Prediction Changes v Bombers

[Doughboy]

For those that are interested go to 43.50 for Brown talking about Darling

He's spot on in his assessment

Absolutely spot on

Was really disappointed with Jack when I saw him do that.

He would have been better if he rode the bump, got up and contested the ball. Instead he stayed on the ground like a wet fish.

Clean it up Jack

 

[WestCoastin2Cup]

Can't even start to describe how massive this game is when considering the season as a whole. If we can chalk up a win here, it should bode well for a top 4 finish considering the other games on this weekend; Doggies v Cats, Tigers v Giants and even Lions v Crows at the Gabba is a smokey given the last 2 weeks.

Wouldn't force any changes unless necessary but it'll be nice to have some returning depth. Would be nice to rack up a third win away from home, and it won't be easy as the bombers can play some good football when they turn up. Sucks the game is on a Sunday, no doubt there will be talk about how we can further emphasis our claim for a top 2 spot after the previous matches of the weekend, and I'm nervous that we could buckle slightly with external pressure, which is one of my question marks on this team and leaving the door ajar for Essendon. Would love to see that pressure cook up a diamond 'W' with us shutting down Tipungwuti and keeping Daniher goalless.

 

[Brave Sir Robin]

Would love to see that pressure cook up a diamond 'W' with us shutting down Tipungwuti and keeping Daniher goalless.

If we let him take all his shots from 20m out right in front that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bacchus]

Jack took a heavy knock and got up - I fail to see the point brown is peddling. Unlike his GF against the pies.

It's becoming a media beat-up/bandwagon. I was going to say they don't have enough to talk about but that's not true. There's plenty to talk about, they are selective. Latch onto a victim and then flog him/it to death, Darling is on their kill list.

Probably, every other team would gladly relieve us of Darling if we don't want him. 40+ goals as 2nd or 3rd KPF is good output. What about his brilliant snap goal in the first qtr, nobody talking about that.

 

[liam123]

It's becoming a media beat-up/bandwagon. I was going to say they don't have enough to talk about but that's not true. There's plenty to talk about, they are selective. Latch onto a victim and then flog him/it to death, Darling is on their kill list.

Probably, every other team would gladly relieve us of Darling if we don't want him. 40+ goals as 2nd or 3rd KPF is good output. What about his brilliant snap goal in the first qtr, nobody talking about that.

I agree to some extent however if he wants to shut them up he should toughen up and play for less frees

 

[Bacchus]

I agree to some extent however if he wants to shut them up he should toughen up and play for less frees

Fair enough, but I do think his short comings are being harped upon to an excessive degree. I would not want to see him leave the club.
Fraser Gehrig was a very good player with WCE although somewhat inconsistent, and possibly seen as not playing to his full potential. He was continually criticised and eventually left the club for St Kilda where he became an even better player, he may even have been a Coleman Medalist more than once. Brad Ebert is another example. I am aware that there are other factors as well.
Darling is still not that old. I am not sure what his ceiling is, perhaps "good player " rather than "elite". I don't think many other clubs have a second forward as good as him, and I am sure he would be quickly snapped up by opposition clubs. I guess he just has to get used to being punched in the head.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

It's becoming a media beat-up/bandwagon. I was going to say they don't have enough to talk about but that's not true. There's plenty to talk about, they are selective. Latch onto a victim and then flog him/it to death, Darling is on their kill list.

Probably, every other team would gladly relieve us of Darling if we don't want him. 40+ goals as 2nd or 3rd KPF is good output. What about his brilliant snap goal in the first qtr, nobody talking about that.

He's a good player, at his best he's one of the most damaging second talks going around. He's also a known stager and throws his head back after the majority of contact. They're not mutually exclusive.

I'm all for piling on the shocking Vic media, but their talking about it on Monday didn't have any influence on plenty of folks on the Eagles board criticising him for it on Friday, or throughout this season, or in the past.

