Preview Rounds 21-23

Northalives

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Danger, danger, danger! This is not a game to take lightly - no game is to be taken lightly but Sydney especially so. They are a fierce club and they remember what we did to them last year at their home ground. It will be cold, windy and wet. Do not underestimate Sydney!
 

JAlexG

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Seriously. Let's just pump up Sydney like they're the greatest side. We can do without the ******* favourite tag. How many times are we going to let it slip at a chance that is purely up to us as a ******* football club.
 

MrChow

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Jun 24, 2015
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Did ladder predictor... had us losing to North... to make finals needed a 40 point win for 8th spot and the loss finishing 13th...

It is both a blessing and curse the teams 7-13 are all playing each other.

It is a curse that Geelong, GWS, Collingwood are very beatable.
 
Apr 6, 2014
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You've answered your own question as to why we are inconsistent. It takes our players about two games to get up to speed, because the Magpies aren't playing at the same sort of level just yet. The thing people forget about the Bulldogs is that they won a VFL flag with their reserves in the same year they won the AFL.

That's why it's important to have a great reserves system in place.

If there's one comparison that's difficult to make is the one about the reserves of a Vic based afl club winning a flag to that of an SA based club. Very different league conditions.
 
Apr 6, 2014
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We should win all three games and make 8th. If neither does happen then Hinkley is truly a dud imposter. These teams we're playing are not good, their best is average, our best is better than theirs. Our coach should have our team up to play its best at this time of the year.

I know that we shoot ourselves. I've seen it, felt it, am done with it, but if Hinkley stuffs this up too ... then why the hell does this club rate him?
 
Mar 1, 2014
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Danger, danger, danger! This is not a game to take lightly - no game is to be taken lightly but Sydney especially so. They are a fierce club and they remember what we did to them last year at their home ground. It will be cold, windy and wet. Do not underestimate Sydney!

Don't tell us mate- tell the Coach and the players.
 

Northalives

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Don't tell us mate- tell the Coach and the players.
Mate; I went into the rooms, got the sawn off out from under me jumper and told 'em what would happen if they didn't put in and play wet weather football. I thought I'd let you and the others around here know first what was required, after all, the title of the thread is "Preview".
 

Matchu

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One down. Two to go.

The upcoming game against North is suddenly the biggest game of the season for us and will likely determine if we're to play in September. It just so happens that North have come off their lowest scoring game of all-time yesterday while we posted a healthy win. Form suggests we're a huge chance but we all know that type of thinking often results in a loss. If the boys continue to play with the desperation they've shown the last two weeks then I'm confident we'll walk away with a W at Marvel next week.

Essendon are certainly doing us a big favour by continuing to choke away their finals position and leave the door ajar. I'm expecting Freo to give them the old heave ho in Perth next week and allow us to jump into 7th. If we do end up finishing 7th, would we rather play GWS in Sydney or Richmond/Collingwood at the MCG in the first round of the finals? I'm probably inclined to say GWS based on recent form.
 

elee

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One down. Two to go.

The upcoming game against North is suddenly the biggest game of the season for us and will likely determine if we're to play in September. It just so happens that North have come off their lowest scoring game of all-time yesterday while we posted a healthy win. Form suggests we're a huge chance but we all know that type of thinking often results in a loss. If the boys continue to play with the desperation they've shown the last two weeks then I'm confident we'll walk away with a W at Marvel next week.

Essendon are certainly doing us a big favour by continuing to choke away their finals position and leave the door ajar. I'm expecting Freo to give them the old heave ho in Perth next week and allow us to jump into 7th. If we do end up finishing 7th, would we rather play GWS in Sydney or Richmond/Collingwood at the MCG in the first round of the finals? I'm probably inclined to say GWS based on recent form.

i thought at one stage Essendon were gonna score only 13 points.. :p
 
In some aspects you're right on paper there are similarities and we are incredibly inconsistent and tend to perform at a higher level against higher ranked sides so if we got to the finals we may be dangerous but I don't believe we have a notable gameplan that will achieve any sort of sustainable success week in and week out like the Dogs had that year.

There depth was also tested and they had players that just slotted in and robotically performed their role to perfection..we have a gameplan that revolves around hoping the opposition are not on as we have no other plan besides a chaotic all out attack. We are too easy to be scored against on turnover.

I think we have the game plan. Our coaches have been idiots at selection. If by some miracle we make the 8 and the weather is nice, our best football is good enough.

