Prediction Rd 5 Changes vs Port

[stax on the mull]

I doubted Darcy was getting up for this the moment they flew him over later, stunk of being nothing but hopeful for this week.

I think there is half a case to argue Jackson will help a lot slowing down the faster midfield of theirs anyway. Goldy may as well have not been there from last weekend

There's also a case to argue that Jackson will be leading the pressure acts in the forward line.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I actually think that Darcy flying over indicated he was probably going to play managed minutes in the AFL. He wasn't playing a full game regardless of where he plays, but I assumed it would be in the WAFL if anywhere until he got on the plane

Finlayson out is great for us, Jackson should have a field day against Dixon and it takes on of their marking forwards out of the forwardline (unless they bring in a very young ruck, who Jackson should dominate)

On the flip side if Darcy doesn't play it will be Soldo v Jackson and Treacy v Dixon.
Not sure from a ruck POV how that turns out, although Jackson would be in amongst it once it hits the ground as always.

 

[VolgaBoatman]

Darcy to play - why else would he be there.

My predicted line up:
FB: Aish, Pearce, Draper
HB: Walker, Ryan, Clark
C: Brayshaw, Fyfe, Sharp
HF: Walters, Banfield, Switkowski
FF: Treacy, Amiss, Jackson
FOL: Darcy, Serong, Young
IC (from): Emmett, Erasmus, Hughes, Johnson, O'Meara

Erasmus or Johnson for Sub - I think Sharp is named on the ground, Banfield to half-forward - though JOM could be named there as well. Aish could also tag Rozee perhaps with Hughes being available for the backline. Banfield on Port's best rebounding defender.

Outs: Taberner, Frederick
Ins: Darcy, Erasmus

 

[theGav56]

On the flip side if Darcy doesn't play it will be Soldo v Jackson and Treacy v Dixon.
Not sure from a ruck POV how that turns out, although Jackson would be in amongst it once it hits the ground as always.

Jackson seemed to be down in terms of his explosive impact. I don't want to see him burnt out by playing the #1 ruck role.

I also have liked what I have seen from Treacy doing other roles, but am concerned that our forward line is losing by doing that.

 

[freo_leo29]

I’m confused. Wasn’t that the exact same thing that Clarkson got zero weeks for? If the AFL’s not careful, people are going to start thinking they’re corrupt.

Clarko said ********** which isn't generally homophobic despite what some people think (plenty of women suck utensils lol)


Finlayson said bundle of sticks which is a big no nowadays


Edit: lol at *********** and utensil getting censored

 

[theGav56]

Darcy to play - why else would he be there.

My predicted line up:
FB: Aish, Pearce, Draper
HB: Walker, Ryan, Clark
C: Brayshaw, Fyfe, Sharp
HF: Walters, Banfield, Switkowski
FF: Treacy, Amiss, Jackson
FOL: Darcy, Serong, Young
IC (from): Emmett, Erasmus, Hughes, Johnson, O'Meara

Erasmus or Johnson for Sub - I think Sharp is named on the ground, Banfield to half-forward - though JOM could be named there as well. Aish could also tag Rozee perhaps with Hughes being available for the backline. Banfield on Port's best rebounding defender.

Outs: Taberner, Frederick
Ins: Darcy, Erasmus

Very keen to get Erasmus developing and am in favour of him finding a forward role.

As with Simpson it seems like a good place to introduce players in the early stages of their careers, but we've also been under the pump from some of the half backs, and they could help address that.

 

[VolgaBoatman]

I think Port's line up will be something like this:

FB: Aliir, Zerk-Thatcher, Ratugolea
HB: Jones, Houston, Farrell
C: Butters, Drew, Bergman
HF: McEntee, Byrne-Jones, Powell-Pepper
FF: Rioli, Marshall, Dixon
FOL: Soldo, Horne-Francis, Rozee
I/C: Burton, Mead, Wines, Georgiades, Burgoyne

Ins: Powell-Pepper, Wines
Outs: Boak (rest / injured), Finlayson (suspension)

 

[apuchar]

Erasmus deserves as much opportunity as Johnson. Both have areas they need to work on , not just Erasmus

 

[stax on the mull]

Is there a chance Port might think they need play 2 rucks if Darcy plays.

Finlayson is a versatile mobile player for them playing forward and going into the ruck. Having Dixon rucking takes some presence out of their forward 50m marking contests where we could have been vulnerable if our defenders had to cover Dixon, Marshall, Finlayson and Georgiades - and Georgiades 2nd game up after a year out with injury.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Is there a chance Port might think they need play 2 rucks if Darcy plays.

Finlayson is a versatile mobile player for them playing forward and going into the ruck. Having Dixon rucking takes some presence out of their forward 50m marking contests where we could have been vulnerable if our defenders had to cover Dixon, Marshall, Finlayson and Georgiades - and Georgiades 2nd game up after a year out with injury.

