Fixture Changes V Port Round 5

[dergert]

So McLean the likely sub?

 

[doggies ftw]

I also think the MC would be wary in adding another poor/slow user to the defensive mix. O’Brien isn’t amazing but probably safer than Gards.

I’m happy with that decision, it’ll give us a real opportunity to see O’Brien in the role he should be playing as a 3rd tall. His intercept marking was really strong in his first few games but he just wasn’t suited to being a genuine key defender, so I’ll hold out some hope he may go okay.

Sucks with Baz but a week off might do him good, McComb out is great and Hannan might be alright especially if it’s wet and his sloppiness is neutralised and his big body for crashing packs could be an asset in a contested game.

 

[Doggies7]

They play different positions to be fair. Hannan's last quarter was good last week and was always likely to stay in.

Unless Bont, Libba, Treloar and Macrae are out and Toby can get inside mid time, it looks like he’ll have to play the waiting game. I do wish we could find a spot for him though, he is a jet.

Yeah I thought especially with Bailey Smith out though, there's some extra rotations available in the middle now that Toby could have stepped in to. Oh well, should be sub at least hopefully...

 

[dogwatch]

I also think the MC would be wary in adding another poor/slow user to the defensive mix. O’Brien isn’t amazing but probably safer than Gards.

I’m happy with that decision, it’ll give us a real opportunity to see O’Brien in the role he should be playing as a 3rd tall. His intercept marking was really strong in his first few games but he just wasn’t suited to being a genuine key defender, so I’ll hold out some hope he may go okay.

Sucks with Baz but a week off might do him good, McComb out is great and Hannan might be alright especially if it’s wet and his sloppiness is neutralised and his big body for crashing packs could be an asset in a contested game.

Have you heard it's only a week off for Baz? Calf injuries can take a while.

 

[ringa5]

Fair call O'Brien he has the better form !
Now or never for his career.
Cleary also has the better form.
No rhyme or reason with selection.
Hopefully Dureya plays a blinder !
That thread about Smith being soft.
Put the moss on him.
No AFL player is soft!
Should have been taken down immediately.
Glad Arty is still in!

 

[Doggies7]

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Yeah I thought especially with Bailey Smith out though, there's some extra rotations available in the middle now that Toby could have stepped in to. Oh well, should be sub at least hopefully...

Yeah that’s probably fair. Smith has been going in at about one every three, so a little opportunity probably arose

 

[Doggies7]

We are really picking up a lot of soft tissue leg and groin injuries which is worrying. Is it Skinner reserve or the training / medical staff? Coincidence?

 

[DognBones]

Duryea wasn't all that great in the VFL. Looked slow and was caught a lot. Looked like he was nearing the end. Hopefully, we can get still get some good games from him.

 

[weltschmerz]

I wouldn't be surprised if McLean looked elsewhere at the end of his contract Lipinski style.

 

[SackofTaters]

Hannan ? His duffing a kick in the GOAL SQUARE is forever etched into my frontal lobe.. Never again..

 

[doggies ftw]

Yeah I thought especially with Bailey Smith out though, there's some extra rotations available in the middle now that Toby could have stepped in to. Oh well, should be sub at least hopefully...

Who takes the mid rotations, Bont, Libba, Macrae, Treloar only seems light on a touch….

Cody maybe but probably not first week back

 

[Doggy]

Hannan ? His duffing a kick in the GOAL SQUARE is forever etched into my frontal lobe.. Never again..

Other than that he was solid

 

[Doggy]

Who takes the mid rotations, Bont, Libba, Macrae, Treloar only seems light on a touch….

Cody maybe but probably not first week back

Isn't Toby an emergency?

 

[doggies ftw]

Duryea wasn't all that great in the VFL. Looked slow and was caught a lot. Looked like he was nearing the end. Hopefully, we can get still get some good games from him

Has looked pretty done at AFL level too I’ve thought unfortunately, hope he can turn it around but not exactly confident.
I would have gone Cleary, we need some young bloody in the team

 

[doggies ftw]

Isn't Toby an emergency?