I’m not sure we’d want to carry so many inexperienced players into finals Eg Ladhams and Marshall but winning form is good form. Jack used to love August form.

I want to believe in Miracles. It’s simple, footy is a game and fans ultimately want to watch wins not deflating losses. Just ducking win punks
 
I think we have the game plan. Our coaches have been idiots at selection. If by some miracle we make the 8 and the weather is nice, our best football is good enough.

I’m not sure we’d want to carry so many inexperienced players into finals Eg Ladhams and Marshall but winning form is good form. Jack used to love August form.

I want to believe in Miracles. It’s simple, footy is a game and fans ultimately want to watch wins not deflating losses. Just ducking win punks
We make finals, you can guarantee Hinkley will do everything possible to play all of Wines, Lycett, Motlop, Ebert and Burton if they are fully fit. I mention Wines because he has been out for several weeks despite not being named in the side on Friday night. Sutcliffe will probably play. Ken wont be prepared to play a lot of inexperrienced players.

So Marshall, Ladhams, Butters, Bonner and SPP are all a chance to miss September action even if we win the next 2 and they play.
 
We make finals, you can guarantee Hinkley will do everything possible to play all of Wines, Lycett, Motlop, Ebert and Burton if they are fully fit. I mention Wines because he has been out for several weeks despite not being named in the side on Friday night. Sutcliffe will probably play. Ken wont be prepared to play a lot of inexperrienced players.

So Marshall, Ladhams, Butters, Bonner and SPP are all a chance to miss September action even if we win the next 2 and they play.

We famously went the youth path for the 2017 finals series. History might be a good guide there. If form warrants, Ken will back in the young guys.
 
Jul 31, 2017
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We famously went the youth path for the 2017 finals series. History might be a good guide there. If form warrants, Ken will back in the young guys.
If we make finals, I don’t care if he’s picking the young guys or the older guys, as long as he’s picking a well structured side, doesn’t hand out gold passes and actually picks a tall forward line.
 
We famously went the youth path for the 2017 finals series. History might be a good guide there. If form warrants, Ken will back in the young guys.
Nah it wasn't that young a pathway to the future. Basically we picked Marshall and Bonner over the last 5 weeks.

We got smashed against the crows in Rd 20 - 11 scoring shots to 40 and 31 I50 to 81. So we did this for Rd 21

OUT Trengove, Hombsch Monfries, Young SPP. - This was Monfries' only game for year
in... Howard, Houston, Neade, Wingard, Ah Chee

beat Collingwood in Rd 21 and made these moves for Rd 22
OUT Ahchee, Impey, Pittard
in.. SPP, Marshall, Bonner

beat WB in Rd 23 and made the following changes
OUT Jonas suspended 2 games
in... Pittard

EF
OUT Johnson
in ... Impey

So Monfries only played 1 game against crows and was poor, his Trengove and Hombsch's papers were marked.

The last 5 weeks was basically Trengove and Hombsch out by Ken's choice and Jonas by his own stupidity and in came Marshall, Bonner and Howard for the finals.

Houston had played 13 games before coming back in the side and Neade for Young wasn't much of a change and neither Impey for Johnson, in terms of experience lost. In fact Impey for Jonson was a 70 game gain.
 

Northalives

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I think we have the game plan. Our coaches have been idiots at selection. If by some miracle we make the 8 and the weather is nice, our best football is good enough.

I’m not sure we’d want to carry so many inexperienced players into finals Eg Ladhams and Marshall but winning form is good form. Jack used to love August form.

I want to believe in Miracles. It’s simple, footy is a game and fans ultimately want to watch wins not deflating losses. Just ducking win punks
I know exactly where you are coming from. I think Marshall though is more than good enough to taste September action but Bonner is not. The most important aspect to any game and especially now with the rules the way they are, is the center bounce and throw ins where if you get beaten soundly in the ruck, you're just about finished. Although Ladhams has showed a great deal, if people take their rose coloured glasses off and have a close look at his rucking these past two games, then they will see that he was just shaded by the 2nd/3rd string Essendon ruckman and he just won against the non-ruckmen of Sydney.

Ryder toyed with the Essendon ruckman and destroyed Sydney's and if people looked a bit deeper into the last two games, when it came time to really turn the screws and put these games to bed, Hinkley put Ryder into the center square with Robbie Gray and we just went bang! He did it against Essendon and he did it against Sydney. Ryder's last two game as have been like the Ryder of old. His leaping and crashing packs has been exemplary and his marking is getting better and better and his kicking is superior when in form and with confidence and he has found that now. He looks injury free and cherry ripe for what is to come and he and Lycett are a fearsome combination.

