Not necessarily. Players named as emergencies, especially those who have been playing more in the twos, need to be encouraged as well.Originally Posted by rb4x
Not necessarily. Players named as emergencies, especially those who have been playing more in the twos, need to be encouraged as well.
I really want Aliir to cement a spot (and think he will this year) but he didn't do enough last week albeit out of position. Newman will benefit from time in the twos. He was off his best last week (over the crowd, from the top deck of Docklands, I could hear Macca screaming his lungs out at him to get himself in the right position several times).
Great to have Gaz back. He should be able to create some confusion in Adelaide' defence and therefore options for a mobile Budster. Good chaser too.
I haven't seen a lot of Marsh but trust the ressies watchers who seem to think he deserves his chance.
I think Adelaide's tall forward line ear-marks a bomb-it-long game-plan.
Of course, they do have to rebound from defence and/or get it through the mid-field before taking to the air. In their forward 50 they are going to have to clunk contested marks and/or force turnovers. On paper this week, we match up pretty well right across the field for all of that.
The only thing that can beat us tonight will be if we don't bring our B+ game (or better).
If the Crows play a similar short kicking game to the one they played v Richmond it might create problems given our inability to counter that tactic (exhibit A = Hawthorn).
But they�ll need to win the ball first. Our midfielders should outperform theirs but think Jacobs will monster Sinkers in hitouts which might even things up.
Ludwig might disagree and this article would back him up. It might also put Nankervis� (lack of) prowess as a ruckman into context.
Category: | Herald Sun
Melbourne big man Max Gawn has won 211 hitouts through the first four rounds (average 52 per game), the most ever recorded by Champion Data in the first month of the season.
Yet, like an ancient proverb we have all heard about the tree falling in the forest, what does a hitout mean if the onballers can�t convert it into an effective clearance?
Remarkably, despite Gawn�s ruck prowess this season, the Demons have been beaten in scores from clearances in three of their first four games...
... the reigning premier... are the best ruck tap sharks in the league
If one thing in the AFL is clear, it�s that Damien Hardwick doesn�t give two hoots about the hitout.
The Tigers virtually surrender the ruck battle each week and ranked 18th in the league for hitouts last season...
... we know the damage Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin and Co are doing sharking the ball off the opposition ruckmen, and bursting away from congestion.
Jeez that's a tall forward line Crows are playing, 5/6 starting on field are 190cm+
The main points I've been making about ruckmen over the past few years are:
- Teams will play only 1 main ruckman. Except for a few special cases, this has come to pass.
- The question is more about how a team approaches the stoppage. Teams with dominant ruckmen will continue to play the stoppage the usual way. Teams that don't will have to find another way to win clearances. This also has come to pass.
- Unless a ruckman is totally dominant in the ruck contests, like Naitanui and Gawn, they will have to bring some other tricks to the game, like play as an extra midfielder (Grundy, Martin), be able to play all over the ground (McEvoy, Jacobs), go forward and kick goals (Kreuzer, Sinclair). Several teams are still trying to find the right niche that suits their playing style (Geelong, WB). I think we are finding our groove with Sinclair.
Hope to see Aliir as a late in in defence. Crows packing a tall forward line
If we were playing that many talls, we'd all be screaming on RWO that we've gone in too tall and the other team's defenders would run off our forwards all day. Surely it's true of the Crows tonight?
I'm a bit surprised to see Aliir dropped- i thought we would need an extra tall in defence. I'm figuring out - what do I know anyway.
Reg to play on Jenkins
Rampe to play on Tex
Marsh to play on Lynch
We're a bit undersized though Tex and Jenkins are struggling for form.
no Eddie Betts
I like Hewett on Laird too. Laird is having a big influence on games this year.
Hope it's not too wet.
Above match ups probably right. Mills a possibility on Lynch. Taller than you think.
With no Eddie, and a tall Crows forward line, could we see Nick Smith playing forward to blanket the dangerous Laird?
McGovern will the tricky matchup, he has a great leap and caused us problems in our last meeting in R22 last year and finished with 4 goals. I think Melican had the matchup that night and it was probably the only time he was truly beaten that season.
Lynch leads up the ground more than the other tall forwards and for that reason I can't see Mills starting on him as we prefer Callum to be back inside 50 when defending. So I'm predicting Mills-McGovern and Marsh-Lynch.
Perhaps Aliir's best game was when he played on Lynch in 2016 and shut him out of the game in the 1st half. We went into halftime 6 goals up and maintained that margin till the end. Lynch did kick 2 goals in the game, but Aliir had 21 possessions and 5 marks. I would have liked to see him have another go with that matchup.
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