They really should be protecting Dixon, he is so important to them for finals.

 

[stax on the mull]

What I was going to say about Georgiades is that he was the 3rd or 4th tall against Essendon. Dixon going into the ruck steps up his responsibility unless they play someone else. Last year they had Ollie Lord but I see he is on their injury list.

 

[Joao]

Dixon is a good 2nd ruck, but he looks like he can barely walk so I hope they do play him there and wear him out.

Will be interesting to see which way they go.

 

[Eski3]

Is there a chance Port might think they need play 2 rucks if Darcy plays.

Finlayson is a versatile mobile player for them playing forward and going into the ruck. Having Dixon rucking takes some presence out of their forward 50m marking contests where we could have been vulnerable if our defenders had to cover Dixon, Marshall, Finlayson and Georgiades - and Georgiades 2nd game up after a year out with injury.

On the Port board they are talking about potentially either Jordan Sweet, who is a traditional less mobile number 1 ruck, or a young ruck named Scully who played against us in their preseason game.

Last year they ran with Dixon in the ruck and he is a more like for like replacement for Finlayson than either of those two, so I think they go with him, but Scully could potentially play given they dominated us in that preseason game

 

[GingerDocker]

If we can force them to move Dixon into centre bouncedowns, even on a few occasions, that's a win for us.

 

[Eski3]

If we can force them to move Dixon into centre bouncedowns, even on a few occasions, that's a win for us.

I am really liking the idea of Jackson forcing Dixon into the backline if Dixon follows him, we could really expose them

 

[stax on the mull]

On the Port board they are talking about potentially either Jordan Sweet, who is a traditional less mobile number 1 ruck, or a young ruck named Scully who played against us in their preseason game.

Last year they ran with Dixon in the ruck and he is a more like for like replacement for Finlayson than either of those two, so I think they go with him, but Scully could potentially play given they dominated us in that preseason game

Looking at their board, I think some of them remember in the pre-season game that Darcy was on for a half when the game was competitive and his ruckwork against Soldo was dominant.

 

[anchor man]

Listening to Longmuir on Tele and I’m not sure I’m confident Darcy will be fit

I didn't think he said anything to suggest that.He had a smile when he said Onions had to get throughtraining.
But he was keeping his cards close to his chest.
Tell them nothing, take them nowhere, treat them like rats.

 

[FreoMatt]

Remarkable was probably a bit OTT , didn’t have my Thesaurus

I guess my point is the tools were there to compete in finals but so were they last year and we played exceptionally poorly on many occasions.

Hence the old Freo mist descended upon many of us coming into 2024 wondering what we were going to get this year .

Surprised and pleased might have been better synonyms

I always thought 2023 was a function of a young inexperienced up and coming side thinking it would just happen after the success of 2022. My expectations (hope) was that would be a good lesson learnt coming it into 2024


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Taylor]

They really should be protecting Dixon, he is so important to them for finals.

Given we have their first round pick, we really want them playing Dixon in the ruck for three weeks. The old man might be much less effective after that period.

I don't want him to get injured, but he might and as horrible as that would be, it would be huge for us because he is very important for them

 

[Purpletown]

If Finlayson is suspended, it helps us a lot as our defence would struggle against 3 talls, guess they could bring in Lord to replace him.
Dixon < Pearce
Marshall < Draper
Lord < ???? Ryan
Georgiades > Hughes
Rioli > Walker
Byrne-Jones > Clark

Wow, that's a pretty potent forward line even without Findlayson. We will need to avoid a shoot out with the Port having that sort of fire-power.

 

[WilloTree]

I’m confused. Wasn’t that the exact same thing that Clarkson got zero weeks for? If the AFL’s not careful, people are going to start thinking they’re corrupt.

One of them is Victorian?

 

[yakamoto]

Rioli is the most dangerous member of their forward line. Creates goals from nowhere.

 

[pK75]

Wow, that's a pretty potent forward line even without Findlayson. We will need to avoid a shoot out with the Port having that sort of fire-power.

I should have edited my post, Lord is injured for 3-4 more weeks, likely Powell-Pepper is the in for Finlayson.

 

[malpaso]

Wow, that's a pretty potent forward line even without Findlayson. We will need to avoid a shoot out with the Port having that sort of fire-power.

Yeah but how many of those apply pressure? Again, need to limit turnovers and not give their mids free hitups into the forward line.

 

[pK75]

If Finlayson is suspended, it helps us a lot as our defence would struggle against 3 talls, guess they could bring in Lord to replace him.
Dixon < Pearce
Marshall < Draper
Powell-Pepper < Ryan
Georgiades > Hughes
Rioli > Walker
Byrne-Jones > Clark

Updated, match ups look better, if they do run with Sweet we could be exposed for height in the backline but will have plenty of run on the rebound