Strategy Bye week musings

[Cam Payner]

As a surprise more during a tight game...why not!
As a permanent positional change...no it's been tried previously and wilted!

You seem very excitable!

 

[richoatthedisco]

Since we don’t have any games this week thought it might be fun to have a thread where some of us professional armchair coaches could think about any moves or strategies the MC could consider

One that I have thought about over the past week is a positional move for Nick Vlustuin

With Balta looking settled down back again Vlossys intercept numbers are down and he’s just being used as a medium defender again so once possible move that I wouldn’t mind seeing is Vlossy in the forward line

We have seen him bob up forward as a break glass option a couple of times and it’s been relatively successful with him able to kick goals

He can take a decent mark and good below his knees and defensively so he could be a nice foil to play as that 3rd marking option for Cumbo spot (don’t come for me Cumbo lovers)

The vlossy move also has the benefit of opening a spot in the backline and specifically for Jacob Blight who has really impressed during is couple of vfl outings with his intercepts but at 195cm could match up on both talls and shorter forwards

So that’s my crazy idea, anyone else have any moves that wouldn’t mind to see as an experiment or feel like absolutely tearing down my Vlossy forward idea?

You're overthinking it. Blight in, Balta forward. Done. Leave Francis Bourke where he is.

Have always like the idea of him (Vlossy) getting more around the ball.
I remember 2018-ish he was put on ball for maybe a game or so and was pretty good.
Pretty sure he was drafted as a mid too. Good contested ball winner, good user of the footy and great mark.

Definitely wondered if it were an option when our mids were getting smacked around at the darkest parts of this season.

He was drafted as a HBF. They hoped would become a mid. He didn't. All we got was a champion HBF.

I like Vlastuin in the forward line. When was the last time we had a medium forward over 6-1?? Josh Caddy is the only one. He’s ball reading and marking could be a huge weapon with players like Blight and Balta taking over the intercepts.

If you have both Balta and Lefau up forward, one of them becomes a 6'5 medium.

Green is the one we should be developing as a tagger, has speed & aggression if nothing else, you don't waste the role on talented players...

Sonsie & McCauliffe on ball, end the Dow farce once for all...the horse is dead....some may say the same of Cumberland and they may well be right but I'd persist until the bitter end....nothing to lose, everything to gain in a bloke who can actually hit the scoreboard if he gets it right...also like to see us "manage" Nank for a few games and give Ryan the main ruck duties because that's when he's played his best footy...

Green is too small to tag. Too small full stop methinks. Yeah but Baker. He ain't no Baker.

Green is too small to go with the midfielders mentioned, small as in body size. he would just be pushed aside with ease. Seth has a bigger frame, with the running capacity.

Seth is too small to tag as well. Tagger should have size on taggee, bash him up.

I think after the bye, Balta goes forward to reform that partnership with Lynch that Yze loves and believes in. Blight comes in to form that big defensive unit with Miller.

I don’t mind Vlas forward for a bit. But with Balta going forward I believe, Vlastuin should return to that intercept role.

Interesting to see how this goes.

I prefer Balta back just fyi.

You were right there, Biob. Then your last sentence. So close.

Yeah it’s a conundrum because of the failure of our list team and recruiters to draft KPF.

Which most have been calling for, for a long time.

Now we have players like Miller, Blight, Young who can’t play forward. So it leaves Balta who is a very high level KPD but can also be a dangerous KPF.

We now have Fawcett and Gray developing as KPF. Hopefully get an 18 year old in this draft.

So coming back to the end of this season and how we go into next year, my belief is the preferred forward partnership is Lynch/Balta in Yze eyes. For better or worse I think this is what he sees as getting us the biggest chance to win.

He relied on Gibcus being fit to be back.

I agree with your thoughts on Balta as a defender.

I'm not one to defend Matt Clarke but other than Oscar Allen who was a flight risk and Nick Larkey who everyone missed (we picked Garthwaite instead ffs), which current KPF did we have the chance to draft? Mitch Lewis, another everyone missed. Josh Treacy, ditto. Waterman. That's it.

I reckon we saw Balta as a potential key forward when we drafted him. Why wouldn't we - he is!

Not to say we didn't stuff up that 2017 draft in particular. We could have had Balta, Taylor, De Koning.

Higlet (ffs, we already had Rioli, Shai, Butler, George and Stengle) and Coleman-Dud. FMD.

Okay, enough countering. Ideas:
Blight in, Balta forward.
Smith and Trezise in, Short to get a niggle that saves him the ignominy of being dropped and preserves his trade value for when Dogwick comes knocking after we tell him to GAGF re Rioli. Try Daniel on the wing or in the guts.
Give Gray a shot as third tall forward. Kosi out or back, he's shit.
I'm with Cam Payner on managing Nank and giving Samson some #1 ruck time.
Dow out, Sonsie mid.
Give McAuliffe more than 10 minutes.
Bauer in as soon as he shows he can stay on the park. Down back. (Might have to manage Broad or rotate with Trezise.)

Whatever we do, don't climb out of the bottom 2. Hope to get O'Sullivan at the draft.

