for Reid, lrt for Pyke and Tippett for laidler. Will need Cunningham to go back to play defensive mid.
Agree as well.
LRT is in poor form atm, and offers no more than Reid, for example, as a backup ruckman. Derickx can play 90% of the game in the ruck a la Goldstein and Minson.
It's worth noting that the best quarter against Hawthorn this year was Essendon's 3rd qtr 6 goals nil after they lost sole ruckman Paddy Ryder to injury. Once they didn't have a ruckman in the game they were killing the Hawks around the ground. Is there a lesson here?
Yep Tippett, Franklin for BJ, Pyke, unless they want to bring LRT in to support Derickx, with Laidler out. Laidler has been improving nicely and with Tippett and Franklin back we are already pretty tall; however, if Derickx gets injured we'd be stuffed, so they may. Tough call.
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