Opinion Qualifying Final Changes vs. Sydney

[Tazmania]

I'd say that's Kirky sitting next to 211

Kirk is way more grey than that. See him at our daughters gymnastics class regularly.

 

[JamFrank]

In your opinion. It's also why I stated my post as rumour (note that they are confident).

It was a rumour that I thought BF Freo would be interested in. I didn't make it up (as accused). I stated it as rumour. It appears to be wrong.

I'm sorry that it upset Freo people (not so much TheKanga he's just a prat), as I said, I hoped it was wrong.

Appologies, tants, didn't mean to accuse you. Obviously that kind of rumour got everyone a bit worried, so we hoped it was made up. Turns out it was, but not by you. Attacked the wrong man, my bad.

 

[The Black Sheep]

Geez I'm peeing razor blades at the minute with Johnno being out so imagine the state of the bladder if Sandi goes down

Sounds more like syphilis to me

 

[Danny Cullen]

I have no problem if we play the three talls. Griff plonking himself in the goalsquare all day serves two purposes: 1. It will do Longnires head in; 2. Brings the ball down for Ballas and Son Son.

All good.

 

[Lost_Deputy]

Lol at all the previews on the main board! Like a bunch of people screaming at the wind.
Personally I'm getting good vibes for tomozza. Planegate, injuries and ANZ have brought up the same level of underdog status as last year.
Our mids are gonna be on fire.
Our fwds are as unpredictable as they are lethal.
Our backs are hilariously underrated.

We got this

 

[Righteo]

Lol at all the previews on the main board! Like a bunch of people screaming at the wind.
Personally I'm getting good vibes for tomozza. Planegate, injuries and ANZ have brought up the same level of underdog status as last year.
Our mids are gonna be on fire.
Our fwds are as unpredictable as they are lethal.
Our backs are hilariously underrated.

We got this

Have to say I don't mind it either, the bigger underdogs we are the harder it will be for Sydney fans to retrospectively paint themselves as the underdogs a bit like Hawthorn fans have done following the GF.

 

[clivenator26]

3 rucks doesn't work at the best of times, let alone a wet day, it's one thing to say plonk Griff in the goalsquare but that is not how modern footy works. We will get destroyed on the counter, Sydney are the best rebounding team there is with Malceski, Shaw, Rampe and now Rohan bolting out of there.

3 rucks is suicide, Essendon tried it with Ryder, Bell'bers & Hille years ago, North tried it with Goldy, Currie & Petire and WC tried it with Nicnat, Cox & Lycett with some success (think they beat Melbourne lol). The biggest issue is if we get an injury and are forced to use a sub then late in the game we have 2 lumberers plus Clarke running around and they would likely take off on of their talls (Goodes, Reid, Tippett) for a runner & run out strong.

Ross knows what he is doing and my man love will go to new extremes if he manages to pull off a win using the 3 rucks but we would be short odds to make a late change surely. DeBoer would be my bet.

 

[StingBitten]

Lol at all the previews on the main board! Like a bunch of people screaming at the wind.
Personally I'm getting good vibes for tomozza. Planegate, injuries and ANZ have brought up the same level of underdog status as last year.
Our mids are gonna be on fire.
Our fwds are as unpredictable as they are lethal.
Our backs are hilariously underrated.

We got this

Almost like a bargain struck with the Footy Gods - we sacrifice injuries, shitty MRP decisions and a series of most unfortunate events before our first final and are rewarded with the ethereal, mystical underdog tag.

We have enough African, Aboriginal and Indian heritage in our team to make me believe there's some serious curse-work going on.

 

[wafti123]

I like the sentiment ladies and gents, but I think any team would struggle without two of their all Australian backs. I'm not sure what Griff's going to do to cover this.

 

[Grandstan]

I like the sentiment ladies and gents, but I think any team would struggle without two of their all Australian backs. I'm not sure what Griff's going to do to cover this.

IMHO it's overstated. Both our beloved AA defenders have been in and out all year, and have hardly been at peak form even when on the park.

 

[Righteo]

IMHO it's overstated. Both our beloved AA defenders have been in and out all year, and have hardly been at peak form even when on the park.

We probably carried McPharlin in the qualifying final last year not forgetting and have been carrying MJ for the last month, if it rains as predicted the losses are almost negligible IMO.

 

[Lost_Deputy]

IMHO it's overstated. Both our beloved AA defenders have been in and out all year, and have hardly been at peak form even when on the park.

Totally agree. We've only had Macca going a full capacity a hand full of times in the last couple years and hardly ever during finals. Johnno has been way off his usual standards right when we have showed our best form of the season against the top flight. Alot of the noise being made about the losses are from people who don't know the team as well as us. Not many remember the intercept marking of Ibbo last year or how handy SOS is.

 

[Danny Cullen]

3 rucks doesn't work at the best of times, let alone a wet day, it's one thing to say plonk Griff in the goalsquare but that is not how modern footy works. We will get destroyed on the counter, Sydney are the best rebounding team there is with Malceski, Shaw, Rampe and now Rohan bolting out of there.

Rubbish. If he's there they're not going to let him stand on his own. We won't get destroyed at all on the counter because our very skilled and committed midfield and smaller backs won't let it happen.

Not saying that Griff will be down there, just suggesting it probably really isn't a bad thing.

All the rest is white noise, all teams rebound

 

[Spoken4]

We probably carried McPharlin in the qualifying final last year not forgetting and have been carrying MJ for the last month, if it rains as predicted the losses are almost negligible IMO.

Yep, and Johnson missed that game altogether. Was also McPharlin's first game back for a long, long time.

