I think with Kennedy's absence (and form drop) and Mills needing to play some more minutes in defence the last few weeks, having another hard nut older midfielder like Clarke in the seniors could help us. I wouldn't be that upset if Clarke got a crack at the seniors. He runs hard, racks up numbers, can tag and as you point out - has improved his disposal efficiency.
However its' hard to see who he'd replace in the team, Rowbottom would be the most obvious but he's been good this year (careful not to open a can of worms here). Another option would be Florent who played well against the Dees but whilst his role would be different to Clarke's, has definitely not progressed as many of us here would of hoped. Finally, he could come in for Wicks, with Papley to spend more time up forward and less in the middle.
Last edited by longmile; 20th June 2022 at 02:20 PM.
"Team Outs : Coaching: Longmire, can never see a veteran is past it and keeps playing them over younger players
: Jake Lloyd; if he didn't take a few kick in, would he have had zero possessions? Really drop off a cliff
: COR, love the guy, but he isn't an AFL players, too many mistakes and missed tackles: give Fox an extended period
: Wicks: he stood still but didn't see the Port players moving into space too mark around him, too many mistakes and missed tackles
Team In : Amartey, played really well against Melbourne, but was dropped
: Fox, he can play, we don't use him, why
: Stephens, why not, he must be hungry.
: Gould, for gods sake, give him a go! didn't we trade up to get him! He would be better than Lloyd"
4 Outs and 4 Ins
Who gets the coaching gig replacing Longmire?
Very astute comments. There's a crescendo effect that follows from not stopping the opposition halfbacks. Once the play goes on for awhile they drift forward and find space just inside our defensive zone and create scoring opportunities. So we need to work on shutting down these type of players, as you have noted that Essendon did on Hill and Sinclair.
Your remarks on the midfielders helping out in defence is also something we need to work on. We are having so many problems once the ball hits the ground. We seem to be second to the ball too often and the opposition always have loose players around to shark the ball and snap a goal. Rowbottom, Warner and Gulden all need to do more in our defensive zone. I think it has more to do with training and experience than ability. Even though I've recommended moving Lloyd out of defence, he does a lot to clean up the mess for us. Perhaps we should look to making Ollie a permanent part of the defence with a look toward building a synergy down the road, Blood Fever might agree with this one too.
I think Paddy needs to play a true KPD role. Rampe can't handle it. Maybe Tom goes to King an Paddy take the resting ruckman, a tall task for both. Rampe should go one on one with Membrey, who has a big tank and will run him up and down the ground. I don't know how Gould would go in this sort of a setup. He could try to play the role that Mills has been filling in when things go sour.
The thread titled Round 13 while this will be actually a Round 15 match.
Horse was bold enough to play ROK in the reserves in his final years. He is after a whole team balance.
Campbell absolutely must come in this week. Should never have been dropped in the first place.
In: Fox, Hickey, Campbell, Ronke
Out: COR, Wicks, Ladhams, Lloyd
So they bring back an unfit Cunningham to the position that Ollie had picked up really well. It appears he had found his spot but just got spat out by coaching/ selection conservatism.
Out Ladhams, Cunningham, Lloyd, COR, Wicks
In Hickey, Campbell, Fox, HHK Gould up forward, Amartey
The last 2 years they have been building speed and youth yet now have defaulted to the old conservative selection.
Get Jmac off the half back and let him regain his flare. They are trying to make a sow's ear out of silk purse. Don't try to make him something he is not. He is restricted for space on the HBF. It failed with Hewett and Kennedy and they keep making the same mistakes.
One of Cunningham or Lloyd have to go. They are both similar players who just kick the pill to nowhere. Get Ollie back into Cunningham's spot. He has way more hardness than those 2 blokes combined.
We are on the edge of the cliff and selecting olds and bolds will not turn this around. Show some balls at selection. If Wicks keeps his spot they are not serious.
We need to make changes as current team is not able to sustain 4 quarters of pressure football. Of course, it’s not possible to shut down the opposition completely, but runs of 6+ goals conceded in a quarter won’t win many games.
Hickey is needed in the ruck with support from Sammy until Ladhams comes back after a stint in the ressies. Campbell should be in to gain experience and Clarke deserves another chance. Amartey needs to play a few more games so he can be assessed properly as does Gould. I haven’t written the season off but realistically we’re not top 4 yet and finishing in the 8 may mean just making up the numbers. Much rather use the rest of the games to improve our structure and play the lads in their best positions- and please don’t play Wicks until he shows he can consistently be in our best 6 in the two’s.
Horse just mentioned Stephens in his presser. Just has some things to work on because they know he has high end talent.
The gap between VFL and AFL is a yawning chasm which explains why Clarke looks good at a level down but is diabolical under the real heat of AFL where opponents go just as hard and he gets half the amount of time to think.
I get the feeling from what Longmire said, that with the exception of Hickey there won't be a lot of changes since over the last block of games the blokes playing have done a good job.
Those who have the greatest power to hurt us are those we love.
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