Unofficial Preview Changes & discussion v the Suns, Round 10.

[McIvor]

Deven to replace Sharp.

Well said; Sharp is a clanger king and doesnt offer a great deal - the likes of Dev, Prior and Ah Chee offer substantially more and it completely baffles me why Sharp got another game after doing last week and its been sometime since a player makes the amount of mistakes he makes.

Id consider resting Linc and replace him with a like for like in Kai.

Gunston should just be dropped point blank. Fort or dont rest Linc, play Cam third tall and Kai again comes in.

 

[McIvor]

I agree and I think that people are underestimating what Gunston is bringing.
He is playing the role to perfection really, by dragging defenders away from the our other game winners and creating space for them to do their thing.
He will have his day out and I am sure it is not too far away.
But not against him being rested at times this year and giving Fullarton a go when he is.
Getting Joe up the ground is the perfect role for Joe, it gets him into the game more and he seems to really enjoy that. So that is why Fullarton is a good option rather than Fort.

As Martison has pointed out, opposition are now playing thru him. Redman destroyed Gunston last night and its evident opposition will start explointing this and looking to use Gunston's opponent as much as possible knowing Gunston wont go with them.

I suspect Gunston will be rested mainly for the interstate trips but wouldnt be against him being rested or dropped next week.

 

[BrizzyBandit]

Couple of thoughts:

Berry has been very quiet the last few weeks. Need more from him. Barley seen him.

Agree with all… Gunston looking totally cooked. No agility or speed. Feels like his hunger is dropping as he realises he is done.

Sharp and was far from the Clanger king against Essendon. Thought he used the ball well and was damaging by foot several times. His speed across giant areas of the ground is immense. Holds his spot easily.

Not sure why we have Answerth as the Sub. He is a defensive role player. I would rather Ah Chee who has the ability to impact the play and exploit tired players…. Also very solid overhead which could be the difference in tight games as we try to move the ball down the ground like Dunkley has provided us.

Alternatively maybe Rich is the perfect sub in his twilight years. Let tired opposition get slaughtered as he comes on halfway through the third.

Coleman working his way into the season. Definitely down on last years ball use.

 

[Dalions]

Lyons was carrying an injury?

This from the AFL site discussing Robertson’s inclusion for the Richmond Final last year.

“With Jarryd Lyons (groin) missing, Robertson was assigned the task of quietening the Tigers' best midfielder, Dion Prestia, which he did admirably for most of the first half before the triple premiership ball-winner had a late flurry prior to injuring his hamstring.”

Lyons did play that same week in the VFL.
He was (soft dropped) because he could no longer play his role, injury or no injury.
Other than via the sub he hasn’t played a game since.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Personally I think our midfield has even fired yet. This weekend might be a good opportunity for it to flex its muscle.

 

[fugitive]

They will need to fire, Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson will be a handful, really troubled Melbourne couple of weeks ago.

Personally I think our midfield has even fired yet. This weekend might be a good opportunity for it to flex its muscle.

 

[M Malice]

This weekend if Blues beat Magpies, Port beat Demons and we have a reasonably good win against the Suns we go top of the ladder.

Port at home so a big chance.

Blues line in the sand game against the arch enemy.

We should dispatch the Suns at the Gabba, the margin required could be difficult.

 

[T Rick]

I don't see any changes that's needed for the Suns game excluding unknown injuries.
Arguably our 3 worse players were Gunston, Berry & Cameron
Cameron and Berry won't be dropped.
I thought Gunston was good against a better team in Carlton the previous week so don't see him being replaced either.

Maybe someone gets a managed beside their name.
However, with only 2 games to the bye, the Essendon game would have been a better time to do that.

Big O did get a knee to the ribs and was down for a while but played on. See how he pulls up this week.

The knee to Oscar's ribs was not scrutinised at all and yet it dropped him like a sack of potatoes...he was in a bad way. I thought there was some directive from the AFL that such an action had to stop and would be penalised?

