Preview AFL Round 8 - Collingwood v Geelong, MCG, 7:40PM Saturday 18 May

[AM]

champion data stats would have been an interesting read for Guthrie's game last weekend, reckon he had at least 13 pressure acts himself

Twelve which was about par for the back half.

 

[footscore]

BTW. Are you our only full time poster Bobby?

any chance you can send that champion data mate?
Or at least the link to where you saw it

 

[AM]

any chance you can send that champion data mate?

Quite a bit of it appears in the print edition of the HS but not the online one - not as far as I can find anyway.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Very hard to type with a straight face finger once the other bloke starts raving about giant conspiracies.

 

[footscore]

yes, those conspiracies can be quite tiresome ay Fred

 

[AM]

Very hard to type with a straight face finger once the other bloke starts raving about giant conspiracies.

Have you noticed how fast Speedy Gonzales posts then whips the post off, Freddie. Amazing forum dexterity.

 

[footscore]

found a friend AM

Good on you, hopefully your predictions on footy begin to improve as Fred's quite the footy nut himself

 

[FredLeDeux]

Have you noticed how fast Speedy Gonzales posts then whips the post off, Freddie. Amazing forum dexterity.

Yes, not for the first time, there must be all these one-liners floating around out there, virtual space junk.

 

[AM]

found a friend AM

Good on you, hopefully your predictions on footy begin to improve as Fred's quite the footy nut himself

Only a very select group of us in the BF Aficionado Club, Bobby. You need at least an efficiency rate in the double figures to get in.

 

[footscore]

BF Aficionado Club

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I too am a big Guthrie fan and hope he is picked in the 22, over Josh if necessary, come finals time.

But the reality is Josh was good last year and as such was always going to be given the chance to fight for his spot once fit again. He probably has the next 4-6 weeks to do that, and if he fails I am sure the coaching staff will send him back to the vfl.

So I don't have a problem with him being given that opportunity. I just hope this is the right week fitness wise, he's only had I think 3 vfl games, and there was no vfl game for any of the guys last week, so I hope he isn't underdone, as in a game like this we need everyone able to play maximum minutes.

 

[Jon Douglas]

I love how wet weather only slows down the quick blokes

I know from playing footy - that on grounds that get very wet that the ball does not bouce as much - it may skid but often it pulls up quicker than when it is dry. That makes it harder to run hard and pick the ball up - so it can slow you down. Plus as the ball is heavier it is harder to pick up one handed and is slippier. Everything is not quite as clean.

Try bouncing a very wet ball on a very wet surface ! Speed goes out the game for those that rely on it more.

Perhaps the grounds these days are so good this is no longer an issue but I have seen games at Kardinia (quite a few years back now) where the ground had a sheet of water across it. And believe me it slowed down the game and a heap of ugly packs just seemed to slowly follow the ball around.

 

[Jon Douglas]

Remember Josh HUnt was a better player than Guthrie last season - as you would expect given Guthrie's lack of senior experience.

This year we will see Guthrie replace Josh - or it will definately happen next season. The best player needs to be picked come finals. I would prefer to have another Premiership over a young player getting an extra 10-15 senior games.

However GFC has said they want to give more opportunities to younger players - so if Guthrie gets anywhere near as good as Hunt this season he will be playing finals over JHunt IMO.

 

[CatFan79]

let's just hope he doesn't play Krakouer into form is all.

He's been our best shut-down small defender of the past 8 years, a little respect.

 

[Willo_]

I think you totally misread the gist of my post

 

[fpm84]

Josh had a very good season last year and has earned his recall through some strong VFL performance. The Pies also have more than one dangerous small forward (Krak and Elliott will need to be closely watched). I am thrilled to see him back in the team and think there's room for him and Guthrie in the same team (depending on the opposition - definitely against Hawks and Pies).

What I'm sure of is that Josh will get a run of games, including the 'soft' month we have following this week, and that Scott won't hesitate to demote him to the VFL if he's not performing well. Milburn and Mooney has their chances in 2011 and were eventfully overtaken. Josh deserves at least a month to prove he's not in the same boat.

 

[Partridge]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Thurlow as sub this week - started last week in great form, but he ran out of legs in the 2nd half. Maybe they will look to use him as a real burst player in the 2nd half when some of the heat is out of the game and possible less chance of him blowing up before the end of the game.

Zero chance. Look at who the sub has been in every game this year - a midfielder capable of winning their own footy (Horlin-Smith, Stokes, Caddy, Taylor Hunt and Schroder). 7 games out of 7. There's no chance it's going to be any other kind of player. It seems they've finally learned from poor sub decisions last year.

 

[Partridge]

I'm inclined to agree with Fred that if all those capable of cutting it at AFL level were available the list probably runs deeper than 28.

What will be interesting is whether the coach will be true to his word that if comparative older and younger players are on equal terms form wise he will go for the younger.

Believe it when I see it. He said it all pre-season then played Horlin-Smith as the sub then dropped him. If it was on merit and form that wouldn't have happened.

All coaches and clubs have favourites. It's just how well they can manage the selections given that. So far this year it's been pretty good. And particularly this week injuries affect who the realistic options are too.

 

[AM]

Believe it when I see it. He said it all pre-season then played Horlin-Smith as the sub then dropped him. If it was on merit and form that wouldn't have happened.

All coaches and clubs have favourites. It's just how well they can manage the selections given that. So far this year it's been pretty good. And particularly this week injuries affect who the realistic options are too.

Don't disagree with what you say and it's always possible to draw on particular cases to make a point. As we've often said, Mitch Brown is one who hasn't been given the opportunities some others have. However, as a general principle, I don't think you could say CS has been reluctant to give youth a go.

 

[card20]

IMO CS and MC still rate Josh left foot 50mtr bullet pass as a weapon against the press zone flood or whatevers in vogue this week.

 

[SpryCorpse]

I too am a big Guthrie fan and hope he is picked in the 22, over Josh if necessary, come finals time.

But the reality is Josh was good last year and as such was always going to be given the chance to fight for his spot once fit again. He probably has the next 4-6 weeks to do that, and if he fails I am sure the coaching staff will send him back to the vfl.

So I don't have a problem with him being given that opportunity. I just hope this is the right week fitness wise, he's only had I think 3 vfl games, and there was no vfl game for any of the guys last week, so I hope he isn't underdone, as in a game like this we need everyone able to play maximum minutes.

I think Josh has been rushed back a little because with Kelly and THunt missing both Bartel and Corey (who've been shoring up the backline) will be required more on the ball. Esp against Coll whose midfield is strong.

 

[Hello Kitty]

All hail the power of the AFL!!! We have Razor Ray umpiring tomorrow night! That should mean a five goal advantage to the Pies lol ​

Also McInerney and Mollison - how is their form for us?​

 

[footscore]

a little respect.

yeh nah, been terrific for years and helped us to 3 flags but his lack of foot speed is very concerning.
Collingwood have very quick small forwards and you can't see Buckley leaving Cloke inside their forward 50 all that often, he will bring him right up to the wings and open up that forward line so hopefully Thurlow and Guthrie start so they can add the speed needed in the back half.

 

[Ikan Bodoh]

He's been our best shut-down small defender of the past 8 years, a little respect.

Enright says hi.

 

[hbk_aus]

Enright says hi.

You know him? Is that all he said? Tell him hi back for me. He will know what it means.