Preview R16: Changes v Carlton

[rezagun]

No point resting Thommo. He's just come off a bye and an extra week rest. He gets backed in to build over the next 2 weeks and cracks his 300. If he continues to struggle for large portions of games then there will be genuine concern.

Will play his 300th vs collingwood at adelaide oval.

 

[Cleric]

No changes.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

I think we should look at resting a few players against Carlton, Essendon and Brisbane. We'll smash the latter two but probably not Carlton by as much. Lever, Shooter, Thommo, Tex, Sauce and Rat. I think these 6 guys need a rest at some stage so they are in prime condition heading into finals.

 

[Bovo]

I think we should look at resting a few players against Carlton, Essendon and Brisbane. We'll smash the latter two but probably not Carlton by as much. Lever, Shooter, Thommo, Tex, Sauce and Rat. I think these 6 guys need a rest at some stage so they are in prime condition heading into finals.

That has worked wonders for Ross Lyon. Not a fan myself. If they can't play they don't play.....but resting can play with momentum.

 

[Jars458]

Think Ben Hart

That was the strong word about him when we drafted him and I was reluctant to say it, but now I'm converted. He has a long way to go but could easily become the second coming of Ben Hart with a bit of Andrew Mackie flair.

Been in the SANFL best every week for the past 7 games and is very, very close to selection.

That was bloody me who said Ben Hart

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

That has worked wonders for Ross Lyon. Not a fan myself. If they can't play they don't play.....but resting can play with momentum.

Ross Lyon rests most of the side, which obviously impacts performance. Resting a player or 2 is hardly the same.

 

[Bovo]

Ross Lyon rests most of the side, which obviously impacts performance. Resting a player or 2 is hardly the same.

Ross Lyon rests most of the side, which obviously impacts performance. Resting a player or 2 is hardly the same.

Did you see the numbers he was referring to. Nearly a third of our team.

Either way, I am still not a fan.

 

[GreyCrow]

There is a break between the season and the Finals. I would not do any major resting now. I think there is a Finals squad penciled in and they will be able to cover for soreness or injury. And yes it includes the 3 Amigos

 

[Tex200]

Ross Lyon rests most of the side, which obviously impacts performance. Resting a player or 2 is hardly the same.

Agree - Port did it pretty well in 2014. Almost every week, from about half way through the season, a key player mysteriously went down with a 1 week ankle injury.

They were in decent nick that September

 

[Elite Crow]

There is a break between the season and the Finals. I would not do any major resting now. I think there is a Finals squad penciled in and they will be able to cover for soreness or injury. And yes it includes the 3 Amigos

And we've just had a big break over 3 weeks

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Agree - Port did it pretty well in 2014. Almost every week, from about half way through the season, a key player mysteriously went down with a 1 week ankle injury.

They were in decent nick that September

They also won 3 out of their last 9 minor round games, costing themselves a top 4 spot and, based on what they dished up in September, quite possibly a premiership.

I'd give a few guys a spell v Essendon/Brisbane, but apart from that full strength all the way. They are the only two games that I can't see us losing no matter who we put on the park.

 

[Tex200]

They also won 3 out of their last 9 minor round games, costing themselves a top 4 spot and, based on what they dished up in September, quite possibly a premiership.

I'd give a few guys a spell v Essendon/Brisbane, but apart from that full strength all the way. They are the only two games that I can't see us losing no matter who we put on the park.

Oops

Poor research!!

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Oops

Poor research!!

I guess the point is, there's a balance. If you kill yourself to finish top 4 you might well be looking at a straight sets exit. But there's not much point getting yourself cherry ripe for finals and putting yourself in a position that you can't really win the flag from. We're in a happy position where we have a couple of very soft games towards the back end of the year which will give us a chance to freshen some guys up. We should use those, but otherwise be full bore every week.

 

[johnnypanther]

I think we should look at resting a few players against Carlton, Essendon and Brisbane. We'll smash the latter two but probably not Carlton by as much. Lever, Shooter, Thommo, Tex, Sauce and Rat. I think these 6 guys need a rest at some stage so they are in prime condition heading into finals.

Didn't we just have a bye recently?

 

[Crowmeariver]

Out: Mackay. Cheney
In: anyone with some guts for Mackay ( probably seedsman if fit).
Doedee

 

[Crows4Eva]

If we're going to do any resting it'll be the Essendon/Brisbane games since we'd need to be afflicted by a gypsy curse to drop either of them. We'll go full strength besides that IMO.

