Changes for Showdown

[DJ75]

I feel horrible and I know it's wrong of me, but I want Port to give us a good touch up on the weekend. I am a little tipsy so forgive me but here's my thought process: If we lose by a large margin on the weekend which is a big game for the club, our first home Showdown at Adelaide Oval, then I believe that would set the wheels in motion for change at the club. It would unrest those with complacent feelings about the club, give those who have been unhappy with the admin since Tippettgate (myself included) some more ammunition and I think if this ex-players rumour is true, then they would finally start making some real noise. I am seriously sick of this, I refuse to buy a membership even with my love for Adelaide Oval and I will not buy one or a ticket to a game until I see some change. I will accept freebies though

The only way this would happen is if we lost by over 200 points and the stadium was empty mid way through the 3rd quarter.
The BS at the top of the Crows is too strong for a normal loss to have any impact.

 

[dylan123]

Pods is undroppable? He is a complete liability in the forward half, he cannot chase someone to save himself. He is playing as a key forward and only averaging just over a goal a game, which is terrible. Not to mention he is getting in texs way which results in tex getting touches on the half back flank. Pods then gets moved to the back line as a loose man because he rarely sees it up forward, and thats where he beefs up his stats to get his ten touches..

Lynch is coming out of contract, and vic clubs will be circling. If we lost him after the gunston fiasco, i would literally rip up my membership

So it would be a great move to play pods over lynch

What?

Pods has been very strong for us in the past month or so - looked a lot better with Tex coming into the forward line. He becomes an extremely tough match up for the opposition to stop when Tex and Jenkins are already there which has seen him take some nice marks inside 50 against lesser opponents like Maxwell, Fletcher etc.

Can't say I've got much of an issue with his defensive pressure and doesn't appear to be any more of a liability than the rest of our forwards.

We're then able to use him to plug holes in the backline should we want to stem the flow or protect a lead which he's done very well this year.

Blaming him for Tex pushing up the ground and getting touches along the wing? Please....


There's no reason why we can't play all 4 of them. Lynch pushing up one wing with Tex/Pods doing the other on rotation with Jenkins in the forward line the whole time other than when Jacobs needs a rest in the ruck. Extremely hard to stop tall forwards like that who are all capable of being active further up the ground.



The biggest change I want to see is actually having a key forward sitting inside the forward 30m at all times. The amount of times I see us get a turn over and run forward with no one up forward to kick it to drives me mad. Betts had it at 70m out and he was the closest one to the goals. Just imagine if we'd instructed Tex to stay in the goal square (I doubt his man would have left him and even if he did it would result in an easier goal), he'd get a free forward 50 to lead to in a 1v1 contest which is where he excels. We've got a couple of tall forwards that are very capable and I bet would love the chance to have a real 1v1 contest with their defender.

But instead we insist on having every player follow the damn ball and then even with these tall targets, have no one in the forward line to kick it to when we do happen to get the quick turn over.

 

[King Elvis]

Most games Lynch would spend more time on the wing than in the forward 50 so I dont think its much of a concern playing the 4 talls

Except it makes us incredibly slow.

And Pods doesn't kick enough goals to justify his position.

Play Lynch as the linkman, he's superior to Pods where it matters.

 

[hey shorty]

agree 100%, pods is a liability and playing 3 kpf's simply hasn't worked. but he's sando's best buddy and I don't think sando has it in him to drop him. if jj hadn't kicked 4, I'd have no doubt we would have seen him in the 2's and we'd be back to seeing otten do a bit of rucking around the ground. pods' name is probably one of the first written on the team sheet. obviously we'll have to wait and see, but if you think pods is going to get dropped then you have a damn sight more faith in the coaching group than I do.

This is actually wrong. Our forward line has kicked 20 goals in 2 weeks and is functioning as good as the delivery allows. Pods is important in that he takes a big defender and allows Tex and JJ to get off the leash a bit. Without him opposition defenders can zone off and make life MUCH harder.

