Teams: Geelong vs Western Bulldogs

[Hood007]

GEELONG
B: Darren Milburn, Matthew Scarlett, Corey Enright
HB: Andrew Mackie, Matthew Egan, Tom Harley
C: Joel Corey, Jimmy Bartel, David Wojcinski
HF: Paul Chapman, Cameron Mooney, Joel Selwood
F: Steve Johnson, Tom Hawkins, Mathew Stokes
FOLL: Brad Ottens, Cameron Ling, Gary Ablett
I/C: Mark Blake, James Kelly, Josh Hunt, Shannon Byrnes
EMG: David Johnson, Steven King, Travis Varcoe

In: Byrnes
Out: Varcoe (omitted)

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Jordan McMahon, Brian Harris, Dale Morris
HB: Lindsay Gilbee, Tom Williams, Ryan Hargrave
C: Shaun Higgins, Scott West, Jason Akermanis
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Brad Johnson, Mitch Hahn
F: Nathan Eagleton, Luke Darcy, Matthew Robbins
FOLL: Peter Street, Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd
I/C: Andrejs Everitt, Jarrod Harbrow, Robert Murphy, Farren Ray
EMG: Dylan Addison, Wayde Skipper, Cameron Wight

In: West
Out: Addison

Interesting...
Thoughts?

[Duskfire]

Still no Nablett? I didn't realise he was that injured - thought it had just been hip soreness. Bit iffy about losing Varcoe but he has been quiet the last couple of games... a run in the 2's might freshen him up.

[Cattas_21]

varcoe needed to be dropped IMO, just looked a bit flat the last couple of weeks, hopefully he doesnt stay out for too long though because i think we need his pressure up forward...but surely there is someone better than byrnes to replace him

[Team Extreme]

Would have liked Varcoe instead of having Byrnes missing shots at goal and D.Johnson to play of Aka.

Hopefully Linga can towel up West and Scarlett keep Brad quiet.

Nablett had to earn his spot back which meant he had to go to the vfl which is stupid.

[Cattas_21]

Still no Nablett? I didn't realise he was that injured - thought it had just been hip soreness. Bit iffy about losing Varcoe but he has been quiet the last couple of games... a run in the 2's might freshen him up.

hes coming back through the ressies

[Hood007]

Still no Nablett? I didn't realise he was that injured - thought it had just been hip soreness. Bit iffy about losing Varcoe but he has been quiet the last couple of games... a run in the 2's might freshen him up.

They mentioned possibly bringing Nath in through the 2's...

[Duskfire]

Does he need to go through the 2's though? he seemed to be doing fine before he got injured. Having a few quiet games but looked to be leading up the ground a bit to create space for other forwards. Eh who knows. Maybe Hawins will have a huge one.

[Ricketts]

Boo-urns!

[Sunovagun]

Bloody shannon byrnes....we may as well run out with 21 jumpers! :mad:

Oh well, prove me wrong shannon...prove me wrong...:D

[afl genius]

wouldnt have minded Brynes in for Varcoe any other week(considering form) but any team but the dogs

[re cat]

Maybe we need an extra running midfielder.

[cat_fanatic_21]

I like Byrnes 'never say die' attitude but i really didn't want to see his name in the 'ins' again... ever.

Too reliant on his left, too inaccurate (in front of goal and generally) and he's not very accountable. I also think his speed over a short distance is overrated ala Tenace.

Having said that, i'm sure he will perform better than Varcoe has in the past fortnight. I think Varcoe may have tired over the course of the year and the rest (VFL is a rest IMO) will do him good.

Would have honestly preferred to see Djerrkura come in.


Nathan's inclusion would have come at the cost of Hawkins who has been solid but not brilliant. Either he is still injured or they are throwing Toma another chance at the Dome at the expense of Nath; i'm neutral on the decision if thats the case.

[Shell]

varcoe needed to be dropped IMO, just looked a bit flat the last couple of weeks, hopefully he doesnt stay out for too long though because i think we need his pressure up forward...but surely there is someone better than byrnes to replace him

Agree..(Eliiza's gonna be over the moon but)

Varcoe was recovering from flu? Surely he'd be 100% over that by now..

Oh well.. Monty you better play well!!!

[S "Thinks He's Daicos" J]

If any game was built for Varcoe it was Footscray. I'm bloody annoyed.

[cats2rise]

Byrnes will have 20 touches, kick 2 goals.... Just wait.

Well I hope. I thought DJ may come in for Aker, and I was presuming Nath would have made it back. A late change maybe? Mooney better kick straight.....

