Rnd 15 Pre-Match Thread, vs St Kilda

[wolftone57]

Did Cunningham really play that poorly? I honestly don't remember. I don't know who he was playing on, but they didn't get much goal production from their small forwards, so hard to blame the lock down small defender. He did play on Jones for a while and Jones only got 5 possessions. Harry had 79% game time, which I think is just a bit down from normal.

Cunningham and Lloyd have been playing different roles over the past few years and I thought Harry was doing just fine until he got injured. Now that he's had a game under his belt, I don't think there should be a fitness problem, so it's hard to see a good reason to drop him.

There's been a big transition this year in backline personnel and the way we are playing because of it. We also need to find a way to get Gould into the side, as he's really earned his shot after 2 + seasons in the reserves. If we are aiming to have Gould and Florent in defence, as well as consider Fox and COR for selection, then we need to reposition Rampe and Lloyd and keep McInerney out of the defensive mix. It's either Blakey or JMac in defence, but not both.

It's hard to see us as a premiership contender when we are still working out where all the parts go. We might as well try to get this part right as much as possible this year and not drag it on longer than we have to. It would be nice to go into next season with a fairly set lineup, knowing we still have a few, like Sheldrick, Roberts, HHK and Sheather to challenge for spots in the side.

i thought or a first up after injury Harry was ok. I agree about getting the backline mix right. Rampe can no longer play tall. The interpretation of the rules has made this impossible. I do not like the idea of Paddy playing on smalls. That did not work on the weekend. Paddy was still good but when the ball hit the ground he was no match for his opponent and Rampe was slaughtered by Marshall. The change should have been made, Paddy to Marshall. He can defend a tall as well as intercept. Taylor and Harris-Andrews manage to do it well.

[Swanny40519]

Very conservative approach by the selectors. Yes Clarke has played well in the VFL but in most of the senior games he has played, the level of performance has not been good.

I am not sure what Gould, Fox or Armety have to do to get a game.

[MattW]

Essentially:
- Campbell for O'Riordan
- Hickey for Ladhams
- Clarke for Wicks.

Improvements. I'm pleased Clarke has been rewarded and hope he goes well.

St Kilda's outs are good for us. Higgins seems to go well against us and as a very casual follower of St Kilda, I'm surprised to see him omitted.

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[waswan]

Happy with that team

Hope Clarke gets a chance to chase the ball, head to head and not tag

[Bexl]

Essentially:
- Campbell for O'Riordan
- Hickey for Ladhams
- Clarke for Wicks.

Improvements. I'm pleased Clarke has been rewarded and hope he goes well.

St Kilda's outs are good for us. Higgins seems to go well against us and as a very casual follower of St Kilda, I'm surprised to see him omitted.

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Higgins most likely will be sub.

[dejavoodoo44]

Essentially:
- Campbell for O'Riordan
- Hickey for Ladhams
- Clarke for Wicks.

Improvements. I'm pleased Clarke has been rewarded and hope he goes well.

St Kilda's outs are good for us. Higgins seems to go well against us and as a very casual follower of St Kilda, I'm surprised to see him omitted.

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Hill and Ryder out is bad news for them. Steele back in is bad news for us.

I'm also pleased for Ryan Clarke. He's really shown up for each VFL match, when others may have got disheartened, so good luck to him.

[Mark26]

Very conservative approach by the selectors. Yes Clarke has played well in the VFL but in most of the senior games he has played, the level of performance has not been good.

I am not sure what Gould, Fox or Armety have to do to get a game.

It's very ordinary isn't it? So we hold onto fading senior players in the hope they'll come good, while encouraging young talent to walk out the door.

[Mark26]

Horse said it's important to have competition for spots this week in his press conference. What a load of @@@@. After last week's effort, you'd expect a more significant change than our team selection.

[Ludwig]

Very conservative approach by the selectors. Yes Clarke has played well in the VFL but in most of the senior games he has played, the level of performance has not been good.

I am not sure what Gould, Fox or Armety have to do to get a game.

I'm all for Gould, Fox and Amartey getting a game, and have said so, but without many injuries, it's a hard side to break into. The one player everyone wanted out, Wicks, has indeed been replaced. It's hard to find another player who deserves to be dropped.

[Markwebbos]

I think they’d give most players a second chance after we knocked off the Tigers and Demons in the previous two games.

People seem very trigger happy after #Ladhamsgate

We are consistently poor after the bye. I’m happy to see if they can’t turn things around this week.

So are they going to make Clarke play as a defensive forward? Or move someone else up there?

[Mel_C]

Stevic is back ☹

[SwanSand]

I'm all for Gould, Fox and Amartey getting a game, and have said so, but without many injuries, it's a hard side to break into. The one player everyone wanted out, Wicks, has indeed been replaced. It's hard to find another player who deserves to be dropped.

Clarke gets a game after doing as well as he could at a lower level. He is not very good in disposals but probably has good endurance to cover the ground. Problem is that if he plays in front half, are we expecting him to be defensive minded and just shut down a half back coz I doubt he will be able to do that. Anyways moment of truth for him. If he is terrible that may be his last chance.