tasmanlvr
Club Legend
AFL Preview
Preview by tasmanlvr:
Finally found time in between plenty of commitments to write a preview. Taken straight from my Facebook page.
Easter Sunday brings about the Dees taking on the Gold Coast with the Dees looking for consecutive wins for the first time since 2011. Can the Dees take home the chocolates?
s**t... Easter pun.
MELBOURNE
THE LINEUP
B Georgiou McDonald Dunn
HB Terlich Frawley Grimes
C Viney Tyson Vince
HF Watts Pedersen McKenzie
F Howe Dawes Bail
R Spencer N Jones Cross
IC M Jones Evans Jetta Kennedy-Harris
PREVIEW
Well, well, well. We come into this one on a winning streak. Not often I say that. Our performance against Carlton was fantastic. It's such a shame, however, that all the media is talking about, is how bad Carlton were instead of how good Melbourne were. So, on that account, we MUST back this up, and make the media talk positively of us which would be cherished after the last few years we've had.
Starting from the back, and expect a few changes. Frawley won't be there, he'll be down the other end. Expect Cam Pedersen to be down there, however, and I like him down there. Certainly I'm a fan of what Pedo has down and he's much better suited to playing in defense over playing up forward. Still liked his sealer last week. Freshly-shaven Tom McDonald (go on Instagram - he's bald!) will have Sam Day, the former #3 draft pick who hasn't exactly set the world on fire since his debut. Dean Terlich however, in my opinion, has the most dangerous forward in Aaron Hall. It'll be a big job for Terlich but I'm confident he can do the job. Lynden Dunn will have the returning Brandon Matera, who can certainly be dangerous. Having seen Dunn I believe he is in our top three for the B&F at the moment, such is his impact on the club so far this season. Very underrated by fans.
The midfield battle is huge for the Dees. This will be one of our biggest tests since we rejigged our midfield over the off season. Any side which has Ablett, O'Meara, Prestia and Swallow are destined for big things, and it's up to our much improved midfield of Jones, Cross, Tyson, Watts, Vince and Viney to stop them. It'll go a long way towards a second consecutive win. Last time out, we actually managed to stop Ablett, even though we ended up losing the game. I just wonder if we'll put McKenzie on to him again or do we stick with Jones who did the job so exceptionally well on Murphy last week? It'll be interesting to see what Roos does with him (gilt-edged sword what I want done to him... put the C on him for SuperCoach this week). Spencer and Nicholls ruck battle will be huge. I've liked what Spencer's done so far this year, and Nicholls does not have plenty of support. I'll be backing Spencil in to win this battle hopefully, despite all the talent Nicholls has.
Now to the forward line... and wow. Doesn't it make a difference when you have someone to kick it to? I never understood why we were critical of the Dees early on with hardly a target to kick it to. All of a sudden Dawes and Frawley are forwards, we have someone to kick to and now we see how the game plan holds up. Again I want to see how we do backing up because Carlton are absolutely putrid at the moment (evidentally for those who come in and reckon I'm making a controversial statement... we beat them). If Dawes and Frawley clunk a few who knows what we can achieve?
As for the sub? I expect JKH to be the sub again, and I also expect Jetta in his first game back to get a fair run.
GOLD COAST
THE LINEUP
B Warnock May Broughton
HB Lemmens Thompson McKenzie
C Shaw Ablett Harbrow
HF Hall Lynch Stanley
F Russell Day Matera
R Nicholls O'Meara Swallow
IC Hutchins Kolodjashnij Rischitelli Prestia
PREVIEW
Gold Coast are hard to measure, but that comes with a young team. So good against Richmond and Brisbane yet disappointing against Fremantle and Hawthorn. Bear in mind though: Gold Coast are an extremely talented side.
It starts with Ablett, O'Meara, Swallow and Prestia in the middle. All four will form the nucleus of the midfield for the short term, one Ablett gets older and moves to the forward line as you'd expect add Jack Martin and Harley Bennell to that list and it's scary. The midfield battle is critical tomorrow - Gold Coast do have their midfielders contributing to the scoresheet like all good midfields do, and we need to do something similar if we are to get up. So blokes like Jones, Tyson, Vince MUST hit the scoreboard.
I still see their forward line as a bit of a work in progress. I haven't been hugely impressed by Sam Day thus far but he did kick four against the Lions which was encouraging. Tom Lynch has shown a bit as that lead up key forward but I feel like the one bloke Gold Coast need at the moment is Charlie Dixon. Not only does he provide that hulking key forward target but he provides relief for Tom Nicholls in the ruck. Surely Gold Coast are counting down the days for his, and Zac Smith's - return in that regard.
Down back and surely the man who goes to Dawes is Steven May. I've been very impressed by what I've seen from May this year - he is far more than 'the bloke who got whacked by Campbell Brown'. Very capable in defense. As for Frawley I'm expecting Rory Thompson to go to him, Thompson as a key defender I rate very highly. As for run being generated out of defense - anyone see Sean Lemmens goal against the Lions? He may be a half back flanker but as an attacking defender I've also liked his work so far. Trent McKenzie has a boot similar to Shannon Hurn, and can break open lines. It's also critical we stop him.
The bench is chockers full of talent. Kade Kolodjashnij is a talent and again provides a bit of run off half back, Dion Prestia is listed to start on the bench but will play an integral role in the midfield, Rischitelli and Hutchins also go well. I do expect Hutchins to be the sub for this one.
THE FINAL SAY
It's anyone's game. Gold Coast may have beaten us by 10 goals at the G last year but we've also improved in that time. I really do think we're a chance - sure, people might disagree with me but with our tails up I just reckon there's something in it with the Dees going at over $3.00 on the TAB. Not ruling out putting a fiver on us. Watch this space.
