Preview Changes vs. Collingwood (Qualifying Final) Thursday night

[brucetiki]

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[Soggy2112]

Does that only apply if both teams are playing that week?

Last Saturday Dowling and Draper were not eligible for SANFL because they played AFL the previous week and the AFL team wasn’t playing.

This is also the rule for Country Leagues. I believe we could have asked permission for D & D to play SANFL but we chose not to apply?

Do you reckon we didn’t ask for permission for Draper and Dowling to play so that we might be more likely to get permission for Rachele if required?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Pedlar in for Murphy (in this scenario)

Thanks- done an edit.

Effectively Max for Murphy & Pedlar for Rankine

 

[WetCrow1991]

Defense wins Premierships

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Lots to unpack

Seems very defense-minded / safety first with Bond + Smith in the 23 but a couple of big risks in there too.

Can Pedlar get through a full game and contribute for 4 quarters? I really like him and am glad we've picked him. Acknowledge that it is a risk though.

Was Max forward an Shane Ellen FF at Noarlunga brief glimpse, joker stashed away for later, now played just the week vs a good team when we are without Rankine + Rachele? Bold call, coach. I think the timing is right.

Last season many of us thought Bond might be able to find a niche role in defence. It hasn't happened but I reckon our coaches have been looking for ways to include him. The planets have aligned late in the season. I like it. He could be our Nick Smith in waiting.

A shame about Dowling. I wonder what it is we don't rate about him? Seems a composed, effective, impactful player every time he takes the field. Is he a bit... nice? We maybe prefer the streetfight of Pedlar.

Question
Will Collingwood dutifully park Josh Daicos across half back for Max to forward tag him? I suspect they won't. We showed our hand against them last time. Against Gold Coast when Collingwood had a poor first half they shifted J Daicos into the midfield after half time and he lit it up

I reckon J Daicos starts in the middle and we instead see Pendles or even N Daicos start across half back.

What do we do? Who do we target?

Hopefully Davis has considered all the possibilities.

 

[Moonwatcher]

blowing out their arses quickly.

 

[FR0GGY]

Pedlar would want to pull out a big one because at the current rate I’d rather dowling up forward.

 

[NSolis]

I would have dropped Bond personally, but I can understand why neither Draper or Dowling seemed to be essential inclusions. Bond did a good job on Elliot last time and I guess the feeling is that Max is good enough we can use him elsewhere on the field and be will be more effective than Draper or Dowling.

Team is pretty straightforward otherwise - Rachele will be back in the next game for Bond you’d expect, win or lose.

 

[rocket18]

Interesting tactics trying to counter their double our inside 50 count.

Select a team where half of them are defenders.

Nicks embracing the defense wins premierships motto, he might be channeling his early 2024 season gameplan.

 

[Firewalker]

Would be interesting to know if it came down to Dowling vs Pedlar or Dowling vs Taylor, if it was a choice between Taylor or Dowling I can see why they still feel Taylor with his body of work at AFL level this year, and his better composure and cleaner disposal was preferable in a final compared to Dowling.

That said Billy’s ability to always hit the scoreboard might’ve been handy if it does end up a low scoring game, but given they always play him out of position and his weaknesses were there to be seen against the Roos (leg speed, slower decision making, slow floaty kick) you can’t make a totally defensible case for him to stay in.

On the other side of the coin you’d imagine we might finally get the answer on Pedlar as a player, it will finally be make or break for him. At his previous best you’d say he’s the sort of player that should excel and is made for finals football but given his performances post-2023 it could also go totally the other way. It’s the aggressive move and one that was forced, and needed to be made post-Rankine so I respect them for at least choosing that option.

 

[MrBarry]

Interesting tactics trying to counter their double our inside 50 count.

Select a team where half of them are defenders.

Nicks embracing the defense wins premierships motto, he might be channeling his early 2024 season gameplan.

