Prediction Changes vs Bulldogs ~ Round 4 2019

[JB1975]

I would go unchanged. I think we need to find the improvement from within the 22. The only change i'd consider is Aish for Appleby. Aish's kicking was ordinary last night. Sat the ball up too much. I'd be inclined to back him in though and give him the opportunity to grow in the role. But he needs to do better.

I'm on board with this: NO CHANGE

I'm also a fan of Appleby. He's a more than capable defender, tough, a reliable kick. Having said that, he seemed to have a difficult time of things in the half (2nd) I saw at Coburg, and he had to struggle through an injury of some sort (ankle/foot..not sure), so that might count against him in the short term.

 

[spartan-magpie]

In: Sier, Varcoe
Out: Greenwood, Aish

Unless of course Greenwood can be used to tag McCrae, but then again Sier is no chance to come in.

This. Greenwood only comes in against Geelong and Richmond.

Stephenson would also want to lift. He hasn’t been good this year. Needs to get back to what he was doing last year.

Also, let hope quanor comes on fast. The Liam Ryan’s of the world seem to tear us up all too often.

 

[Jafo]

Would love to see Billy get back to his best, but currently sitting 1 win from 3, with tough matches ahead, just wondering if Billy will get that touch back, how much longer can we afford to not have Stephenson forward majority of the time, and l think DeGoey is our best forward option. If Elliott strugglrs against the Dogs then Brisbane, do we persist with the current forward setup? Right now it's not clicking at all.

He shows signs and glimpses that he’s finding some touch. Think his last goal from fend off and running into 50 to goal as an example.

Been thinking Steve playing out of position so far this year. I would have him and Elliot one pocket. Cox FF (not our FF answer but works a bit), Checkers chf, JDG HFF with Thomas on the other.

As for clicking, i’m more worried about Beams clicking than Elliott at this stage.

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Phillips, Aish & Stephenson all right in the gun.

 

[soreplums]

Not panic stations, but we’ve looked slow/flat in 2 of 3 games.

Still want to see what Aish has as a midfielder/wingman. Goldsack can play small if needed and provide some defensive leadership to our structure.

Still think Varcoe’s experience and ability to provide a spark when needed is important to us. He has the physicality that we lack sometimes.

We got killed around the ball which is an issue when that is supposed to be our main strength- the ripple
effect of that is that it exposes our midfield speed and puts pressure on our backs. Feel a lot of WCE goals came from them being goal side and working harder to goal.

We should outnumber the opposition on talent alone in stoppages around the ground- just need to make sure that we win the footy and not all get drawn to the ball so we don’t get caught out with the easy one over the top to opposition waiting out.

Hopefully we get some run back and stop making silly decisions with the ball in hand at both ends of the ground.

 

[magpies42]

Is there something wrong with Elliot, played a poor game last night and his comments to the media the other day might be another sign...

 

[ottoman]

Is there something wrong with Elliot, played a poor game last night and his comments to the media the other day might be another sign...

What were his comments?

 

[Jafo]

On paper we are good and had a good year last year bar the last hurdle. But I think we get monstered by bigger bodied teams as evident with Cats and Eagles. Not just mids but all over the ground.

I think Lethal once said he structured Lions threepeat team around finding bigger bodied players. Maybe even Thompson down at the Catery.

 

[unplugged]

Not sure on the Elliott and Thomas combination, the more I think about it. I'd almost contemplate trialling Thomas in the backline but then it makes it harder for him to roll through the middle if required.

Perhaps next time we need more grunt it's as simple as moving JDG into the middle for a rotation or two a quarter. This will also allow Thomas/Elliott to flourish.

Hopefully if JDG isn't fit enough yet, he gets there soon.

Interesting to see how we handle Libba. Greenwood may have to stay in just for him. Or does he go to Macrae?

 

[76woodenspooners]

After round 1 we were whining about Greenwood not being picked behind Brown and then we praise Greenwood and say he made all the difference against Richmond, now we lose and everyone wants him back out. Doesn't make sense.