Lycett is a Premiership ruckman who is lion hearted and he carried us up until he got so sore and jaded, he needed to be rested/dropped and young Ladhams came in and has excited everybody, yours truly as well but Ladhums is not a Premiership ruckman nor is his ruck craft in the same league as our #1 and #2 ruckmen at the moment. He will get there but this week against Goldstien, if Port do the stupid thing and play him, he'll be eaten alive in the ruck and we will be handing North Melbourne a chance to beat us which is stupid.

This is not early or mid season where we can throw Ladhams onto Goldstein and "see what happens". The whips are cracking now and we must win the next two games and settle the side and if you have 2 ruckmen of Ryders and Lycett's ability, you do NOT, play silly buggers.

Playing in the finals and going hard at a Premiership is the greatest learning tool and experience there is for Tom Clurey, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Karl Amon, Dan Houston, Xavier Duursma, Connor Rozee, Sam Powell-Pepper, Sam Gray, Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Ollie Wines, Zak Butters and a multitude of others who may or may not play in the league side and no amount of time spent in front of television screens in a lecture theatre can teach them what it is to be in the finals and going full tilt at a Premiership.
 

Granny Duurs is Lovely

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I know exactly where you are coming from. I think Marshall though is more than good enough to taste September action but Bonner is not. The most important aspect to any game and especially now with the rules the way they are, is the center bounce and throw ins where if you get beaten soundly in the ruck, you're just about finished. Although Ladhams has showed a great deal, if people take their rose coloured glasses off and have a close look at his rucking these past two games, then they will see that he was just shaded by the 2nd/3rd string Essendon ruckman and he just won against the non-ruckmen of Sydney.

Ryder toyed with the Essendon ruckman and destroyed Sydney's and if people looked a bit deeper into the last two games, when it came time to really turn the screws and put these games to bed, Hinkley put Ryder into the center square with Robbie Gray and we just went bang! He did it against Essendon and he did it against Sydney. Ryder's last two game as have been like the Ryder of old. His leaping and crashing packs has been exemplary and his marking is getting better and better and his kicking is superior when in form and with confidence and he has found that now. He looks injury free and cherry ripe for what is to come and he and Lycett are a fearsome combination.

Lycett is a Premiership ruckman who is lion hearted and he carried us up until he got so sore and jaded, he needed to be rested/dropped and young Ladhams came in and has excited everybody, yours truly as well but Ladhums is not a Premiership ruckman nor is his ruck craft in the same league as our #1 and #2 ruckmen at the moment. He will get there but this week against Goldstien, if Port do the stupid thing and play him, he'll be eaten alive in the ruck and we will be handing North Melbourne a chance to beat us which is stupid.

This is not early or mid season where we can throw Ladhams onto Goldstein and "see what happens". The whips are cracking now and we must win the next two games and settle the side and if you have 2 ruckmen of Ryders and Lycett's ability, you do NOT, play silly buggers.

Playing in the finals and going hard at a Premiership is the greatest learning tool and experience there is for Tom Clurey, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Karl Amon, Dan Houston, Xavier Duursma, Connor Rozee, Sam Powell-Pepper, Sam Gray, Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Ollie Wines, Zak Butters and a multitude of others who may or may not play in the league side and no amount of time spent in front of television screens in a lecture theatre can teach them what it is to be in the finals and going full tilt at a Premiership.

You said it yourself. Dropping Lycett has allowed Ryder to turn back the clock. That's why Ladhams holds his place and why Goldy is not a problem. We already have an experienced ruck in the team who can handle him, and now we have a younger fresher second ruck that is amazing at ground level and is a good ball user.
 

Northalives

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You said it yourself. Dropping Lycett has allowed Ryder to turn back the clock. That's why Ladhams holds his place and why Goldy is not a problem. We already have an experienced ruck in the team who can handle him, and now we have a younger fresher second ruck that is amazing at ground level and is a good ball user.
So if we play Ladhams and he is being destroyed, we put Ryder into the ruck for 85/90% of the game and risk him on that goat track against Goldstien. Why? Why play funny buggers and run the risk of destroying our season and boy, what a hard, heavy, roller coaster season it's been and yet, somehow, we are in with an undeniable chance of getting into the top 8 ( we are there now!) and then launching a full on bid for the flag; why in heaven's name take a stupid punt like that? I want to win and the best way to win is to play our best ruckmen . I'm not interested in seeing how Peter goes against a top class ruckman now. We'll see how he goes next year. This year, I want us to win the flag, at the very least, play finals.
 

