Preview Round 2 v Gold Coast MCG Saturday March 21st 1.15pm - Sonsie In For McAuliffe

[Antzzz]

wouldve been a perfect opportunity to play Fawcett ...see what he,s got

 

[Profop]

Who are the kids people are desperate for us to play?

By all reports Trainor didn’t play a VFL game worthy of getting picked and apart from him there aren’t really any standout kids not in the team

NRT, Pueker and Alger haven’t especially looked close to selection over the preseason and also didn’t shoot the lights out in the VFL last week

 

[baazzaa]

Who are the kids people are desperate for us to play?

Fawcett forward, one or both of Sonsie and Kmac2 should be in the guts (TT to HF), one of Gibcus/Trainor should be in defense. Maybe Trainor wouldn't be so out-of-form if we didn't play him out of position all last year. Gray also worthy of a proper run.

Peucker and NRT looked okay actually from memory, I don't know if they're fit enough though.

But also keep in mind: if Prestia, Lefau and Ryan (who doesn't even seem to be our back-up ruckman) weren't on our list we'd have three more kids to pick from. The whole 'we never have any kids to choose' isn't an excuse, it's the problem.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

No shame in dropping Gibbo back, he's a shadow of his first year self. Needs to build confidence in his body before getting thrown into the seniors. When hes flying for marks again in the 2s he's ready.

 

[Forensi Tiger]

Isn’t it funny that immediately before our practice matches I was thinking we had 30 really good options as our best 23. After two practice matches and one real game I have got that list down to about 16

 

[Tackle Bag]

Too many slow mids. We need pace and defensive workrate injected into the side. They should have retired Prestia. They’ll feel obligated to play him every week now.

 

[Tiger_4_Life]

Gibcus!? What on earth are we doing! Give the man his confidence. He is building! Terrible decision.

Must be getting torched at training

 

[chriso11]

Anyone feel like we could pinch one? I would have preferred Sonsie in for Ralphsmith, but otherwise feel the side looks more balanced. Hope that Hopper makes up for his barry last week

 

[chriso11]

Have the Suns won a game at the MCG yet?

 

[chriso11]

Lefau in the ruck not great lol

Probably only bloke who can tackle Witts

 

[ShereKhan]

No doubt when we get smashed it'll be attributed to us being a 'rebuilding' side despite us selecting a significantly older team.

we are not significantly older....25y11m v 25y6m. We have slightly less experience... 97-games v 102. We've also got 10 x players under 50-games compared to GC's 7.

We've taken 12 x players in the 2024 and 2025 national drafts......just 3 are playing on Saturday. Be patient.

 

[ShereKhan]

what sides have successfully rebuilt by not playing kids?

by my reckoning we have 6 potential a-graders under 23 playing: banks, campbell, lalor, brown, grjl, armstrong. i would include kmac2 but given he's playing on a wing we're clearly planning on derailing his career like we did with ross and sonsie by permanently playing him out of position.

so how is prestia playing going to contribute so much to the development of those 6 players, that it justifies denying a game to kmac2 or sonsie in the centre? i don't get it. so too with lefau displacing fawcett who deserves a game.

the match committee are focusing on choosing the most competitive team for the next week. the idea that this coincidentally also happens to maximise long-term player development is nonsense. if playing your oldest team week-after-week also maximised player development no-one would ever play kids.

there's a genuine trade-off between long-term development and short-term competitiveness and we're choosing the latter.

We still have 10 x players under 50-games. Including a 15-gamer, 9, 12, 11 and 1. Obviously if Faull, Smillie, Cumming and Hotton as a starting point were available we'd probably have 12-13 under 50-games.

Last week we had 11 under 50-games. Most weeks last year we had 11-13. It's hard...very hard to be competitive with too many inexperienced players in the starting-23.

Nobody who is out of the team is screaming 'pick me' so no big deal at this stage.

 

[ShereKhan]

You’d be shanking your head if you’re Sonsie. We had the second worst midfield in 2025 against any metric, and we continue to play the same souls.

The argument that we need to protect and educate the young players is redundant, as we only have one player under 20 running through the middle.

There’s no integrity to our selection process.

3 of our future midfield are not playing - when Cumming, Hotton and Smillie are fit they'll be part of the midfield rotation. Another future elite mid is playing off half-back (Grlj) as he finds his feet at the level.

Lalor, Smillie, Cumming, Hotton and Grlj are the nucleus of our future midfield.

 

[ShereKhan]

Ross should get the job and rotate Mcauliffe on him too.. Need to shut him down and without Rowell their midfield depth isn't there yet. I'll spew if he's left to run free and has 20 and 2 goals at 1/2 time because "we don't tag". We're probably gonna get pumped regardless though cos their kiids have been getting plenty of games together for a few years now. Ours cant get on the paddock.

'Midfield depth isn't there yet'....have you been watching GC this year?

Anderson, Petracca, Miller, Humphrey...and Powell has been dominating in there in Rowell's absence and Davies been solid also.

Their midfield depth and quality is pretty awesome even without Rowell.

 

[sregit]

Remind him again of the intensity required at AFL level. He was far too timid last week.

So what you’re implying was that Gibcus was a pussie? If so, yep, I agree.

He’s scared of the contest at the moment and not putting his body on the line. I don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid of getting injured again but it will need to change.

 

[ShereKhan]

Isn’t it funny that immediately before our practice matches I was thinking we had 30 really good options as our best 23. After two practice matches and one real game I have got that list down to about 16

That's because majority of 12 x draft picks taken in 2024-25 are injured (or suspended). Then add to that an injured J Clarke and an underdone Gibcus.....we have great depth coming through, just need a bit of luck with injury.

