Keys
Looking for a cloud to yell at
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- #1
Following last week’s scratch match against Fremantle, we now have our first (and final) official hitout prior to R1 in a fortnight’s time. This time it’s against Adelaide at Richmond Oval, which is in SA somewhere and not Victoria
Prospects for this match look bleak especially after news filtered through that Oscar Allen would be rested/managed for this game. He joins Flynn, Brockman, Sheed, Hewett, Ginbey and Ryan as notable omissions
On the plus side Jack Darling and Jeremy McGovern come into the team after being unavailable for the Freo game
We’ve named a 26 man squad, although it’s effectively 25 as Jamaine Jones stayed in Perth to play for the Beagles
Youngsters Harry Barnett and Tyrell Dewar have been included so hopefully we’ll get to see them play some minutes in the senior side. Dewar has had a solid preseason and looks to have improved significantly from his first year at the club
Adelaide have named a strong side, notably in attack spearheaded by Walker, Fogarty and Thilthorpe with Rankine, Rachele and Keays at their feet to provide plenty of headaches for our defenders
Their backline is their weakest line and we’d hope to exploit that if we ignore the following:
1) Our forwardline is missing Allen, Ryan and Brockman who collectively are half of our expected starting front six and
2) On past performance, the ball isn’t likely to be in our forwardline anyway
A win is unlikely so I’m simply looking for a competitive showing that’s an improvement from last week. Our tackling pressure was fine against Fremantle but our ball movement lacked dare, skills let us down and we couldn’t defend Fremantle’s run and spread. These need to improve
This is a squad of 25 (26 if you count Jones) and there’s likely to be three players (Allen, Brockman and Ginbey) available for R1 so spots are up for grabs. Hopefully that creates some desperation as 6 players will inevitably miss out
Looking for green shoots - West Coast by 5 dandelions