 

[yoong]

Almost like a bargain struck with the Footy Gods - we sacrifice injuries, shitty MRP decisions and a series of most unfortunate events before our first final and are rewarded with the ethereal, mystical underdog tag.

We have enough African, Aboriginal and Indian heritage in our team to make me believe there's some serious curse-work going on.

Nah. Our footy god just need to show more effort. He'll need to show more consistent 4 week effort.

That being said, he still managed to deliver when it matters, winning footy games.

 

[Righteo]

Totally agree. We've only had Macca going a full capacity a hand full of times in the last couple years and hardly ever during finals. Johnno has been way off his usual standards right when we have showed our best form of the season against the top flight. Alot of the noise being made about the losses are from people who don't know the team as well as us. Not many remember the intercept marking of Ibbo last year or how handy SOS is.

The real reason for the outburst of negativity is more their very good yet incredibly over hyped forward line. Buddy is a star, Tippett is reasonable but doesn't scare me particularly in the wet, Reid is a good chance of playing back and Goodes is cooked. Honestly McGlynn, Rohan and Cunningham concern me more.

 

[Westerberg]

Kirky must have been sharing some bad granola with the coaching staff if they do actually go with 3 rucks. Seems baffling that they would decide to radically change our structures and go with something we haven't tried at all for the most important game of the year.

I really hope the late change is Croz and not De Boer.

De Boer was average in our last two finals, and more than likely would be the sub.
His abilities are not suited to the sub IMO, especially when compared with Croz who could cameo with scoring/setting up some quick goals.

But RTB clearly knows more about football then I do so who knows.

 

[Lost_Deputy]

The real reason for the outburst of negativity is more their very good yet incredibly over hyped forward line. Buddy is a star, Tippett is reasonable but doesn't scare me particularly in the wet, Reid is a good chance of playing back and Goodes is cooked. Honestly McGlynn, Rohan and Cunningham concern me more.

For sure tho I rate Tippett in the wet.
Also feeling the crowd is going to be a non-issue. It's bucketing down right now and there is still a bunch of seats left at ANZ. Sydney crowds are quiet at the best of times plus they are overwhelming favorites. Nothing hushes a crowd like expectation. Add in the atmosphere sucking structure of ANZ and its narrow likeness of Subi and we have good reason to be lining up without fear.

 

[Righteo]

For sure tho I rate Tippett in the wet.
Also feeling the crowd is going to be a non-issue. It's bucketing down right now and there is still a bunch of seats left at ANZ. Sydney crowds are quiet at the best of times plus they are overwhelming favorites. Nothing hushes a crowd like expectation. Add in the atmosphere sucking structure of ANZ and its narrow likeness of Subi and we have good reason to be lining up without fear.

Lol we'll out voice them easily, Seppo will make sure of it.

 

[Grandstan]

Kirky must have been sharing some bad granola with the coaching staff if they do actually go with 3 rucks. Seems baffling that they would decide to radically change our structures and go with something we haven't tried at all for the most important game of the year.

Who knows if all three will make it out on Saturday, but structurally, it isn't necessarily a radical departure. Sandi does normal role, the 2nd, say Clarke, becomes a key position defender, while Griffin would play in the usual Clarke forward/ruck role.

 

[PeelnThunder]

Two reasons why Griffin may be in the team. Security if Sandi is unfit or they plan on playing 3 talls depending on if it rains or not. If it's wet he will be a late withdrawal an hour before the game and if Sandi is unfit, he will be a late withdrawal an hour before the game.

 

[Taylor]

Perhaps it's Tabs going back and Griff is taking his place?

 

[FreoDocker]

3 rucks doesn't work at the best of times, let alone a wet day, it's one thing to say plonk Griff in the goalsquare but that is not how modern footy works. We will get destroyed on the counter, Sydney are the best rebounding team there is with Malceski, Shaw, Rampe and now Rohan bolting out of there.

3 rucks is suicide, Essendon tried it with Ryder, Bell'bers & Hille years ago, North tried it with Goldy, Currie & Petire and WC tried it with Nicnat, Cox & Lycett with some success (think they beat Melbourne lol). The biggest issue is if we get an injury and are forced to use a sub then late in the game we have 2 lumberers plus Clarke running around and they would likely take off on of their talls (Goodes, Reid, Tippett) for a runner & run out strong.

Ross knows what he is doing and my man love will go to new extremes if he manages to pull off a win using the 3 rucks but we would be short odds to make a late change surely. DeBoer would be my bet.

Playing 3 rucks only makes sense to me if:

1) We play Clarke as a permanent key defender to cover Tippett (maybe Silvagni is still carrying an injury?).
2) We can stretch Sydney's defense and force Reid / Goodes to play as a permanent key defender to cover Clarke.
3) We play Griffin as the sub with the idea of maintaining our ruck dominance as Pyke fatigues (a big risk if one of our mids goes down).
4) We're just trying to mess with Sydney's match-ups / preparation by throwing them a curveball.

I still think that if we see any rain tomorrow at all, De Boer will come as a late change for Griffin. Taking 3 rucks into a wet game would be baffling.

 

[Freo_4eva]

2 and 4 are the only plausible reasons IMO.. but i still think he will be a late out

 

[Eski3]

Having thought about it, I think there may be two other reasons we have named Griff:

1. Pearce will be a late in, and we are trying to stop Sydney to have enough time to research him to get a jump on the matchups,

2. They are waiting to see if Grundy is a late out, in which case their backline will be tiny with Laidler the late in

Otherwise I am just as baffled as everyone else. I would be surprised if Griffin plays in the wet