Preview No Changes vs Saints

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

So did Thommo, Grigg and Kerridge get through training?

We'll see at 2:10pm if any of the emergencies have been pulled out of the SANFL game.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

We'll see at 2:10pm if any of the emergencies have been pulled out of the SANFL game.

I assume that we will be taking a traveling emergency regardless

 

[Bailey01]

I assume that we will be taking a traveling emergency regardless

It must be Brodie Martin, he is not on the team list for the SANFL.

 

[The Karma Bus]

It must be Brodie Martin, he is not on the team list for the SANFL.

Correct, I heard this somewhere yesterday..
Martin is travelling emergency unless they had a last minute change of heart..

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Interesting t read that Hayden Kennedy (Snr Umpires Coach) has come out critical of Collingwood's heavy tagging tactics, hopefully thus means that the umpires will be on to this come Sunday

 

[Vader]

Overall I am happy with the final team. If we are tanking, at least we are being subtle. Bringing Smack straight back in would be far too obvious,

Sando is pretty consistent in his selections if you crack the code.

1) Structure is king. For example, he does not like to play 3 talls in the forward line and does not rate the role of a second ruck very highly. Late last season our second ruck was who? Well spotted Spackler, it was Andy Otten. Ideally we play 2 tall forwards, 1 crumbing forward, 1 defensive forward and 1 lead up player (lynch) and rotate midfielders through the F50 to complete the picture. The problem we have at the moment is that we don't have a decent Lynch type player. Last week JPod and JJ were wasted leading up to the wing and then having no one to kick it to.

2) We don't have depth, we have about 20 players that are fringe AFL players. We could drop half a dozen of these guys and bring in 6 of their mates and it will back little difference. We don't have heaps of out and out spuds (OK, I'll give you Gus) but lots of guys that are not quite up to it (Martin, LJ, Pets) or not ready yet (CEY) according to Sando. Sando has a clear ranking and he takes a lot of convincing to change his order. Older players like Stiffy and Porps have to play lots of bad footy to drop down the order but when they're gone, they're gone.

Sando ranked Matt Crouch above Lyons from the day he submitted his draft form and the only chance Jarryd will have is if we are decimated with injuries to midfielder. His possessions per TOG in the preseason and round 1 was excellent but he can dominate in the SANFL all season but it won't make any difference.

3) Finally, Sando selects the 22 that he believes will have the best chance of winning the upcoming match. This means we never see speculative selections like Port, Collingwood and Hawthorn. If in doubt, check the batting order.

One of your best posts ever Jack. Absolutely spot on with every single point you've made.

I got bagged out last year for suggesting that Otten would/could be used as our 2nd ruck, but with JJ injured and Smack in disgrace, that was the way that Sando went.

I also agree that structure is king - and it takes a lot to be dropped from the team once a player has become "established" (as distinct from being a fringe week-to-week selection).

I seem to remember having a big debate earlier this year over whether Lyons or BoB was the more highly rated player at the club. I think the answer is obvious to all & sundry right about now. You're 100% correct in stating that it has always been BoB.

It's nice to see that there's someone else out there who "gets" the team selections.

Do I agree with everything they do? Absolutely not. I think that underperforming senior players are given way too long before they get dropped. I also would have liked to have seen some reaction to last week's loss - but I also accept the argument that there were no viable replacements knocking the door down in the SANFL. Last week's performance was bad - but there's no point in making the team even weaker, just to make a point at the selection table.

 

[Vader]

Hendo got injured and it opened up a spot. Good on Jaensch for taking it but there aren't too many other options.

The test of Sando's faith in Jaensch is if he has a couple of quiet games. Does he instantly get dropped the same as all our 15-32 players seem to (except Petrenko)? Or will Sando stick with him?

Right at the moment the cupboard is bare when it comes to replacements. They're either not ready (CEY, etc) or not AFL standard (Lyons, Martin). There is no player currently in the SANFL team who would make our AFL team stronger, even with the shitty performances some of our current players are churning out.

That's not a pretty truth, but there it is. Our depth at the moment is being severely tested, courtesy of a large number of injuries to senior players (while the lesser lights remain completely injury free). Not only is our depth being tested, but after 5 years of serial draft avoidance, our depth sucks badly.

Fingers crossed that Lynch & Smack get through their SANFL game intact. At least that will give our selectors options when they meet to discuss the changes following tomorrow's impending disaster.

 

[feenix67]

Interesting that you deem Lyons not AFL standard and CEY "not ready". How would we really know?

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

 

[Vader]

Interesting that you deem Lyons not AFL standard and CEY "not ready". How would we really know?

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

The selectors see the players week in week out, at training and on game day. If they tell me that CEY isn't ready, then I'm happy to take their word for it. They might hold onto established players for too long, but they're rarely too far off the mark when it comes to bringing the youngsters into the side.

As for Lyons.. Let's not rehash the debate that derailed 5 pages of this thread yesterday. It's my opinion - and one which is obviously also held by the selectors - that he's not AFL material. Many on BF disagree.

 

[androidtommy]

Interesting that you deem Lyons not AFL standard and CEY "not ready". How would we really know?