Lynch can play the role Martin has done in the last few weeks.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

- Walker is our best leading forward but poor defensively.
- Jenkins is a poor contested mark and is soft defensively but very good when he finds space. Also the 2R so must play.
- Lynch is an excellent flanker/midfielder doing most of his work in the middle 3rd of the ground. In our top 10 players and must play.
- Pods is our best contested/pack mark in the forward line and also swings back to defence when the opposition get a run on. Also has some licence to get up into the middle 3rd.

So all 4 have strengths and weaknesses. Combined they are too slow/not defensive enough as a unit.

Here's how I'd like to see it structured up for the future:

Lynch plays a high HF/wing position. He can easily play midfield. I know, i know…he's slow. The difference is between he and the other slow guys is that Lynch will actually bust his arse to run, run, run both defensively and offensively. Has footy smarts. Will hurt the opposition and set play up. So essentially he's a tall mid who can push forward.

The other semi-obvious move is to replace Pods with a guy who is still a marking threat but has more pace and can still run up the ground as an extra man when required (though Lynch will provide this in some respects). If only we had a quick, marking beast proven to be dangerous around goals but currently underperforming in another position (with due to injury, no footy smarts, or poor skill). Dangerfield…come on down and become the new Gary Ablett Snr/Leigh Matthews. Wont be wasted down there as long as he still has licence to run upfield when required. How dangerous would he be down forward in those contested situations? Opposition coach would be having nightmares, far more than discussing how to chop off his crap handballs and kicks through the midfield!

Plenty of space left for a defensive half-forward, Betts and Cameron. 7th forward is just a rotating mid.

F: Dangerfield, Walker, Betts
HF: Kerridge, Jenkins, Cameron
C: Lynch, B Crouch, Smith

 

[dblstR]

Gonna be wet and miserable (not gonna break the crowd record now) by the looks of things, Gonna have to drop some talls and play small.

 

[weekend at bernies]

What?

Pods has been very strong for us in the past month or so - looked a lot better with Tex coming into the forward line. He becomes an extremely tough match up for the opposition to stop when Tex and Jenkins are already there which has seen him take some nice marks inside 50 against lesser opponents like Maxwell, Fletcher etc.

Can't say I've got much of an issue with his defensive pressure and doesn't appear to be any more of a liability than the rest of our forwards.

We're then able to use him to plug holes in the backline should we want to stem the flow or protect a lead which he's done very well this year.

Blaming him for Tex pushing up the ground and getting touches along the wing? Please....


There's no reason why we can't play all 4 of them. Lynch pushing up one wing with Tex/Pods doing the other on rotation with Jenkins in the forward line the whole time other than when Jacobs needs a rest in the ruck. Extremely hard to stop tall forwards like that who are all capable of being active further up the ground.



The biggest change I want to see is actually having a key forward sitting inside the forward 30m at all times. The amount of times I see us get a turn over and run forward with no one up forward to kick it to drives me mad. Betts had it at 70m out and he was the closest one to the goals. Just imagine if we'd instructed Tex to stay in the goal square (I doubt his man would have left him and even if he did it would result in an easier goal), he'd get a free forward 50 to lead to in a 1v1 contest which is where he excels. We've got a couple of tall forwards that are very capable and I bet would love the chance to have a real 1v1 contest with their defender.

But instead we insist on having every player follow the damn ball and then even with these tall targets, have no one in the forward line to kick it to when we do happen to get the quick turn over.

We already lack midfield depth, so lets drop another mid for another forward

 

[chadwingard]

How do you think Wingard will go if Kerridge plays on him?

i would mind too much, Kerridge is better than Laird, If Kerridge goes to Wingard then id say Hinkley will be telling him to go deep forward and that will free up boak, gray, hartlett or ebert in the midfield. If i was Sanderson id be playing Kerridge on Pittard as a defensive forward, you should at least get some goals out of it

 

[TheLeftFist8]

This won't happen (depending on fitness assessment also) but I'd go:

IN: Henderson, Lynch, B Crouch, Cameron, Hartigan
OUT: Reilly, Podsiadly, Martin, Otten, Rutten.

- Atkins on standby for Mackay.
- Port have a small, quick forward line and it's gonna be wet.
- Our only chance is to radically alter the midfield set-up.