Two of our best attacking players Rachele and Rankine are not available this week and the attacking players who could replace them are nowhere near that level...

It's probably natural that you'd look somewhat more defensive on paper as a result, but we still have a lot players in that forward line who can kick multiple goals.

 

[WAG]

As I never really take note of umpire names, for those of you who do, who of these umpire ins (aside from the aforementioned Mollison) should we be concerned with, or pleased with?

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Pedlar would want to pull out a big one because at the current rate I’d rather dowling up forward.

Pedlar kicked 3 goals last outing .....has kicked goals in 7 of his 8 games this year

His tackling numbers; 4, 5, and 6 per game .....clearly superior offensive and defensive aspects to Pedlar's game over Dowling

It was obvious from a long way out, Dowling wouldn't make the cut, if Pedlar was fit

 

[pjcrows]

Pedlar will go out for Rachele next week - unless he does really well. Which means he's performed, which is a win anyway. Selection pressure is good.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

As I never really take note of umpire names, for those of you who do, who of these umpire ins (aside from the aforementioned Mollison) should we be concerned with, or pleased with?

View attachment 2415732

In all the years of watching footy, and it's alot ! .....I've never known who is umpiring, or cared to even bother finding out

I've always believed in decision "swings and roundabouts .....however the last two years has destroyed that belief I held, such has been the atrociousness of umpiring these days

 

[adelaidecrows]

Pedlar would want to pull out a big one because at the current rate I’d rather dowling up forward.

Pedlar is fast turning into the next Murphy selection IMO, he hasnt done shit to earn his spot. While he can football, he simply doesnt do shit 90% of a game and just bobs up for a couple of goals here and there, sure its a step up from the Murphy not doing shit for 99% of a game, but shouldnt selection be earned? especially by someone who is clearly the 23rd man selected in the side. Im not convinced this was a great decision by the club. Dowling looked far more dangerous and he is a far better runner and user of the ball.

 

[Samcro24]

Pedlar is fast turning into the next Murphy selection IMO, he hasnt done shit to earn his spot. While he can football, he simply doesnt do shit 90% of a game and just bobs up for a couple of goals here and there, sure its a step up from the Murphy not doing shit for 99% of a game, but shouldnt selection be earned? especially by someone who is clearly the 23rd man selected in the side. Im not convinced this was a great decision by the club. Dowling looked far more dangerous and he is a far better runner and user of the ball.

Whoever plays that second last, last spot doesn’t do much

Cook jones pedlar etc

 

[ams4crows]

At the end of the day Nicks trusts Bond to perform his role better than he trusts Dowling to contribute meaningfully.

 

[Cromulant]

Pedlar is fast turning into the next Murphy selection IMO, he hasnt done shit to earn his spot. While he can football, he simply doesnt do shit 90% of a game and just bobs up for a couple of goals here and there, sure its a step up from the Murphy not doing shit for 99% of a game, but shouldnt selection be earned? especially by someone who is clearly the 23rd man selected in the side. Im not convinced this was a great decision by the club. Dowling looked far more dangerous and he is a far better runner and user of the ball.

Dowling didnt do a huge amount either, and his opponent torched him going the other way.

If we want a forward then you probably have to pick Pedlar, at least for this week

 

[adelaidecrows]

Whoever plays that second last, last spot doesn’t do much

Cook jones pedlar etc

But they should. Dowling is a goal kicking midfielder and proves himself every game. This is what I dont understand with this selection. This is where the media actually need to ask these questions. Statistically Pedlar is incredibly shit. Did nothing the last month to warrant a call back. I think Nicks keeps selecting people on the back of what might be in spite of their record and history of what they can produce.

 

[1990crow]

Pedlar out for Rachele is the only obvious change for the remainder of the series.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Pedlar will go out for Rachele next week - unless he does really well. Which means he's performed, which is a win anyway. Selection pressure is good.

Or Rachele replaces Smith as sub.

