Team Selection: QF v Brisbane @ SCG

[BRS328]

Very disappointed that Green has been dropped for MvLean. McLeans form has been poor in the VFL and he is going to up against Fort , the second ruck. I would back Green around the ground as he is tough and gets the ball to ground more times. Not convinced by this change

I could not agree with you more. Green has been far more effective than McLean when relieving in the ruck, particularly at centre bounces, and more mobile around the ground. The finals experience would have done wonders for his future development.
Strange decision indeed

[The Big Cat]

Unless Logan or Charlie are wide open, I’d be inclined to drill mongrel ground balls into where our small forwards are. No chance for their marking interceptors if the ball isn’t in the air. After all Cox says half the forward’s role is to bring the ball to ground. Why not start it there?

[Roadrunner]

I suspect it is sort of driven by him having finals experience and less on a basis of form. I'm disappointed a bit too - as I think it would have been great experience for Green, and not really losing much picking him over Amartey or McLean. I guess he probably doesn't give much goal threat yet at AFL level however - whereas you can see a situation where a McLean or a Amartey might kick 3 or 4, it is probably unlikely with Green.

Agreed- I suspect the selection was based on experience and goal kicking ability. Maybe Green will be picked for our next game if Amartey will not be match fit?

[Syd76]

I could not agree with you more. Green has been far more effective than McLean when relieving in the ruck, particularly at centre bounces, and more mobile around the ground. The finals experience would have done wonders for his future development.
Strange decision indeed

I think that Green is not as mature in the body as McLean - I am not talking about potential here. Hence given the additional heat in the finals the match committee have opted for someone who is more battle hardened. McLean will be a better forward option than Green at this stage of the career, and at this point in time he is a very good kick. So I totally see where this has come from.

Green has serious upside and potential and I suspect his ceiling will be higher than that of Hayden, but playing Brisbane is a jump up to that of Essendon/North. Besides, we have a lot of young players in the team. Hoping that Hayden can pluck more than a few good marks and kick a few goals

[SwanSand]

I think the MC and the coaches will go with our traditional setup of one extra behind the ball. Given their forward line stacked with medium and small forwards and talls, I would be inclined to push a small player behind the ball. Not sure if anyone is suited for that role. Matt Roberts and Braeden Campbell and Serong are the obvious ones but probably needed somewhere else. I cannot trust Hanily or Cootee doing the defensive job on their mids or forwards in our defensive half.

But maybe we could increase our numbers in the middle rather than forward. Play Papley as your high half forward. I am not sure if Sheldrick is cut out for it against seasoned opposition. But hopefully he has an extra gear to go too. Maybe he can tag Berry who will tag Gulden and get Berry off Gulden. ?

[imuninformedtwo]

I think the MC and the coaches will go with our traditional setup of one extra behind the ball. Given their forward line stacked with medium and small forwards and talls, I would be inclined to push a small player behind the ball. Not sure if anyone is suited for that role. Matt Roberts and Braeden Campbell and Serong are the obvious ones but probably needed somewhere else. I cannot trust Hanily or Cootee doing the defensive job on their mids or forwards in our defensive half.

But maybe we could increase our numbers in the middle rather than forward. Play Papley as your high half forward. I am not sure if Sheldrick is cut out for it against seasoned opposition. But hopefully he has an extra gear to go too. Maybe he can tag Berry who will tag Gulden and get Berry off Gulden. ?

The idea is great but Gus trying to run with a pure, power gut runner like Berry would last about two mins.

[The Big Cat]

Have we forfeited tomorrow? Huddo saying big tasks still in front of Cats. Freo in Perth and if they win they'll have to go to Brisbane for the preliminary.

And Apparently Ginnivan saying Hawks will play us or dogs or crows in preliminary final.

[imuninformedtwo]

Watching last night reinforced how much half forwards matter in finals. Mannagh, Close, Miers and Wiltshire tore the Blues to pieces in the second half. It’s not an aerial game, it’s a running and groundball game. We’ve got a great crew in Paps, Datolli, Cootee and to a lesser degree Hannily. We need to create a game plan that gives them opportunity rather than bomb long to Harris Andrews.

Of course, the Lions have Cameron, Lehmann, McKenna and Rayner, which is arguably a bigger worry.

[Mountain Man]

I heard a guy from Champion Data on 6NPR (? station) who compared Home and Away matches to Finals - from a statistics viewpoint of course.

!. control to chaos game moves significantly from the former to the latter
2. stoppage dominance becomes more important.

So, the small forwards become increasingly important and our small forwards may not match well against Brisbane's, but as people have pointed out, removing their intercepters gives us a decent chance.
And,
a huge game from Grundy could give us a chance

[SwanSand]

They are unfortunately great at stoppages compared to break even with us in centre. I am sure their ball handling will be better than ours given match hardness. it’s a warm day in Sydney. It will depend also on conditioning. But again both teams have been rested well enough. And the prize is huge.

Can’t wait for the first bounce. Grundy mighty important. And what the 4 players do in the middle will make or break us - Sheldrick, Rowbottom, Serong and Campbell. If they are clean and keep their head down and work hard and don’t get pushed over easily, I think we will stand a chance. I am sure Mills and Gulden will stand tall.