Granny Duurs is Lovely

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So if we play Ladhams and he is being destroyed, we put Ryder into the ruck for 85/90% of the game and risk him on that goat track against Goldstien. Why? Why play funny buggers and run the risk of destroying our season and boy, what a hard, heavy, roller coaster season it's been and yet, somehow, we are in with an undeniable chance of getting into the top 8 ( we are there now!) and then launching a full on bid for the flag; why in heaven's name take a stupid punt like that? I want to win and the best way to win is to play our best ruckmen . I'm not interested in seeing how Peter goes against a top class ruckman now. We'll see how he goes next year. This year, I want us to win the flag, at the very least, play finals.

You mean like what we did against Collingwood earlier in the year when Brodie Grundy absolutely embarrassed lycett?

I just see Ryder's form going back down the gutter as soon as lycett comes in and then our season is over.
 
The difference is that Ryder and Ladhams are playing with Dixon. We haven’t seen Ryder and Lycett play with Dixon yet - remember, Ryder and Westhoff were dropped for the Geelong game to bring in Dixon and Wines, and Dixon was dropped to bring in Ryder.

What we are playing now is as close to our R1 setup as possible with the addition of Dixon, with Westhoff taking over the role of Watts in defence and Dixon taking over the role of Westhoff up forward.

As long as Lycett is fit enough to get around the ground, it’s time to play him. Ryder doesn’t look good for any reason other than he wants to play finals...and he’s probably made a decision to stay.

There are players who look good in contract years because they need the pressure to perform, but most people don’t like the uncertainty of not knowing where they will be playing next year.
 

Matchu

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We famously went the youth path for the 2017 finals series. History might be a good guide there. If form warrants, Ken will back in the young guys.
Not sure that's the best approach. I understand the thinking behind letting the younger guys get finals experience but it seems pretty likely that we'll lose if Kenny goes down that path. Lycett is a current Premiership ruckman and that has to count for something when it comes to selection. Also, his form may not warrant selection but a guy like Steven Motlop has performed well in the finals in the past so maybe that comes into consideration as well?

Under the assumption we do make finals, I suppose you have to consider our likely opponents in round 1. If everything goes according to plan then it looks like we'll get the Giants in round 1 of the finals. Which of our ruckmen match up best on Mumford?
 
Mar 1, 2014
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I acknowledge that Peter Ladhams went well against Sydney but we need to give ourselves the best shot at winning the next two games and as I see it that is with Lycett and Ryder carrying the rucks. Lycett's form was outstanding in the SANFL and Paddy's form as the no2 has been pretty sound plus he plays the ruckman/ forward role better than either Ladhams or Lycett. On Saturday Paddy played pretty well inside the 50 and he will still do that regardless as to who has the main ruck duty. On that basis I would be tempted to go with Lycett/Ryder against North.
Ladhams has done more than expected of him but he is still only 21 and has plenty of time to cement a spot.

In any case what we think does not matter it is what Kenny thinks that counts and somehow I cannot see Ken leaving Lycett in the SANFL for the rest of 2019. I reckon Lycett will get a recall at some stage but whether he replaces Ladhams or Ryder is the real question. For mine I would go with a Lycett/Ryder combination but knowing Ken he will probably opt for Lycett/ Ladhams.
 

Cheesey Mac

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Really don't know how to feel at the moment, I really want to make the finals and our best is good enough to beat any team, but the last 5 years of watching us lose critical games we should win has me conditioned to expect us to fall over on the run into the finals.

I want to be really excited by the prospect of finals and going on a month long hot streak, but I've gotten my hopes up time and time again in recent years only to be let down when we drop a game we should win, and this is before we even consider the complicating factor of what making the 8 will do to the coaching equation in the longer term.

It is doing my head in, we should make it to the finals, but after so many years of being let down after showing promise I'm really trying to keep my hopes down.
 
Sep 3, 2002
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Really don't know how to feel at the moment, I really want to make the finals and our best is good enough to beat any team, but the last 5 years of watching us lose critical games we should win has me conditioned to expect us to fall over on the run into the finals.
My fear is we'll make finals, then Ken will drop a tall forward leading to episode 12 of Intercepticons - No it's not more than meets the eye, you should have played talls from the start of the year you campaigner! Giving us the worst of all worlds.
 
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