 

[MSB ROYS]

The knee to Oscar's ribs was not scrutinised at all and yet it dropped him like a sack of potatoes...he was in a bad way. I thought there was some directive from the AFL that such an action had to stop and would be penalised?

Only if it happens to a Geelong player...

 

[Dalions]

Only if it happens to a Geelong player...

Only if the Coach has a whinge about it.

 

[jonnobackpocket]

Couple of thoughts:

Berry has been very quiet the last few weeks. Need more from him. Barley seen him.

Agree with all… Gunston looking totally cooked. No agility or speed. Feels like his hunger is dropping as he realises he is done.

Sharp and was far from the Clanger king against Essendon. Thought he used the ball well and was damaging by foot several times. His speed across giant areas of the ground is immense. Holds his spot easily.

Not sure why we have Answerth as the Sub. He is a defensive role player. I would rather Ah Chee who has the ability to impact the play and exploit tired players…. Also very solid overhead which could be the difference in tight games as we try to move the ball down the ground like Dunkley has provided us.

Alternatively maybe Rich is the perfect sub in his twilight years. Let tired opposition get slaughtered as he comes on halfway through the third.

Coleman working his way into the season. Definitely down on last years ball use.

Wouldn’t describe Berry’s 29 disposals including 9 marks and 17 kicks against Carlton as quiet.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

The commitee needs to make some changes.
Ah Chee has to come in for Harry, maybe Prior for Kiddy . Calum and Prior - wing or halfback take your pick.
Gunton out, PLEASE, Fort or Lohmann or Fullarton to come in. I'm thinking Lohmann.
We need to get this team purring, not happening atm.
And stop dump kicking , yeah sure it gives us the kaos ball and in h/a games works like a treat against most sides , but surely we know by now against better set up sides, they will gobble them up and move it with ease.
We need our better players to be able to find the targets, been horendous.
Gold Coast can use the ball with quality, not going to be as easy as the Bombers.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Well said; Sharp is a clanger king and doesnt offer a great deal - the likes of Dev, Prior and Ah Chee offer substantially more and it completely baffles me why Sharp got another game after doing last week and its been sometime since a player makes the amount of mistakes he makes.

Id consider resting Linc and replace him with a like for like in Kai.

Gunston should just be dropped point blank. Fort or dont rest Linc, play Cam third tall and Kai again comes in.

Sharp has shown plenty in the two games he's played. Ran back well to help out the defence and his ball use wasn't terrible. He's done more than enough to hold his spot in the team for now.

Not sure about resting Linc. He's not getting rewarded on the scoreboard for his effort but he's been doing fine. Feels like it'd just be change for the sake of change.

 

[McIvor]

Sharp has shown plenty in the two games he's played. Ran back well to help out the defence and his ball use wasn't terrible. He's done more than enough to hold his spot in the team for now.

Not sure about resting Linc. He's not getting rewarded on the scoreboard for his effort but he's been doing fine. Feels like it'd just be change for the sake of change.

We must be watching different games if Sharp is considered to have played well past 2 games. Was completely out of depth against Carlton and aside from a Joe the Goose goal which he almost stuffed up by dropping the simplest of marks and then on Saturday night, yes he was improved, which isnt saying much given how poor he was about Carlton, but his disposal and kicking out on the full in 2 successive kicks when not under a lot pressure were comical.

AH Chee and Dev offer much much more and actually have the ability to impact games which i cant see Harry doing yet. Perhaps in a year or 2 he will.

 

[McIvor]

The knee to Oscar's ribs was not scrutinised at all and yet it dropped him like a sack of potatoes...he was in a bad way. I thought there was some directive from the AFL that such an action had to stop and would be penalised?

