Unofficial Preview Round 24 2025, Sunday August 24th @Gabba v Hawks.

[Bucking Beads]

We had heaps of injuries last year .

Ah yes the ACL game and Coleman. Our depth seemed much better last year?

 

[haystark]

Bring Gallop in. No pressure as that position doesn’t kick goals anyway….

 

[Ceebee]

Hippy out for 4 weeks with a calf injury.

That will make all his haters happy
Now who do you replace him with ?

 

[McIvor]

Huge blow missing Eric; hasn't been impacting the scoreboard but to say we won't miss him with everything else he does, is an understatement. His presence alone attracts the oppositions first or second best defender.

To mis-quote ol-mate David King - "health is(n't) (y)our best friend" at the business end of the year.

Time to unleash Ty.

 

[mpal6]

Not advocating it, but a possibilty could be Gardiner to the forward line and Joyce replacing him down back.

Joyce was servicable (at times) last year; has he improved at all ?

Gardiner looks finally in sync with Andrews and Lester now.
I'd rather keep that defense lineup intact.

 

[Sproj]

Not advocating it, but a possibilty could be Gardiner to the forward line and Joyce replacing him down back.

Joyce was servicable (at times) last year; has he improved at all ?

Its not the worst shout purely to see how Joyce would handle their big forward line. Gardiner got found out a lot last week early but got better in the second half. I'm not sure we can afford giving the same head start to Gunston, et al.

That said, the mobility difference between Hipwood and Gardiner is epic. I love Darcy, I love his competitiveness, his grit and his loyalty but he moves like a slug compared to Hippy.

 

[Tom14]

Ah yes the ACL game and Coleman. Our depth seemed much better last year?

The ACLs all happened to players we could cover, and we had minimal injuries outside of that. We’ve had a lot of 2-4 week injuries this year.

 

[Nunez]

Easy to replace Eric, we have plenty of other options on the wing.

 

[Rick2]

Pity Gallop hasn't got a few games under his belt. A few people here have been calling for him all year.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Not advocating it, but a possibilty could be Gardiner to the forward line and Joyce replacing him down back.

Joyce was servicable (at times) last year; has he improved at all ?

I think Gardiner needs to find form down back for when Hipwood returns

 

[SL16]

I'd either go Gallop, or if Doedees fit, Gardiner forward, Doedee back.

Assuming Bez is out Bruce just slots onto the wing, Lohmann in for Bez.

Sub can be anyone, I'd probably go Dev or Brain....

starting to get real thin...

 

[mpal6]

I'd either go Gallop, or if Doedees fit, Gardiner forward, Doedee back.

Assuming Bez is out Bruce just slots onto the wing, Lohmann in for Bez.

Sub can be anyone, I'd probably go Dev or Brain....

starting to get real thin...

Sorry no to Doedee this year. I'd play Joyce ahead of him.

It's not about Doedee just performing the role, his lack of confidence was so visible - when he missed a spoil or intercept he looked a bit shell shocked out there - body language told it's own story. I don't think we can put him through that again at this stage of our season and create more pressure on rest of the defense to carry him.

 

[p4p1]

We had a pretty special year last year and hardly any injuries. Just can't stop getting hammered by injuries this season.

Didn't we have 4 ACLs?

 

[mpal6]

Didn't we have 4 ACLs?

Happened so early in the year and it got covered by great replacements in Lohmann, Morris and Zorko playing back etc.

 

[braddsey]

It's going to completely suck seeing us bow out next month with all these injuries that have added up, knowing that at full strength and mentally locked in we would have a real good shot at another flag this year.

On the flipside it’s going to show we are made of absolute steel when we win it.

 

[braddsey]

Ah yes the ACL game and Coleman. Our depth seemed much better last year?

Our injuries came earlier in the season last year, and the players that came in didn’t get injured. We had a longer runway to get a stable line up (despite needing to win every game).

 

[knaf]

Not advocating it, but a possibilty could be Gardiner to the forward line and Joyce replacing him down back.

Joyce was servicable (at times) last year; has he improved at all ?

No, just no. Leave Gardiner where he is.

Doedee didn’t play vfl, injuries apparently.

 

[SizeMatters]

push everyone out of f50. Morris and Charlie play deep.

 

[braddsey]

I'd either go Gallop, or if Doedees fit, Gardiner forward, Doedee back.

Assuming Bez is out Bruce just slots onto the wing, Lohmann in for Bez.

Sub can be anyone, I'd probably go Dev or Brain....

starting to get real thin...