 

[tiger_tough]

Cats fans are seeing the cliff arrive suddenly after they were somehow 7-0 earlier in the season. They're in for more pain than us.

Hawkins, Dangerfield, Tuohey, Guthrie, Blicavs, Duncan, Stanley and Rohan are all 32 plus and still best 23 in a side that's gone 1-6 of its last 7. Stewart and Jezza are both 31 and struggling all of a sudden. Stengle may well leave.

As for the youngsters Jhye Clark is looking like a potential bust. Dempsey looks great, Holmes is a star. SDK is soft as butter. Bruhn meh. Conway looks decent.

Cats are ****ed.

 

[DickieKnee]

Cats fans are seeing the cliff arrive suddenly after they were somehow 7-0 earlier in the season. They're in for more pain than us.

Hawkins, Dangerfield, Tuohey, Guthrie, Blicavs, Duncan, Stanley and Rohan are all 32 plus and still best 23 in a side that's gone 1-6 of its last 7. Stewart and Jezza are both 31 and struggling all of a sudden. Stengle may well leave.

As for the youngsters Jhye Clark is looking like a potential bust. Dempsey looks great, Holmes is a star. SDK is soft as butter. Bruhn meh. Conway looks decent.

Cats are ****ed.

Interestingly they had 17 players who played in their last premiership playing last night.

 

[Muddiemoose]

Cats fans are seeing the cliff arrive suddenly after they were somehow 7-0 earlier in the season. They're in for more pain than us.

Hawkins, Dangerfield, Tuohey, Guthrie, Blicavs, Duncan, Stanley and Rohan are all 32 plus and still best 23 in a side that's gone 1-6 of its last 7. Stewart and Jezza are both 31 and struggling all of a sudden. Stengle may well leave.

As for the youngsters Jhye Clark is looking like a potential bust. Dempsey looks great, Holmes is a star. SDK is soft as butter. Bruhn meh. Conway looks decent.

Cats are ****ed.

Don’t think Collingwood are that far behind either

No doubt Daicos and Hill are extremely talented but not much support for them once that old guard move on

Pendles, Howe, Sideass, Crisp, Eillot, Hoskin Elliot, Mitchell and Cox all over 30

Degoey and Moore getting close plus looking washed

 

[Truetiger]

I like Vlastuin in the forward line. When was the last time we had a medium forward over 6-1?? Josh Caddy is the only one. He’s ball reading and marking could be a huge weapon with players like Blight and Balta taking over the intercepts.

I’ve said it all year, but I thought if Grimes was up to it, we should just sit him at FF and play a negating role on the best key interceptor for the other team.

Vlastuin in the forward line would so work. Would hope to see it abit more. Try new things as we have nothing to lose.

 

[_RT_]

What I'd like to see for the remaining 9 games.

Blight into the back line and Balta forward alongside Lynch to see how that pairing goes after any hope of seeing it was ruined when both got hurt against Sydney.

Taranto Hopper Dow & McAuliffe being the heart of our midfield structure. Dow has his detractors but to be fair he hasn't had the type of support around him that he should have because of the injuries. I'd also love to see Ralphsmith and Campbell given the wings to further their development.

Most of all I want to see competitive performances against most of the teams we play. The next 5 games are going to be tough, with Carlton Fremantle (away) Giants Port (away) and Collingwood (away) all tough games. We then get the battle for pick 1 against North at Marvel, followed by Saints (Home Marvel) Hawks (away MCG) & Suns (home) to end the season. I can see us winning 2 of them at best even with all our better players coming back into the side. To win any more than that would be putting us in danger of missing a top 2 pick, but also impacts our lower picks as well.

 

[YeOldTiger]

Since we don’t have any games this week thought it might be fun to have a thread where some of us professional armchair coaches could think about any moves or strategies the MC could consider

One that I have thought about over the past week is a positional move for Nick Vlustuin

With Balta looking settled down back again Vlossys intercept numbers are down and he’s just being used as a medium defender again so once possible move that I wouldn’t mind seeing is Vlossy in the forward line

We have seen him bob up forward as a break glass option a couple of times and it’s been relatively successful with him able to kick goals

He can take a decent mark and good below his knees and defensively so he could be a nice foil to play as that 3rd marking option for Cumbo spot (don’t come for me Cumbo lovers)

The vlossy move also has the benefit of opening a spot in the backline and specifically for Jacob Blight who has really impressed during is couple of vfl outings with his intercepts but at 195cm could match up on both talls and shorter forwards

So that’s my crazy idea, anyone else have any moves that wouldn’t mind to see as an experiment or feel like absolutely tearing down my Vlossy forward idea?

Vlaus might work well in a forward role to put the clamps on intercept defenders like Jake Lever. I can see Vlaus being very valuable in that role but really he's been tried midfield a few times and he just doesn't have the craft and he's not really a natural forward. He has lots of good footy ahead of him but I reckon it's mostly behind the ball. That's where he excels.

 

[tiger_tough]

What I'd like to see for the remaining 9 games.

Blight into the back line and Balta forward alongside Lynch to see how that pairing goes after any hope of seeing it was ruined when both got hurt against Sydney.