As for next week, hard to see any changes unless Seedsman is fit.

 

[Crowmeariver]

Will play his 300th vs collingwood at adelaide oval.

His pace is a big concern on the mcg in a big final!

 

[SloaneysDanger]

Didn't we just have a bye recently?

Yeah but some of our young players have played every game or close to it so hopefully they don't get burnt out. Thommo is old, Tex has had an injury problem (seems to have gotten over it so may not need a rest) and Sauce we can't afford to lose. I doubt players like Sauce and Tex will get a rest but I'm not sure the 3 young players I mentioned should play every game of the regular season.

We've only used 27 players this season (has to be close to the least in the competition) so the risk of some players getting burnt out by finals is a huge possibility.

 

[Crows25]

Out: Cheney
In: Doedee
I think that Doedee is better suited as that 4th tall because I think that Cheney lacks agility and probably not as good in the air as Doedee. Almost every week I see Cheney plays get away from him running back to goal because of his lack of athletism. Also his spoils aren't that convincing. He and talia spoiled each other multiple times which lead to goals.

 

[azza77]

Let's swap roles before we compare performances. Let's try Dmack in defence and Smith on the wing.

But seriously anyone suggesting Smith is in doubt needs to pass me the bong.

Smith is one of, if not my favourite player at the Crows and even I will admit he has been disgraceful lately. Like not even mediocre or just passable. He's been bad, really bad, and for a few weeks now too.

 

[Redleg Crow]

Smith might have had a bad one - heck, even a couple - but let's be real, he is not getting dropped. Call it gold card, or just call it how footy clubs work, but some players don't get dropped unless they really stink it up for 6-7 weeks in a row. Smith ain't anywhere near that, but I do think he's missing Seeds

 

[azza77]

Smith might have had a bad one - heck, even a couple - but let's be real, he is not getting dropped. Call it gold card, or just call it how footy clubs work, but some players don't get dropped unless they really stink it up for 6-7 weeks in a row. Smith ain't anywhere near that, but I do think he's missing Seeds

Look he's probably not getting dropped, but that's because his name is Brodie Smith.

He more than deserves to be dropped however based on form. Hell if his name happened to be Mackay or Van Berlo and he was playing like this then this whole board would be after his head.

But yes, we know he's capable of so much more. Thing is, I think the last time Brodie Smith has played "well" was about round 3 versus Richmond. He's butchering his kicks, he's making the wrong decisions and putting team mates under more pressure than they needs to be, he sucks aerially at the moment and isn't sticking his tackles, he's missing his shots from outside 50 which are normally his bread and butter and he can barely break the lines and get on his bike at the moment. When you look at it, there really isn't a lot the Smith is doing well at the moment

 

[huludicidal]

Lever was a new level of terrible against Melbourne, but I wouldn't drop him. Even at his age, he's already got some credits in the bank.

I thought McGovern, Smith and Jenkins were the other 3 who stood out as being especially horrific. The only one I'd be considering dropping this week would be McGovern as the other two, like Lever, have enough credits in the bank to be trusted to bounce back against the Blues. However, it's difficult to drop a guy like Gov who goes in hard, has elite contested marking ability, is an excellent tackler, has a handy burst of speed and appears pretty critical to the structure. We just don't have anyone in the SANFL who remotely resembles that, and even though his kicking is pretty woeful and he's not getting much of the ball, I don't really see how the side improves by replacing him with CEY, Grigg, Otten, Doedee, Dear, Henderson, VB, Gore, Kelly or Wigg. Menzel couldn't possibly be in the frame after missing Saturday's game I wouldn't have thought.

Feels like another unchanged week, unless there's an injury we don't yet know about or someone goes down with the flu or something. McGovern, Lever, Mackay and Smith would be the 4 under the most pressure to play well against Carlton or potentially lose their spot.

 

[Bovo]

Didn't we just have a bye recently?

2nd game in about 23 days....

 

[Bovo]

If we're going to do any resting it'll be the Essendon/Brisbane games since we'd need to be afflicted by a gypsy curse to drop either of them. We'll go full strength besides that IMO.

As for next week, hard to see any changes unless Seedsman is fit.

I really don't understand this rest mentality. Surely when you are only percentage away from currently being second....these are the games where you pencil in high percentage boosts?