Unofficial Preview Changes - Round 20 Lions v Western Bulldogs

[Old Den]

I'm an unabashed Harwood fan and for mine, I would rather Harwood play that small forward defensive role over Barrett any day of the week.

Yeah...he's only had 8 seasons to be contending with a rookie for the spot.

 

[winged1]

So easy to forget that he's a 21 year old with only 58 games under his belt. Admittedly he had a bad game yesterday but I definitely do not think he is over rated at all. Has played some good games this year & shown some significant improvement in his game. He will be a long term & important member of the team in future, successful years.

I said he was disappointing, not overrated. But rereading that I see the confusion.

I try not to be too critical of our guys who have played in our back line for the last few years because it has been a baptism of fire. They will come out hardened players.

He still needs to control his aggression and he can't take the bigs so Darling was always going to be tough for Darcy.

The structure suffered without McStay and we just seemed to lose composure as a defensive group for periods. Darcy lost composure the most though and for a guy with over 50 games that shouldn't have been the case given who was around him (Witherden, Cox).

I agree Darcy has improved this year and with a role more suited to his abilities he has a role to play. I certainly don't think we should leave him out against Foot-as-cray.

 

[winged1]

Yeah...he's only had 8 seasons to be contending with a rookie for the spot.

A previously listed rookie who for us was a cheap pick up and Harwood would be in if not for injury.

 

[jackess]

I said he was disappointing, not overrated. But rereading that I see the confusion.

I try not to be too critical of our guys who have played in our back line for the last few years because it has been a baptism of fire. They will come out hardened players.

He still needs to control his aggression and he can't take the bigs so Darling was always going to be tough for Darcy.

The structure suffered without McStay and we just seemed to lose composure as a defensive group for periods. Darcy lost composure the most though and for a guy with over 50 games that shouldn't have been the case given who was around him (Witherden, Cox).

I agree Darcy has improved this year and with a role more suited to his abilities he has a role to play. I certainly don't think we should leave him out against Foot-as-cray.

As I said during the game day thread. He didn't play much worse than Andrews. It's pretty tough playing on quality forwards without any help when their midfield can bring it inside 50 with no pressure.

 

[Eons]

As long as Skinner stays in I don't care about the changes. Exciting times ahead getting to watch the combination of Skinner, Hipwood and Schache develop over the next few years. Skinner brings the size to match his aggression, that tackle on Schofield was so good to watch.

 

[fanackapan]

So easy to forget that he's a 21 year old with only 58 games under his belt. Admittedly he had a bad game yesterday but I definitely do not think he is over rated at all. Has played some good games this year & shown some significant improvement in his game. He will be a long term & important member of the team in future, successful years.

Yeah, this. He also doesn't go missing in games (which happened yesterday to quite a few of our players in stretches). Maybe its because of the role he's playing, but we complained about him this weekend because he was always at the contest, so he was visible, and made a bunch of mistakes. But he was always at the contest, and that counts for a lot playing down back, especially as a negating defender, which is the role he plays. He had a bad day out, but he's still a good young player.

 

[jjami15]

I think Gardiner plays better on the third tall/small forwards than the bigger bodied KPP. Walker did well when he was moved on to Darling. Let's be honest, with the amount of ball that was coming in due to our midfield the backline was on a hiding to nothing. I would keep Gardiner because of what I stated previously and Allison provided some really good run as well so hope he stays in. It will be interesting to see the possible match-ups but with those five coming back in I can see Skinner, Jansen, Close coming out and Beams's shoulder looks like it could do with a weeks break. Not sure of the fifth out.

 

[Eons]

I think Gardiner plays better on the third tall/small forwards than the bigger bodied KPP. Walker did well when he was moved on to Darling. Let's be honest, with the amount of ball that was coming in due to our midfield the backline was on a hiding to nothing. I would keep Gardiner because of what I stated previously and Allison provided some really good run as well so hope he stays in. It will be interesting to see the possible match-ups but with those five coming back in I can see Skinner, Jansen, Close coming out and Beams's shoulder looks like it could do with a weeks break. Not sure of the fifth out.

Skinner will stay in Fagan said.

Barrett, Keays and Walker could be outs too.

 

[Old Den]

So easy to forget that he's a 21 year old with only 58 games under his belt. Admittedly he had a bad game yesterday but I definitely do not think he is over rated at all. Has played some good games this year & shown some significant improvement in his game. He will be a long term & important member of the team in future, successful years.

Agree...I like to think about Darcy when he is a 24 year old with 120 games under his belt and 3 more years under Fages and his assistants.

 

[winged1]

As I said during the game day thread. He didn't play much worse than Andrews. It's pretty tough playing on quality forwards without any help when their midfield can bring it inside 50 with no pressure.

Oh yeah, for sure. Been the same problem for the last few years.

