Team Mgmt. 2017 Team selections, injuries and availability

[Lore]

So you're probably aware of the spreadsheets I keep posting everywhere. Well this will be something of a home for it I guess.

Spoiler: 2016 version

 

[Killer_Mike]

If Hooksey is out.

HF Langford Daniher Fantasia

F Walla Stewart Green

 

[Lore]

Previous poll:



Don't see much point in a poll of the forward line without Hooker, as we'll know what the club is doing in about 4 hours and it probably won't get many votes between now and then. Anyone got ideas for a new poll?

 

[Killer_Mike]

Previous poll:
View attachment 384267


Don't see much point in a poll of the forward line without Hooker, as we'll know what the club is doing in about 4 hours and it probably won't get many votes between now and then. Anyone got ideas for a new poll?

Possible idea?

"Are we happy with the brand of football we are currently playing or should we be working on a more defensive/contested brand of football?

Will this style hold up in finals if we by chance make it?"

 

[Lore]

Possible idea?

"Are we happy with the brand of football we are currently playing or should we be working on a more defensive/contested brand of football?

Will this style hold up in finals if we by chance make it?"

Needs to be around team structure and selections for this thread.. I probably should've made that clearer, sorry.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Needs to be around team structure and selections for this thread.. I probably should've made that clearer, sorry.

Ok.

Thought they were related to be honest.

 

[Wangawuti]

If Hooksey is out.

HF Langford Daniher Fantasia

F Walla Stewart Green

Happy with that. I'd like to suggest
HF Stewart Daniher Fantasia

F Walla Francis Green

My thoughts are that I don't want to change Stewarts role in the side and I think Francis is a better contested mark and can be quite strong in contested situations close to goal if the ball hits the deck.
Also, shorter ground so he doesn't have to run as far to provide a target!!

 

[Killer_Mike]

Happy with that. I'd like to suggest
HF Stewart Daniher Fantasia

F Walla Francis Green

My thoughts are that I don't want to change Stewarts role in the side and I think Francis is a better contested mark and can be quite strong in contested situations close to goal if the ball hits the deck.
Also, shorter ground so he doesn't have to run as far to provide a target!!

I would be happy with that.

The only concern would be applying pressure on the defenders for a whole game but I have seen improvements in the VFL on how much ground he is covering so he may be ready.

 

[efcboy]

HF: Tippa, Daniher, Fantasia
F: Green, Stewart, Begley

How does that stucture look?

 

[Lore]

HF: Tippa, Daniher, Fantasia
F: Green, Stewart, Begley

How does that stucture look?

Begley photographed at the airport (shared by Hartley)!!! This better be awesome.

Looks like a 5 smalls/2 talls structure then. :hmm:

 

[Killer_Mike]

Begley photographed at the airport (shared by Hartley)!!! This better be awesome.

Looks like a 5 smalls/2 talls structure then. :hmm:

For me that's a way better structure than the extra tall.

Belt it in there...Bring it to ground if you cant mark it... Let the little guys go to work!

 

[Lore]

For me that's a way better structure than the extra tall.

Belt it in there...Bring it to ground if you cant mark it... Let the little guys go to work!

Need a tall to bring it to ground though, unless you have particularly good aerialists among your smalls. Begley could be a travelling emergency as you suggested in the other thread, I may be getting a bit ahead of myself. Although we pretty much have to choose between five small/mediums and two rucks and we haven't heard anything about Leuenberger or Smack playing... so we'll see.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Need a tall to bring it to ground though, unless you have particularly good aerialists among your smalls. Begley could be a travelling emergency as you suggested in the other thread, I may be getting a bit ahead of myself. Although we pretty much have to choose between five small/mediums and two rucks and we haven't heard anything about Leuenberger or Smack playing... so we'll see.

Stewart is not as bad as people make out in the air. I have noticed gradual improvement throughout the year and I think he could play Hookers role.

He's not a beast but he's good enough. And he would provide way more once it goes to ground. The thing I love about him is that his hands are very fast and he has spacial awareness almost like a midfielder.

He would bring our fleet footed players into the game.

 

[Wangawuti]

HF: Tippa, Daniher, Fantasia
F: Green, Stewart, Begley

How does that stucture look?

I like it. So much more forward pressure with that group. Haven't seen too much of Begley but I'm very curious to see him in action. Hope it happens.

 

[srobbo]

Don't think we need to panic as they'll be expecting/hoping we add another genuine tall. I think the smaller look might be a bit too slippery for them & could be a blessing in disguise going in a little unconventional against a very structured, rigid back 6.