Rucks can lead with there knees, Oscars problem is that he just refuses to jump at centre bounces opposite his problem, although he does jump at boundaries, and instead at centre bounces he waits for the ball to come down. Is he timid or afraid to get hurt by not jumping? IDK but he treats the centre bouncers is like a basketballer at the tip off. Unusual stratgey, but him getting kneed is his own fault.

He did play well tho I thought on Sat night.

 

[Nunez]

Rucks can lead with there knees, Oscars problem is that he just refuses to jump at centre bounces opposite his problem, although he does jump at boundaries, and instead at centre bounces he waits for the ball to come down. Is he timid or afraid to get hurt by not jumping? IDK but he treats the centre bouncers is like a basketballer at the tip off. Unusual stratgey, but him getting kneed is his own fault.

He did play well tho I thought on Sat night.

He dominated in the ruck and has more clearances than any ruck this year. Safe to say he's playing to his strengths.

 

[McIvor]

He dominated in the ruck and has more clearances than any ruck this year. Safe to say he's playing to his strengths.

HE was in my top 5 on the weekend as i voted - was more commenting on his technique of not jumping or questioning why he refuses to jump unlike say Joe who does jump high

 

[Nathan Barley]

He dominated in the ruck and has more clearances than any ruck this year. Safe to say he's playing to his strengths.

Dominated the ruck is a bit of a stretch but he did get a vote from me for limiting Draper's influence

He's 18th this year for hit out win % and 21st for hit out to advantage win %

But he does average the most clearances of rucks with 5.8 with 5 other rucks averaging between 5 and 5.4

 

[M Malice]

There's little doubt that the likes of Ah Chee, Prior, Tunstill and Robertson are better overall players and have shown more than Harry Sharp... the coaches obviously see a big upside re Harry if he can bring his strengths to the seniors, I'd be giving him to the bye to see how it works out.

FWIW I think he was fair against the Blues and my feeling live(have not watched replay yet) at the game is that he improved substantially against the Bombers.

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

Watching Fullarton playing in person, I can't see him coming in for Gunston; he doesn't really play the same game and it might upset the balance of the side. He's more a replacement in case of injury to Daniher or Hipwood, especially the latter.

He's in good form, no doubt about that, but I'd be cautious about reading too much into a good performance against the Bombers reserves who desperately lack tall defenders at the moment.

 

[M Malice]

Watching Fullarton playing in person, I can't see him coming in for Gunston; he doesn't really play the same game and it might upset the balance of the side. He's more a replacement in case of injury to Daniher or Hipwood, especially the latter.

He's in good form, no doubt about that, but I'd be cautious about reading too much into a good performance against the Bombers reserves who desperately lack tall defenders at the moment.

Yer, Hippy, Joe and Fullarton up front doesn't feel like the right mix to me, if Gunston was dropped (which is almost zero chance IMO) as has been mentioned earlier we should go either Rayner/Ah Chee in the 3rd tall role or go smaller with Lohmann.

 

[On the quiet]

Other than CEY, history shows that during Fagans time at the club we don’t specifically hunt out players via trade to play VFL.
Gunston will either play AFL or be rested, this year atleast.

I agree, but if Gunston was to be rested say for the Adelaide game, I think it is worth giving Tom a game, although I dislike seeing players coming in for just one odd game.

IMO there is a very big difference between the type of backs that have been marking Fullarton in the VFL as opposed to the AFL, this was one of my complaints last year regarding Payne in that he was not marking a Hawkins, Curnow type quality forward in the VFL so was he really developing in the ressies.

Tom can only keep doing what he is doing and getting a little more dominate in those contested possessions and hopefully he gets at least a few games in the AFL so we can decide where he sits on our list moving forward. If we got Himmelberg (i doubt we will) then Tom is probably not required with Fort as the backup ruck and Gunston still contracted in 2024.

 

[twhowler]

The Great Gunston Debate! It's a fair enough one to have.

