Preview Changes/Preview – Round 2 vs. Hawthorn

[schmuttt]

While I always like a bit of defiance in the face of a classic BigFooty whipping boy pile on, I'm not sure many of those kind of stats stack up for him from Sunday.

16 Pressure acts - Equal 8th most for us
0 tackles
0 one percenters
1 forward 50 ground ball get

We don't have access to those 'effort' stats I don't think, but wouldn't have thought they would be THAT good that all those other things are ignored. He just had a really poor game. Maybe the role he was given didn't work for him, maybe he had an off day, who knows, but he was poor even by the mediocre standards we should be judging him by.

Fritsch should be under pressure before Sparrow IMO, but can't see either coming out this week. For Sparrow, he has Kynan Brown, Kolt, Woey, Laurie et al all breathing down his neck so he'd want to contribute more this week.

Fritsch kicked 4 in round 1 and has a ton of runs on the board - why would he be under more pressure than Sparrow? I totally agree he looks off, but Sparrow would be one of the last picked atm.

Sparrow is starting to be a bit of a frustrating one but I’m happy to persevere. I rate his sacrificial game and think he’s a competent backup for a contested midfield role.

Tholstrup, Brown, AMW and Woewoeden are the ones pushing up behind him but I wouldn’t pick any of them ahead of him yet.

Tough gig breaking into our ball winning mix ahead of Petracca, Viney and Oliver.

The thing is not sure why we pick him if he won’t play midfield. Would rather give Tholstrup or AMW a look at half forward than have Sparrow there.

 

[Demon 16]

Fritsch kicked 4 in round 1 and has a ton of runs on the board - why would he be under more pressure than Sparrow? I totally agree he looks off, but Sparrow would be one of the last picked atm.



The thing is not sure why we pick him if he won’t play midfield. Would rather give Tholstrup or AMW a look at half forward than have Sparrow there.

Maybe Tholstrup and/or AMW havnt been ready but are going to be ready soon.

 

[Lord Nev]

Fritsch kicked 4 in round 1 and has a ton of runs on the board - why would he be under more pressure than Sparrow? I totally agree he looks off, but Sparrow would be one of the last picked atm.

Fritsch has had the 1 good quarter. He was poor the rest of that game and he was horrendous on Sunday. His lack of effort was really noticeable. No hard running, barely made any leads, and couldn't even finish off the cheap stuff he got. I don't know if his foot is bothering him, but he has gone under the radar somewhat for how bad he was Sunday. As I said, he won't be dropped, but IMO he would want to lift significantly. To clarify - Sparrow would be under pressure as there's other players who could be tried in his role, but IMO Fritsch should be under significant pressure internally after what he has turned in for 7 quarters out 8.

 

[mrmonkey]

Fritsch had an almost game imo, he set up a few goals and had some shots that he normally gets. He needs to be better but he's the sort of guy that it's okay if he is quiet because he's just too such a good player that he could hurt the opposition very quickly. Plus we have no other player that can do what he does.

 

[dazzledavey36]

Sparrow is starting to be a bit of a frustrating one but I’m happy to persevere. I rate his sacrificial game and think he’s a competent backup for a contested midfield role.

Tholstrup, Brown, AMW and Woewoeden are the ones pushing up behind him but I wouldn’t pick any of them ahead of him yet.

Tough gig breaking into our ball winning mix ahead of Petracca, Viney and Oliver.

What exactly is he sacrificing though?

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Dale still had 23 disposal 6 marks, 3 score involvements, 476m gain (useless stat imo) and went at 76% disposal efficiency..

Doesn't exactly looked curbed to me.

Sounds like Dale killed him, shut the mighty Sparrow down and got plenty of it himself. Should have got in the coaches votes!

 

[Demon 16]

What exactly is he sacrificing though?

We’ll look at his CBA’s to start with.

He definitely takes a back seat when Clarry, Track and Viney are all playing.

Similar to ANB in a way who is excellent at defensive running so others can hunt the ball.

Anyway I’m agreeing with those who would like to see better output from him, but I can also see that he’s asked to play a role that won’t get him 25+ touches very often.

 

[Topkent]

We’ll look at his CBA’s to start with.

He definitely takes a back seat when Clarry, Track and Viney are all playing.

Similar to ANB in a way who is excellent at defensive running so others can hunt the ball.

Anyway I’m agreeing with those who would like to see better output from him, but I can also see that he’s asked to play a role that won’t get him 25+ touches very often.

That makes no sense. You can identify what Chandler, AnB and those fringe guys add to the side. Sparrows is just a vibe.

Sparrow kicks less goals, lays less tackles and has less inside 50s than ANB
I love ANB but he's still bottom 10 players picked and he does his role alot better than Sparrow.

Sparrow is just a bloke who looks physically imposing and takes the odd big mark so the small amount he does is memorable, when was the the last time he gut ran someone down in the corridor like ANB does once a game

 

[Bluelegs]

If you wanted to pick a game where you compared what ANB brings to the team vs what Sparrow does last Sunday would be it.

I don't hate Sparrow at all and think he's a fine player when played in his natural role as an inside mid but he desperately needs a fresh start somewhere because a b-grade ball winner is really the least of our needs at the moment.

 

[Topkent]

If you wanted to pick a game where you compared what ANB brings to the team vs what Sparrow does last Sunday would be it.