F: Dangerfield, Walker, Betts
HF: Kerridge, Jenkins, Cameron
C: Lynch, B Crouch, Smith
HB: Henderson, Hartigan, Sloane
B: Brown, Talia, Jaensch
1R: Jacobs, S Thompson, Laird
Int: Lyons, Wright, Mackay, Douglas.

 

[Archie87]

Looks like it's going to a wet one this Sunday... there is just no way we can go in with Pods AND Lynch. Pods should go out (can't see it happening unfortunately though). We need to be developing blokes who will be playing for us for years to come. Not oldies like Pods who have a younger, better, ready-made replacement.

Also, If Mackay doesn't come up, Atkins could be a handy replacement. Did some nice things yesterday, has poise and an accurate left boot too.

 

[rocket18]

I agree with that, the whole team tackles as if they are tackling there friends at training

Callinan should take them for tackling practice, what a great tackle that was yesturday - shake, shake, shake , poor bloke was rattling around so much he couldn't get the handball out.

 

[rocket18]

Good fir him.

We're 10th for shit teams.

Not true, we would be a lot higher than 10th if it was a "shit teams ladder"

 

[dylan123]

We already lack midfield depth, so lets drop another mid for another forward

There's nothing wrong with the depth of our midfield, it's the quality of the guys there that's the issue.

 

[Roo Lives Again]

I follow a Port bloke like that on Twitter. For every tweet he makes about Port winning, he'll make 3-4 about Adelaide losing.

I suppose there's fans on both sides of the fence like that though. It's odd behavior though.

Funny because I've never actually seen a Crows supporter like that

 

[TheRoo32]

Dangerfield clearly isn't 100%. If he plays it must be at full forward.

Also people need to stop fantasising about dropping Pods. He is a one of Sando's favourites. Not gonna happen.

Hendo unfortunately probably wont come in after the minor injury on the weekend.

What I would do.

Out: Martin, Lyons, Pods, Reilly
In: Crouch, Grigg, Lynch, Cameron

B: Brown, Rutten, Otten
HB: Smith, Talia, Jaensch
C: Sloane, Thompson, Crouch
HF: Cameron, Jenkins, Lynch
F: Betts, Walker, Dangerfield
R: Jacobs, Kerridge, Douglas

IC: Grigg, Laird, Mackay, Wright


What will likely happen
Out: Martin, Lyons
In: Lynch, Porps

 

[hey shorty]

Yeah nah Porps wont play for the A grade side again. Grigg would be unlikely too given he could barely move after the game, he and Hendo are less than 50/50 to come back in IMO. Lynch, BCrouch, hopefully Atkins or Knight and maybe MCrouch. If Hendo and/or Grigg are fit to play then they come into calculations too. We need more run and if it is going to be wet then Rutten comes out for some leg speed. Cameron a sneaky chance too from what I hear.

Atkins or Knight playing probably depends on DMac's recovery.

At this stage

Lynch-Martin
BCrouch-Lyons
Hendo-Rutten(if fit, if not then LT)
Atkins-DMac(if DMac doesnt come up)

Could easily make a case for Grigg, MCrouch and Knight too but it wont happen. Lose this week and its curtains, GWS the following week it will be time to get some fresh faces in.

 

[scotty13]

Without sifting through 11pages of crow talk...

Whats the word on Cameron? Is he likely to return on the weekend? or is he still injured (if so how far away is he)?

 

[Butts_JZZ30]

Who even cares?

The crows have degraded me to the point of non fuss. I'll go to the game and I always do, but I expect us to get thrashed and I dont even care. This showdown, the crows just don't have any heat anymore. Port are not even hateable, they give great media, have a ripper coach and playing group who Trengove aside are not even annoying.

What has happened to our club? What has happened to modern footy? Why can i feel no passion for my side and hate for my rival anymore? I can already predict it, slight sniff of hope at some stage, port will constantly get over the back of us coming from turnovers....predictable really....48pt loss....meh

 

[SureBuddy]

How do you think Wingard will go if Kerridge plays on him?