Welcome to Bigfooty, you must be new here

 

[Dead Eye Didak]

Phillips, Aish & Stephenson all right in the gun.

Stephenson is a bit tough. The kid is basically learning to play a new role. Phillips and Aish, l agree with.

 

[Darkyprotector]

Josh Thomas runs around half paced no intensity minimum impact
Aish well it's obvious and has been for years the kid dined out on reputation and dosent have it
His only spot is wing
One dimensional with zero pace

Elliott needs a blow looks frustrated

The first two should have been traded or at least explored
No better to us than Lang Murdoch menzel Guthrie were to Geelong

Time to change it up
Reputations should stand for naught

Our structure dosent work forward without whe prescence( marking, space, footy iq

Ins varcoe quaynour wills lynch
Outs. Aish Thomas Elliott mihochek

We will see how today goes

We're flat as tacks

Sidey?
Pendels?
Grundy?
Beams?
Stepho?
Thomas?
Crisp?
Aish?
Elliott?

Few blokes looked disinterested

 

[cakewalk06]

In: Appleby. We are in desperate need of a real lockdown defender. And unless i am mistaken he has enough toe to go with the quicker ones?
Varcoe: Desperately need his forward pressure. He would have been able to keep a handle on Jetta, who even though he plays in a tuxedo kept turning up to hurt us.. just as he did in the GF.

Out: Aish (unlucky but i feel he's another in the midfield or nowhere basket)
Unsure of the other.. maybe one or two are carrying a niggle (or Adams i guess if he gets suspended like the AFL pundits want him to be)

 

[76woodenspooners]

No obvious changes this week for mine

Yeah, some/most/all players stuffed up at times, but IMO that’s largely early season rust which all teams have. I reckon our problem ATM is that our team chemistry is a bit down on the execution of the current gameplan.

Keep the current cattle and let them build up their chemistry with each other and they’ll be alright.

Also, we’ve got a solid tier of young players in the seconds who have been in the system long enough that they really should be fighting hard for a seniors spot (Wills, Crocker, Brown x 2, Daicos, Murphy, Lynch, Appleby, Madgen). It also helps that that tier are fighting for a spot against some solid veterans who can come in (Goldsack, Varcoe, Reid, Wells must be due back soon). Add IQ to the mix of that competition for spots. Make ‘em all earn a senior spot I reckon.

 

[loki04]

Out: Stephenson, Thomas, Aish
In: Varcoe, Atu, Appleby

Atu brings some attributes we need in f50, Stephenson is struggling due to players manning him that can keep up with his pace but physically out body him when contesting. In regards to Atu sometimes wild cards surprise you its been done before at AFL level.

With Aish I feel he has no hurt factor even though i think he has been okish outside his lack of drive.

Crocker is NOT AFL standard.

Rather play Daicos than Thomas.

In Sier, Quaynor and Daicos.
Out Thomas, Aish and Phillips. (Not a fan of Phillips)

Isn't Seir injured didn't play on weekend iirc.

 

[NeverWobble]

Firstly: apologies to Trav Varcoe for agreeing to leave him out.
Secondly: I’ve got no idea!

 

[Bad Horse]

Varcoe for Greenwood.

Quaynor for Aish.

JT on notice.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Is there something wrong with Elliot, played a poor game last night and his comments to the media the other day might be another sign...

These have been his first senior games since August 2017. He wouldn’t have played too many VFL games in that time either.

 

[AmericanMustard]

Out: Aish, Thomas
In: Aish, Wills (if Sier isn’t fit), IQ/Murphy/Goldsack
Out:Aish

 

[76woodenspooners]

Is there something wrong with Elliot, played a poor game last night and his comments to the media the other day might be another sign...

What were his comments?

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/ap...t/news-story/e5be00d734148fc1a847e95332b5fc90

It was along the lines of ...

Jamie walking across the oval up to the Holden Centre ...

Reporter outside Holden Centre: “Hi Jamie, can I grab you for a few moments for a chat?”

Jamie: “Whaddaya wanna talk about?”

Reporter: “How well you guys are going at the moment”

Jamie: “I couldn’t be bothered” ... then Jamie walks through door.