I don't hate Sparrow at all and think he's a fine player when played in his natural role as an inside mid but he desperately needs a fresh start somewhere because a b-grade ball winner is really the least of our needs at the moment.

Disposals are a crap metric at the best of times but here's some damning stats

Marks inside 50 last year
ANB- 11
Sparrow- 6

Goal assists
ANB -14
Sparrow- 6

Tackles
ANB- 118
Sparrow- 81


Goals
ANB-19
Sparrow -11

Contested marks
ANB -2
Sparrow -2

Disposals
ANB-387
Sparrow - 395

Neal bullen is better as a half forward in every way and the difference in disposals is negligible.

 

[Lord Nev]

Alex Neal-Bullen

30

Alex Neal-bullen

Age

28

Ht

182cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.3

4star

K

8.7

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

4.1

5star

G

0.8

4star

D

10.5

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

4.5

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

1.5

2star

G

1.5

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

5.0

4star

M

1.4

2star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.0

4star

, 6th in last year's BnF, in the leadership group, signed for another 3 years is in the bottom 10 players picked? I understand people's perception of him as a role player, but if you look at the facts of how the coaches (who pick the team) rate him, I would disagree with that.

 

[Scythe94]

Alex Neal-Bullen, 6th in last year's BnF, in the leadership group, signed for another 3 years... is in the bottom 10 players picked?

Lol.

Reply feels like unnecessary bait, mate. Can see the point TK was making – he likes ANB, but you could easily make an argument that Petracca, Oliver, Gawn, May, Lever (in form), Viney, Fritsch, Petty, Pickett, JVR and Rivers are more important based on ability/role.

ANB is an exceptional role player and I love him, but I'd argue a defensive-minded, link-up flanker is a bit easier to replace than the guys above.

 

[Bluelegs]

Wouldn't have thought it was that controversial to say ANB is in the bottom half of our best 22

 

[Lord Nev]

Reply feels like unnecessary bait, mate. Can see the point TK was making – he likes ANB, but you could easily make an argument that Petracca, Oliver, Gawn, May, Lever (in form), Viney, Fritsch, Petty, Pickett, JVR and Rivers are more important based on ability/role.

ANB is an exceptional role player and I love him, but I'd argue a defensive-minded, link-up flanker is a bit easier to replace than the guys above.

Not saying there aren't more talented, or even 'better' players, but being in the leadership group (which is small) and 6th in the most recent BnF says more about how the coaches rate him IMO.

Take your point though re bait. Be nice to see that used consistently. Have edited the post.

 

[schmuttt]

TK and Lord Nev have a lot in common now I think about it

 

[Scythe94]

Take your point though re bait. Be nice to see that used consistently. Have edited the post.

Appreciate the point, and I don't want to get into a public discussion about moderating; however, I do want to make a point that moderating isn't always black and white.

There is a fine line between what is baiting and what isn't, what is a personal attack and what isn't, etc. The BF site rules are applied, but there has to be a level of nuance as to how they're applied.

I just want to reaffirm though that there is no favouritism when it comes to moderating. I've given cards to some of my favourite posters on here, while there's some that I certainly don't see eye-to-eye with who have never received a warning from me.

TL;DR: I try to be as consistent as possible without shutting down reasonable discussion.

As always, happy to chat in PMs if there are concerns about moderating or how the board is run. Just bear in mind that we've only got one full-time mod at the moment, so there will occasionally be things that get missed (or at least, get actioned slowly) if they aren't reported.

Ta.

 

[Scythe94]

The hell kind of gigantic lineup are we going for here?

 

[Scythe94]

Sub will come from the bench, so one of McDonald/Hore/Windsor/Brown/Petty.

None of which really make sense, unless they're planning on subbing Petty off and replacing him with Brown? Feels like that's fraught with danger though.

 

[Vineyy]

Sub will come from the bench, so one of McDonald/Hore/Windsor/Brown/Petty.

None of which really make sense, unless they're planning on subbing Petty off and replacing him with Brown? Feels like that's fraught with danger though.

It has to be Petty sub doesn't it?

 

[Scythe94]

It has to be Petty sub doesn't it?

Stupid if so imo. Either he's fit or he isn't – compromising the whole team if he's made the sub and then we cop an early injury to a small.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Sub will come from the bench, so one of McDonald/Hore/Windsor/Brown/Petty.

None of which really make sense, unless they're planning on subbing Petty off and replacing him with Brown? Feels like that's fraught with danger though.

If Petty is the sub it's beyond stupid, he's either fit enough to play or he isn't, if he's sub clearly he isn't, in which case he should be playing VFL.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Stupid if so imo. Either he's fit or he isn't – compromising the whole team if he's made the sub and then we cop an early injury to a small.

Posted the same thing 5 seconds before me.

 

[Scythe94]

Sub will come from the bench, so one of McDonald/Hore/Windsor/Brown/Petty.

None of which really make sense, unless they're planning on subbing Petty off and replacing him with Brown? Feels like that's fraught with danger though.

Correction, Oliver is on the bench, not Brown. So either Petty, Windsor or Hore will be sub.

 

[Bluelegs]

View attachment 1934727
The hell kind of gigantic lineup are we going for here?

Said it earlier. Petty will be sub imo. Use him like Joel Smith last year.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Feels awfully like a "we said he'd be back for round 2 and dammit we will play him in round 2!"