Unofficial Preview Pies Round 6 - Easter Thursday

[3KZ is Football]

Personally I doubt he's dragging anyone anywhere 3KZ but whilst we're winning it doesn't matter.

Again, I agree. I might be old fashioned, but I’ve always preferred tall forwards who kick goals.

Against Sydney, Collingwood’s Ruck duties were mainly carried out by Cameron who attended 70 ruck contests with McStay giving the chop out for 23 ruck contests. I think Oscar should be able to handle Cameron, but I can see McStay being more of a danger to us when he lines up against Day in the ruck, particularly in terms of McStay’s leap, greater pace and ability on the deck.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Exactly. For Day to be marked, let alone heavily enough to drag someone away, he’d have to be a goal scoring threat. This season he hasn’t even got out goal, so I don’t think the defense will be worried too much about anything he does because nothing screams out impact or critical cog in the machine whatsoever.

Could Fort, McInerney or even Gardiner or Smith do anything he does even better? I’d like to find out.

We need someone to share the ruck duties, hence my preference for Fort. I hadn’t thought about Gardiner as a replacement for Day, basically because he’s not really a ruck option.

 

[Sproj]

We need someone to share the ruck duties, hence my preference for Fort. I hadn’t thought about Gardiner as a replacement for day, basically because he’s not really a ruck option.

I’m absolutely ok with Fort too though I wouldn’t mind giving Smith a shot as he’s younger and we need to know what he has or hasn’t got as all of Fort, Day, Gardiner and McInerney are getting on.

 

[MSB ROYS]

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

I'm not but I do think our forwardline line has functioned well when the mids have been switched on

I think the forward line has functioned well when Hippy has put on his angry face and played like Wayne Carey in second halves.
Forwards have to win contests sometimes.
Hipwood did remind me of Carey in the second half!

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Well we need a second ruck. Joe going in at least left Hippy forward but it leaves Logan with the best defender

Here's a question NB. Should sides put their best defender on Logan?

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

I take your point, sauce but I’m not sure Gardiner would give us much more than Day. Certainly, if he tears it up in the twos, I’d be willing to give him a go, but at this stage I don’t see anyone on our list who can ruck/forward better than Day.

Gardiner was poor in the twos against Richmond but OK against Port.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I'd be looking at H.Smith coming in for a game this weekend. We need more support for Big O.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

I had similar thoughts, but watching him live last week and again today his athleticism is not at the level.

Beaten in the ruck, still without a goal despite considerable time forward. We know what we are getting from him. If Smith is fit he plays, if not Fort.

Hopefully Kai is back. To be finding as many avenues to goal without him is encouraging.

Finally, looking forward to seeing Jasper against the Pies. He has been fantastic since moving back - his marking for his size is a real feature, as well as his pace. I think he will cause them some real problems given their forward line isn’t overly tall or quick outside of Hill.

Don't know if this is a great move considering how good Fletch is back in defense as you say.
But I'd go McKenna in to take Fletch's position down back and role Fletch back through the wing.
I have zero confidence with Bruce against Collingwood with their spead and run from stoppage and as we all know great use of open space.
I would't put McKenna on the wing either for what it's worth.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Feels strange being 5-0 and on top of the ladder.

More confident this week than last week. Would consider giving Will Ashcroft the first bounce instead of Clug this week. Need to mix something up to stop the slow starts. Also Oscar having an imposing start to the game would be handy

Probably won't tag Daicos but I think if you stop their system then you limit his influence
Hopefully Hippy plays with the confidence he had in the second half against the dogs

 

[mpal6]

the forward line is functioning very well with day. he is a more natural forward than smith. why are we trying to fix things that aren't broken?

because we are 5-0 dammitt !!!!
we need things to fuss around and complain about !!

 

[mpal6]

I'd be looking at H.Smith coming in for a game this weekend. We need more support for Big O.

Considering our luck with Starcevich concussion, I'd be hesitant bringing Smith in on the back of a concussion in reserves. It has to be Day or if we really need a swap - Fort.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

I think the forward line has functioned well when Hippy has put on his angry face and played like Wayne Carey in second halves.
Forwards have to win contests sometimes.
Hipwood did remind me of Carey in the second half!

No he has that squint.
Clint Eastwood.
Feeling lucky punk.

 

[Squizz89]

Is Lachie a lock to play after taking a knock to the foot? Had a look at the depth in the ressies and there isn’t a whole lot there, which surprised me a bit. Basically our starting midfield group we have now is strong but after that there isn’t much. I can’t see them going back to Tunstill/Dev for example.

