Changes Round 8 vs Freo

[Snarls Barkley]

Expecting Williams to be the guy to move back for the entire match. I don't love him back, love him on the wing, but think without competent taller backs they'll try and fill the void a little with medium sized guys

Lineup would be something like

Defenders: Khamis, Busslinger, Coffield, Williams, Sellwood, Dale, Bramble

Rucks: English, Emmett
Midfield: Bontempelli, Richards, Kennedy, Sanders, Freijah

Wings/Half forward: Davidson, Gallagher, McNeil, Vandermeer
Forward: Naughton, Lewis, West, Jones, Dolan

 

[Munnez]

Not enough mature bodies for my taste. Would have brought in Hayes and McComb

Sure thing Scrag.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

We have holes everywhere. The backline looks a disaster not ONLY are we lacking class but we are undersized Coffield and Buku are not tall. I can see when Jackson and Cox are forward Emmet will need to be back.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Coffield is a better footballer than Gardner

He’s got a far more natural kicking technique. That’s about the only positive. He coughs the ball up no less, though, and he a worse defender in pretty much every regard. I’m not a Gardner fan but I’d have him over Coffield particularly with Lobb & JOD out.

Jaques out doesn’t make sense. The only silver lining with all the injuries is that kids like him get a good run. He isn’t struggling at the level. Let him learn.

Baker out is very harsh. Been probably the most improved and consistent player this year. You wouldn’t mind so much if it were quality players taking his place…but that’s not the case.

 

[TiAn_]

Emmett isn’t just playing over Smith because he’s more versatile, it’s also because Smith can’t jump and would be utterly useless against Jackson.

 

[doggy_dog]

Didn’t have being upset over an Oskar Baker

13

Oskar Baker

Age

28

Ht

184cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.8

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.7

4star

MG

277.8

4star

No current season stats available

D

16.0

4star

K

10.8

4star

HB

5.2

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

2.0

4star

MG

333.6

5star

omission on my 2026 bingo card but here we are. Criminal that McNeil, Davidson, West, even Freijah tbh are in the team ahead of him. Jaques too, hasn't looked out of place at all for me and has so much upside, need to let him play

 

[TiAn_]

One defender over 190cm against one of the few teams with 3 KPFs lolllll

 

[Munnez]

Didn’t have being upset over an Oskar Baker omission on my 2026 bingo card but here we are. Criminal that McNeil, Davidson, West, even Freijah tbh are in the team ahead of him. Jaques too, hasn't looked out of place at all for me and has so much upside, need to let him play

Yep when you are in a forced position when you have no other option but to play the kids. May as well pump them into the talented future upside kids. Get them over the 50 game barrier as quickly as possible

 

[Mojorisin]

One defender over 190cm against one of the few teams with 3 KPFs lolllll

Plus the 2 rucks. We would want to be sure that we can beat them at ground level, I think they're still ahead there aswell.

 

[Doggy]

One defender over 190cm against one of the few teams with 3 KPFs lolllll

What is your alternative?

 

[doggie dog]

Similar impact but more versatile and more upside.

I thought Lachy really took it to Grundy, provided a really physical presence and challenged him.
Emmett was a boy vs a man.

 

[1961grandfinal]

Emmett isn’t just playing over Smith because he’s more versatile, it’s also because Smith can’t jump and would be utterly useless against Jackson.

English plays on Jackson, let’s see how that goes. Did you see Smith v Grundy? Who won the clearances in an absolute shellacking? Smith deserved a second game on his efforts but to Bevo rucks don’t matter unless you wait a lifetime for English to be dominant.

 

[Cudi]

Looking at the team, expecting West to spend a lot more time in the middle.

 

[pappy]

If we don't dominate the midfield this could get real ugly with Coffield and khamis down back. We just don't have the players with this horrific injury list.

 

[cherrypie]

I think Bevo tipped his hand earlier in the week with selection, covering the ground has been an issue and he wants it rectified. MAYBE Baker wasn't hitting the right spots and had some issues defending the ground, that's probably the only logical reason.

I think it’s been obvious the past few weeks that he’s been carrying an injury. We already have a bunch of players selected that aren’t fully fit and for his role, we need that run.

He’s had strapping on his leg the past few weeks and his TOG has decreased in that time. I don’t have the tracker stats but I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s covering far less ground, at a slower speed.

Average stats up to the Essendon game: 13 disposals, 1.5 tackles, 2.7 I50s, 239 metres gained, 72% TOG

Average stats since the Hawthorn game: 11 disposals, 0.6 tackles, 1 I50, 155 metres gained, 63% TOG

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Looking at the team, expecting West to spend a lot more time in the middle.

Definitely could. This is how much our selected side has been in there this year. Richards, Bont, Kennedy, Sanders and Freijah is probably enough that they don't have to do it. Freijah is probably the one who makes the biggest jump

Outside of those five there isn't really anyone capable of doing it, so if they do need to change things up then West is the only option

 

[lachy]

Not the team I would have selected. However, this is the team the match committee selected so I would expect to see sigificant improvement on last week or the match committee still have no strategy to turn it around

 

[WAbulldog]

It’s crazy that McNeil still is getting games in the year 2026.

 

[HK_Bulldog]

I'm a big Freijah fan so will go in to bat for him a little. He wasn't great against Sydney. His hands were awful and super-fumbly all night and he had a lot more clangers than usual. However, I thought his work ethic and effort was still pretty good. He couldn't do anything right but he kept his head down and kept plugging away. I'm confident it will turn for him.

 

[BulldogMuscle]

 

[theAthenian]

season 2026 beautifully epitomized
watch out if Timmy goes down tomorrow!

 

[TheScriptorWL]

Titanic

Bevo:

 

[BulldogMuscle]

Bevo:

Maybe he assumes that if you put in every single whipping boy we will run out of whips .. or something..
I don't even know any more, the highs of this season vs the lows have been staggering.

 

[Doggy]

Maybe he assumes that if you put in every single whipping boy we will run out of whips .. or something..
I don't even know any more, the highs of this season vs the lows have been staggering.

Unfortunately... what are the options?

It's like others complaining about lack of key defenders..

 

[theAthenian]

Maybe he assumes that if you put in every single whipping boy we will run out of whips .. or something..
I don't even know any more, the highs of this season vs the lows have been staggering.

nah he knows that no one at the club has the nous to ask for a resignation