If you guys tag anyone other than Robbie Gray you will be mad. Why teams are not tagging him yet is beyond me, he is clearly our most dangerous player this year.

 

[Schulzycrow]

The biggest change I want to see is actually having a key forward sitting inside the forward 30m at all times. The amount of times I see us get a turn over and run forward with no one up forward to kick it to drives me mad. Betts had it at 70m out and he was the closest one to the goals. Just imagine if we'd instructed Tex to stay in the goal square (I doubt his man would have left him and even if he did it would result in an easier goal), he'd get a free forward 50 to lead to in a 1v1 contest which is where he excels. We've got a couple of tall forwards that are very capable and I bet would love the chance to have a real 1v1 contest with their defender.

But instead we insist on having every player follow the damn ball and then even with these tall targets, have no one in the forward line to kick it to when we do happen to get the quick turn over.

This! x 1000000. heck!

 

[Smithalicious]

At this stage the people we bring in will have minimum affect on how we are playing, we will just be moving the pieces around and not fixing any issues.

The people we are missing from our best 22 (Lynch, Hendo, VB, Cameron and Crouch) aren't the nucleus of the team. They will improve it marginally.

I'm sure the coaches are already trying to work out why we play so erratically but maybe some outside help and scrutiny would be a good thing, they could point to the issues we are having.

Why do we constantly have horrible starts? It's seriously worrying.

Anyways, to shuffle the deck chairs around some more:

In: Crouch, Lynch & Grigg
Out: Martin, McKay & Pods

Set Up:
FF: Betts, Jenkins, Danger
HF: Lynch, Walker, Kerridge
C: Douglas, Thompson, Grigg
HB: Sloane, Talia, Jaensch
FB: Otten, Rutten, Brown

C: Jacobs, Smith, Crouch

Int: Lyons, Reilly, Wright, Laird (sub)

 

[Schulzycrow]

Out:
Martin. Never to play AFL again.
Lyons. Poor tacker, poor decision maker not ready.
Dangerfield. 75% atm... a liability...don't care what he's says he is not helping the club jogging around looking sore.
Rutten...If any brains Port run him everywhere all day long like Essendon did or if he tries to be the loose man put a smaller player on him. Sorry Truck you are done.
Pods. With Lynch back can't afford to have three slow forwards. Pods misses the marks he should take...Sando loves him so I can't see him being dropped as much as I would like it to happen.
Laird. Love Lairdy, but due to our dumb coaches he has been taken to the cleaners in the past three weeks, needs a rest.

In: B Crouch, M Crouch, Lynch, Hartigan, Cameron (Atkins), Henderson (L Thompson).

What will happen...because only two players were the problem Saturday night
Martin, Lyons
B Crouch, Lynch

 

[little graham]

If you guys tag anyone other than Robbie Gray you will be mad. Why teams are not tagging him yet is beyond me, he is clearly our most dangerous player this year.

He plays well against us.

I would of thought that with the attention Boak and Wingard get, someone would get some space?

 

[little graham]

Out:
Martin. Never to play AFL again.
Lyons. Poor tacker, poor decision maker not ready.
Dangerfield. 75% atm... a liability...don't care what he's says he is not helping the club jogging around looking sore.
Rutten...If any brains Port run him everywhere all day long like Essendon did or if he tries to be the loose man put a smaller player on him. Sorry Truck you are done.
Pods. With Lynch back can't afford to have three slow forwards. Pods misses the marks he should take...Sando loves him so I can't see him being dropped as much as I would like it to happen.
Laird. Love Lairdy, but due to our dumb coaches he has been taken to the cleaners in the past three weeks, needs a rest.

In: B Crouch, M Crouch, Lynch, Hartigan, Cameron (Atkins), Henderson (L Thompson).

What will happen...because only two players were the problem Saturday night
Martin, Lyons
B Crouch, Lynch

Very good post, but showdowns need stability, too many changes.

 

[Roo Lives Again]

Does anyone else think it's madness to play Lynch, the Crouch bros, or Hendo....how can any of those players possibly keep up with the fitness of Port for 4 quarters?