Hopefully 2 weeks though...

 

[whitey_1975]

Pedlar will bob up with 2 goals imo.

I hope so, cause Billy finds the ball and kicks goals

 

[huludicidal]

Clearly you missed watching the Richmond game where Max quelled Vlastuin!

If you don’t think quelling the Daicos brothers is important, i can't help you.

Only change I would have made to the team is Dowling or Pedlar as sub instead of Smith, which would have given us the option of another midfielder/forward as we could then push either Max or Cumming back.

No, I didn’t miss the one game in his career where Max played in the forward 50, against a horrid team. I also didn’t miss the 12 consecutive games prior to this, and the 6 consecutive games after this where Max didn’t go near our forward 50 because he was playing on the opposition’s most dangerous small forward. Were there no dangerous half back flankers in any of those 18 opposition sides, and Vlastuin and J Daicos are just the only 2 players in the league who require such attention? Funnily enough, neither of J Daicos or Vlastuin made the AA team, which suggests maybe this isn’t the case.

The fact we never went back to Max up forward after the Richmond game, and that Bond remained out of the side until Max did his hammy suggests this was never in the planning either and was a one-off due to Richmond being devoid of dangerous small forwards for Max to play on. Conversely, Collingwood have a small forward in Elliott who has had a career year and kicked over 50 goals.

There is no question that quelling the Daicos brothers is important. There is also no question that quelling Pendlebury, Elliott and De Goey is important. You can’t play Michalanney on all of these players.

The matchups I would have gone with were:

Michalanney on Elliott
Neal-Bullen on J Daicos
Dawson on Pendlebury
Berry on De Goey
Soligo on N Daicos (swapping at times with Peatling)
Bond out of the side, Dowling to play a mix of forward and mid, in an attacking role.



What the selectors appear to have opted for is:

Bond on Elliott
Michalanney up forward on J Daicos
Dawson on Pendlebury
Berry on De Goey
Soligo / Peatling on N Daicos
Neal-Bullen likely opposed to someone like a Maynard
Dowling out of the side


For me, a forward line missing both of Rankine and Rachele but still containing both of Keays and Neal-Bullen just probably needed another more attacking and creative option, rather than a defensive forward, when we already have defensive small-medium forwards. It seems to me like we’re a bit hyper focused on defense and turning it into another grind rather than actually kicking a score. Hey, maybe a grind works.

I am also not huge on playing Michalanney in a role he’s only played once in his career, against a terrible side. Yes, he did play very well that day. Yes, Vlastuin is a good player. No, I don’t put much stock in that. If he’d played it even, say, 3 times with success against finals-quality teams, I could probably get around it. If Bond hadn’t played so poorly against North, I could probably get around it. At this stage, I can’t get around it.

Happy to eat my words if Max and Bond both dominate their opponents on the night. I feel Neal-Bullen would have been the perfect option for J Daicos. Do we really think J Daicos would smash us with Neal-Bullen on him instead of his opponent from the game a couple of weeks ago, Lachie Murphy? I personally think Neal-Bullen is absolutely fantastic at this exact role, and was stunned that Murphy was doing it instead of him a few weeks back.

No issue with others having different thoughts on these matchups, but I like picking a team that plays to our own strengths, and Max Michalanney is in the best 3-4 players in our back 7 for mine, so that’s where I’d be playing him.

 

[Milo Cyrus]

Lots to unpack

Seems very defense-minded / safety first with Bond + Smith in the 23 but a couple of big risks in there too.

Can Pedlar get through a full game and contribute for 4 quarters? I really like him and am glad we've picked him. Acknowledge that it is a risk though.

Was Max forward a Shane Ellen FF at Noarlunga brief glimpse, joker stashed away for later, now played just the week vs a good team when we are without Rankine + Rachele? Bold call, coach. I think the timing is right.

