Preview Round 13 – North Melbourne vs GWS Giants, Sunday 16th June, Blundstone Oval, 3.20pm

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Sep 6, 2012
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Another loss on the road to a team we should have beat.

It’s getting a bit hard to justify our lofty ladder position, to be honest (we'll probably be third after the Pies-Demons game tomorrow - and thanks, Big Brother, for knocking off the Eagles today - you're not so bad after all ;)).

But there have been whispers for some time that we’re not very good at handling pressure. Typical flat track bullies. A few people have their doubts about our premiership credentials, and yesterday in Adelaide showed why.

Those whispers will become raised voices if we cannot beat North Melbourne next Sunday in Hobart. Frankly, after last night, I’m surprised the bookies still have us as favourites for the game. North are on a roll at the moment, winning their last three, and our record against them is pretty poor anyway, regardless of where we play. They seem to match up well on us and they really like playing in Hobart.

We need more consistency and commitment over four quarters. We lost the contested possessions, inside 50s and tackle count against the Crows; either we weren't that hungry or their pressure was putting us off, probably a bit of both. We seem to switch off far too often; last night was essentially lost in the first and last quarter. The last quarter against the Demons a few weeks ago is another example of it.

It looks like we’ll be without Nick Haynes next week, which is a real blow, because he is always so dependable down back. Hopefully that ankle injury is nothing serious. From the sound of things Toby will return, but he seems a shadow of his former self, and has for some time. We don't really have any replacements for either of them and won't until the week after the bye.

It's all a bit concerning, but there is a bright side. At least Justin Powers won’t be umpiring this time…I hope.

Come on Giants. Lift your game and silence the doubters.
 
But there have been whispers for some time that we’re not very good at handling pressure. Typical flat track bullies. A few people have their doubts about our premiership credentials, and yesterday in Adelaide showed why.
Not really whispers... More a documented trend over the last three years.
 

fridgeman

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Edit: Sunday game will help but the travel factor could make it equal
The team will need a change in attitude for this game after a few players let the rest of the team down with poor performances and I dont see massive changes but a few to freshen up the side and add a hardness around the ground
A couple of players in doubt in Greene and Haynes who i see playing after he came back on and played out the game well imo but some doubt will be there until the injury report and team selection also but a couple of replacements in Buntine or Keefe could slot in and the defence has been a bit undersized for most of the year with Corr out and with North having Brown, Larkey and Wood maybe they try the 3 talls and Haynes, I think Tomlinson stays on the wing
Mumford gets a rest to have 2 weeks to freshen up and TOKJ lucky to keep his spot but I think down to his good form over the year and hopefully he can bounce back

Shaw Davis Reid
Williams Taylor Haynes
Kelly Taranto Tomlinson
MDB Cameron Greene
Langdon HH TOJ
Simpson Coniglio Hopper
Deledio Kennedy Perryman Daniels/Cumming/Hately/Buntine/Keefe
 
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Apr 24, 2013
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Ahern will likely come in for Higins, and that's probably our only change.

Weather is expected to be good.

The better evenness of the Giants top 5 mids, De Boers capacity to blunt Cunnington, and our relatively green midfield youngsters, suggest the Giants will get over the line.
 
Apr 12, 2012
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Ahern will likely come in for Higins, and that's probably our only change.

Weather is expected to be good.

The better evenness of the Giants top 5 mids, De Boers capacity to blunt Cunnington, and our relatively green midfield youngsters, suggest the Giants will get over the line.
Thought that last year when I went down.

Besides freezing my ass off, we were belted.
 
Thought that last year when I went down.

Besides freezing my ass off, we were belted.

That was a bit of an unlucky game...

Q1 was 5 goals to 1.
Q2 was 2 goals to 6.
Q3 was 7 goals to 1.

So up until that point you're looking at a 4-6 goal breeze... which died at the start of the fourth quarter, right when we'd have the benefit of it.

NM still outscored us in that "neutral" quarter so it's not like we were completely blameless, but it should've been close instead of a seven goal loss.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Thought that last year when I went down.

Besides freezing my ass off, we were belted.

Davis, Kelly & Greene did not play last year.

If we can break even in the midfield, then I think we'll be right in it.
 

Giant Pete

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Mumford is looking old. Gives away a ridiculous amount of frees. We can’t win a flag with him as our ruck. I reckon Heath Shaw is past it too. He’ll kick it out on the full at least twice in Tassy.

Haynes out. Toby back.

Cumming Davis Kennedy
Shaw Taylor Williams
Kelly Coniglio Tomlinson
Greene Cameron Deledio
Finlayson HH Daniels
Mumford Hopper Taranto

Reid Perryman Langdon DeBoer

I think Langdon should be in for Lloyd. He applies pressure better and is a better crumber.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Mumford is looking old. Gives away a ridiculous amount of frees. We can’t win a flag with him as our ruck. I reckon Heath Shaw is past it too. He’ll kick it out on the full at least twice in Tassy.

