NAB cup strategy

[Gary2010]

Dawes and Rusling in the key forward positions, N Brown and Reid key backs, Wood in the ruck and let's find out if any of these kids are going to threaten the players below this year.

Presty
LBrown

Cloke
Anthony

Jolly
Fraser

 

[spartan-magpie]

Dawes and Rusling in the key forward positions, N Brown and Reid key backs, Wood in the ruck and let's find out if any of these kids are going to threaten the players below this year.

Presty
LBrown

Cloke
Anthony

Jolly
Fraser

N.Brown will play most, if not all, games this year... I cant understand how much faith people have lost in this bull of a kid after an injury interrupted season..


As good as LB was for us at times last year it will be a real shame if he isnt pushed out of the team this time around....
-We don't need him for ruck back up as we now have pretty good depth in that area with guys like Jolly, Wood and Fraser...
-We wont need him down back provide Nate is fit, Reid is firing, and Presti can keep father time at bay...
-We definitely won't need him up forward as we have a raft of much better options and younger players that need more experience up there..



as for dawes and rusling both of them have to be played...

rusling (and i am a huge fan of this kid - will be a star) needs to prove to himself and the coaching staff he is not made out of glass - he, if fit and on song, along with jack will make our full-forward line an extremely dangerous and hard to counter ....


Dawes needs to be played in the nab to give Cloke as much time as he needs to get ready for H & A... id love to see Dawes get a regular gig but i cant see what role he will actually fill for us while we have Cloke, Jack and fit Rusling in the squad..... especially if josh fraser is being also considered as a HFF or semi- permanet forward....

 

[Parallel Andy]

Agree with OP other than Wood in the ruck. Jolly and Ball need to practice together as much as possible before the premiership season. Also Leigh Brown could be an important utility come finals. One extra tall on the bench works for me and he is the right fit.

 

[Gary2010]

Agree with OP other than Wood in the ruck. Jolly and Ball need to practice together as much as possible before the premiership season.

Yep, no problem with that, Fraser probably won't be fit for NAB anyway so Wood off the bench and the odd stint in the forward pocket along with Jolly and see how they go as a combo.

 

[Gary2010]

Also Leigh Brown could be an important utility come finals. One extra tall on the bench works for me and he is the right fit.

The way the modern running game has been developing you are more likely to see a 193cm Goldsack on the bench rather than a L Brown type if a standard 2nd ruck is also on the bench, a tall runner gives you more options.

Today you need 6 genuine talls:

FB
CHB

CHF
FF

Ruck
Ruck (Int)

Our rucks are perfect with room for 1 injury even.

The key forwards are set and it would take something special from Rus or Dawes to shift Cloke and Anthony.

The key backs are trickier, Presty is old enough now to be susceptible to injury or suddenly lose that critical yard of speed, and nobody is happy with L Brown as a permanent CHB.

This makes N Brown and Reid the most important keys on our list, I don't think Rusling can be turned into a FB, but maybe Dawes at CHB could be tried with his size and tank.

 

[Lockyer24]

Our midfield rotation will be monsterous...play mix and match with this

Ruck:
JOLLY/FRASER/WOOD

Ruck Rover:
SWAN/BALL/BEAMS

Rover:
DAVIS/THOMAS/O'BREE

Centre:
PENDLEBURY/DIDAK/SIDEBOTTOM

I'd definitely put Presti in cotton wool for the first two weeks of the pre-season, so backline to start with would be:

B: MAXWELL, BROWN, O'BRIEN
HB: SHAW, REID, BUCKLEY/or/TOOVEY

BLIGHT a gig on the bench.

Up forward there is no rush with Travis, so I'd like to see:

HF: MACAFFER, DAWES, LOCKYER
F: MEDHURST, ANTHONY

Fraser and Medhurst I don't mind seeing early as I want them to get some match fitness and touch.

 

[Histrionics]

I'd like to see Rus in the forward line with both Anthony and Dawes.

 

[iGNITER]

Players I really want to see played in the NAB Cup are:

Blight, Reid, Rusling, McCaffer, McCarthy, Dawes & Buckley

 

[wicksy]

Players I really want to see played in the NAB Cup are:

Blight, Reid, Rusling, McCaffer, McCarthy, Dawes & Buckley

N.Buckley?