 

[efcboy]

Begley photographed at the airport (shared by Hartley)!!! This better be awesome.

Looks like a 5 smalls/2 talls structure then. :hmm:

McKernan upgraded hey

 

[srobbo]

Confirmed....Smack/Langers in....Myers out!!

 

[TheGrizz]

Begley photographed at the airport (shared by Hartley)!!! This better be awesome.

Looks like a 5 smalls/2 talls structure then. :hmm:

I like that structure, but if begley is selected before Langford I'll riot.
Reward good form

 

[Lore]

Pretty much like for like. McKernan in for Hooker, so three tall forwards. Langford would appear to be in for Myers (therefore playing in the midfield).

Begley and Dea have traveled but have not yet been confirmed as playing. One is a held-over emergency, the other we don't know about. Could be hedging our bets and taking extra emergencies for a possible late change.

 

[Lore]

I've been stuffing around a bit in the position tab of the spreadsheet, referring back to the heat maps for each game and changing the colours to match the part of the ground that they were getting most of their possessions in. There seems to be quite a lot more flexibility than you'd think on the surface, with Zerrett just about playing as a quarterback half the time and the smalls sharing a midfield role between them each week. I'd have thought there'd be more rotation within games rather than between them, but it seems not. Against GWS Fantasia and Walla went 50/50 mid/forward between them so that one looks a bit odd. Also Francis on a wing?

I can't really share the heat maps, there's just way too many of them and they're behind a paywall typically anyway, but you can see where we've pushed right up the ground against Richmond, or where we've played with essentially a huge midfield (or a lot of ping pong between the arcs).

Gleeson seems to be a spare parts man, he's been everywhere. Stewart and Daniher play fairly high up the ground, as does Hooker in some games, but given that's essentially the role we anticipate them playing I didn't see a lot of point in marking their games in yellow. I'm also liking that Ambrose and Hartley began to work more up the ground (i.e. attacking) as the season wore on... and interestingly the use of Myers, back, forward, in the middle before he was dropped.

I'm wondering if the areas of the ground that they're in correlate with 'good' and 'bad' games... Like do we think Heppell's had an off game when actually he's been playing in defence, and would therefore not be expected to have as many touches? I'm also wondering if the changes in who is on-ball, inside or outside mid has made a difference to our clearances and other numbers, certainly getting Parish back will be massive for us. He basically plays all over the ground when he was playing and Howlett is unfortunately a poor substitute, forcing others to cover Parish's role and possibly having a knock on effect elsewhere.

So much flexibility and learning new roles, developing different parts of their games, and the older guys getting shuffled around so the young guys get a shot in the midfield too.

 

[calyam]

I'd be interested to know whether Merrett is spending more time in the attacking half over the past couple of games. Has his heat map changed noticeably during that period compared with earlier rounds?

Also Francis on a wing?

No he just became tired on the wing. Spent the rest of the afternoon standing still

 

[Lore]

I'd be interested to know whether Merrett is spending more time in the attacking half over the past couple of games. Has his heat map changed noticeably during that period compared with earlier rounds?

Nah, pretty much just defence or midfield almost exclusively. Most recently he played a split of defence and midfield against Sydney, 76% at the defensive end of the ground (with 8 of 33 touches forward of the centre circle). It's a quiet day if he has less than 7 score involvements, and that doesn't seem to be impacted much by where on the ground he gets most of his possessions. I think because of his skill set, and because he gets so many possessions and so many metres gained it probably makes less difference where he starts with the ball, at some point he'll be able to get it to someone who can take a shot a few times per game? Even the games where he's 75% in defence he's still getting a few touches on the wings and such like. There are a couple of games where he had almost no score involvements, but it doesn't really correlate with the heat maps.

No he just became tired on the wing. Spent the rest of the afternoon standing still

hahaha pretty much.

His heatmaps from ANZAC day;


haha I put them as full image and they're HUGE O_O thumbnails it is.

 

[Killer_Mike]

I've been stuffing around a bit in the position tab of the spreadsheet, referring back to the heat maps for each game and changing the colours to match the part of the ground that they were getting most of their possessions in. There seems to be quite a lot more flexibility than you'd think on the surface, with Zerrett just about playing as a quarterback half the time and the smalls sharing a midfield role between them each week. I'd have thought there'd be more rotation within games rather than between them, but it seems not. Against GWS Fantasia and Walla went 50/50 mid/forward between them so that one looks a bit odd. Also Francis on a wing?

I can't really share the heat maps, there's just way too many of them and they're behind a paywall typically anyway, but you can see where we've pushed right up the ground against Richmond, or where we've played with essentially a huge midfield (or a lot of ping pong between the arcs).

