News Now Goodwin out!!

[Bockchoy67]

So Tony's in? Good choice.

Not sold on Schmidt.

 

[cmndstab]

I guess this confirms the "Armstrong will replace McLeod in 2011" theory. Good luck to Porps and Armstrong I guess I forget, did Armstrong play in the earlier Showdown this year, or is this his first?

 

[SebastianVettel]

Nice to see Armstrong get another go, although I would have preferred Schmidt, just for the bigger body in a Showdown.

I'd prefer Armstrong because he's not a turnover merchant.

 

[amer]

Actually I reckon Pets would've come in for Mcleod had he been fit. Looked an absolute force the second he was shifted back against the Hawks, and it's just his natural position anyway. Had him penciled in for yonks.

Anyway, very interesting. As has already been said, we've got one of the combinations of sides we could field in 2011 at some stage. There are quite a few personnel differences between this and the "2011 flag" side I've got on the fridge - namely McKernan, Otten, Davis, Knights, Petrenko and Cook in (Shaw very close) at the expense of Griffin, Stevens, Armstrong, Symes, Reilly and Doughty - but still, Craigy asked us to imagine how the side would look without the vets, now we're going to see for the very first time how they fare without every single one of them. And in a Showdown no less.

Can't wait.

 

[iamjason]

Wow this is going to be an interesting game. That backline has some question marks about it, but if we continue the trend the ball should stay down our end of the ground enough to avoid said question marks.

 

[ronnie1234]

A team without Macca or Goody

We're finally going to see what our future team can do against the power this sunday Looking forward to this match even more now for some reason

 

[Tarasque36]

I guess this confirms the "Armstrong will replace McLeod in 2011" theory. Good luck to Porps and Armstrong I guess I forget, did Armstrong play in the earlier Showdown this year, or is this his first?

It will be his first Showdown. Didnt play in round 6. Got back into the team in round 8 for NM.

Will be interesting to see with all the vets out!

 

[Macjoe]

Sad for Macca and Goody - miss out on the chance to be in a swansong winning showdown.

In team terms, not devastated. Still should get the job done, and will be great to see how the leadership stands up.

Poor Thommo - he was worried about being one of the "oldies" next year, and now he's 4th oldest after Doughty, Stevens and Johncock. ****, that seems funny - Johncock 3rd oldest in the team! Seems only yesterday he was debuting.

I'm watching with interest who is named Captain - hope the club doesn't wimp out and let Mackay do it just 'cos it's his birthday.

Vader, do you have quick access to those "youngest teams" stats you put up earlier this year? I make the average age on Sunday as 24 years, 166 days.


PS: the more I think about this side, the more excited I am. Was looking forward to a couple of weeks without travel, but may have to reconsider. Genuinely sorry for Goody and Macca, but this really does give us a glimpse into the future.

Boom!​

 

[lunacy]

I'm a bit concerned about this game now. Although Bock, Porplyzia, Armstrong for Davis, Mcleod, Goodwin is not bad. Goodwin is the big out.

But even more worrying is Phil Harper said they dont even know whats wrong with Goody's ankle. He doesnt remember injuring it and it didnt start hurting until tuesday. It has gotten worse and worse each day since. I hope he doesnt miss more than 1 or 2 weeks. Because even if we do win this week, we're gonna need him if we're gonna push our case in september.

 

[Godallblighty]

McLeod's 'knee soreness'...?

First time I can recall him coming back from one of these cleanouts and having a setback. Is that right? If so, could that be it?

 

[jackster83]

Damn. Goodwin out is a huge loss.

Nathan Bock, it's time for you to reclaim your status as our backline general.

 

[amer]

Gut feeling is that's the end of Macca. They'll play it down and try to get him up but to have a flare-up one game back is close to the death knell.

 

[dplggr47]

shock, shock and shock. Goodwin is a big loss.
i wish Phil Davis didn't get dropped though, because then we would definitely see what our 2011 side would look like.

 

[smoovy]

Truck to captain?

 

[Vader]

This is massive news. Goodwin will be a massive loss, as he's been in REALLY good form lately.

No surprise that Goodwin's omission didn't result in Davis returning to the team. There just isn't room for 4 tall defenders in the side, particularly when we're playing a team with a short forward line like Port.

Sorry Macjoe, no can do on the stats. Previously I would have referred you to www.afl.allthestats.com but they recently downgraded their website to the point where you can't find any useful information at all. Idiots. I do have a spreadsheet at work which would allow me to calculate our average age, but the version on my home computer is somewhat out of date. Your figure of 24 years sounds very high - I'm expecting it to be just above 21 years.

It's going to be very interesting to see who is named as Captain. VB or Rutten, but which one?

