Preview R5: Changes vs. Geelong Cats (Gather Round kick-off)(Out: Murphy)

[AFC979810]

That year Crouch had played 11 games, it was round 17 and the season was shot. He did bring him back to replace McAdam who missed with injury, he even spent some time on the wing. It was also about the same time we were trying to find Crouch a new home and there were no takers.

I can’t recall who he was replaced by for the remainder of the season.

You asked for an example. I provided the exact example - now you are moving the goalpost.

In this situation, it’s round 5. Murphy a favourite of Nicks after being rushed back in at the first chance, has been dropped after one game after playing a typical Murphy game, a game that we’ve seen many many times and would be nowhere near see him dropped after one game.

We’ve replaced him not with an experienced player but an inexperienced player, who should have actually been played last week.

Now ask yourself what’s changed at the club? Nicks went to Harvard where he’s learnt to identify mistakes and fix them straight away? Or could the coaching director have some influence? If the coaching director doesn’t have influence why bring him in?

Oh he has influence. They brought him in to help with strategy and assist Nicks. There is no doubting that.

The debate is on his influence.

As for Murphy’s initial call, do you think Davis, without having been at Adelaide would have said “no way, I’ve seen him play before you can’t pick him” or is it likely to be “ok Mafhew, if you think based on your knowledge or Murphy’s game, let’s go with your suggestion”

Now after seeing him play, do you not think Davis might have said “I think we’ve got better options”

Is any of that far fetched? If you think it is, I’ll refer you back to my original question and throw in another one, why has Nicks decided to replace Murphy with a junior after a typical Murphy game when he never has previously?

That is one of the dumbest things you have posted - blinded by your narrative.

You think that the head of on field performance and the head of the coaching group hasn't watched all of our games from the past 5 years over the past 7 months? You dont think he has spent hours in the film room analyzing our structures and player performances? You think he ignored the scouting report when we Murphy played his Brisbane Lions 6 times in his career and 4 times in 2023/2024. You think that Murray Davis hasn't been at practice all offseason (or just didnt watch Murphy).

So in your crazy scenario in Round 5 Nicks has a conversation with the head of coaching and says - despite me dropping Murphy for the first 3 rounds I am gonna play Murphy. Murray then said - okay Mathew I have no idea what Murphy is like as a player but bring him in! Then after watching one game Murray Davis made the decision and says - I have seen enough!!!!!!!

That scenario is not just far fetched - it's stupid.

Nicks is the head coach. He makes the final decision on selection. You can't blame him for selection gaffes and then when we get it right say it's all Murray Davis.

 

[Samcro24]

Calling him a spud is only questioning his football skills or lack thereof.

I can't recall too many (any) personal insults - aren't they all commenting on his football ability?

Also

 

[Iridescence]

What does that mean? Even though I intruded onto your board I made respectful
and accurate corrections to the posters comment. I thought it may help your own
discussions if you have accurate information, so in this case I’m disappointed at
the response from you as I always considered Crows supporters as far more civil
than those who support Port.

I think the "but nice try" at the end of your post was unnecessary and came across as quite condescending.

 

[1970crow]

IS THERE ANY CHANCE THAT WE CAN STOP TOM STEWART FROM GETTING ANOTHER 10 INTERCEPT MARKS?

Is there any chance we can stop bombing long to him? And maybe tag him or at least run with him?

If he plays loose in defense we lose (again)

I think we have been exiting our stoppage with much more quality and purpose than the days of Mrouch, Keays, Laird & Sloane just hacking it forward at first opportunity. If we revert to indiscriminate exits under pressure again, then he'll have a field day. But if we exit like we have been so far this year by seeking actual targets, then we should be able to avoid him.

 

[jenny61_99]

The thing with Murph though is he's a bloody nice bloke... and he gives 100% every time he goes on to the field. Nobody should ever question that. The thing that matters though, is whether his 100% is AFL standard, and I think we all know the answer to that. Please let last week be the last time we see him in the senior team.

 

[Crom1995]

Did anyone see Rankine training at the open session last night? Cant see him in any of the photos etc. I suspect he'll be a late out.

 

[Cromulant]

Did anyone see Rankine training at the open session last night? Cant see him in any of the photos etc. I suspect he'll be a late out.

No, trained indoors apparently.

But yes most would suspect he wont play.