[S "Thinks He's Daicos" J]

GEELONG
B: Darren Milburn, Matthew Scarlett, Corey Enright
HB: Andrew Mackie, Matthew Egan, Tom Harley
C: Joel Corey, Jimmy Bartel, David Wojcinski
HF: Paul Chapman, Cameron Mooney, Joel Selwood
F: Steve Johnson, Tom Hawkins, Mathew Stokes
FOLL: Brad Ottens, Cameron Ling, Gary Ablett
I/C: Mark Blake, James Kelly, Josh Hunt, Shannon Byrnes
EMG: David Johnson, Steven King, Travis Varcoe

In: Byrnes
Out: Varcoe (omitted)

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Jordan McMahon, Brian Harris, Dale Morris
HB: Lindsay Gilbee, Tom Williams, Ryan Hargrave
C: Shaun Higgins, Scott West, Jason Akermanis
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Brad Johnson, Mitch Hahn
F: Nathan Eagleton, Luke Darcy, Matthew Robbins
FOLL: Peter Street, Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd
I/C: Andrejs Everitt, Jarrod Harbrow, Robert Murphy, Farren Ray
EMG: Dylan Addison, Wayde Skipper, Cameron Wight

In: West
Out: Addison

Interesting...
Thoughts?
No Grant too - what will Egan do?

[year of the cat]

Haven't had the feeling for a while but I just reckon we might drop this one - any team that Byrnes is in just doesn't inspire me with confidence.

[year of the cat]

No Grant too - what will Egan do?

Edited:

Egan will go to Darcy. Scarlett to Johnson. Harley possibly to Robbins.

Sorry late in the day at work and my brain is in meltdown

[S "Thinks He's Daicos" J]

Egan will go to Grant. Scarlett to Johnson. Harley possibly to Robbins.
Go to him in the stands? Read what I said.

[cat_fanatic_21]

No Grant too - what will Egan do?

Grant would not have played forward IMO. Egan will get Darcy when he's down there and help Scarlett out with Johnson - block his space etc.

[S "Thinks He's Daicos" J]

Grant would not have played forward IMO. Egan will get Darcy when he's down there and help Scarlett out with Johnson - block his space etc.
Hmmm. I'm truly worried about this game. I can see them running us off our feet again if we don't play direct, efficient footy. I'll lose it if we don't.

[year of the cat]

Hmmm. I'm truly worried about this game. I can see them running us off our feet again if we don't play direct, efficient footy. I'll lose it if we don't.

I agree - this game I could easily see us dropping.

[Slick Dog Johnson]

Everyone is forgetting the most important change from the Rd1 game.

That being IN: S Johnson.

DOG 4 PM

[cat_fanatic_21]

Hmmm. I'm truly worried about this game. I can see them running us off our feet again if we don't play direct, efficient footy. I'll lose it if we don't.

We were pretty badly burnt on the rebound against the pies last week. Almost every time we kicked a point last week it ended up in their forward fifty.

The dogs are even better at hurting you on the rebound (Gilbee). If we can stop Gilbs, West and Johnson we will do very well.

[S "Thinks He's Daicos" J]

We were pretty badly burnt on the rebound against the pies last week. Almost every time we kicked a point last week it ended up in their forward fifty.

The dogs are even better at hurting you on the rebound (Gilbee). If we can stop Gilbs, West and Johnson we will do very well.
Yes.

And what do you do when you need more defensive pressure from your forwards? Drop the number one tackler inside 50 in the competition.

[GeeCat]

I thought Travis needed a rest soon, been pretty subpar over the last few weeks.

Byrnes is playing for his career. His role (which evidently the club regards as being essential to the overall game plan) will demand more than the simple spurts of defensive pressure he's accustomed to putting on show. I'm not sure his crumbing ability (which strangely enough was so promising way back in his first rookie list year) is up to scratch, more specifically his positioning and finishing skills, but we'll see.

With the form Aker is in (or approaching), I'm surprised (again) that DJ wasn't recalled. All in all though, he would have been a handy option on a few of the nimble Dogs, and maybe (although unlikely) an option as the forward line defensive pressurer. Oh well.

[eliiiiza]

Byrnes will have 20 touches, kick 2 goals.... Just wait.

Well I hope . I thought DJ may come in for Aker, and I was presuming Nath would have made it back. A late change maybe? Mooney better kick straight.....
You and I both, buddy.... :(

[Duskfire]

Theres been a couple of games where Brynes has been quite good -I thought he was always semi-decent myself, just not a very good kick at the ball. But he never gives up; is a determined little bugger. He might do good and have an absolutely ripper of a game.