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

Not ready to show us if he is AFL standard or not. Lyons has played, CEY has not.

 

[BACCS]

Brown and Grigg are obviously closer to being dropped than any of the other players in the 22. Otherwise Petrenko, Mackay, Reilly... would have been named in the SANFL team.

So yeeha... they weren't dropped after all. We've avoided a selection disaster for perhaps one more week.

How could you possibly know that with any certainty? It's pure guesswork. They weren't dropped, get over it for christ sakes.

 

[feenix67]

You completely contradict yourself. They aren't harsh enough to drop underperforming seniors but they shouldn't play youth.

Make some sense ffs.

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

 

[androidtommy]

Fingers crossed that Lynch & Smack get through their SANFL game intact. At least that will give our selectors options when they meet to discuss the changes following tomorrow's impending disaster.

I was listening to the game on the radio. Sounded like Smack didn't get a lot of it (7 touches) but kicked 3 goals and presented ok.
Lynch was good: 22 touches, 5 inside 50s, 3 clearances, 1 goal.
I think Lynchy might get a game next week, Smack probably not pending JJs game tomorrow

 

[Vader]

You completely contradict yourself. They aren't harsh enough to drop underperforming seniors but they shouldn't play youth.

Make some sense ffs.

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

I never said that they shouldn't play youth. I said that they have a good track record at knowing when to bring them into the side. I'm all for playing the kids when they're ready to play at the senior level - eg Matt Crouch. I do not like the idea of throwing a kid in at the deep end when he's still struggling with the doggy paddle.

Right now our depth sucks. We have nobody knocking the door down to replace those underperforming senior players. Hopefully we'll have Lynch & Smack ready to go next week. That statement alone should tell you how desperate we are, because I don't ever want to see Smack playing in red, blue & gold ever again. There is literally nobody in the SANFL team who would improve our currently underperforming AFL team. That sucks - but it's an unavoidable truth.

 

[BACCS]

Unless you sign up to the ducks and drakes theory, it's a clear sign that if a couple of players did go out, they were coming from that group. Would be expecting the sub vest to be thrust upon one of them as they work their way to the 2's. All I was saying is that if you are named in both teams then you're closer (more likely) to be playing sanfl than if you are if you were only named in the seniors.

I don't give a shit about any of that, both are still playing in our AFL side. I mean there is plenty to get angry about with our club atm, but this just seems like potting the club for the sake of it.

 

[feenix67]

So let's play Sam Shaw instead of CEY, because Shaw brings so much more to the table. Give me a break Vader

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

 

[androidtommy]

To be fair, Vader is just saying what the selectors do. The selectors clearly think Shaw offers more than CEY at the moment since he is getting games and CEY is not. No point having a go at vader about something that is not his fault/idea.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

How could you possibly know that with any certainty? It's pure guesswork. They weren't dropped, get over it for christ sakes.

Of course I know. In the end Grigg and Brown held their spots ahead of CEY, Shaw and Martin. But you think they just randomly chose some names out of a hat to fill up spots in the SANFL team? They were the ones in the mix to go out.

 

[Vader]

So let's play Sam Shaw instead of CEY, because Shaw brings so much more to the table. Give me a break Vader

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

Please show me where I have suggested playing Shaw? I haven't even mentioned his name. I'd have him in the same group as Lyons & Martin at present. Shaw has potential, given his ability to read the play and intercept opposition forward entries, but his kicking is just too awful to ever become AFL standard.

 

[feenix67]

So you are only happy to take the word of the selectors when it supports your argument?

Sorry, I'm a fan of independant thinking.

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

 

[Vader]

So you are only happy to take the word of the selectors when it supports your argument?

Sorry, I'm a fan of independant thinking.

Sent from my luxury yacht in the Bahamas

Not always. When I can see the evidence with my own eyes (eg underperforming senior players) then that's one thing. When we're talking about the development of a kid, then I want to see it done right - and I trust our development guys to know when a kid is ready and when he's not. Rarely have they got it wrong in the past.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Not always. When I can see the evidence with my own eyes (eg underperforming senior players) then that's one thing. When we're talking about the development of a kid, then I want to see it done right - and I trust our development guys to know when a kid is ready and when he's not. Rarely have they got it wrong in the past.

Our results are proof of this?

 

[jackster83]

Right at the moment the cupboard is bare when it comes to replacements. They're either not ready (CEY, etc) or not AFL standard (Lyons, Martin). There is no player currently in the SANFL team who would make our AFL team stronger, even with the shitty performances some of our current players are churning out.

Well our youth won't get any better if we don't play them.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Well our youth won't get any better if we don't play them.

Yep. There are no other options than what we're doing now.

 

[The Karma Bus]

Every year we are too scared to play the youth until we're 100% sure, absolutely positively definite they're ready..
At the start of each season you see players making their debut everywhere, yet not at the AFC..

Some of these start playing....... and keep playing.. Amazing that..
Because they feel confidence has been placed in them, and they also learn and adjust - which is the only way they will do just that..

I'm not saying play every single one early and the extremely raw ones, but have a little bit more faith....