Yeah me too.....

 

[Spagger83]

yes i hate losing, even if it is the bloody NAB Cup, and i especially hate losing to St Kilda......but i would like to see this team played.

b: barham n brown maxwell
hb: buckley reid blight
c: mccarthy ball d thomas
hf: beams dawes macaffer
f: corrie rusling anthony
r: wood cook sidebottom

int: goldsack wellingham jolly swan pendlebury rounds

this would mean youngsters get a look in against a decent opposition (st kilda), even though i think st kilda will also be fielding a young lineup too.

maxwell, swan, pendlebury, jolly, ball, daisy and jack anthony provide enough experience and leadership for NAB cup (preseason friendly) anyway.

others that i wouldnt mind getting a look in would be:
j thomas and sinclair, but i think they'd be better served in gym abit longer.

players i dont want to see in NAB Cup at all:
cloke, fraser, medhurst, prestigiacomo, o'bree, l brown, johnson,

happy to see in prelim or grand final of nab cup:
shaw, lockyer, davis, didak, o'brien.

 

[iGNITER]

N.Buckley?

Yeah me too.....

If he was fit Eddie would find a way!

 

[Pie eyed]

If he was fit Eddie would find a way!

The way "the" Buckley has been training I reckon the thought would have even crossed his mind.

 

[such_is_life_9]

Does anyone reckon Scott Reed may get a game in the NAB cup at all even a bench spot? Or is he still not quiet there yet to be playing at that level??

 

[iGNITER]

The way "the" Buckley has been training I reckon the thought would have even crossed his mind.

He would come back and win the brownlow

 

[Pie eyed]

Ah! How grand it would be.
Timmy did it.

Carn Bucks you're better than Timmy...Give us some more.
Jett needs some childhood memories of the old man.

 

[iGNITER]

the "other" Buckley is just a decoy.
the "real" Buckley is actually going to play

 

[FloreatPica17]

Does anyone reckon Scott Reed may get a game in the NAB cup at all even a bench spot? Or is he still not quiet there yet to be playing at that level??

Doesn't seem to come under much heat from posters, does he. From what little I've seen, he looks OK, but a project.

I say give him another year in VFL, than maybe NAB 2011.

 

[HFF]

I'm not overly fussed with the strength of the side we field for NAB Cup.

Granted we need to get all of our best 25 players some match conditioning and practice, I'd rather nurse them through it and just get them fit and firing for round 1.

 

[charmer]

Medhurst, Fraser, Cloke, Jolly, Ball MUST play minimum of 2-3 NAB Cup/Challenge matches for match fitness/team cohesion.

 

[King Woodie]

Does anyone reckon Scott Reed may get a game in the NAB cup at all even a bench spot? Or is he still not quiet there yet to be playing at that level??

Probably not, I would have thought, because MM rarely does too much experimentation with players in the NAB cup. Possibly if we are eliminated he may get a run on a NAB Challenge game.

Unfortunately for Scott he is competing largely in a position that we have reasonable depth, and I believe he would be lower in the pecking order behind the like of Simon Buckley (who has senior AFL experience), Jarryd Blight (who was an emergency at times last year), Maccaffer (who played senior games last year and played most of the VFL year down back) and any of Goldsack and/or Toovey who may be out of the side.

He has plenty of time though.

 

[rand corp]

Ahh, the dreaded pre-season cup, always torn as I:

don't want key players injured,

I do want to see some of the fresh faces getting a run


I also hate losing and love it when we go deep into the series.

 

[Bloben]

Selfishly, after a long off season I really want Collingwood to win. Not that I hold the NAB cup as something worth winning but because I get to watch Collingwood play the next week.

 

[Parallel Andy]

The way the modern running game has been developing you are more likely to see a 193cm Goldsack on the bench rather than a L Brown type if a standard 2nd ruck is also on the bench, a tall runner gives you more options.

I expect that Brown will play as a utility, back forward and through the centre, not as a ruck. If Fraser plays with Jolly he won't be on the bench, he will be forward. I expect that Brown will play in either a key position forward or back. He can also play as a loose marking target through the centre and very occasionally rucking.

 

[lukey69]

ball and jolly to make a inpact
give the young guys a crack and let the old guys like presti and obree have a rest