Taranto Hopper Dow & McAuliffe being the heart of our midfield structure. Dow has his detractors but to be fair he hasn't had the type of support around him that he should have because of the injuries. I'd also love to see Ralphsmith and Campbell given the wings to further their development.

Most of all I want to see competitive performances against most of the teams we play. The next 5 games are going to be tough, with Carlton Fremantle (away) Giants Port (away) and Collingwood (away) all tough games. We then get the battle for pick 1 against North at Marvel, followed by Saints (Home Marvel) Hawks (away MCG) & Suns (home) to end the season. I can see us winning 2 of them at best even with all our better players coming back into the side. To win any more than that would be putting us in danger of missing a top 2 pick, but also impacts our lower picks as well.

Swap Dow for Sonsie and I'm with ya

 

[YeOldTiger]

Cats fans are seeing the cliff arrive suddenly after they were somehow 7-0 earlier in the season. They're in for more pain than us.

Hawkins, Dangerfield, Tuohey, Guthrie, Blicavs, Duncan, Stanley and Rohan are all 32 plus and still best 23 in a side that's gone 1-6 of its last 7. Stewart and Jezza are both 31 and struggling all of a sudden. Stengle may well leave.

As for the youngsters Jhye Clark is looking like a potential bust. Dempsey looks great, Holmes is a star. SDK is soft as butter. Bruhn meh. Conway looks decent.

Cats are ****ed.

I was banging on about it at the time but they got a great draw to start the season. Imo they flattered to deceive. Not real sure on some of their kids but Holmes is a gun.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

I was banging on about it at the time but they got a great draw to start the season. Imo they flattered to deceive. Not real sure on some of their kids but Holmes is a gun.

7 of their best 22 are 33yo or older.

3 more of them including probably their best 2 players Stewart and Cameron are 31 now and will 32 around the start of next season.

Their oldest players under 30 right now who have played any senior footy to speak of are:

28 soon 29 Koldjashnij and Atkins
27 O'Connor
26 Bowes, Parfitt
25 soon 26 Z Guthrie, Close, J Henry, Stengle
25 Miers
24 Mullin

That 24-29yo contingent is as ugly as Ugly Betty's armpit.

The rest are 23 or under. And of those at present you could only say:

21 yo's Holmes is flying, Dempsey they are entitled to be very happy with his progress
22yo Bruhn is getting beaten in his position more than he is winning it
23yo DeKoning ditto
21 soon 22yo O Henry is suddenly struggling to impact

No other player has ever provided a significant performance. A couple have shown some promise. A few will no doubt emerge. Cats will go shopping and bring in anyone they can, flawed character players like Bailey Smith and Tarryn Thomas will be on their agenda. Smith alone will consume their next 2 round 1 picks and one of their 5 or so marquee level contracts.

It doesn't look a pretty picture.

 

[richoatthedisco]

If Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

has a brain he won't go to Geelong. Hawthorn or Collingwood a much better bet for him.

 

[Coach_Required]

Cats fans are seeing the cliff arrive suddenly after they were somehow 7-0 earlier in the season. They're in for more pain than us.

Hawkins, Dangerfield, Tuohey, Guthrie, Blicavs, Duncan, Stanley and Rohan are all 32 plus and still best 23 in a side that's gone 1-6 of its last 7. Stewart and Jezza are both 31 and struggling all of a sudden. Stengle may well leave.

As for the youngsters Jhye Clark is looking like a potential bust. Dempsey looks great, Holmes is a star. SDK is soft as butter. Bruhn meh. Conway looks decent.

Cats are ****ed.

AFL about to change the drafting rules so when the cats sink, they will keep all their low picks.

Reckon Scott will pull the pin end of this year if cats fail to make the 8, probably line up a nice cushy job in the AFL somewhere.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

If Bailey Smith has a brain he won't go to Geelong. Hawthorn or Collingwood a much better bet for him.

It probably depends whether he wants a bigger contract, or a smaller contract + a "sold off market" home in Ocean Grove.

 

[Ctl]

Which game will be Grimes and other retirees (Martin?, Prestia?) or departures (graham, baker?, mcintosh?) send off game, round 20 against collingwood, round 23 against hawks or round 24 against gold coast. All games at the mcg, would kind of prefer it be done early and give more games to the younger players to round off the season

 

[Sir_Loin]

AFL about to change the drafting rules so when the cats sink, they will keep all their low picks.

Reckon Scott will pull the pin end of this year if cats fail to make the 8, probably line up a nice cushy job in the AFL somewhere.

Footy Ops manager and the cycle of life continues.

Vlastuin in the forward line would so work. Would hope to see it abit more. Try new things as we have nothing to lose.

If we did that, we’re so tanking and the AFL would be up our clackers about it.

Just don’t swap ends each quarter.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[mauricerioli]

I was banging on about it at the time but they got a great draw to start the season. Imo they flattered to deceive. Not real sure on some of their kids but Holmes is a gun.

The Geelong supporter who does the fixture did very well for them.

“If the ladder was unchanged from here, the easiest fixtures for the season as a whole would be held by Geelong (10.3), the Bombers (10), Gold Coast (10), Carlton (10) and the Dockers (9.9).”