I don't think any (or many) are saying they want him to leave the club, but he came into the league as a 'see ball, get ball' beast who was like a bull in a china shop, and now he's throwing his head back and always hitting the deck after contact looking for the whistle. As many have said, same as Thomas, hurts him when he actually does get infringed because everyone has seen it all before now.

 

[avishka5]

The more the media rip into those sort of efforts the more likely he will try to cut it out. When I first saw it I thought that it was a solid bump and jack wasn't diving but as someone pointed out to me, this was a massive stage. Hopefully guys like Sammy Mitchell start roasting him

 

[nameless]

The more the media rip into those sort of efforts the more likely he will try to cut it out. When I first saw it I thought that it was a solid bump and jack wasn't diving but as someone pointed out to me, this was a massive stage. Hopefully guys like Sammy Mitchell start roasting him

Honestly if he hasn't noticed all the talk and made a change yet I don't think he ever will, it's been a few years of constant talk about his staging.

I'll always defend him in terms of his ability, but his bobblehead is embarrassing and does nothing to help his own game.

 

[Xsess]

Father in law the dean once had Jacks dad front him complaining that Jack was getting bullied. At the time Jack was a foot and a half taller and wider than anyone else in the school.

 

[avishka5]

Father in law the dean once had Jacks dad front him complaining that Jack was getting bullied. At the time Jack was a foot and a half taller and wider than anyone else in the school.

Heaps of big kids get bullied.

Honestly if he hasn't noticed all the talk and made a change yet I don't think he ever will, it's been a few years of constant talk about his staging.

I'll always defend him in terms of his ability, but his bobblehead is embarrassing and does nothing to help his own game.

Fair enough

 

[Karim Abdul Yeo]

It's becoming a media beat-up/bandwagon. I was going to say they don't have enough to talk about but that's not true. There's plenty to talk about, they are selective. Latch onto a victim and then flog him/it to death, Darling is on their kill list.

Probably, every other team would gladly relieve us of Darling if we don't want him. 40+ goals as 2nd or 3rd KPF is good output. What about his brilliant snap goal in the first qtr, nobody talking about that.

I think you need to leave emotions out of it and think football terms rather than Eagles fan perspective.Goals aside, Darling needs to just go harder at the footy and forget about umpires. Once he does that, he will gain more respect and the free kicks will come his way. To me, he just looks like a player always looking for that decision.He might be right but once you get into the habit of telling umpires how to do their job, they will make sure all the 50-50 calls go against you. Someone just needs to tell him just play as if every decision is going to go against you and see what happens. With darling its a mental coaching, Once he is over that hurdle this dude can be a nightmare for oppositio if he goes through with his aggression and doesn't stop every time looking for free kicks.I must admit in this area of the game Cripps and Hill shit all over Darling.

 

[Mancey]

Brad Ebert is another example. I am aware that there are other factors as well.

No doubt he's a better player now with more games under his belt, but that said I see ebert doing the same shit now that he was notorious for doing at WC.

Plus as you said there were other factors, he just wanted to go home.

Just wish we got a bit more for him (effectively McInnes and Josh Hill)

 

[flyinghi64]

I hope Jack watched Couch last night and has a bit of a look at himself. Browny may talk a bit of crap now and then but generally he has a good footy brain, is a respected ex player and was pretty much on the money with Jack.

I also hope Frenchy watched bounce and saw what an embarrassment a 50m dribble kick at goal looks like.
Just because you got one from 15m out the other week doesn't give you an excuse to showboat from 50.
Kick a drop punt and you will have a better chance of it going through. GOD I SWORE when he did that.

Don't see many changes unless Nelson or Crippa are good enough in which case I see Murtimer going out. He had a taste so now knows what to expect.
I think Petrie and Lycett both need a run at EP first.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

I don't want to advocate a 'JD to the midfield scenario', but a couple of events on the weekend showed me JD is very quick over the ground. There's two scenarios week-in week-out that we could use that to advantage:

1. Joe the Goose. He did it a bit against Richmond, where Rance was too concerned with not defending anyone and Grimes was too slow to go. Understanding that often the turnover after a turnover can be the killer, why not recognise that JD is the guy to go (a la Betts at Adelaide) and build around that.
2. Long lead for the outlet pass. Start high, spring long to the open space, catch pass from Hurn / Sheppard / McGovern in space. Wheel around, hit whoever is overlapping with the kick / handball. Repeat. Watch Jack Gunston circa 2013 - 2015 for pointers on how it is done.