Last season many of us thought Bond might be able to find a niche role in defence. It hasn't happened but I reckon our coaches have been looking for ways to include him. The planets have aligned late in the season. I like it. He could be our Nick Smith in waiting.

A shame about Dowling. I wonder what it is we don't rate about him? Seems a composed, effective, impactful player every time he takes the field. Is he a bit... nice? We maybe prefer the streetfight of Pedlar.

Question
Will Collingwood dutifully park Josh Daicos across half back for Max to forward tag him? I suspect they won't. We showed our hand against them last time. Against Gold Coast when Collingwood had a poor first half they shifted J Daicos into the midfield after half time and he lit it up

I reckon J Daicos starts in the middle and we instead see Pendles or even N Daicos start across half back.

What do we do? Who do we target?

while last siren not sounded{
Get the ball and stick it through our goals.
loop.
}

 

[Fud#3]

No, I didn’t miss the one game in his career where Max played in the forward 50, against a horrid team. I also didn’t miss the 12 consecutive games prior to this, and the 6 consecutive games after this where Max didn’t go near our forward 50 because he was playing on the opposition’s most dangerous small forward. Were there no dangerous half back flankers in any of those 18 opposition sides, and Vlastuin and J Daicos are just the only 2 players in the league who require such attention? Funnily enough, neither of J Daicos or Vlastuin made the AA team, which suggests maybe this isn’t the case.

The fact we never went back to Max up forward after the Richmond game, and that Bond remained out of the side until Max did his hammy suggests this was never in the planning either and was a one-off due to Richmond being devoid of dangerous small forwards for Max to play on. Conversely, Collingwood have a small forward in Elliott who has had a career year and kicked over 50 goals.

There is no question that quelling the Daicos brothers is important. There is also no question that quelling Pendlebury, Elliott and De Goey is important. You can’t play Michalanney on all of these players.

The matchups I would have gone with were:

Michalanney on Elliott
Neal-Bullen on J Daicos
Dawson on Pendlebury
Berry on De Goey
Soligo on N Daicos (swapping at times with Peatling)
Bond out of the side, Dowling to play a mix of forward and mid, in an attacking role.



What the selectors appear to have opted for is:

Bond on Elliott
Michalanney up forward on J Daicos
Dawson on Pendlebury
Berry on De Goey
Soligo / Peatling on N Daicos
Neal-Bullen likely opposed to someone like a Maynard
Dowling out of the side


For me, a forward line missing both of Rankine and Rachele but still containing both of Keays and Neal-Bullen just probably needed another more attacking and creative option, rather than a defensive forward, when we already have defensive small-medium forwards. It seems to me like we’re a bit hyper focused on defense and turning it into another grind rather than actually kicking a score. Hey, maybe a grind works.

I am also not huge on playing Michalanney in a role he’s only played once in his career, against a terrible side. Yes, he did play very well that day. Yes, Vlastuin is a good player. No, I don’t put much stock in that. If he’d played it even, say, 3 times with success against finals-quality teams, I could probably get around it. If Bond hadn’t played so poorly against North, I could probably get around it. At this stage, I can’t get around it.

Happy to eat my words if Max and Bond both dominate their opponents on the night. I feel Neal-Bullen would have been the perfect option for J Daicos. Do we really think J Daicos would smash us with Neal-Bullen on him instead of his opponent from the game a couple of weeks ago, Lachie Murphy? I personally think Neal-Bullen is absolutely fantastic at this exact role, and was stunned that Murphy was doing it instead of him a few weeks back.

No issue with others having different thoughts on these matchups, but I like picking a team that plays to our own strengths, and Max Michalanney is in the best 3-4 players in our back 7 for mine, so that’s where I’d be playing him.

With the team we have picked, I'd go for Bond on Jaicos, Max back.

ANB is very good at getting up the ground and back, so if he goes to Josh, we lose that structure IMO.

However, ANB on Nick is an option, he's done a great job before on him.