I took it as more of a "that's why I don't like making changes, it just stuffs up other things I have in place" comment.
Which I also partially understand - and the structuring up for a midfield to lose their contests is a bit like placing the field for bad bowling in cricket. But in that cricket scenario you'd switch your bowlers around and try something different if they were all struggling to even land it on the pitch all day.
Ultimately, if we're smashing teams through the midfield, we could isolate Nick Smith up forward and still kick a winning score.
My main concern with Cameron is the ruck - he really only played forward in the WAFL, and a big part of bringing him in now would be to release Sinclair forward.
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We need another forward for the sake of structure and to help free Buddy up. If it's not Aliir, it'll have to be Cameron.
We need that second tall to be able to either take contested marks (Reid), or at worst make a contest and bring the ball to ground (which Sinclair does OK). Not just inside F50, but we need that player leading up to the wings to be able to be a target for the release kick from defence - we've badly missed that in the last 2 weeks.
From what I've seen, Cameron was more of a leading forward in the WAFL, so I think if he came in, the more he could just make a contest in the ruck, it would release Sinclair to be that other physical/aggressive target in the air.
I know he's played forward a bit in the NEAFL, but watching the game live, Allir was completely lost up forward and really had zero impact. I thought it was worth a try, but it didn't work - they left him on the bench for 1/3 of the game and as it went on only seemed to bring him back on out of obligation for rotations.
I reckon that was another one (ie. the selection of Allir) that Longmire was reluctant about but went with from a suggestion from his assistants, but there was a big 'I told you so' afterwards and they went with the smaller forward line last week (which worked even less well).
I agree with that. Tippet has left a bigger hole than anyone imagined. And not having Reid is making it worse.
I'm skeptical of how Cameron will go. Dont know much about him, but ruckmen-come-forwards can be a liability unless they are top shelf.
Allir is at least proven at AFL level, if only in defense.
We are 5 games into the season and clearly a lot of things are not working. Some things, like Joey's form, we probably just have to let him work through. But there's enough evidence to suggest that some changes have to be made.
- It was a bit of a surprise when Florent and Hayward retained their spots for round 2 when we dropped Fox and Newman, but I'm all in favour of developing young players with potential. We know they're not going to give us consistent performances, but there should be a payoff down the road. I would like to see them get around 15 games each this year, but we don't have to play both every week.
- Reid is a big loss, but no more than what other teams are suffering with their injuries. Reid's biggest contribution is taking those strong marks as outlets from our defence and secondly as a foil for Buddy. Sinclair, Buddy and Reg (who is only 192cm even when he jumps) were our only players 192 cm or over. We don't have to have the tallest team going around, but don't give the opposition such a clear area to exploit.
- While we are giving Florent and Hayward games in the name of development, we are letting Aliir stay on the sidelines, unwilling to let a player who has already shown he can play at a high level a chance to get back to his 2016 form, especially when we are lacking height and need someone who could give us a bit of what we've lost with Reid. It would seem there is a bigger payoff to get Aliir up and running than what we can get from Florent and Hayward at this point in the season.
- Our defence has lacked height and pace since last year and we are often caught out with mismatches, especially from non-forwards drifting forward and finding a favourable matchup. Even bringing in both Melican and Aliir leaves us with only 5 players at 192cm and over. I think that's the same as Richmond, who have leaned to play with a shorter quicker team that loses the hitouts.
- Why can't we let Hanners and Jack try to work out their problems in the reserves? They are just not contributing enough for senior experienced players right now. Even Fox and Newman would offer more, if we want to bring in a couple of mature players.
Longmire and the match committee can be forgiven for their selections to this point as every club is trying to work out its best 22 early in the season. But there is enough evidence to suggest that it's time to make some changes
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