Preview R7: Changes vs. Fremantle

[Thylacinus]

I've only seen McAndrew play twice, and he looked very promising for a 25 year old.

Meanwhile, for the rest of us who live in the present and are not yet able to do futuristic time travel, I thought he looked very promising for a 24 year old . I believe he does have upside and his was a late and fairly reluctant delisting by Sydney.

 

[Cromulant]

ROB had a good game, but that's not really the point. The point is that McAndrew is not an AFL-standard ruckman. ROB is bog average, but he's AFL standard. McAndrew is a worse ruckman and doesn't offer any more around the ground.

McAndrew is Strachan's replacement, not ROB's.

I would think theres much harm in finding out.

ROB was pretty handy last week, but I would back Lachlan to do everything he did against Geelong and then some.

Certainly looks to have the ability to connect ball to foot on a more consistent basis.

 

[cmndstab]

I'm happy to be proved wrong re: McAndrew, but from what I watched in the preseason matches, I don't see it. He got bullied in the ruck, and provided very little around the ground. And it's not like he's a kid either, he's 24 years old and 210cm. He's not going to grow into his body any more than he already has.

Good to have a backup option in the event that ROB goes down, and to keep him on his toes, but I would be extremely surprised if McAndrew ends up as any kind of AFL player.

Fremantle are favourites for the match tomorrow night. Collingwood will be overwhelming favourites. Poort Pear are likely to be 50/50 for their home showdown, similar story Sydney in Sydney.

Regarding ROB, he is a very frustrating player to watch as a Crows fan. Nevertheless, we have won the hit outs in 5 out of 6 matches and won the clearances 4 out of 6. We only lost the clearances 37-40 to Geelong but we were smashed by the Gold Coast. Imho, as long as we are competitive at the clearances we are unlikely to see Rob in the Twos.

I would love to see McAndrew turn into a dominant ruckman but his SANFL form is similar to Strachan and below what Rob produces in the Twos. I think it will require a few more dominant performances before he is selected.

Fair call for tomorrow night, can't argue with the betting odds that exist right now. Close to a 50/50 though.

Assuming our formlines continue as they have, we should be considered favourites against Port, and Sydney haven't exactly dominated at home this year.

Anyway, if we're going to call this a tough part of our fixture then the whole year is tough. Other than Collingwood who are top, those other five teams are currently sitting 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th and 18th on the ladder.

 

[dogs105]

Meanwhile, for the rest of us who live in the present and are not yet able to do futuristic time travel, I thought he looked very promising for a 24 year old . I believe he does have upside and his was a late and fairly reluctant delisting by Sydney.

He looks promising for either

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Tall for his age

 

[Betts are off]

Looking at Freo's gamelogs, Caleb Serong

3

Caleb Serong

Age

24

Ht

180cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

5star

CL

2.6

4star

D

13.0

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

4star

CL

2.6

4star

D

13.0

4star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

5star

CL

2.6

5star

is quietly going along at above 32 touches and 9 clearances a game this last month. Andy Brayshaw is not far behind with 30.5 and 6, both miles ahead of the next best Dockers. They are responsible for 38% of the teams total clearances for the year (48% if you include O'Meara who is also not playing). Also their #1 and #2 I50 players, and #1 and #4 Goal Assist players for the season.

So bottom line you stop those 2, you stop Fremantle! TBH, I think if you even stop 1 you likely stop Fremantle. I sincerely hope we plan to clamp down hard on 1 of them for 4 quarters. If we can successfully do that then we should win the midfield battle convincingly, and dry up their I50's substantially.

 

[WeeBlake]

I've only seen McAndrew play twice, and he looked very promising for a 25 year old.

I had somehow overlooked the fact he’s 25. He’d want to be coming good by now.

 

[Danger in Texas]

Looks like they will.

Don't mind it, no risk policy on underdone players. Must mean Rachele is good to go if they pick him.

Happy if that’s the go

 

[Ham]

 

[George CantStandYa]

I'm happy to be proved wrong re: McAndrew, but from what I watched in the preseason matches, I don't see it. He got bullied in the ruck, and provided very little around the ground. And it's not like he's a kid either, he's 24 years old and 210cm. He's not going to grow into his body any more than he already has.

Good to have a backup option in the event that ROB goes down, and to keep him on his toes, but I would be extremely surprised if McAndrew ends up as any kind of AFL player.



Fair call for tomorrow night, can't argue with the betting odds that exist right now. Close to a 50/50 though.

Assuming our formlines continue as they have, we should be considered favourites against Port, and Sydney haven't exactly dominated at home this year.

Anyway, if we're going to call this a tough part of our fixture then the whole year is tough. Other than Collingwood who are top, those other five teams are currently sitting 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th and 18th on the ladder.

In the internal trial he beat ROB.

He played against Port and thought did pretty well.

He didn’t play against Brisbane.

 

[1990crow]

Not great news. Fogarty loves playing at Optus too.

 

[George CantStandYa]

Simple changes surely:

In Peatling and Rachelle
Out FOG and Berry

Draper or Taylor to the sub

Curtin gets a full game a key forward

 

[cmndstab]

In the internal trial he beat ROB.