Imagine post-bye when we can hopefully add Smillie, Hotton, Cumming, Faull, Sims and maybe a more developed Trainor....take 6 players out of the 23 selected for Saturday and things look a lot different.

 

[sabso]

Hope we score more than the last game

 

[wegetpumped]

Who are the kids people are desperate for us to play?

By all reports Trainor didn’t play a VFL game worthy of getting picked and apart from him there aren’t really any standout kids not in the team

NRT, Pueker and Alger haven’t especially looked close to selection over the preseason and also didn’t shoot the lights out in the VFL last week

So unlike 90% who thought all this youth brought in was going to propel us back would be more of a miracle than hope. GWS taught me that nothing is as it seems. Out of all the youth Lalor and Grij are the only 2 stand outs with the exception of Hotton baring injurie can join them the others are just players we may or may not improve. The fact we are playing a team basically of failed players or ageing stars proves the point that selector's also inclined to failure once again of drafting kids. Point out again Gray dropped and big deal Lefau in I rest case.

 

[wegetpumped]

So what you’re implying was that Gibcus was a pussie? If so, yep, I agree.

He’s scared of the contest at the moment and not putting his body on the line. I don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid of getting injured again but it will need to change.

The kid never got a chance to build his body. Straight off we took a very lean kid and put him against wolfs. He never got a chance and yes he is timid because of what has happened. dropping him this early in a season which means nothing is a further blow for him.

 

[wegetpumped]

'Midfield depth isn't there yet'....have you been watching GC this year?

Anderson, Petracca, Miller, Humphrey...and Powell has been dominating in there in Rowell's absence and Davies been solid also.

Their midfield depth and quality is pretty awesome even without Rowell.

But our mid pact Macca ralf and ross is elite lol and they are well supported by the ever so impressive Hopper and cameo appearances of TT and further boosted by grandpa Prestia. No wonder why lalor can't get a permanent mid spot due to the meltiness we have there. They are so elite even the super coach Yze mentioned it prior to season starting.

 

[wegetpumped]

we are not significantly older....25y11m v 25y6m. We have slightly less experience... 97-games v 102. We've also got 10 x players under 50-games compared to GC's 7.

We've taken 12 x players in the 2024 and 2025 national drafts......just 3 are playing on Saturday. Be patient.

We are in a full rebuild they are not and you pointing those stats makes it look even worse shape than we know. The last stat is the one I'm most worried about as the BS of some not crying out for a game is just BS. Senior football is a lot different than VFL and they can only improve getting game time in the afl.

 

[banzai]

Who are the kids people are desperate for us to play?

By all reports Trainor didn’t play a VFL game worthy of getting picked and apart from him there aren’t really any standout kids not in the team

NRT, Pueker and Alger haven’t especially looked close to selection over the preseason and also didn’t shoot the lights out in the VFL last week

I get this and also you cant go too young early in the season or the kids will be cooked by round 10 and then lose every game by 80+ after that.

But, isnt the whole point of having players like Vlas and Broad to teach young players out there? Who are they teaching in this defence? Balta and Miller are surely old enough. One of those 4 spots really should be for a younger player.

Likewise the club keep mentioning Prestias leadership, but its just gonna mostly be him, Taranto, Hopper and Ross. Lalor is probably our best player already and needs the guidence less than a lot of other young players. Again who are they actually teaching in there if we dont play young players.

The team we are putting out should really be judged on winning the game as its not really a development or rebuilding team this week.

If we get smashed and everyone is saying you cant play Prestia, Hopper, Taranto and Ross in the same team, its kind of beyond embarassing at this point as that was very clear several years ago now.

Now injuries force this situation which is depressing, but surely that defence needs to be younger and something has to be tried with the midfield. McAuliffe, Campbell, Rioli, also Grlj should be given the minutes over Prestia/Hopper types who are going to get smashed in there anyway.

 

[Le RickyBobby]

I get this and also you cant go too young early in the season or the kids will be cooked by round 10 and then lose every game by 80+ after that.

But, isnt the whole point of having players like Vlas and Broad to teach young players out there? Who are they teaching in this defence? Balta and Miller are surely old enough. One of those 4 spots really should be for a younger player.

Likewise the club keep mentioning Prestias leadership, but its just gonna mostly be him, Taranto, Hopper and Ross. Lalor is probably our best player already and needs the guidence less than a lot of other young players. Again who are they actually teaching in there if we dont play young players.

The team we are putting out should really be judged on winning the game as its not really a development or rebuilding team this week.

If we get smashed and everyone is saying you cant play Prestia, Hopper, Taranto and Ross in the same team, its kind of beyond embarassing at this point as that was very clear several years ago now.

Now injuries force this situation which is depressing, but surely that defence needs to be younger and something has to be tried with the midfield. McAuliffe, Campbell, Rioli, also Grlj should be given the minutes over Prestia/Hopper types who are going to get smashed in there anyway.

Spot on. They need to get the blend right in the seniors, you can't play all the kids each week but you need to introduce guys throughout the year.

Alger
Trainor
Brown
Gray
Fawcett
Retschko

All need 10+ games this year if not more. And rotate Seth, Rioli, Lalor, Grlj through the midfield more often.

 

[Spacedog]

Looking at our team Brown basically has to play forward otherwise there's no spot for him

 

[Grrr]

How would you know? You have said many times you wouldn’t even watch our games, so move on, lol. So Lynch goal kicking wasn’t the issue; want me to give you more?

Watches through his third eye.