Gleeson seems to be a spare parts man, he's been everywhere. Stewart and Daniher play fairly high up the ground, as does Hooker in some games, but given that's essentially the role we anticipate them playing I didn't see a lot of point in marking their games in yellow. I'm also liking that Ambrose and Hartley began to work more up the ground (i.e. attacking) as the season wore on... and interestingly the use of Myers, back, forward, in the middle before he was dropped.

I'm wondering if the areas of the ground that they're in correlate with 'good' and 'bad' games... Like do we think Heppell's had an off game when actually he's been playing in defence, and would therefore not be expected to have as many touches? I'm also wondering if the changes in who is on-ball, inside or outside mid has made a difference to our clearances and other numbers, certainly getting Parish back will be massive for us. He basically plays all over the ground when he was playing and Howlett is unfortunately a poor substitute, forcing others to cover Parish's role and possibly having a knock on effect elsewhere.

So much flexibility and learning new roles, developing different parts of their games, and the older guys getting shuffled around so the young guys get a shot in the midfield too.

Good work Lore.

I don't think this is something that's part of their development as such in regards to the rotation of roles and flexibility it's part of Wooshas plan. It's been going on all year and I believe we won't see guys just playing traditional roles again. It's not unique in that we are the only ones doing it, but it is unique in that we do it with a lot more players that other teams. It's exciting and I think in a year or two it's going to be hard to stop because we have so many matchwinners and flexibility that opposition wont know who to pin down.

It's something you see a lot of in soccer.

 

[Pweter]

So given:

• the revelation that is McKenna
• Gleeson returning to the side playing career best footy
• Kelly doing what Kelly does
• Hartley returning to his 2016 form
• Hurley in beast mode
• Baguley being solid at worst of late (and very good against Sydney)

what moves are made to slot Ambrose back into the defence?

You can argue that Ambrose is the best 1:1 nullifier on a medium to tall opponent out of all of them as well as having the best tank out of them all but gee, those 6 are playing well both individually and collectively at the moment.

 

[quotemokc]

If Ambrose was playing against Sydney I daresay he would have been tagging Kennedy

 

[Lore]

Good work Lore.

I don't think this is something that's part of their development as such in regards to the rotation of roles and flexibility it's part of Wooshas plan. It's been going on all year and I believe we won't see guys just playing traditional roles again. It's not unique in that we are the only ones doing it, but it is unique in that we do it with a lot more players that other teams. It's exciting and I think in a year or two it's going to be hard to stop because we have so many matchwinners and flexibility that opposition wont know who to pin down.

It's something you see a lot of in soccer.

Even the rucks change over the weeks, there was a game where Leuey's was centre circle and defensive end, pretty much exclusively. Another one he had a hotspot in the centre and a forward pocket. Not sure if that's a directive or a result of a lot of ball-ups in particular parts of the ground that day, but it's interesting and goes some way to explaining who was actually down there, if most of the usual defenders were up the ground (for example).

So given:

• the revelation that is McKenna
• Gleeson returning to the side playing career best footy
• Kelly doing what Kelly does
• Hartley returning to his 2016 form
• Hurley in beast mode
• Baguley being solid at worst of late (and very good against Sydney)

what moves are made to slot Ambrose back into the defence?

You can argue that Ambrose is the best 1:1 nullifier on a medium to tall opponent out of all of them as well as having the best tank out of them all but gee, those 6 are playing well both individually and collectively at the moment.

Ambrose still has about 3 weeks of injury/recovery left plus probably will spend more time in the VFL too now. Mitch Brown came back from injury last weekend in the VFL, sooner or later he will probably be available for senior selection.

Gleeson has played a bit on the wing, but I don't know if he's good enough in that position to hold a spot in the 22 there. As a small defender he won't get a rebounding spot over McGrath or McKenna, and I don't really see him as a stopper in a Baguley role or a leader in the Kelly mould either. If we go for an extra defender, he could get a spot there (instead of one of the mids playing defence).

Gleeson is really probably in that mix with Dea and Ambrose for one spot though, as it stands. Hartley and Brown are taller and compete for the KPD spot alongside Hurley. Hurls is clear best 22 and isn't budging for anyone or anything.

My guess would be that either the pseudo-tall (Gleeson/Dea) makes way for Ambrose in the third tall role, when he's eventually fit or they select depending on match-ups. Brown is a swingman, so you could see him coming in as a forward possibly as well. I'd suggest he's probably behind Stewart for that spot though.

And for all that, I quite like Gleeson, it's just that others are probably ahead of him.