I watched the vid (link above) ... wouldn’t read anything into it - it was just a footy player who really didn’t want to be hassled by a reporter at that moment.

 

[Braybrook Son]

DOgs have got their mojo back. Think they’ll be too quick.

Quick is something we ain’t! However, both sides have great midfielders, you will dominate in the ruck. Should be a cracking game. All the best guys!

 

[The Young Chevalier]

Out: Roughead Greenwood
In: Appleby Varcoe

 

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

Do people think we were destroyed by WCEs midfield? I think we were just beaten at clutch moments and centre clearances. It was by no means destroyed. I thought Beams could be the big bodied contested beast, but he is playing very outside at the moment.
I have no doubt we can beat them. As I have little doubt they can beat us. We need guys like Treloar and Adams to become big moment players. I believe in them, it wasnt so long ago Gaff, Jetta, Shuey and Yeo were seen as a bit flimsy, let alone Redden and Sheed. It can change with some confidence of execution in big moments.

 

[Moore of the Same]

Not sure on the Elliott and Thomas combination, the more I think about it. I'd almost contemplate trialling Thomas in the backline but then it makes it harder for him to roll through the middle if required.

Perhaps next time we need more grunt it's as simple as moving JDG into the middle for a rotation or two a quarter. This will also allow Thomas/Elliott to flourish.

Hopefully if JDG isn't fit enough yet, he gets there soon.

Interesting to see how we handle Libba. Greenwood may have to stay in just for him. Or does he go to Macrae?

Macrae is a proper weapon, lot of pace on him. I imagine he'd be too fast for the big Pig.. that being said I would have assumed the same of Martin, so who knows. You'd want to try and curtail Macrae in the beginning though. The problem is if Greenwood can't do a job, what do you do with it? Because its pretty clear he can't contribute around the ground.

Re JDG, I don't reckon we can afford to have him out of the forwardline at this stage. He is our one, genuine, elite, "tall" forward... his presence puts the oppo defenders on edge and hes the hardest player to match up with by far. We become a lot more one dimensional without him there. I like the idea, and it would have worked if we had a Tom Lynch that could cause defenders the same headaches, but he's to important imo.

Do people think we were destroyed by WCEs midfield? I think we were just beaten at clutch moments and centre clearances. It was by no means destroyed. I thought Beams could be the big bodied contested beast, but he is playing very outside at the moment.
I have no doubt we can beat them. As I have little doubt they can beat us. We need guys like Treloar and Adams to become big moment players. I believe in them, it wasnt so long ago Gaff, Jetta, Shuey and Yeo were seen as a bit flimsy, let alone Redden and Sheed. It can change with some confidence of execution in big moments.

I don't know about that. In the third quarter in particular, our midfield group was led a merry dance at stoppages. Nobody had a clue what to do with Gaff. Nobody was running with their loose mids, and when the ball came down from the ruck contest they were out far too easily. Its the lack of defensive run that is making the midfield group look lazy, and thats where their group one the day.

I do wonder if we can beat them. Their KPP players get on top of us each time, which is to be expected given the quality. Their midfield gets on top of us, despite the fact that we have the superior ruckman and on paper the better midfielders. What do we need to do to win?

 

[sr36]

I do wonder if we can beat them. Their KPP players get on top of us each time, which is to be expected given the quality. Their midfield gets on top of us, despite the fact that we have the superior ruckman and on paper the better midfielders. What do we need to do to win?

I wouldn't put that down to the KPP players. Howe beat Darling. Kennedy won but not decisively. I'd give it very slightly to Mihocek over MacGovern. Barrass very comfortably over Cox. We got smashed around the footy and couldn't find a way to get the ball out of defence. Our clearance structures aren't good, too predictable and we overcommit numbers to the tackle leaving the outside of the contest unguarded and their is an imbalance with personnel - not enough strength and aggression. Our defence lacks run, with Crisp nullified, there is noone who sees it as their role to move the footy out of defensive 50 - they all just want to go sideways and make it someone elses problem.