It doesn't look good for Macca. In previous years he's got by with the annual knee cleanout during the off-season. This year he's needed a 2nd cleanout in the middle of the season and his knee has blown up a week after he returned. Not good signs at all. Reminiscent of Hentschel's knee problems. It can only be a matter of days before he calls it quits. It's no longer mathematically possible for him to get to 350 this year, not even if we make the GF the hard way (playing all 4 weeks of the finals).

 

[Macjoe]

Vader, I checked my spreadsheet, and it seems right: 24+ yrs average age. We don't have any 19 year olds any more - Walker is our youngest at 20 yrs and 91 days.

While we have 7 players under 22 (5 20yr olds and 2 @ 21) we also still have 7 26 or older (a 26 yo, 4 27 yos, a 28 yo and Doughty nearly 31).

 

[DirrtyBee]

A team without Macca or Goody

We're finally going to see what our future team can do against the power this sunday Looking forward to this match even more now for some reason

This is how I feel! I mean its still crappy Goody is out and Macca to an extent. However, if this isn't an insight on to how next year will look before actually get to 2011, then I dunno what is!

 

[Dangerforward]

"Conspiracy theory"

Crows are resting a couple of experienced players who will be important come September, and getting some finals like experience and conditioning into some others who may be important come September.

 

[Pariah]

If we win it will be even sweeter. I'm glad they brought Armstrong back in ahead of Schmidt. In the earlier Showdown this year Schmidt appeared to back a bit and a Cassisi let him know about, I hope it was just nerves from playing in such a high pressure game for the first time. It'll be interesting to see how Armstrong goes in a finals like match and atmosphere.

 

[crowralph]

It doesn't look good for Macca. In previous years he's got by with the annual knee cleanout during the off-season. This year he's needed a 2nd cleanout in the middle of the season and his knee has blown up a week after he returned. Not good signs at all. Reminiscent of Hentschel's knee problems. It can only be a matter of days before he calls it quits. It's no longer mathematically possible for him to get to 350 this year, not even if we make the GF the hard way (playing all 4 weeks of the finals).

could be correct, but the other side of the argument is;

earlier in the season, with poor form and no options, he would be played and quite likely to his detriment. with current form, against a team with the recent form of port adelaide, you wouldn't risk anyone. this might explain why goody is out as well. it's simply a change in focus from current to medium term. i expect this is a team that believes they can go the distance and they are making selections on that basis.

 

[dplggr47]

It doesn't look good for Macca. In previous years he's got by with the annual knee cleanout during the off-season. This year he's needed a 2nd cleanout in the middle of the season and his knee has blown up a week after he returned. Not good signs at all. Reminiscent of Hentschel's knee problems. It can only be a matter of days before he calls it quits. It's no longer mathematically possible for him to get to 350 this year, not even if we make the GF the hard way (playing all 4 weeks of the finals).

with only 6 rounds remaining, i just hope he gets his body right before seasons end.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

"Conspiracy theory"

Crows are resting a couple of experienced players who will be important come September, and getting some finals like experience and conditioning into some others who may be important come September.

Always enjoy a good conspiracy theory. Resting players against the Power... love it The ultimate insult. Well played, Neil. Even better than a pressed ham.

Or could it be that Macca and Goody are scared of Josh Carr??

 

[jenny61_99]

This is massive news. Goodwin will be a massive loss, as he's been in REALLY good form lately.

No surprise that Goodwin's omission didn't result in Davis returning to the team. There just isn't room for 4 tall defenders in the side, particularly when we're playing a team with a short forward line like Port.

Sorry Macjoe, no can do on the stats. Previously I would have referred you to www.afl.allthestats.com but they recently downgraded their website to the point where you can't find any useful information at all. Idiots. I do have a spreadsheet at work which would allow me to calculate our average age, but the version on my home computer is somewhat out of date. Your figure of 24 years sounds very high - I'm expecting it to be just above 21 years.

It's going to be very interesting to see who is named as Captain. VB or Rutten, but which one?

It doesn't look good for Macca. In previous years he's got by with the annual knee cleanout during the off-season. This year he's needed a 2nd cleanout in the middle of the season and his knee has blown up a week after he returned. Not good signs at all. Reminiscent of Hentschel's knee problems. It can only be a matter of days before he calls it quits. It's no longer mathematically possible for him to get to 350 this year, not even if we make the GF the hard way (playing all 4 weeks of the finals).

Vader, he had to have a second op mid-season last year too (right after the Brisbane game). He came to breakfast the following morning and his knee was the size of a rock melon. He had a massive cyst under the knee cap that just kept blowing up. I hope it's not the same thing.