 

[1970crow]

I think Balmey would be putting in his 2 cents worth, but Davis would be the one going harder

We know he's a moron, but if there is any semblance of competency in there somewhere, you'd think Adam Kelly would be constantly hounding Balme about his thoughts on players, decisions, general trends etc.

 

[CrowBloke]

That being said - Geelong are missing two of their best KPD in Koladashni / Henry. That leaves De Koning to wrestle with TT

TT would annihilate de Koning.

and Sullivan to match up on FOG

... would be a good battle to watch.

and that leaves them without an option on Tex if they want Stewart to play free.

Yep, which is why our forward line is a 3-headed monster.
We just need more from our small forwards this week.

They wont really have the luxury of putting a ruckman up forward to stretch us.

Their forward 50, or ours?

It's going to be a really interesting tactical battle on the night.

, I hope not.
If the game is going to be won by Coaching tactics, we will get done.
Scott >> daylight >> Nicks.

I can see the merit of going smaller in the back 6, but can also understand why posters want Butts in.

Butts non-selection is a mystery to me.
Either he's injured, or still not ready, or out of favour, anybody know?

 

[Iridescence]

Calling him a spud is only questioning his football skills or lack thereof.

I can't recall too many (any) personal insults - aren't they all commenting on his football ability?

I've seen some pretty awful comments on social media about him (and other footballers). Not so much on here, though. But still, the way some players are spoken about by their own supporter group would have you wondering if the guy had deliberately run over their dog.

 

[AFC979810]

Well he hasn’t seen him live before?
So probably believe nicks when he said he was a gun then had seen enough by 1/2 time and made the decision to boot him.

C'mon. You dont think he has scouted Murphy. Nor watched film. Nor talked to players at the club. Nor talked to players /coaches at Brisbane whilst scouting the Crows. Nor watched him at practice. .

If I know Murphy is shit and have only seen him play live once - I would think that Murray Davis would be able to see it too. Unless you believe that as the head of on field performance he hasn't watched our film from the last two years.

Not a lot has changed with regards to Murphy. He wasn't in the best 22 in 2022 to start the year. He wasn't in the best 22 to start 2023. He had a shit start to 2024 and had to play his way back into the team after getting injured in round 3.

The biggest thing that has changed is that we are much better as a side this year which has forced Murphy out. It was evident all offseason he was on the outer. He lost his spot to ANB. Managed to squeak in and played like shit the same week Taylor kicks 2.1 and has 18 in the SANFL.

 

[jenny61_99]

We know he's a moron, but if there is any semblance of competency in there somewhere, you'd think Adam Kelly would be constantly hounding Balme about his thoughts on players, decisions, general trends etc.

Kelly is NOT a moron. Jesus. You people.

 

[rocket18]

I've seen some pretty awful comments on social media about him (and other footballers). Not so much on here, though. But still, the way some players are spoken about by their own supporter group would have you wondering if the guy had deliberately run over their dog.

I'm an old fart so I don't do social media, it doesn't sound like a nice place for anyone - so many toxic people around these days.

 

[Velvet George]

You asked for an example. I provided the exact example - now you are moving the goalpost.



Oh he has influence. They brought him in to help with strategy and assist Nicks. There is no doubting that.

The debate is on his influence.



That is one of the dumbest things you have posted - blinded by your narrative.

You think that the head of on field performance and the head of the coaching group hasn't watched all of our games from the past 5 years over the past 7 months? You dont think he has spent hours in the film room analyzing our structures and player performances? You think he ignored the scouting report when we Murphy played his Brisbane Lions 6 times in his career and 4 times in 2023/2024. You think that Murray Davis hasn't been at practice all offseason (or just didnt watch Murphy).

So in your crazy scenario in Round 5 Nicks has a conversation with the head of coaching and says - despite me dropping Murphy for the first 3 rounds I am gonna play Murphy. Murray then said - okay Mathew I have no idea what Murphy is like as a player but bring him in! Then after watching one game Murray Davis made the decision and says - I have seen enough!!!!!!!

That scenario is not just far fetched - it's stupid.

Nicks is the head coach. He makes the final decision on selection. You can't blame him for selection gaffes and then when we get it right say it's all Murray Davis.

If you can’t see the difference in the example you’ve provided that’s on you not me.

Are you seriously suggesting Davis has gone back and watched all our games from the last 5 years? Really and you call my post dumb. He’s not friggin spending close to 300 hours on watching replays dating as far back as 5 years ago.

Do you think Brisbane spent time on a player as insignificant as Murphy? Really?

