Prediction Round 9 Changes vs Hawthorn

[Nolo180]

I would be interested to know how many goals Pearce has had kicked on him this year? Very underated player who is AA form. Seems to get a hand in everytime and is attacking the ball like a man possessed.

 

[Lach72]

In defence:

Talls:

• Pearce -> Gunston (He is the barometer for them, so I think Pearce needs to go to him - also brings Pearce to the ball)
• Cox -> Lewis (Tallest but I think Cox is much more athletic, better in the air and can also hurt on the rebound)
• Ryan -> Dear (This is giving some height away but I think Ryan has a good leap and Dear is slowish)

Smalls:

• Chapman -> Moore (Moore can be the forgotten dangerous small, Chapman has size and rebound in his favor)
• McVee -> Watson (Could swap with Clark but I would go this way first as it gives Clark greater freedom to be attacking)
• Clark -> Ginnivan

Worner with his height probably also could suit a role on Dear or Moore.

But basically Plan A is to not allow it to go down there too much.

Watson will torch McVee for pace. No way is he quick enough

 

[ubiquitous226]

I would be interested to know how many goals Pearce has had kicked on him this year? Very underated player who is AA form. Seems to get a hand in everytime and is attacking the ball like a man possessed.

I think he's got more media plaudits the last couple of years as he's had some important stretches, and Nathan Schmook has definitely helped his profile with some great feature pieces.

 

[ubiquitous226]

Watson will torch McVee for pace. No way is he quick enough

Watson will torch many if not most, if you're hoping to keep him goalless I'd say you're setting up for disappointment.
In a more open d50 Walker would be our best bet, but doubt he can come in after being out from WAFL with concussion which is unfortunate, this would be the perfect week for him.
Otherwise it's gotta be a combo with different players defending him depending on the phase, and Watson will naturally look to exploit the handovers.

 

[Alfonz]

Watson will torch McVee for pace. No way is he quick enough

Watson will torch pretty much everyone in the comp. It's not just his speed, but his timing/craft/smarts. Just got to accept he will likely get 15 and kick 2-3 goals. We can still win if that happens. Play solid team defence and set up at stoppages and stop him kicking 5.

 

[swanny1234]

The more I think about it the more I think we need to bring Walker in to play on Temu Wizard. No one else has the pace to go with him.

 

[The Lobbster]

The more I think about it the more I think we need to bring Walker in to play on Temu Wizard. No one else has the pace to go with him.

Had a pretty poor game against us last year. Whilst Watson is in way better form this year, we’ve also improved our lineup defensively. Assuming McVee gets up, the lineup changes are:

OUT: McDonald, Banfield
IN: Pearce, McVee

 

[The Feeder Club]

Had a pretty poor game against us last year. Whilst Watson is in way better form this year, we’ve also improved our lineup defensively. Assuming McVee gets up, the lineup changes are:

OUT: McDonald, Banfield
IN: Pearce, McVee

From my vague recollection of that game Ginnivan was a bigger concern than Watson. I am not saying Watson will play poorly again, but I was really surprised by how hard Ginnivan works, the sort of thing you only ever pick up at the ground watching. Underrated player

 

[swanny1234]

From my vague recollection of that game Ginnivan was a bigger concern than Watson. I am not saying Watson will play poorly again, but I was really surprised by how hard Ginnivan works, the sort of thing you only ever pick up at the ground watching. Underrated player

Ginnivan has been moving into the mids a bit, more playing the role Murphy Reid plays for us in some ways, he's become a very consistent player - not the flash in the pan agitator he used to be. I think Temu Wizard is the more dangerous player close to goal however, and I don't think we have a match up for him unless Walker plays - McVee, Worner, Chapman, Ryan - none of them can go with Temu Wiz (and this nickname I have coined because he will never be as good as the one and true Wiz, Sir Jeffrey Farmer).

 

[The Feeder Club]

Ginnivan has been moving into the mids a bit, more playing the role Murphy Reid plays for us in some ways, he's become a very consistent player - not the flash in the pan agitator he used to be. I think Temu Wizard is the more dangerous player close to goal however, and I don't think we have a match up for him unless Walker plays - McVee, Worner, Chapman, Ryan - none of them can go with Temu Wiz (and this nickname I have coined because he will never be as good as the one and true Wiz, Sir Jeffrey Farmer).

Unless decades of evidence are out the window in the modern game, the most successful small defenders in history have been the ones that are strong and put body on their opponents to disrupt their run. It's a fools errand to think you can contain a fast small forward just by putting someone fast on them

 

[EastcoastDocker]

Think more important to stay disciplined on watson at stoppages and watch the turnovers. Rather than trying to match watson for pace. Think Mcvee can do that.

Ginivan has really tuned things around. Hes also less annoying as a hawk.. Or maybe his annoyingness is just drowned out with the other duckers in the team

 

[ubiquitous226]

Think more important to stay disciplined on watson at stoppages and watch the turnovers. Rather than trying to match watson for pace. Think Mcvee can do that.

