It's Freo

[Deestroy]

As expected, and thankfully, we will play Freo next week.

Thoughts on the game/changes/predictions?

2 forced changes this week, I would go;
IN: CJ, 426
OUT: Whelan, Jamar

Don't really have much hope for us winning, but at least we don't have to play at Football Park which gives us some kind of outside chance.

Prediction: Freo by 24.

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Good result for us. Freo got smashed (25 scoring shots to 11) and are yet to win a final. They will be under massive pressure to win while we have nothing to lose.

 

[Kapow!!!]

Got the bye next week, gotta be happy about that

 

[Number32]

Could Nick Smith possibly make his long long loooong anticipated come back for the semi final with Jamar out for the rest of the season...after all the opportunities he has had to come back into the senior line you have to admitt it would be funny if he came back at this time of the year.

 

[CaptainDavey]

I thoroughly agree with SS. So good to get the monkey off the back and win a final! 426 should be pretty good to come in, I heard that Dutchy will have some 5 minute spells in the ruck but I'd rather leave him back and have Smith come in. Maybe bring in Godders for Whelan. You could just tell with the look on Pavlich's face today late in the game that he really wanted to be somewhere else, seems to be an OK sign.

Oh and to all the doubters who tipped the Saints to win by 10 goals or so...'Why is the greatest pleasure in life doing that which others tell you that you cannot?'

Cop that

 

[raikkonen64]

Great news for us.... Cheer for the swans 2nite as we will beat the dockers next wk... Robbo will finally win us a games this year....

Dees by 17- robbo to kick 7

 

[Bartram_Class]

Lets cheer on Sydney tonight, we want them in the Prelim if possible.

But for the Freo game -

In : CJ/Brown/Wheatley & 426
Out: Whelan & Jamar

Who knows which of the 3 will come in, CJ would be the best choice IMO but i can see Danners going with Doggy Brown.

 

[Canna7]

McLean could probably beat them single handedly.

After all, he has won more finals in his career than Fremantle have in theirs.

 

[melbournemartin]

isn't Wheatley injured? I'd bring in CJ for Whelan.

 

[dspeed]

in my opinion, and i know a lot will not agree, i think it should be:

Out: Whelan, Jamar
In: Godfrey, Dunn

Let Miller have small stints in the ruck, (7 minutes each quarter (Jamar only player half an hour last night)), Dunn can be used up forward when Miller is in the ruck, Godfrey can be used as another tagger which can allow McDonald to be freed up a bit more, i know he did very well last night on Dal, but i felt early in the game when they pushed him back to full back we missed his pressure and in and under clearances. Godfrey is much aligned but has done a great job in the second half of the year.

Smith might be a cult hero on this board, but he shouldnt be getting a game.

 

[dirty_dizz]

Got the bye next week, gotta be happy about that

Freo, freo, freo still to win a final and still so cocky, ignorance must be bliss

 

[goDees22]

Yep, pressure is on them big time not to crash out in straight sets on the back of 9 wins in a row. I'd bring in Brown for Whelan, not sure who else, whitey has only played 70% game time this year and he is pretty damn fit so i'd say they might let him go in alone. Brown will come in because he is experienced, don't wanna bring CJ in.

 

[Deestroy]

Freo, freo, freo still to win a final and still so cocky, ignorance must be bliss

I'm pretty certain he was referring to Freo being "the bye".

 

[Marns]

I'm pretty certain he was referring to Freo being "the bye".

Nah, he's an anchor fan, I thought he was talking about us as the bye. Either way, I couldn't give a rats.

Oh and to all the doubters who tipped the Saints to win by 10 goals or so...'Why is the greatest pleasure in life doing that which others tell you that you cannot?'

Cop that

Fair dinkum, if teams were to have finals slogans, that'd be ours right now.

 

[goDees22]

I'm pretty certain he was referring to Freo being "the bye".

yeah he was talking about us having the bye, playing down his own teams chances so that he can pretend he is shocked and abuse us for being softc*cks when they beat us even though they will be clear favourites

 

[bringbackschwarter5]

We have nothing to lose and Freo have everything to lose. So we will play attacking football and we will beat Freo by at least 40 points

 

[docker_johnno]

we both have a preliminary final appearance to lose. I dont know how you can say that.