[Jim Boy]

Byrnes is a depth player. Shouldn't be in the 22 normally but is an ok replacement.

[c0ze]

When did Byrnes last play? He may have been working on his faults. I wouldn't know due to not seeing any VFL games.

Oh god we need Max back, he would rip this game apart!

[Copernicus]

Yes.

And what do you do when you need more defensive pressure from your forwards? Drop the number one tackler inside 50 in the competition.

This is what worries me, too. Shannon will have to work his arse off to chase and tackle otherwise we may get murdered on the rebound. Just have to hope Gilbee doesn't have his kicking boots on if that's the case!

[CatmanForever]

I was confident that Varcoe would be dropped this week. I think Byrnes is alright as a replacement as he provides some speed. I am also happy Tom hets another game as I thought he has showed improvement over the last 2 games. Our backline looks tall against their forward line which may cause us some problems.

[re cat]

What umpires did we get? I eagerly wait a reply as I am on my knees saying a prayer.

[Partridge]

Everyone is forgetting the most important change from the Rd1 game.

That being IN: S Johnson.

DOG 4 PM

I think the other big differences should be:

- Ottens will play in the ruck.
- Byrnes in as a goalsneak/defensive forward. Neither he nor Varcoe played in round 1. Despite his disposal worries Byrnes does have pace, and he'll get more of the ball than Varcoe has lately.
- Cross not playing. Massive change. If we can control the clearances and stop them feeding it out, we win.

[cat in sydney]

to be honest, I'm preparing myself for a loss tonight. I hope we win, but likewise I won't be devastated if we lose.
We'll be tested without Nathan in the side (who has played very well at the Dome), and without Varcoe we may be found out in the defensive pressure.

If this happens, I think it gives us good insight into where our side sits in terms of who really needs to be in the side come finals, and who should be out.

[Slick Dog Johnson]

I think the other big differences should be:

- Ottens will play in the ruck.
- Byrnes in as a goalsneak/defensive forward. Neither he nor Varcoe played in round 1. Despite his disposal worries Byrnes does have pace, and he'll get more of the ball than Varcoe has lately.
- Cross not playing. Massive change. If we can control the clearances and stop them feeding it out, we win.
Also the addition of Stokes. We were very light on for small forwards against them in Rd 1.

[BIGANT]

Looking forward to this game tonight....swoosh the old addage of where due for a lose, we were due for a loss 4 wins ago !! have'nt played well since our Adelaide win at aami.Since then we have'nt played to our premium but we've been able to 'flick a switch' in red time, (time on periods) settle and break the game open when it's needed.
If we had have played with the total intensity & comitment of the Adl game to the different game style of the magpie game we would've won by more against the pies !!
Not that we did too much wrong last week.
It will simply come down to their small forwards up against our marking forwards, whoever makes the most of there opportunities tonight will get up in a close won i feel.
Thats where the onball battle of both teams will be crucial !! Can't wait:D:cool:

[Bobby Giovanni]

Scarlett- OUT

Might change things a bit.

[cat in sydney]

Scarlett- OUT

Might change things a bit.

:confused::eek: Source??

[Bobby Giovanni]

:confused::eek: Source??

Trust me, I'm a professional.

[haywood jablome]

:eek::eek::eek:

[Tristagi]

just on SEN, scarlett is out tonight

[MmkMrMackie]

Heard from a few different sources that Scarlett is out tonight. Is there any truth to this? Anyone else heard anything?

[divvydan]

Ken Hinkley confirmed on SEN that he has the flu and is out, replaced by David Johnson.

[MmkMrMackie]

Perhaps we're resting players already?

[BIGANT]

Obviously he's a big big loss, can we cover him tonight !? Is it worth tipping against us because of him out !?

[c0ze]

Obviously he's a big big loss, can we cover him tonight !? Is it worth tipping against us because of him out !?

It is never worth tipping against us.

[CatmanForever]

He is a loss because of his quaterback type play. But Hunt & Johno can cover him tonight. Our backline is a too tall against the Dogs so having another small defender in wont be too bad. We can do it without Scarlo this week.

[borgy]

Morris out for us.

[Hood007]

When you think about it, apart from his quality disposal, we can cover him considering the small Bulldogs backline...

[fishman]

What happened to scarlett?

[fishman]

OK, according to afl.com.au its the flu.

[Duskfire]

Well in hindsight, David Johnson has played a pretty good game so far. If he continues it into the second half I can see us losing Hunt and Johnson stepping in. Who knows though.