He played against Port and thought did pretty well.

He didn’t play against Brisbane.

My memory against Port was that he did alright when playing against Port's backup ruck, but was absolutely taken to the cleaners by Sweet.

 

[1970crow]

Tex needs to be managed during the season.

We need him cherry right for finals, so need to play the long game, which means not playing him every game.

From memory, if we don’t play finals, Tex can have 2 rests and make 300. Unless he picks up a genuine injury, I don’t see him resting until a few games after the bye.

 

[Thylacinus]

Not great news. Fogarty loves playing at Optus too.

Wise, right call. Hopefully we are over being desperadoes who take players not 100% into games, but look both longer term at their well-being, our season and also having payers on the ground Friday night that are fully fit and firing.

 

[1990crow]

Wise, right call. Hopefully we are over being desperadoes who take players not 100% into games, but look both longer term at their well-being, our season and also having payers on the ground Friday night that are fully fit and firing.

At least Taylor gets another full game.

 

[Thylacinus]

From memory, if we don’t play finals, Tex can have 2 rests and make 300. Unless he picks up a genuine injury, I don’t see him resting until a few games after the bye.

From what I am hearing, they are also giving him lighter training loads so as not to overdo him and to keep him fresh.

 

[George CantStandYa]

From memory, if we don’t play finals, Tex can have 2 rests and make 300. Unless he picks up a genuine injury, I don’t see him resting until a few games after the bye.

I don’t recall that, everything coming out about McAndrew was how positive he was going.

Irrespective you said preseason games, there was only 2, an internal where he beat ROB and one against Port where there’s different recolllections

 

[1970crow]

Firstly, I never said it was Nick’s idea.

Secondly, the change in our game plan was obvious. My mates and I discussed it at quarter time. It has subsequently been discussed in some detail by the media.

I know it’s fun to take cheap shots at Nicksy but I found it interesting that it was not discussed in the game day thread or the G, B & U.

Personally I hope we don’t return to a defensive game plan. Clearly we need to improve our defence but our forwards are our key strength and watching games like last Saturday isn’t great fun.

Opposition impact the way you can move the ball. Even if you want to go through the middle, you can’t if it’s too risky due to oppo numbers and positioning. Players will still default to viable targets regardless of game plan preference.

 

[Trigger13]

Isn’t Alex Pearce

25

Alex Pearce

Age

30

Ht

201cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

106.3

2star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

6.0

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

MG

103.2

2star

in doubt? That goes some way to evening the Fog loss up.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Isn’t Alex Pearce in doubt? That goes some way to evening the Fog loss up.

Was involved in some fairly minor collision at training

I doubt he'd miss

 

[1970crow]

Fremantle are favourites for the match tomorrow night. Collingwood will be overwhelming favourites. Poort Pear are likely to be 50/50 for their home showdown, similar story Sydney in Sydney.

Regarding ROB, he is a very frustrating player to watch as a Crows fan. Nevertheless, we have won the hit outs in 5 out of 6 matches and won the clearances 4 out of 6. We only lost the clearances 37-40 to Geelong but we were smashed by the Gold Coast. Imho, as long as we are competitive at the clearances we are unlikely to see Rob in the Twos.

I would love to see McAndrew turn into a dominant ruckman but his SANFL form is similar to Strachan and below what Rob produces in the Twos. I think it will require a few more dominant performances before he is selected.

In what way were we smashed by Gold Coast? The context of the sentences suggests clearances, but we won the clearance battle against the Suns.

 

[Crow_Magnon]

Looking at Freo's gamelogs, Caleb Serong is quietly going along at above 32 touches and 9 clearances a game this last month. Andy Brayshaw is not far behind with 30.5 and 6, both miles ahead of the next best Dockers. They are responsible for 38% of the teams total clearances for the year (48% if you include O'Meara who is also not playing). Also their #1 and #2 I50 players, and #1 and #4 Goal Assist players for the season.

So bottom line you stop those 2, you stop Fremantle! TBH, I think if you even stop 1 you likely stop Fremantle. I sincerely hope we plan to clamp down hard on 1 of them for 4 quarters. If we can successfully do that then we should win the midfield battle convincingly, and dry up their I50's substantially.

Really interesting analysis on AFL360 around Freo v Melb centre bounce structures by Adam Simpson actually. We'll need to be on our guard...Gawn was hitting the ball fwd at most CB's...eventually Freo got onto it and then evened it up. Simpson talked about 'craft'...and that is the main take-away...would love him as our midfield coach!

 

[dogs105]

Simple changes surely:

In Peatling and Rachelle
Out FOG and Berry

Draper or Taylor to the sub

Curtin gets a full game a key forward

I really like Curtin on the wing.

Burgess might come in

 

[George CantStandYa]

I really like Curtin on the wing.

Burgess might come in

Needs a vomit emoji.

Nank, Draper and Cumming can share the wing.

Curtin could shine as a forward with more opportunity and Burgess is a known spud.