Opinion Changes vs Port

[King Elvis]

And that's exactly what we should do - play these kids in high pressure games; teach them to embrace them, not fear them.

 

[Ravenous Crow]

I'm thinking perhaps we won't debut a player until after the first 3 rounds as they are all tough.

I have no doubt the club shares that inspired view on player development.

 

[azza77]

I'm stuck in two minds because I really want to win these games, however I also want to see Martin, porps and especially Lyons given an extended run.

At the same time, if Douglas is fit who then goes out? The Geelong game was a difficult game to have a sustained impact on, so I would like to see Martin given another run, but I'm not also not a fan of seeing porps through the middle so much and he should be up forward with bettsy.

I don't think we can fit betts, Martin and porps all in the same forward line. If push came to shove, I think it would have to be Martin despite me singing his praises. His decision making at afl level is fairly bad and he always coughs it up. Looks so composed in preseason and sanfl, and then shits himself when he gets to the real stuff.

Think we are also going to need laird with ports damaging smalls. I really hate to play this musical chairs game as others have mentioned, but if fit Douglas and Laird are massive ins for us.

Laird and Douglas in
Martin and Porps / Lyons out, with whoever of the 2 staying being named as sub.

 

[AFC979810]

Not sure if it's recommended, but Malthouse often debuted players in critical/hyped-up matches; the Anzac day game for instance. Having said that, I think bringing in M. Crouch would be a mistake at this point. I don't know if his criticisms pre-draft were warranted, but if they were, he is the kind of person that I personally would like to prove themselves in the SANFL... I did think the same of Polec before I saw him in the NAB cup, however.

Good post re: Malthouse. Its something Collingwood have been very good at. They tend to throw a lot of these lower draft picks straight into the action and see whether they are any good at AFL level right away. Take for instance - Tom Langdon pick #65 in last years draft. Threw him straight into the fire. They could have easily restructed and had Quinten Lynch (200+ game veteran and premiership player) play, but they opted to blood a young fella.

Whats even more frustrating for me (especially considering hindsight) is that we didn't play Matt Crouch over Brodie Martin in round 1. It feels like F*** groundhog day.

Last year we had Brad Crouch absolutely chomping at the bit for a round 1 start. We acknowledged how good he looked, but we held off instead playing Brodie Martin. We lost in Rd 1 by 35, admitted we should have played him and looked like fools when he looked at home in rd 2 vs Brisbane. Brodie Martin gets 9 touches and is dropped the following week.

Fast forward to 2014. We have Matt Crouch. He looks good in preseason. Coaches talk him up. We don't play him rd 1 and we lose by 38 points. Brodie Martin plays and gets 15 shitty touches and is looking likely to be dropped again.

Now I am paranoid we are gonna do the exact same thing to Porps in 2014 as we did with Stiffy in 2013.

 

[cmndstab]

To be fair, whatever we did with Crouch last season, it seemed to work pretty well

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

I'm stuck in two minds because I really want to win these games, however I also want to see Martin, porps and especially Lyons given an extended run.

At the same time, if Douglas is fit who then goes out? The Geelong game was a difficult game to have a sustained impact on, so I would like to see Martin given another run, but I'm not also not a fan of seeing porps through the middle so much and he should be up forward with bettsy.

I don't think we can fit betts, Martin and porps all in the same forward line. If push came to shove, I think it would have to be Martin despite me singing his praises. His decision making at afl level is fairly bad and he always coughs it up. Looks so composed in preseason and sanfl, and then shits himself when he gets to the real stuff.

Think we are also going to need laird with ports damaging smalls. I really hate to play this musical chairs game as others have mentioned, but if fit Douglas and Laird are massive ins for us.

Laird and Douglas in
Martin and Porps / Lyons out, with whoever of the 2 staying being named as sub.

It's all about winning games of footy and in doing that we need to develop a winning culture and to do this we may need to become a more aggressive and ruthless club

Happy to consider given a player an extended run when an opportunity presents itself however when there are better players returning to the side you go with the better player.

Last week Martin would have known Doughy, Laird, Radar and Crouch are close and that he had little opportunity to stake his claim and to some this may seem unfair however this is the competitive industry they are in and an industry where success is based on winning games of footy

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Carl - is BoB THAT good? (to consider bringing him in and say matching up on Gray instead of Brown) I have high hopes for him but not he's not Brad....

Pick your good players first. Crouch is one.

Then AFTER THAT you fill up with your role players. If we need half a dozen back pocket players to counter Port... fine. But that happens AFTER your good players are in the 22.

 

[mattymac]

We will have a run of easy games after Sydney where we can afford to have a look at gambles like Martin or porps. For now we play dougie and laird without question surely.