My hot take on the main points being argued:

He has runs on the board - LIMITED POINT - sure he does but not at the lions. It buys him some more time but not a leave pass for the year. we are trying to win a flag not manage a legend of the club

Fagan always plays recruits - LIMITED POINT - similar to above. He has in the past. But they have also been delivering. So the recruit always gets a chance to start in the best 22 eg McKenna. But if Gunston is really struggling and Fullarton is kicking big bags then there will be no guarantees

He is a great kick for goal - NOT ANYMORE Talk to any hawks fan and this year's ordinary accuracy is not a one-off. Kicks the odd pearler but his previous strength was converting an abnormally high number of 1/3 or 1/4 shots, hasn't done that this year

He has good positioning - FAIR POINT - but how much does it stand for? If he is just getting out of the way of the forwards I am sure Fullarton could do the same. And if they start playing through his man as they did on the weekend it weakens the point. He seems to struggle in one-on-one wrestling so needs to get out on the lead more. He has had patches where he gets free on the lead a lot but not many. Maybe we need to look for him more? Maybe he has lost a yard of pace and that is the difference?

Fullarton / Fort are different players - FAIR POINT - and if we put one of them in we would have to adjust somewhat. So if Gunston is going out for one of them it might hurt forward line cohesion.

Joe goes better with some ruck time - FAIR POINT - and i think even if Fort comes in he plays basically forward. But I think he has some forward craft and is a great target when we bomb it in so i think this is do-able. Agree we could also go Rayner or Ah Chee as third marking target, but against a bigger defence this could be risky, they could zone-off and intercept mark a lot.

My overall take from the above is that Gunston won't be dropped if he think maybe we can get more out of another player. It will have to be the MC thinking we would DEFINITELY get more. And probably only happen if we have a bad loss or two. In really simple terms i suspect we are in a 'if it ain't broke' mode.

The other big debate on Rich, i agree he will come back in. I think it's a shame Prior has not been given a chance to own the half back position. We are playing Wilmot half back and Sharp wing. So the MC has basically designed it so that nobody can replace Rich because Wilmot is supposed to be a wing now.

We have a few knocking the door down in the 2s. Ah Chee perhaps the loudest? I think given Sharp is in the side he should get one more week before Rich back in. His tank is an asset - gets to so many contests. I think his biggest weakness is his kicking. It's not horrible but it needs to be better than average to get a regular game IMO as he doesn't have a heap of pace and struggles to lay a tackle. was always a project player and still young

Big game this week. Suns are in the best form they have been in before a Q clash for quite a while. They are due

 

[FeastOrFamine]

We must be watching different games if Sharp is considered to have played well past 2 games. Was completely out of depth against Carlton and aside from a Joe the Goose goal which he almost stuffed up by dropping the simplest of marks and then on Saturday night, yes he was improved, which isnt saying much given how poor he was about Carlton, but his disposal and kicking out on the full in 2 successive kicks when not under a lot pressure were comical.

AH Chee and Dev offer much much more and actually have the ability to impact games which i cant see Harry doing yet. Perhaps in a year or 2 he will.

He had one bad quarter against Carlton after having not played senior footy since the previous year. Think you're being far too harsh on him given how green he is. Obviously the two kicks out on the full were pretty bad, but every young player makes mistakes so I'll back him in to learn from it and move on. I also don't think Dev would be doing any better in Sharp's role. If we were gonna play Dev I'd rather play him in the guts. I'd be fine with Ah Chee coming back in though.

Overall I'd persevere with him and let him continue to develop in his role. His performances will only get better as he gains confidence in himself.

 

[dlanod]

Preview - Round 10, 2023: Brisbane Lions vs. Gold Coast Suns, Saturday 20th May, 7:30. Gabba

Coming off a confidence-boosting win against the Eagles and showing a ton of fight the week before against the Dees, the 4W, 5L Suns are showing some promising form in the absence of their illustrious leader Touk Miller. Meanwhile, Brisbane is looking to make it 7 in a row to really cement...

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