Prediction Round 2, 2026: Changes vs North Melbourne

[jesterwester]

No Maric is a surprise but not necessarily surprising- I think we are a lot better balanced experience wise this week.

Looking to stretch Norths backline on a hot day and maybe try and triple team Xerri at the same time, who will be coming out with a point to prove given he’s not started the year as well with the new ruck roles.

Lindsay will be fine, as will Maric, actually. It’s a good problem to have some competition for spots.

Looking forward to the game. This period of our rebuild reminds me so much of the early 00’s. Hoping the trajectory is similar and we can get on the board this week.

 

[Shuestar13]

No Maric is a surprise but not necessarily surprising- I think we are a lot better balanced experience wise this week.

Looking to stretch Norths backline on a hot day and maybe try and triple team Xerri at the same time, who will be coming out with a point to prove given he’s not started the year as well with the new ruck roles.

Lindsay will be fine, as will Maric, actually. It’s a good problem to have some competition for spots.

Looking forward to the game. This period of our rebuild reminds me so much of the early 00’s. Hoping the trajectory is similar and we can get on the board this week.

And with Ken Judge reincarnated in Mini

 

[FKASC]

No Maric is a surprise but not necessarily surprising

 

[Keys]

Okay with Maric making way with Edwards coming back in

Baker for Cole was always the easy change

Lindsay very unlucky and I’d prefer to have given him another game, but for that to happen one of these was the alternative:
1) Not bring Kelly in - can understand why we’ve added him for some additional midfield drive and experience
2) Drop Allan instead - thought he played well when moved back after halftime and also gives us some midfield/wing options
3) Drop Newton - who also played reasonably well and we need his forward pressure more than another halfback
4) Drop CDT or Reid - probably my preferred option as I think with both we are a bit too tall, but it’s a structure McQualter seems comfortable with

Someone was always going to be unlucky and it sucks that it’s Lindsay. Onus is now firmly on Kelly to justify his inclusion

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Kinda struggling to understand the changes here... Baker for Cole makes sense. Edwards for Maric makes sense (kinda). But Lindsay for Kelly?

Still struggling to see how we keep Shanahan, Archer Reid and CDT in the same side, along with Waterman and Flynn.

 

[FKASC]

Reid/CDT is holding back the youth

 

[squashface]

Woosha hijacking Mini’s iPad and picking all the talls again.

“Stretch them for height”

 

[mitchzz]

Lindsay out sucks

And Maric was very good last week

I'm glad there's competition for spots but damn, our backline foot skills are gonna be deplorable again.

 

[FKASC]

Woosha hijacking Mini’s iPad and picking all the talls again.

“Stretch them for height”

Nek minit A Reid 1 mark, 4 disp, 0.1, 0 hitouts

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Was always going to be a difficult decision on who missed out on the extended bench, you could make arguments for just about every permutation.

But the match committee has clearly got it horribly wrong.

 

[JackOutback]

Lindsay got a taste of it, can drop down to the Beagles and have a run at that level. He'll get more opportunities.

 

[BeornJ]

Good sign that picking the best 23 for each round is starting to become a difficult task.

 

[InTheWings]

When the ‘surprise axing’ headline came out4 I immediately thought it may have been Flynn. I would have been ok with that.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

If they think Kelly deserves a go and the team is stronger with him in it then so be it. They know more than me. But i just hope if he doesn't perform and impact the games that they give him a lot less rope than they have in the past. Two bad games in a row and he is sent to the WAFL for at least a month. No more giving him 6 - 8 games to find form before he gets axed. There is no point playing him unless he is ready perform and impact games consistently from now on. We've got quality young kids being left out to create the spot for him (which we didn't have before). So if what we have seen from him in the last two years is his new ceiling then thats not good enough and we would be better off playing one of the kids.

 

[ballsohard]

Mini sees this as a winnable game so has opted for experience over getting games into youth.
We did this last year against richmond when we bought in TK & Petch for Long & Hewett.
Hopefully the result goes a bit differently this time!

 

[Shuestar13]

Am glad Allan was retained. Prefer one less tall, but let’s see. No danger of rain

Big game for TK to back up his preseason and show his renewed passion for the game. Hope he goes well.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Maric plays one of his better games, at least defensively and gets dropped. Make it make sense. Lindsay out Duggan still in - seriously if WC dont win a few games McQualters got to be under heat by mid season

 

[Monocle]

Clearly!

Comment so noted.

Will stand by my comment and furthermore say that I don't agree with the selection decision.

 

[nameless]

Maric plays one of his better games, at least defensively and gets dropped. Make it make sense. Lindsay out Duggan still in - seriously if WC dont win a few games McQualters got to be under heat by mid season

Dropping Duggan would be reckless.
Skill-wise yeah he's probably borderline, but when you have a back 6 of:

Lindsay - 1 game
Allan - 7
Young - 36 (1 game at the club)
Edwards - 55
Ginbey - 64
Hough - 76

You need a lot of experience to help these guys out - that's why Baker likely goes back and you need Duggan in there as well.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Maric plays one of his better games, at least defensively and gets dropped. Make it make sense. Lindsay out Duggan still in - seriously if WC dont win a few games McQualters got to be under heat by mid season

Having bagged Simpson and called for his head since the moment he took the job, you’ve now been bagging McQualter and calling for his head since the moment he took the job.

I guess at least that shows it’s nothing personal.

 

[WCErevival]

I just don't think Maric is planned to be in the 23 long term. Despite a reasonable game from him last week, he has no set position, is average defensively and his kicking is overrated. They need to work out what they are doing with him and settle him into that role in the WAFL.

Lindsay unlucky but will get his opportunity throughout the year.

The defence on paper actually looks reasonable this week. Just missing Starcevich.

 

[CursoryMercenary]

Not happy with the Lindsay omission. I hope Baker doesn't fumble as much as he did in that Port disaster. Maric being dropped probably has been coming for a while, hopefully he can regain form in the twos.

 

[WCEswift]

No lindsay who is unquestionably our best kick... is a choice.

 

[pantskyle]

Yeah coach has these changes wrong. What a doofus.

 

[domad33]

Wondering with both Lindsay and Maric out - our two half-back ball users - if McCarthy will split more in defense like he did second half last week, especially with Kelly (who had a decent preseason) coming back in. Would have been very interesting to see who else would have come out had Starcevich been healthy.

I know we're paying underdogs at $2.50 (+12.5 line), but I'd be pretty disappointed if we lost tbh. Out of all the close games we had last season, that one in Bunbury was absolutely the one that got away. History shows our match ups are always close and it'll most likely go that way again. Wc by 10, CDT to kick his first goal, Duursma to get 20 disposals, and Dev with 50 tackles shirtless.