Ginivan has really tuned things around. Hes also less annoying as a hawk.. Or maybe his annoyingness is just drowned out with the other duckers in the team

Watson is a good player with a very good skillset, he probably took a little longer to come on at AFL level than some other similarly precociously talented small forwards, however he's getting there.

Ginnivan has definitely matured and is a good pick up for the Hawks.

They've gotten better, and so have we.
Hopefully it's a good match.

 

[Docker82]

Watson is a good player with a very good skillset, he probably took a little longer to come on at AFL level than some other similarly precociously talented small forwards, however he's getting there.

Ginnivan has definitely matured and is a good pick up for the Hawks.

They've gotten better, and so have we.
Hopefully it's a good match.

Um what? This is Watson's third season and he's played 51 games.

In his first season he got 25 goals from 18 games.

He's pretty much as close to immediate impact as you're going to get. Not like many players play their best footy in seasons 1-3 so there's little surprise he's better than he was last season and the season before.

 

[ubiquitous226]

Um what? This is Watson's third season and he's played 51 games.

In his first season he got 25 goals from 18 games.

He's pretty much as close to immediate impact as you're going to get. Not like many players play their best footy in seasons 1-3 so there's little surprise he's better than he was last season and the season before.

I'm not saying Watson wasn't good, or on track to be excellent / already there.
He had a lot of expectations with his draft number, and the big focus on his height especially.

My recollection is Watson missed a lot of scoring shots in his first year, and he'd already been annointed as this wizard.
There were others such as Stephenson and Ginnivan who'd made quite an impact early on, although to be fair checking the stats Ginnivan didn't play much in his first season and Stephenson played a lot more games.

 

[stax on the mull]

Ruck battle might not go our way with Reeves and Meek together vs Cox and Jackson.

Darcy was a factor last year in wearing down Meek and kicked a goal and also gave off a goal assist with a diving forward handball in the square from a ground ball.

There was some unusual stat from that last Freo vs Hawthorn match-up that went against the trend of how we had won games. Maybe it was the number of wins we had of the loose balls inside 50m with our small forwards kicking the majority of the goals, and their small forwards not doing that much damage. What evs, past performances aren't really a guide to what happens next.

 

[Purpletown]

Think more important to stay disciplined on watson at stoppages and watch the turnovers. Rather than trying to match watson for pace. Think Mcvee can do that.

Ginivan has really tuned things around. Hes also less annoying as a hawk.. Or maybe his annoyingness is just drowned out with the other duckers in the team

Watson gets a lot of help in stoppages from the Hawks, lots of blocking and scragging to help him get into space. Once into space he takes some stopping.

 

[swanny1234]

Unless decades of evidence are out the window in the modern game, the most successful small defenders in history have been the ones that are strong and put body on their opponents to disrupt their run. It's a fools errand to think you can contain a fast small forward just by putting someone fast on them

Walker has a history of doing a good job on speedy small forwards. He’s done a job on Cameron a couple of times from memory and also Rankine.
I think Temu Wiz is probably the best of them right now, I don’t think it’s a dumb move to bring back our most logical matchup for him.

 

[Spirit Level]

It's a shame this isn't Friday night, I recon the crowd will be down 5000-10000 because of it

 

[jakefooty23]

Sharp out for Mcvee the only change for mine.
Watson going to cause some headaches, I'd like to see Clark get a job on him, and if that fails next man up

 

[Count Moriarty]

Problem with Clark on Watson is that Clark is our most important rebounder from defence. Better if he is assigned to a less dangerous forward.

 

[Alfonz]

Walker has a history of doing a good job on speedy small forwards. He’s done a job on Cameron a couple of times from memory and also Rankine.
I think Temu Wiz is probably the best of them right now, I don’t think it’s a dumb move to bring back our most logical matchup for him.

He's done some good jobs, but he can still be exposed. Rankine has actually been in the best players (2 Brownlow votes) a few years back when playing on Walker. It is dependent on the whole team defence rather than Walker just playing an individual game to blanket someone.

I would be worried bringing him in cold for a monster high pressure occasion when he's had patchy WAFL form and coming off a concussion (and being a Thursday game he would have barely exited the protocols).

 

[Nodgey]

It's a shame this isn't Friday night, I recon the crowd will be down 5000-10000 because of it

Bloody oath. I'm still deciding whether to come or not, given prior commitments with kids sport the lack of public transport, the early start (for a weekday) etc. Annoying.

 

[Midnite65]

Walker has a history of doing a good job on speedy small forwards. He’s done a job on Cameron a couple of times from memory and also Rankine.
I think Temu Wiz is probably the best of them right now, I don’t think it’s a dumb move to bring back our most logical matchup for him.

But when was the last time he did a good job on a speedy small forward. Has to be at least 2 years. The version of Walker currently playing for Peel is not the same as then.

 

[Midnite65]

Problem with Clark on Watson is that Clark is our most important rebounder from defence. Better if he is assigned to a less dangerous forward.

Im more worried about who matches up on Gunston. He is probably the best leading forward in the comp and Ryan, Cox and Pearce struggle on fast forwards who lead.

 

[mayne iac]

Hope freo bring up the afl free kick differential
And the head high debacle v bullies