If he was to miss (or at any stage this year), I wonder whether we’d just throw Levi on ball a bit more and have McKenna come in to take his wing minutes / rotate with Jasper/Bailey for those minutes etc.

 

[Nunez]

Don't think Smith can play. Would still be within protocol

 

[Section 5]

I think the big variable is that we didn't have Ah Chee down there , Bailey in form dangerous around goals , still hadn't worked out where to play Rayner , and Zorko pinpointing it in from the backline ,no Ashcroft and a McCluggage in form.

So there's dozens of goals there compared to the first 5 games last year.

Variables are just that.

True, and you can add Morris (first game R8) to the list who has scored 11 goals this year. so really, we should have scored more than the +65.
Of course, you have to take off Joes contribution being 12 goals to R5.

I was just saying in the other post things are okay scoring wise without Joe so far this year and Day has not registered one yet.

 

[braddsey]

I'd be looking at H.Smith coming in for a game this weekend. We need more support for Big O.

It’s too early for Smith IMO. The VFL team have played 2 games this season (which is a debacle of scheduling). He had one average game, one good game - but got concussed.
I’d give him another couple of weeks to build some consistency.

I do think he should be the next in line, and while we want to build him - you don’t need to build the next line of players through the seniors when you’re a premiership contender.
If we stumble or start to look exposed with Day then it’s time to make the switch and give Smith a proper run at it. We have 5 wins on the board so a bit of a buffer for that to happen.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

the forward line is functioning very well with day. he is a more natural forward than smith. why are we trying to fix things that aren't broken?

Is it, though? It's not broken in the second half of games, but can we say the same in the first half? We won't be able to pull off the comeback every single week, so we should be looking to improve where we can.

To be clear I think Day vs Fort is largely a wash, each brings their own strengths. But Henry Smith could bring us to another level if he gets an extended run. I'd just like to remind everyone that in the VFL a week ago, he had 30 disposals, 33 hitouts, 4 tackles and kicked 3.4. That's a sign he will be banging down the door for a place in the 22 soon. And I think if he doesn't get his chance this year, we might lose him when Adelaide come knocking at the end of the season. So I want him in the seniors soon, and Day is the obvious one to make way.

But it shouldn't be this week, even if he didn't have a concussion. It should be when we play North in round 9.

 

[braddsey]

Is Lachie a lock to play after taking a knock to the foot? Had a look at the depth in the ressies and there isn’t a whole lot there, which surprised me a bit. Basically our starting midfield group we have now is strong but after that there isn’t much. I can’t see them going back to Tunstill/Dev for example.

If he was to miss (or at any stage this year), I wonder whether we’d just throw Levi on ball a bit more and have McKenna come in to take his wing minutes / rotate with Jasper/Bailey for those minutes etc.

if Lachie doesn’t get up (and knowing Lachie his foot would have to be about to fall off for him to miss), then i wouldn’t think we try to replace like-for-like. Give one of the existing 22 his midfield minutes, bring someone else in for a HB/HF/wing rotation.

 

[mpal6]

Someone needs to go H2H with Sidebottom and stop him from getting the footy, creating play on the outside. Berry might be the obvious candidate if Sidebottom starts on the wing.

 

[martinson]

I don't think there's any hope of us replacing Day until there's clear evidence that it's hindering our chances of winning.

IMO Fort is a better footballer but we went into the season with a plan and its working do far , if at times luck is going our way.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Someone needs to go H2H with Sidebottom and stop him from getting the footy, creating play on the outside. Berry might be the obvious candidate if Sidebottom starts on the wing.

Berry has been fantastic this year. He has been flying under the radar to an extent, but he is doing all the hard, unglamorous things that have helped us win games. His physical pressure has been first rate and I’d love to see him get the assignment on Sidebottom.

 

[Section 5]

Glad we traded in Day. Gives us something to talk about.
If Day named again, it will be his 2nd highest number of AFL games played in the past 5 years.
If he stays in the side to round 7, he will have eclipsed his season best in that 5-year period.
Let the countdown begin

Previous number of AFL games the previous 4 years: 6 (2021), 4, 3, 5.

 

[mpal6]

I think the longer Day stays in the team - he'll find his groove on how to play in our system. If he turns around and starts giving us 2+ goal returns on top and a contest/relief mark on the wing consistently, then he'd have achieved more than what we hoped when we started.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I don't think Day is doing anything particularly wrong. I'd just like more support for Big O who copped a hammering from English.