Hey all,
I'm not too phased about the loss to Sydney be honest (I didn't get to watch it though), it ended up being a weird weekend for footy with lots of blowouts too. We also always start the season much more "leaky" defensively than later in the year when we are much harder to score against. In other words, we'll be fine, though these early season injuries we've been getting since 2019 are ******* annoying.
But my questions are:
- Have we gone away too much from what made us a really good and exciting side? (eg. the forward and midfield being full-on pressure)
- Are we too structurally different now to when we were electric?
- Are we playing too many defenders?
- Is Dimma messing with positioning too much or is it currently just forced given we haven't had Vlastuin and Houli?
Again, not overreacting from the loss, but even though we won the last two flags we're certainly not as "awesome/exciting" to watch as we were in 2017 and most of 2018. Surely Dimma is not up to his old tricks again by going back to pre-2017 and trying to make us too skill-perfect? I would hate for us to try and become a possession side.
I think we are wrong not playing the three pressure smalls (Rioli out of form but will find it), Aarts is too slow and doesn't make up for it by at least being a good marking target.
I think we are wrong favouring 8 defenders when we should have 6 or at most 7 and play another midfielder.
I think we are erring by Dusty not spending more time through the midfield, and I think that on the flipside we err in having Caddy play wing when he should be in the forward 50 most of the time.
If you look at the grand final side in 2017, we had dropped Short (much improved since) and played 6 defenders, Rance, Astbury, Grimes, Broad, Vlastuin, Houli. Since then we have the same 6 (Balta replacing Rance) but added Short and Baker. Again, it has worked for us yes, but I think it has robbed us of a deeper midfield.
What do people think of this as a best 22, with the view to going back to our 2017-esque style?
Grimes, Astbury, Broad
Houli, Balta, Vlastuin
McIntosh, Cotchin, Lambert
Caddy, Riewoldt, Bolton
Rioli, Lynch, Castagna
Nankervis, Martin, Prestia
Edwards, Graham, Ross, Short
- It obviously pains me to leave Baker out as I love him generally, but I just don't think we can keep playing 8 defenders. Baker will just come straight back in for Houli when he gets injured or retires. Baker could even run a wing in favour of Kmac, but I do love the attributes Kmac brings.
- Caddy back into the forward line as that third mobile medium/tall who can take a strong mark too. This means Dusty will spend more time in the midfield and when he pushes forward, Caddy or Bolton give him the midfield chop out.
- Three speedy smalls with Rioli, Castagna and Bolton, with the upside being that now we know Bolton is also a genuine midfielder and can push through there whenever.
I just look at that side on paper and am honestly glad to not see Aarts and Pickett, as well as Egg-Smith. I personally think it would be our best side and best structure, with the only question mark for me being do we go back to playing two rucks? If so, at whose expense? Again it pains me, but Short's? He is obviously the reigning best and fairest but if I had to choose between he and a fit Houli, I'd still choose Houli. I'd prefer not to rob the forward line or midfield of players, so it would need to be a defender.
Would be interested to hear people's thoughts, cheers
I'm not too phased about the loss to Sydney be honest (I didn't get to watch it though), it ended up being a weird weekend for footy with lots of blowouts too. We also always start the season much more "leaky" defensively than later in the year when we are much harder to score against. In other words, we'll be fine, though these early season injuries we've been getting since 2019 are ******* annoying.
But my questions are:
- Have we gone away too much from what made us a really good and exciting side? (eg. the forward and midfield being full-on pressure)
- Are we too structurally different now to when we were electric?
- Are we playing too many defenders?
- Is Dimma messing with positioning too much or is it currently just forced given we haven't had Vlastuin and Houli?
Again, not overreacting from the loss, but even though we won the last two flags we're certainly not as "awesome/exciting" to watch as we were in 2017 and most of 2018. Surely Dimma is not up to his old tricks again by going back to pre-2017 and trying to make us too skill-perfect? I would hate for us to try and become a possession side.
I think we are wrong not playing the three pressure smalls (Rioli out of form but will find it), Aarts is too slow and doesn't make up for it by at least being a good marking target.
I think we are wrong favouring 8 defenders when we should have 6 or at most 7 and play another midfielder.
I think we are erring by Dusty not spending more time through the midfield, and I think that on the flipside we err in having Caddy play wing when he should be in the forward 50 most of the time.
If you look at the grand final side in 2017, we had dropped Short (much improved since) and played 6 defenders, Rance, Astbury, Grimes, Broad, Vlastuin, Houli. Since then we have the same 6 (Balta replacing Rance) but added Short and Baker. Again, it has worked for us yes, but I think it has robbed us of a deeper midfield.
What do people think of this as a best 22, with the view to going back to our 2017-esque style?
Grimes, Astbury, Broad
Houli, Balta, Vlastuin
McIntosh, Cotchin, Lambert
Caddy, Riewoldt, Bolton
Rioli, Lynch, Castagna
Nankervis, Martin, Prestia
Edwards, Graham, Ross, Short
- It obviously pains me to leave Baker out as I love him generally, but I just don't think we can keep playing 8 defenders. Baker will just come straight back in for Houli when he gets injured or retires. Baker could even run a wing in favour of Kmac, but I do love the attributes Kmac brings.
- Caddy back into the forward line as that third mobile medium/tall who can take a strong mark too. This means Dusty will spend more time in the midfield and when he pushes forward, Caddy or Bolton give him the midfield chop out.
- Three speedy smalls with Rioli, Castagna and Bolton, with the upside being that now we know Bolton is also a genuine midfielder and can push through there whenever.
I just look at that side on paper and am honestly glad to not see Aarts and Pickett, as well as Egg-Smith. I personally think it would be our best side and best structure, with the only question mark for me being do we go back to playing two rucks? If so, at whose expense? Again it pains me, but Short's? He is obviously the reigning best and fairest but if I had to choose between he and a fit Houli, I'd still choose Houli. I'd prefer not to rob the forward line or midfield of players, so it would need to be a defender.
Would be interested to hear people's thoughts, cheers