Hopefully sub but point still stands

 

[Doggy]

Hopefully sub but point still stands

I'd say Weightman will also pinch hit in there.

Still a better midfield than the Tarps. Wines is carrying something too

English is also another midfielder. Can't say the same for Lycett

 

[ossie_21]

Because he's been one of the better performing defenders in the VFL.

I can think of three:
1. He is another of the Hawthorn production line that followed Bevo over.
2. He had a pretty good game in the VFL last week from all reports, better than Gardner.
3. Keath is out due to concussion protocols.

$3m bucks please.

He has been in better VFL form than Gardner I guess and is probably getting one more chance at AFL level to succeed before getting delisted.

My guess is that if Gardner was 100% then he’d definitely be in the team ahead of him but he hasn’t quite looked right yet*

*Ive only seen bits and pieces (not full games) so can only take that with a grain of salt

Maybe I’ve missed it, but I haven’t seen anyone talking his form up from the VFL. It’s just surprising as he’s barely mentioned, especially since he’s been mostly crap, injured or both since he has joined.

My worry is that we can’t carry too many of our lower ranked players in the side, Hannan & McComb at the same time was dangerous enough.

The other ins mostly make up for the outs, but 2 of our 3 key/tall defenders are not actually defenders and that’s what worries me the most about this game.

 

[maddog37]

$1 million to anybody that can provide a logical reason for Tim O’Brien being selected in the 22

I feel it’s because he can play the intercept marking role whereas Gards is a pure lockdown type.

 

[Freshwater]

I’d forgotten Tim O’Brian was still playing for us. He must’ve signed on for two years.

 

[Golden_6]

I don’t understand not including Toby given he’s pretty much a direct replacement for whatever role McComb was playing with the added benefit of picking up some of Smith’s midfield absence.

We’re going to see Caleb play significant midfield minutes and Port have a few bigger powerful midfielders.

 

[Doggy]

I don’t understand not including Toby given he’s pretty much a direct replacement for whatever role McComb was playing with the added benefit of picking up some of Smith’s midfield absence.

We’re going to see Caleb play significant midfield minutes and Port have a few bigger powerful midfielders.

Wines is carrying an injury

 

[The Inbetweener]

Any danger of playing Buku in his natural position as an intercepting defender, rather than picking TOB?

Won’t be at all surprised if Buku gets picked up elsewhere in the off season.

 

[Doggy]

Any danger of playing Buku in his natural position as an intercepting defender, rather than picking TOB?

Won’t be at all surprised if Buku gets picked up elsewhere in the off season.

Come on .. this crap of "X player wasn't picked, will probably leave at the end of the year" each week on this board is a bit over the top.

 

[stefoid]

There were no games including west coast or north melbourne in those stats mate. As I said above, in games between top 8 teams only. I literally did your work for you and disproved your own claim.

I'd suggest you might watch our games but I doubt you watch every single game, and therefore don't really have a good grasp on our relative performance. The data speaks for itself.

Yes, sometimes we dominate possession and don't score, as happens to every single other team in the league at times. There is nothing showing this happens to us more than other teams. In fact scoring efficiency would show that it happens to us LESS than other teams. Multiple-season long data sets show that we're stacking up well against our peers in terms of scoring performance.

Again, find me any metric that supports your claims and I'll consider it. As it stands every metric shows otherwise to what you're claiming.

Im sure you know where our strengths and faults lie, so in a way this is a weird thing to be arguing about. High numbers of inside 50s for a poor return is a serious ongoing concern for us - yes or no? Our midfield dominance should result in higher scores than we actually achieve. if you say no, then I can only shrug and wander away. Regardless, it seems the coach is finally attempting to play a faster more direct style of football this season, with stuttering mixed results so far.