I think the staging comes from an expectation that he's got to take the contested grabs, or win the ball in the forward line and smash a goal. If you remove that expectation from him and give it to someone who thrives on it (hungry hungry Frenchman), you might solve 2 problems at once. Hell, use Lecras and McInnes as the Kennedy decoys, and get Jack in the 'spitter' role.

If you want Darling in the midfield, then I suggest he goes back to East Perth to perfect his craft. He is soft to often on the contested ball and will be a liability in midfield.

 

[Obeanie1]

I have a theory that our poor performances at the MCG are related to the width of the ground and the fact we have some very slow midfielders, I think we struggle to get numbers to contests because of this which effects our ball winning ability.
Doesn't explain the dropped marks and turnovers etc but I honestly reckon we do this in plenty of games, not just at the MCG.

1. Lack of leg speed.
2. Corralling defensive mindset.
3. Zone defense with key defenders standing 15m clear of the likes of Rioli. FFS
4. Add a nice big fat round ground with lots of space

Against struggling sides it works, against top sides like the Dogs and Hawks we get smashed. Our defensive strategy plays directly into encouraging those top teams to use their best assets against us. Leg speed and precise short kicks to open us up and leg speed once they have got behind our slow defense.

So Simpson what you going to do about that?

 

[Mico89]

Butler for Nelson and Hill for Rioli?

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

If Nelson and Cripps are absolutely ready, then they should come in for Butler and Redden, otherwise probably no changes.

 

[squashface]

It's an interesting one with Petrie. You would probably rather him in the side over McInnes but you also couldn't really drop Fraser after the game against the Doggies.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Would much prefer Fmac in the side, doesn't deserve to dropped after such a good effort, let Petrie earn a spot in the WAFL like Fmac has.

 

[Keys]

McInnes had a very solid game and used the ball well. Deserves another game and stays there until either his form falls away or Petrie (or Giles) makes an irresistible case for a game by playing well himself

 

[Winky]

Jack took a heavy knock and got up - I fail to see the point brown is peddling. Unlike his GF against the pies.

He did take a heavy knock front on while the other bigger guy was set with his shoulder. Where Darling went wrong was throwing himself backward and throwing his head back acting for a free. That's why he is copping flack

 

[Obeanie1]

Butler for Nelson and Hill for Rioli?

Rioli?

Really?

He needs to get some fitness playing WAFL before he'd be even considered.

I'd say the same for Cripps. I hate bringing players straight back in after injury, look at Conligio last week.

 

[Suma Magic]

I wouldn't have any problems bringing one or both of Nelson/Cripps back. Unsure who would come out (apart from Butler for Nelson).

McInnes deserves another week. And fingers crossed that Petrie puts on max pressure at EP.

 

[EagleEgo]

1. Lack of leg speed.
2. Corralling defensive mindset.
3. Zone defense with key defenders standing 15m clear of the likes of Rioli. FFS
4. Add a nice big fat round ground with lots of space

Against struggling sides it works, against top sides like the Dogs and Hawks we get smashed. Our defensive strategy plays directly into encouraging those top teams to use their best assets against us. Leg speed and precise short kicks to open us up and leg speed once they have got behind our slow defense.

So Simpson what you going to do about that?

So far there are quite a number our expert forum contributors mentioning about the WCE Web/Zone defence. It will be nice if someone starts a new thread about AFL Zone strategies including:
1. What is a zone.
2. How many types (eg. Hawthron rotating zone); who is adopting the type?
3. The pros and cons of these different type.
4. Why the zone defence adopted by Fremantle is relatively independent of ground size?
5. Etc etc.