Fixture Changes VS Hawthorn Round 7

[Snarls Barkley]

Makes sense.

Was always going to be Smith in, Libba out. Was just whether they trusted McLean to pick up Libba's midfield minutes despite his poor AFL form, although with excellent VFL form. They didn't and understandably so. I really felt that McLean should only play this year when one of the main four inside midfielders are out, don't think he offers enough in any other position at this stage, so its probably disappointing for him to miss out on this chance.

Happy that McNeil gets a full game. He's never going to be a star but has the chance to be a good role player as a pressure forward. I would guess that West will be the sub, don't see the point of McLean in that role and I'm not sure a tall makes sense in this lineup when we've got a lighter midfield.

Bont, Macrae and Treloar will spend the vast majority of time in the centre bounces. I do wonder who will get the other opportunities. Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

24

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

will get some for sure, Daniel got some in round 2 but otherwise hasn't been in there, I would like to see Weightman go in for a few as a bit of X factor.

 

[Testekill]

Changes were about expected, was always going to be Libba for Smith. Mclean has also been in pretty bad form so probably shouldn't have stayed in and McNeil did some pretty good stuff after he came off of the bench last week.

 

[Oliver G]

McNeil's 4th quarter was the 18th highest ranked quarter (9.0) for the round across all games in terms of Player Ratings, that's 18th out of 1,656 possible placings (top 1.1%).

 

[glenashley]

I like McSteal. Happy to see him get more of a run.

 

[Del165892]

Will we see another of his fabled handball intercepts this weekend?

 

[mattwa]

That Hawthorn team is putrid on paper. Anything less than a 40 point win and we are no hope of doing anything this year

 

[Oliver G]

We're currently 1 from 8 in 200th club games milestone matches (18 team era), surely it won't be 1 from 9.

? - Bontempelli (R7 2023)
L - Liberatore (R5 2023)
L - Macrae (R16 2022)
L - Morris (R16 2015)
L - Griffin (R21 2014)
W - Cooney (R21 2013)
L - Cross R3 2013)
L - M. Boyd (R16 2012)
L - Hargrave (R10 2012)

 

[Iamspock]

This.

The calls for Mclean to be dropped this week are way off the mark.

Next minute...

 

[Libba39]

Next minute...

He could still be sub!

 

[TiAn_]

Interested to see Weddle. I preferred him to Busslinger.

 

[Munnez]

Interested to see Weddle. I preferred him to Busslinger.

Picked Weddle in the Phantom draft last year. Heard talk of the Hawks using him as an inside mid

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

He could still be sub!

I hope not. I’m still optimistic on him but I’d rather he gets a full VFL game than be a no-impact sub.

 

[TiAn_]

Picked Weddle in the Phantom draft last year. Heard talk of the Hawks using him as an inside mid

Yeah following the draft they said they saw him as a potential wingman. I was surprised, but he is very athletic.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Hawks are fine in the middle but their key position posts alone leave a lot to be desired.

can

Nash "tagged" Laird last week for 29 disposals, Bont will run rings around him

Nash had 30 himself and kicked a goal. We had McGuiness as a pure negater but Nash gets his own ball and is built like a 6ft 6 bull. He's the perfect matchup for a Cripps and Bont. Last 3 weeks he's been in our top 3 players. This will be his biggest test though. He will get good support around him as this is the strongest midfield we have fielded all year.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

That Hawthorn team is putrid on paper. Anything less than a 40 point win and we are no hope of doing anything this year

Which part is putrid? It's just about the strongest side we have selected all year bar maybe Another Key defender. Think your being a bit facetious. You'll win because your currently a better side not because we're "putrid".

 

[Golden_6]

I actually don’t think the Hawks will be easy beats. It’s look a pretty solid team on paper.

Contrary to the belief that they’re young, it’s actually a pretty experienced lineup. There’s probably only 3-4 kids in that named 22. The midfield even without Libba is where we should really exert our dominance. It’s set up for English to have a massive day around the ground.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Nash "tagged" Laird last week for 29 disposals, Bont will run rings around him

To clarify, he didn't tag specifically Laird, he went to Dawson a fair bit.

He's been able to limit influence and slow down players, not a full on tag but enough, especially with his size compared to Bont, most can't even slow down Bont so something is better than nothing. He's been very good offensively (gotten 30 disposals against GWS included 18 contested aswell as 28 and a goal against Adelaide, winning clearances, or creating space for others to.)

Nash specifically went to Dawson in the 2nd half, kept him to 8 disposals & limited impact.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Super keen for this one, won't be able to watch alot of it live considering i play during the game, but keen to see the results and rewatch it, Dogs were awesome against Freo so they should be up and about, especially with Bonts 200th!

 

[Whoyagot]

There’s just something about this game I feel off about. Expecting an L and some classic BF melts come Saturday night

 

[lachy]

Whilst it is never a good sign there are no melts, it reflects that outside of Libba this is our best team.

Yes our bottom 6 to 8 can be replaced by 6 to 8 either in the VFL or injured but none improve the team at all in replacing our best 12

We should win this comfortably but these are the types of games we have struggled in really since 2017. Hawthorn are building and will be very up and down as all young teams are so our players need to be switched on from the start.



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[glenashley]

We're currently 1 from 8 in 200th club games milestone matches (18 team era), surely it won't be 1 from 9.

? - Bontempelli (R7 2023)
L - Liberatore (R5 2023)
L - Macrae (R16 2022)
L - Morris (R16 2015)
L - Griffin (R21 2014)
W - Cooney (R21 2013)
L - Cross R3 2013)
L - M. Boyd (R16 2012)
L - Hargrave (R10 2012)

Hargrave was a whipping boy that came good. Loved him.

Forgot he played 200 games.

 

[BulldogMuscle]

We're currently 1 from 8 in 200th club games milestone matches (18 team era), surely it won't be 1 from 9.

? - Bontempelli (R7 2023)
L - Liberatore (R5 2023)
L - Macrae (R16 2022)
L - Morris (R16 2015)
L - Griffin (R21 2014)
W - Cooney (R21 2013)
L - Cross R3 2013)
L - M. Boyd (R16 2012)
L - Hargrave (R10 2012)

Jesus this is not good reading

 

[CarnTheScray]

We're currently 1 from 8 in 200th club games milestone matches (18 team era), surely it won't be 1 from 9.

? - Bontempelli (R7 2023)
L - Liberatore (R5 2023)
L - Macrae (R16 2022)
L - Morris (R16 2015)
L - Griffin (R21 2014)
W - Cooney (R21 2013)
L - Cross R3 2013)
L - M. Boyd (R16 2012)
L - Hargrave (R10 2012)

From memory, the only one we should’ve won was Libbas 200th. The others were vs teams like Geelong that had the wood or vs good teams when we were in a rut. No way we are losing Saturday.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Anything less than a 100 point win will be a fail.
I'm expecting Aaron, Jamarra and Rory to feast on the flesh of decapitated Hawks. Also need someone (Naughton?) in Sicily's ear all game. After he lost the plot that time against Schache, he could go nuts on Saturday - pushing the margin out to 120+.

Bont with 40 and 5 goals.

Also I'm tipping Macrae and Williams to kick 4 each.

WOOF!

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

Hawks board all excited about their two debutants, talking them up big time, now that Libba is out. That and calling us the “throw dogs”, blaming that as the reason they lost the SF in 2016.