 

[GROTTO]

I hope MC is picked tonight, we need a feel good story for our Club at the moment, not to mention that I feel he will genuinely add some class to our side.

 

[GROTTO]

We will have a run of easy games after Sydney where we can afford to have a look at gambles like Martin or porps. For now we play dougie and laird without question surely.

Porps wont be dropped. Those "soft" games we need to slowly get some game time into Lynch, Otten and possibly Tex in preparation for the big games from R9 onwards.

Tex will either return in R7, R9 or R11. I just dont see his very first game being the ground in which he did his knee. Obviously he needs a spell in the SANFL of about 3 games I would say.

 

[mattymac]

Pretty sure I heard danger say 4 weeks for tex earlier this week...

 

[GROTTO]

Pretty sure I heard danger say 4 weeks for tex earlier this week...

Is that 4 weeks till he plays SANFL? That would put him in contention then for a R9 game at AO, perfect way to boost attendance against a bottom club.

I think the important point to note for Tex, is that he is running he is undertaking training drills and I would presume would have a decent fitness base too.

R7 allows him to have a hit out and then rest for a couple of weeks before a big game against the Pies in R9.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

I hope MC is picked tonight, we need a feel good story for our Club at the moment, not to mention that I feel he will genuinely add some class to our side.

we have had one loss

the sky is not falling and we dont need a feel good story

pick you best team, win the xxxxing game and there is your feel good story

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

He's a gun who thrives on the contest.

Throw him in the fire, he's up to it.

couldnt agree more

 

[chadwingard]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

 

[Mattrox]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

That is a serious case of "Be careful what you wish for".

Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk

 

[Wood_Duck]

Geezus we over hype our young blokes.

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

I think Wingard should worry about his own game after his lacklustre performance against Carlton

 

[Archie87]

I love Lairdy and hope he comes back but the one issue I have is that last weekend he spent the entire SANFL trial in defence. Why wouldn't they have thrown him in to the midfield for a while to get some more run into his legs and match conditioning? We know what he can do in defence, so I have my doubts that he achieved much playing back there. In the space of a week, he's going to go from jogging around most of the day in the defensive fifty in an SANFL trial to having to stop quicker and seasoned AFL players in a Showdown, as well as having to provide some sort of rebound too.

 

[amer]

This game is more important for us than the power. They're still building after an improved year just gone. Losing this would not be unusual given where they would assess themselves to be at. Onward with their processes and an even ledger. But we're supposed to be further along than them. And our brand has copped an absolute battering this past 18 months. We're 0-1, our crowds have been sliding and we're carrying a cheat stigma. I think it'll really hurt our club if we lose this game.

I actually think we'll win.

 

[Jars458]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

You don't know Chad if you think that. He will respect his opponent. By the way this is not the banter thread.

 

[King Elvis]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

No doubt - but Laird is the guy I'd be most comfortable putting on Wingard this weekend; and I think he's the type who would be burning from getting touched up last time, and would be desperate for the chance to redeem himself.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Out: Porplyzia, Martin
In: Douglas, CEY

- Smith to the wing/HFF on Polec
- Sloane to the HBF…brilliant intercept mark filling the hole, will provide rebound and may even require Port to play a defensive forward.
- Talia/Westhoff
- CEY in as Port's smalls are most damaging overhead…his extra size/height gets him over the better player in Laird. Also gives a midfield option if the match-ups don't work out.
- Jaensch deserves a shot again but if he's exposed this week…bye bye for Laird
- Lyons given a decent crack first up, putting the blowtorch on Thompson to come on and prove he still deserves his spot. Similar to relegating your star fast bowler to first change to really gee them up!
- McKernan to play deeper, Pods to free himself up and push upfield
- Mackay to hopefully extract the digit and provide impact as the sub

B: Brown, Rutten, Shaw
HB: Jaensch, Talia, Sloane
C: Grigg, Lyons, Smith
HF: Douglas, Podsiadly, B Crouch
F: Johnston, McKernan, Betts
1R: Jacobs, Dangerfield, Kerridge
Int: S Thompson, Wright, CEY
Sub: Mackay

E: Laird, Jenkins, M Crouch

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

Agree with Mackay as sub. The bloke provides very little so hopefully he can use his only real quality - his pace - and provide a bit of run for us in the last quarter against the self-proclaimed fittest side in the AFL.

 

[eurodono]

Wingard is just praying that Laird is added to the team after towling him up in the last showdown

I thought it was Robbie Gray who gave Lairdy a bath in the last showdown.

For me its Luke Brown for Gray & Lairdy for Monfries