Unofficial Preview Changes v North Melbourne (Rd 2)

[Dylan12]

Bring on North Melbourne next week when us Victorian fans get our turn.

As for changes; I'm not sure there'd be any given we appeared to get through unscathed on the injury front.

According to dickhead Barrett; Gardiner will be out for six weeks for nudging Ryan with is leg.

Six weeks might've been an exaggeration but you get the point.

 

[Elixuh]

None.

 

[Sausages]

Yeah, I'm with no changes either. I didn't mind Barrett when he first appeared, but damn, he's really gone downhill over the last 5 years or so. We must've prevented him going on Lions' sponsored junkets, as he genuinely seems to have a dislike for our footy club.

 

[jackess]

None. Continue Martin and Oscar having 60-70% game time and play Charlie one out as much as possible.

 

[TheZork]

Id say one of the tall/medium defenders definitely need to come out, we cant be playing 4 on Etihad (Hodge, Andrews, Gardiner and Walker) as well as Rich and Witherden who aren't quick either.
I've watched the game twice today and whilst Hodge did some nice things he was caught out on multiple occasions due to his lack of pace (the game was way too quick for him unfortunately), which will be exposed even more at Etihad.

In: Christensen
Out: Hodge (possibly Walker)

Changes entirely based on team balance in the conditions.

 

[Dylan12]

Has there been any word on how many games Hodge will play this year or is he pretty much a week by week proposition?

 

[Tom14]

Has there been any word on how many games Hodge will play this year or is he pretty much a week by week proposition?

Week by week I think. I can't agree with you TheZork - I was pleasantly surprised by how little Hodgey got exposed by their forwards. And I don't think you can underestimate the importance of him organising our defensive zone which worked superbly (only 2 eagles goals after qtr time).

It was really easy to see how he was directing traffic at the ground and he still managed to make a couple of crucial interventions to cut off attacks.

As for me, no change barring injuries. Darcy can play small (as evidenced by him doing almost a perfect job on Liam Ryan, including provoking a report ) and with bailey in the team we get plenty of drive out of the backline. Main thing will be to continue with the tactics from the second quarter on of primarily rotating Stef and Big O through the ruck with minimal stints forward and isolating Linc/Charlie in the forward 50.

 

[M Malice]

I can't see Fagan and co. making any changes, the only player out there last night who I thought was down on form was Eric Hipwood and he'd be the one I'd bring out if they want to go smaller on the fast track, depending on form in the NEAFL practice match, Eric runs under the ball far too often (sometimes nudged/pushed).

Out- Eric Hipwood. In one of- Lewy Taylor, Allen Christensen, Ben Keays, Cedric Cox.

I do think with us playing a confident expansive winning style of footy Cedric Cox would add a lot to our side, cream on top.

 

[jjami15]

Close thread

 

[Gadzorks]

No changes. Gotta reward a winning combination.

 

[TheZork]

Week by week I think. I can't agree with you TheZork - I was pleasantly surprised by how little Hodgey got exposed by their forwards. And I don't think you can underestimate the importance of him organising our defensive zone which worked superbly (only 2 eagles goals after qtr time).

It was really easy to see how he was directing traffic at the ground and he still managed to make a couple of crucial interventions to cut off attacks.

As for me, no change barring injuries. Darcy can play small (as evidenced by him doing almost a perfect job on Liam Ryan, including provoking a report ) and with bailey in the team we get plenty of drive out of the backline. Main thing will be to continue with the tactics from the second quarter on of primarily rotating Stef and Big O through the ruck with minimal stints forward and isolating Linc/Charlie in the forward 50.

The thing is though, the only genuine key forward that North have is Brown, all the rest are mediums from looking at the team sheet for today. On a fast deck I reckon its pretty risky to go in as tall as we were yesterday against such a short forward line.

 

[Tom14]

I can't see Fagan and co. making any changes, the only player out there last night who I thought was down on form was Eric Hipwood and he'd be the one I'd bring out if they want to go smaller on the fast track, depending on form in the NEAFL practice match, Eric runs under the ball far too often (sometimes nudged/pushed).

Out- Eric Hipwood. In one of- Lewy Taylor, Allen Christensen, Ben Keays, Cedric Cox.

I do think with us playing a confident expansive winning style of footy Cedric Cox would add a lot to our side, cream on top.

Hippy isn't going out, c'mon. The Roos are running short of Key defenders, would be madness not to keep him in the team.

Don't tinker with such a good winning combo for tinkering's sake folks, we aren't experienced a team enough to unsettle a winning lineup just for a venue.

 

[M Malice]

The thing is though, the only genuine key forward that North have is Brown, all the rest are mediums from looking at the team sheet for today. On a fast deck I reckon its pretty risky to go in as tall as we were yesterday against such a short forward line.

Looking at Norths named forward setup today v the Dockers if we go in with the same side our match ups could look something like this-
Andrews > Brown.
Gardiner > Zeibell.
Walker > Wood/Goldstein
Hodge > Scott.
Witherden > Turner.
Rich/Bailey > Hall/rotating mids.