Murphy wasn’t dropped for the first 3 games, he wasn’t in our best 23 because we have better players. One of those better players got injured.

There was a discussion clearly on selection and Davis isn’t going to overrule selection nor is he going to rule out a player before actually being part of a team he’s helped coached. If Nicks wanted him he’s playing him.

This week clearly selection was discussed, you don’t think Davis would have provided his opinion on Murphy’s game? If he has half the brain we believe he has we know what it would be.

But given it’s a typical Murphy game, why do you think Nicks dropped him this week when he’s tolerated this type of game from Murphy throughout his career? Nicks has all of a sudden become smart when he was dumb last week?

 

[CrowBloke]

Let’s not forget that we have a 197cm Curtin up our sleeve

Somebody posted a possession-map for Curtin (kudos!); he certainly gets around the ground and looks like he will drop back on occasion when needed.
He's become versatile, roaming.

 

[rocket18]

The biggest thing that has changed is that we are much better as a side this year which has forced Murphy out. It was evident all offseason he was on the outer. He lost his spot to ANB. Managed to squeak in and played like shit the same week Taylor kicks 2.1 and has 18 in the SANFL.

When Murphy 'forced' his way into the side last week, weren't we a much better side then as well?

Or was it

• Week 1-3 = Much better side
• Week 4 = Poor side, Taylor not available and Nank had to be sub.
• Week 5 = Much better side

 

[Scorpus]

If Murray Davis is above Nicks in the chain as Director of Coaching then why wouldn't he get the credit for influencing those below him to make better decisions?

Management is all about taking credit for success and absolving yourself of any fault for failures and blaming those beneath

 

[CrowBloke]

I've seen some pretty awful comments on social media about him (and other footballers). Not so much on here, though. But still, the way some players are spoken about by their own supporter group would have you wondering if the guy had deliberately run over their dog.

I've been critical of Murphy (most critical)/ Sholl/ Borlase/ Milera/ Keane/ RoB/ Nicks but it's either about their footy skill, or performance, or judgment. I don't 'hate' any of them, nor do I dislike them personally.
I just want a better Coach, a better ruckman (one who can kick and take a mark would be nice) and better players' performances in general for our Team to be at its best.

 

[thebirdman 24]

The thing with Murph though is he's a bloody nice bloke... and he gives 100% every time he goes on to the field. Nobody should ever question that. The thing that matters though, is whether his 100% is AFL standard, and I think we all know the answer to that. Please let last week be the last time we see him in the senior team.

I'd prefer an arseh*le who kicks goals and puts real pressure on.

Murphy is king of the run down tackle or bump a second after a clean disposal. Facebook fans must love it.

Stats wise he had 2 tackles and 2 behinds to go with with 13 touches on the weekend. This is pretty much his average and the coaches knew this when they selected him. It is such a weird decision to recall him firstly, then immediately drop him when he does what he normally does (sweet FA).

I don't buy the Davis/Balme narrative, but I totally get Nicks trying to have X amount of experience in the team with Crouch out.

Pretty pathetic if that was the case.

 

[AFC979810]

What do you think is happening here?
Nicks is improving his decision making or it’s input from others or another reason?

I think its a combination of things.

I think that Nicks realized how much he F*cked it at the beginning of 2024 and tried to go defensive. We were the highest scoring team in 2023 and that is the style we have gone back to in 2025.

A lot of the success we are seeing are the changes that have been evolving over the past few years (before Murray). We went from a slow one paced midfield of Sloane, Keays, Laird, Berry in 2022. For 2023 we kicked out Keays and Sloane and replaced them with Dawson and Crouch. In 2024 we introduced Soligo and Rankine into the mix and at the end of 2024 we got rid of Laird in the midfield. Then in 2025 we drafted Sid and brought in Peatling and have kicked Berry to the curb.

We also have TT hitting his straps this year and the addition of ANB, Peatling, Cumming and Draper makes us bat deeper.

Murray is definitely a boost, but I also just think we have a bloody good list.

One of the biggest changes is us being really proactive in resting as we have seen through Tex, Crouch, Laird and Rankine all having early spells. This could be Murray absolutely - although Brisbane didnt rest anyone last year.

 

[Scorpus]

I'd prefer an arseh*le who kicks goals and puts real pressure on.

Murphy is king of the run down tackle or bump a second after a clean disposal. Facebook fans must love it.