I feel if we play near our best we will win comfortably.

 

[JuveRule]

We've got a number of blokes fighting for the two spots now. For Wheels' spot:
-Brown (pure experience)
-CJ (the kid can run)
-Read (experience playing at Subi, been in good form with Sandy)
-Godfrey (tag one of their midfielders)

Question is, who'll take Farmer? Could Wardy do what he did on Milne or would it be better to have Read on him?

Jamar's:
-Smith (2nd ruckman, but wet behind the ears?)
-Dunn (could we try him in the ruck?)
-Wheatley (is he still injured?)

One option would be to bring in 2 smalls to ensure we don't run out of legs over the vast expanses of Subiaco and let Dutchy ruck towards the end of the quarters to give Whitey a rest...keep in mind though that Sandilands gave Whitey a fair towelling last time.

 

[melbournemartin]

Wheatley is still injured as is Fergeson....well I think so anyway

Dunn's inclusion would push Miller down back and Holland into the ruck...very bad decision.

Our only pure ruck option is Smith...and I suppose Neaves but Smith could be a shock inclusion. Depending on whether Ryan Murphy is selected, we could possible drop Holland for Smith and then bring in 2 smalls for Jamar and Whelan? This is because freo don't have too many tall forwards so possibly Rivers and Carroll could do all the work while bringing in some smalls would allow for some much needed run

In: Smith, Chris Johnson, Read/Brown
Out: Holland, Jamar, Whelan

Risky I know...another option would be to simply bring in smith and CJ for jamar and whelan but I'm just trying to determine if the 3rd tall defender is needed but he probably is.

 

[KTLK]

Dear Melbourne Supporters,

5 issues to point out:

1. Do you recalled Brock Mclean's debut in 2004? That was against Fremantle at Subiaco and his first goal in AFL was outside 50m on the run near the boundry. The support was from a good blockage from Peter Vardy and that was a highlight. Melbourne won that match by 30 points.

2. According to head to head record from AFL website, we played 7 times there and has won 3 and Dockers 4. Quite a good record against them. And if we win, it's our 50th win in the final series.

3. We are a better chance to win against Sydney at Telstra Stadium than the Dockers. Dockers record isn't that great there comparing to ours.

4. Regarding Farmer. We have few options: Ward, Brown, and Bell. Pickett or C Johnson might be another option. "No worries" However, not Read. Too risky as Read can give some silly free's.

5. We have no choice and must play Smith. Smith can be used as back up support for White. Also, he can play CHB to help out the defence and also CHF to stretch the Docker's height and kick 1 or 2 handy goals. Thus, can be played there as a part time roles. In addition. I think it's no worth to ruck White all day as we need him to be as fresh as possible. Plus Subiaco is a big ground = Not an ideal ground to play 1 ruckman.

Team

B: Brown Carroll Holland
HB: Ward Rivers Bell
C: Green Mclean Johnstone
HF: Yze Miller Bruce
F: Robertson Neitz Davey
Ruck: White Jones McDonald
Inter: Pickett Bate Sylvia Smith
Emer: C Johstone Dunn Read

Cheers, "Go Dees"

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Glad we are playing Freo. Not only do we play Subiaco better than AAMI, but we have a real belief in ourselves now. All Freo will be thinking about is whether or not they can actually win a finals game. Much more pressure on them.

We need 2 ruckmen, so I'd give Smith a run. Plus he can rest up forward to stretch their defence a bit.

I like CJ, but would go with Dogga Brown this week simply for the experience.

 

[Deestroy]

How do we all see the backline matchups panning out?

I would go with:
Polak - Holland
Pavlich - Carroll
Longmuir - Rivers
Farmer - Ward
Headland - C.Johnson/Brown (whoever gets picked)

 

[davey_magik]

How do we all see the backline matchups panning out?

I would go with:
Polak - Holland
Pavlich - Carroll
Longmuir - Rivers
Farmer - Ward
Headland - C.Johnson/Brown (whoever gets picked)

I'd go with all of that, except I'd give Bell the job on Farmer and Ward picks up the 6th forward.

 

[Deestroy]

I'd go with all of that, except I'd give Bell the job on Farmer and Ward picks up the 6th forward.

I somehow managed to forget all about Bell.