 

[BuntonRules]

I can't see Fagan and co. making any changes, the only player out there last night who I thought was down on form was Eric Hipwood and he'd be the one I'd bring out if they want to go smaller on the fast track, depending on form in the NEAFL practice match, Eric runs under the ball far too often (sometimes nudged/pushed).

Out- Eric Hipwood. In one of- Lewy Taylor, Allen Christensen, Ben Keays, Cedric Cox.

I do think with us playing a confident expansive winning style of footy Cedric Cox would add a lot to our side, cream on top.

Did you see Fagan's interview? Said whilst there numbers were not huge, they made a big contribution in the win. I must have watched a different game, too. Totally agreed with him.

You can't change a team that puts on a show like that.

 

[Toffee Lion]

You can't drop someone like Hipwood, I don't think we'll make any changes, we tend not to after wins.

 

[M Malice]

Hippy isn't going out, c'mon. The Roos are running short of Key defenders, would be madness not to keep him in the team.

Don't tinker with such a good winning combo for tinkering's sake folks, we aren't experienced a team enough to unsettle a winning lineup just for a venue.

Did you see Fagan's interview? Said whilst there numbers were not huge, they made a big contribution in the win. I must have watched a different game, too. Totally agreed with him.

You can't change a team that puts on a show like that.

Yep, I saw the interview.

I agree, as I said in my post I can't see them making any changes, playing devils advocate re the thinking of some that we'll be going in too tall.

 

[Mavlions1961]

Close thread

Exactly, do we need this thread after this performance.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

Fair enough to invite the discussion. But I doubt anyone who saw the game would propose any unforced changes.

 

[Dylan12]

Exactly, do we need this thread after this performance.

It is pretty much an unofficial preview thread to discuss next week's game (as this type of thread has been put up on this board for the past decade) until the official thread is released.

The thread still applies if there are no changes.

You're more than welcome to ignore the thread too if it is to offensive for you.

 

[BangyBangy]

Playing Norf away has certainly been an arduous task for us in recent years. Will be interesting to see how we go next week. Interesting scheduling. We get an extra days recovery than they do, plus they are coming back from Perth. Teams generally struggle to back up & play well after that road trip.

 

[ZoBlitz]

It is pretty much an unofficial preview thread to discuss next week's game (as this type of thread has been put up on this board for the past decade) until the official thread is released.

Exactly.

 

[jackess]

The way North is playing maybe we can rest a few

 

[buttermuffs]

The way North is playing maybe we can rest a few

Or all our players.

 

[T Rick]

Yeah, I'm with no changes either. I didn't mind Barrett when he first appeared, but damn, he's really gone downhill over the last 5 years or so. We must've prevented him going on Lions' sponsored junkets, as he genuinely seems to have a dislike for our footy club.

...and Bevo - his personal dislike for him and our Club is palpable and so pathetically unprofessional. Leppa had him sussed out.

 

[Dylan12]

The Docklands surface is a serious worry for next week given Essendon play St Kilda there the previous day to our clash against North:

THE AFL will review its potholed pitch at Marvel Stadium, labelled "absolutely atrocious" after hosting two matches at the Docklands stadium on the opening weekend of the season. Large divots appeared on the sandy field during Sunday's clash between St Kilda and Gold Coast, a night after Western Bulldogs defender Matthew Suckling was injured after the surface shifted under him.

Players appeared to be checking their movements on the worst-affected areas, including the wing immediately in front of the team benches. Suckling suffered an ankle injury in his side's win over Sydney on Saturday night, saying "the ground gave way" underneath him as he kicked. He pulled his punches in a post-match interview, describing the ground overall as being in "pretty good nick".

Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew claimed he "didn't notice" the issue, even as an emergency umpire took it upon himself to go out to the ground and replace lost turf on the rotten surface. A League spokesperson said head office had no comment but would provide one after a review.

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said if the surface was found to be sub-par it would need to be fixed before their round two clash with Essendon next Saturday. "The whole round, there's been a lot of mistakes from everyone," he said. "The Bulldogs game was the same. I'm not sure if that's the surface or just blokes getting used to it again. "If it is the surface that's responsible for blokes slipping over then of course it needs to be fixed. It will end up leading to injury."

Geelong great and Fox Footy commentator Cam Mooney linked the turf to a knee knock suffered by Suns skipper David Swallow on Sunday. "This ground out here along this wing is absolutely atrocious," he said. "You can see where Swallow hurt his right knee, it was probably a little bit of that turf switching under him there. "There's a lot of turf being thrown around. It's not great."

I'll be filthy if one our of boys get injured as a result of the surface.

Good to see we aren't the only club where amateur hour is directed our way:

The turf wasn't the only issue to plague the stadium on Sunday. Scoreboard operators had a bad day, giving two early Gold Coast goals to "J.Hogan" in a possible reference to the Fremantle forward. St Kilda assistant Brendon Lade was introduced as Brendon Lake. The sound controllers also had a day to forget, missing their cue as the Saints ran through their banner meaning the team broke through the crepe paper to the sounds of Swedish band The Hives.