Stats wise he had 2 tackles and 2 behinds to go with with 13 touches on the weekend. This is pretty much his average and the coaches knew this when they selected him. It is such a weird decision to recall him firstly, then immediately drop him when he does what he normally does (sweet FA).

I don't buy the Davis/Balme narrative, but I totally get Nicks trying to have X amount of experience in the team with Crouch out.

Pretty pathetic if that was the case.

Nicks explanation was that Murphy does things you won't see on the TV or field, but his teammates appreciate it. And that it's about team balance.

Reading between the lines it has to be something like leadership or experience quota

 

[cleanhands]

We know he's a moron, but if there is any semblance of competency in there somewhere, you'd think Adam Kelly would be constantly hounding Balme about his thoughts on players, decisions, general trends etc.

You would think he would be a sponge

 

[AFC979810]

If you can’t see the difference in the example you’ve provided that’s on you not me.

Are you seriously suggesting Davis has gone back and watched all our games from the last 5 years? Really and you call my post dumb. He’s not friggin spending close to 300 hours on watching replays dating as far back as 5 years ago.

Absolutely. I would. He started in November. Between November and End of February he has 15 weeks.

Think it's perfectly reasonable to spend 20 hours a week watching film. Now going back to 2020/2021 - he might not go that far back - but you would imagine he would spend a shitload of time watching 2022 - 2024 games.

Do you think Brisbane spent time on a player as insignificant as Murphy? Really?

100%. He is a massively weak link. If you were coaching against the Crows - you wouldn't be telling your forwards to not worry about him because he won't hurt you if he gets the ball? You would absolutely be targeting him and trying to exploit our weakest forward.

Murphy wasn’t dropped for the first 3 games, he wasn’t in our best 23 because we have better players. One of those better players got injured.

He played the last 17 games of 2024. He was dropped for round 1 2025.

There was a discussion clearly on selection and Davis isn’t going to overrule selection nor is he going to rule out a player before actually being part of a team he’s helped coached. If Nicks wanted him he’s playing him.

This week clearly selection was discussed, you don’t think Davis would have provided his opinion on Murphy’s game? If he has half the brain we believe he has we know what it would be.

So Davis wasn't going to overrule selection in round 4 but he is for round 5?

Ha ha ha ha ha.

But given it’s a typical Murphy game, why do you think Nicks dropped him this week when he’s tolerated this type of game from Murphy throughout his career? Nicks has all of a sudden become smart when he was dumb last week?

I think it's because Taylor kicked 2.1 and had 18 in the SANFL. Nicks is slow to move. But let's not act like he hasn't dropped his pets before. He dropped Ned after round 10. Brought him back for one game in Rd 13 and then we didnt see him again and he was delisted. Hopefully Murphy is finally on the right path.

 

[CrowBloke]

I'm an old fart

me, same, grumpy old fart, long-winded old fart (literally and post-wise, but I've learned --- quickly --- not to trust a fart at all these days ), opinionated old fart , ha!
lol@me.

so I don't do social media,

Yep, same. I have a trusted mate who's an IT expert, smart as all hell, who told me about Facebook very enthusiastically when it started up.
I took one look, thought wtf? and quickly said to myself "Nope".
I just don't get it. Never will.
All those selfies and approval-seeking and life-validation-seeking ... and the conflict/bullying that goes with it ... from strangers???
Fkthat.
Life is hard enough without all that.

it doesn't sound like a nice place for anyone

I have a niece with 1300 Facebook "friends" or whatever they are called. I asked her how many she had met.
A handful.
She's often upset about some nasty comment, but does not block the posters. WOT??
I see also countless examples of people being attacked personally (which spills over into here, btw), vilified, abused/bullied, harassed etc on Social Media (kids, adolescents, adults, you name it). Recent examples: Erin Phillips and players' WAGs on body-image (2 X ABC articles, last few days). It's endless and out-of-control. The Genie/monster is out of the bottle and cannot be regulated or controlled. It's too late.

- so many toxic people around these days.

<<sigh>> ... you said it.
I'll be waiting for "OK, Boomer" remarks and other snide comments for this old fart's rant , none of whom will see that I am just replying to you.
Funny thing: I was scornful and dismissive of older people when I was a young man, to my shame. I wish I could go back and tell my younger self to pull my head in and show some respect.

 

[1970crow]

Kelly is NOT a moron. Jesus. You people.

Kelly is a moron, you just need to listen to him speak. He's a grunt.