I think we can assume Doedee is not fit for the remainder of the season (unless absolute disaster strikes). I was all for getting him a game and see what he offers this season “just in case”. We did that, and i think we’re probably better off with other options for this season - acknowledging that i watch zero VFL.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

Don't count us out yet. All we need out of whoever comes in is 4-5 games at most. I think the kids could do it.

Obviously we have Kai coming back in which is a big plus and I reckon Gallop could be pretty great for 4-5 weeks.

Yes , hoping Kai comes in and gets through the game .
Then a week off , could be perfect for him to get some form.
I thought Day did his job perfectly.
He was even making efforts to get deep in defense and some of his disposals were 100% on the money.
I am a little concerned with our spread on the wing if they get away , even from stoppage.
Will need to shut their spread down before they start, keep that intense pressure up.

 

[Clarkythelion]

Gallop has been doing some ruck work in the reserves but just some little 'helping out' sort of stuff and not with any great success but remembering he is just a kid. He is big and strong and tackles hard and has been playing deep forward like Hawkins did at Geelong (probably why the cats bid on him) his pre-season games were pretty good but he isn't a Hippy type replacement, not at all. I think he might get in Morris's road more than anything. I really like Ty just not sure he is the right fit without some shuffling. Lloyd has looked better in that type role, was had a few games at CHB and has mobility an poise, he could be a go, seems a better field player and could be a 'link up' player. Then there is ZZ, has been playing everywhere and has the speed for a relatively big guy, I think Lloyd has better disposal but ZZ is tougher, harder maybe he can at least fight with their intercept markers in the backline. A complete outsider is Ryan, but he is a bit like watching a giraffe running and chasing a football. Smith and Big O would also mean a shuffle around and they are too slow.

I'm with others on here, don't play with the backline, let's hold that for finals and developing consistency.

If Lohmann is back, and I have a sneaky feeling Charlie is finding form then I'm for a mini-shuffle with Ty going deep and truly bringing the ball to ground then backing Ahh Che, Morris and Rayner more across half forwards area. Day and his experience would still be there to guide Ty when needed.

Very tricky replacement for Hippy with no stand out.

 

[knaf]

Gallop has been doing some ruck work in the reserves but just some little 'helping out' sort of stuff and not with any great success but remembering he is just a kid. He is big and strong and tackles hard and has been playing deep forward like Hawkins did at Geelong (probably why the cats bid on him) his pre-season games were pretty good but he isn't a Hippy type replacement, not at all. I think he might get in Morris's road more than anything. I really like Ty just not sure he is the right fit without some shuffling. Lloyd has looked better in that type role, was had a few games at CHB and has mobility an poise, he could be a go, seems a better field player and could be a 'link up' player. Then there is ZZ, has been playing everywhere and has the speed for a relatively big guy, I think Lloyd has better disposal but ZZ is tougher, harder maybe he can at least fight with their intercept markers in the backline. A complete outsider is Ryan, but he is a bit like watching a giraffe running and chasing a football. Smith and Big O would also mean a shuffle around and they are too slow.

I'm with others on here, don't play with the backline, let's hold that for finals and developing consistency.

If Lohmann is back, and I have a sneaky feeling Charlie is finding form then I'm for a mini-shuffle with Ty going deep and truly bringing the ball to ground then backing Ahh Che, Morris and Rayner more across half forwards area. Day and his experience would still be there to guide Ty when needed.

Very tricky replacement for Hippy with no stand out.

Yes worth mentioning Lloyd and ZZ. Both developing well in the vfl playing defence. Good summary of their strengths. Of the two I would go ZZ who I believe would be the best at bringing the ball to the ground. However I am sure Fages will go Gallop following what appears to be his “next in line” policy.

 

[NotQuiteJezza]

Ty Gallop’s time. With Day at FF/2nd ruck it now means Ty doesn’t have to ruck.
Get in and go hard young man!

 

[Toffee Lion]

Pretty funny in that the years we had little to no significant injuries, we came up short in finals. Give us 5 ACL's and we win the flag, give us 8-9 significant injuries and we're 1 win away from Top 3.

The club's depth is amazing and our "next man up" system has served us well but boy we are stretched bloody thin. The saving optimism is we'll be seriously primed next year with big additions in Allen & Draper and the returning injured.

 

[bindi27]

For me, the answer is simple: go back to the "two tall" structure that we used in 2023.

Morris and Day are the talls and Rayner can play as an undersized full forward.