 

[winged1]

Agree...I like to think about Darcy when he is a 24 year old with 120 games under his belt and 3 more years under Fages and his assistants.

It was almost like PTS for Darcy yesterday, flash backs of last year for him. The Horror. A midfield badly exposed on the rebound. Is that napalm I smell? No one leading up the ground. I can't stand the sound of the choppers.

Back home, he will bounce back. They all will.

Bring back in all of that experience we left out by tanking

 

[Full Wingspan]

I think it is fair to assume that selection this week will be indicative of who stays at the club at year's end and who doesn't.

It is pleasing to see our depth is at the level that it is. I really could not speak more highly of our recruitment over the past three years.

Dizzy is a great player for us BTW. And I am definitely a fan of Harwood over Barrett, however both players are required and worth sticking with.

 

[jjami15]

Skinner will stay in Fagan said.

Barrett, Keays and Walker could be outs too.

Did he? Cool, was impressed by Skinner. Not sure how the squad will look like, too tall.

 

[Dalions]

It was almost like PTS for Darcy yesterday, flash backs of last year for him. The Horror. A midfield badly exposed on the rebound. Is that napalm I smell? No one leading up the ground. I can't stand the sound of the choppers.

Back home, he will bounce back. They all will.

Bring back in all of that experience we left out by tanking

Lets face it though, even with those five back in the team. I doubt we would have won the game.
The ground is the longest and one of the more narrow grounds in the AFL and West Coast defend it so well. We were always up against it. We never had any space and found it near impossible to work their way through.
They went back to a Leppa style game plan of bomb it long and hope for the best. Which was never going to work with our young forwards.

 

[Dalions]

Ins: Hippy, Zorks, McCluggage, Berry, McStay and Harwood.

Outs: Skinner, Jansen, Keays, Allison, Gardiner and Barrett

Need Walker there for Ruck support.
I would even consider giving Stef a rest and bring in Archie.
I thought that was a game that Stef should have really dominated but he just looked tired.

 

[Milk Steak]

Fagan says Allison and Skinner likely to stay in and you'd imagine the 5 missing from this week will be back,but it's hard to imagine him making 7 changes, let alone picking 7 to drop.
At a glance you'd think:Jansen,Barrett, Close and some big calls of Keays, Gardiner and Matheison maybe.

 

[fanackapan]

To be fair, Stef did have 50 hitouts. The inability to turn those into clearances is an issue we've had for years, and is as much about our rovers as our ruck.

 

[Milk Steak]

To be fair, Stef did have 50 hitouts. The inability to turn those into clearances is an issue we've had for years, and is as much about our rovers as our ruck.

I'm not as concerned about Martins tap work as I am his inability to clunk park marks or even hold the easy ones.

 

[fanackapan]

I'm not as concerned about Martins tap work as I am his inability to clunk park marks or even hold the easy ones.

If clunking marks is the problem, Archie is not (yet) the solution. Have a look at the NEAFL stats - this weekend was ok, but generally speaking marking the ball is still something he needs to work on. He flies well, but he doesn't clunk many, which is fine for a young player, but isn't going to make you forget Stef.

There's also a big drop-off in rucking from Stef/Archie back to Walker/Close/etc, and the endurance gap between Stef and Archie means that choosing Archie as first ruck means we lose a lot more hitouts by having those guys rucking for more of the game.

 

[jackess]

Stefs marking has been pretty good the last couple of weeks. Took 2 contested marks on the weekend. More impressive on the weekend opposed to someone who's kicked over 400 goals.

 

[Scubaveg]

Tough week for selection. The five outs definitely come back in. Add to that Harwood who has potential in that defensive small forward role, his kicking his far better then Barretts.

Outs:
Gardnier for McStay
Barrett for Harwood
Jansen for Berry
Close (went missing after quarter time) for Hipwood
Mathieson for McCluggage
Keays for Zorko

Keays is a tough one, would happily keep him and not see Harwood come in but feel we need to see what Harwood can do in that small forward role.

 

[Forward We Go]

Tom Rockliff's shoulder in some trouble. Would not be surprised if his season is over & he goes in for an op very soon.

 

[jackess]

Tom Rockliff's shoulder in some trouble. Would not be surprised if his season is over & he goes in for an op very soon.

I think we can probably afford to let him have the surgery and let him have some extra time to decide what he'll do next year.

 

[winged1]

Tom Rockliff's shoulder in some trouble. Would not be surprised if his season is over & he goes in for an op very soon.

He has looked sore and down on output.

 

[Dalions]

Tom Rockliff's shoulder in some trouble. Would not be surprised if his season is over & he goes in for an op very soon.

He certainly hasn't been the same since it happened.
And Beams visibly struggling as well, racking up the possessions the last couple though.