Haynes out. Toby back.

Cumming Davis Kennedy
Shaw Taylor Williams
Kelly Coniglio Tomlinson
Greene Cameron Deledio
Finlayson HH Daniels
Mumford Hopper Taranto

Reid Perryman Langdon DeBoer

I think Langdon should be in for Lloyd. He applies pressure better and is a better crumber.


Hmmm, that backline could be exposed if we can decoy Davis out of the way.

I suspect he'll maintain structural integrity though. Brown will have to take him wide and long.
 

domiroo

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Don’t you love this stuff they write ..
 

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Eh, that injury list suddenly got large and narrows our options. Haynes is a huge loss and even if Toby is available, a straight swap of Toby for Haynes (as per the afl.com.au website) isn't a balanced solution IMHO. With Corr still out & Keeffe suddenly injured, you'd think that Buntine is a possibility to come in for Haynes; otherwise Tommo going into the backline as the third tall is an option. I wonder if they would consider dropping HH back into defence, and perhaps go with a smaller forward line - that would enable a straight Toby/Haynes swap, although I'm not sure it would be the best choice for us to go.

I wouldn't bet on Toby being available; I guess we'll see. Zac Langdon has surely put his hand up as an option - he brings forward 50 pressure and can score goals, so I'd be keen to see him back in. I don't think Lloyd played badly, but I just think that Zac brings a bit more of an all round game than Dan.
 

Danny88

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Mumford is looking old. Gives away a ridiculous amount of frees. We can’t win a flag with him as our ruck. I reckon Heath Shaw is past it too. He’ll kick it out on the full at least twice in Tassy.

Haynes out. Toby back.

Cumming Davis Kennedy
Shaw Taylor Williams
Kelly Coniglio Tomlinson
Greene Cameron Deledio
Finlayson HH Daniels
Mumford Hopper Taranto

Reid Perryman Langdon DeBoer

I think Langdon should be in for Lloyd. He applies pressure better and is a better crumber.
I actually think heater has had a cracking year. Much improved on his 2018 season imo
 
Apr 24, 2013
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I have taken Pete's side and swung a few about to how I expect to see it matched it up with ours, in order to analyse the bigger picture as to how this can play out.

B: Taylor Davis Kennedy
F: Larkey Brown Thomas

HB: Shaw Cumming Williams
HF: Zurhaar Wood Turner

C: Kelly Coniglio Tomlinson
C: Polec Ziebell Dumont

HF: Deledio Finlayson Daniels
HB: Williams Durdin Pittard

F: Himmelberg Cameron Greene
B: Thompson Tarrant McDonald

R: Mumford DeBoer Taranto
R: Goldstein Cunnington Anderson

Int:Hopper, Reid Perryman Langdon
Int: Atley Simpkin Davies-Uniake Ahern


- As I have mentioned, if we can draw Davis away with BBB, then I reckon the GWS defence can be exposed. They won't want to underestimate Larkey & Thomas's capacity to impact.
- Zurhaar or Atley to be given a defensive mission to harass & shut down Shaw, to try and shut down GWS rebound, which is already compromised by the Haynes & Whitfield injuries.
- If Greene plays, then Luke McDonald who has been in great shutdown form gets him. Pittard would be my second option as he is solid defensively in the air.
- Will Mumford actually play? His mobility looked restricted to me vs Adelaide, and he won't be getting it any easier vs Goldstein.
- You could put your house on De Boer going to Cunnington, so I expect to see Cunners go forward for stages of the match.
- The Higgins loss will impact us seriously. When you take the DeBoer v Cunnington match up out of the picture it's Kelly, Coniglio, Tomlinson, Taranto & Hopper vs Ziebell, Anderson, Dumont, Polec, and a combination of the still developing Simpkin, Davies-Uniake & Ahern (who is really only playing by default). If you lined these players up in order of ability, then I reckon GWS would have the first two spots & arguably the 3rd spot as well.
- It doesn't look like weather is going to have a major impact, only 10% chance of rain & light winds predicted.


If North can break even in the middle, then I reckon we have the capacity to deliver at each end of the ground, but a lot will come down to Simpkin, Davies-Uniake & Ahern's output.

However, with Higgins missing, De Boer's ability to somewhat negate Cunners, and the current better depth & consistency of the Giants midfield, this indicates a Giants win (18-24 points).

I know this much, if Cunnington manages to break De Boers shackles and delivers another blinder, then all this denial of AA recognition will have reached peak absurdity.
 

Danny88

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I expect with Haynes out we will play someone like Buntine in the backline. He would likely go to Larkey and Taylor to the bogger Wood. Taylor is a bloody good Key defender and will be a difficult match up. It also allows us to put a bigger body on Larkey and allows bunts the ability to play off of him on the rebound. If i am honest I think you are probably batting a little shallow atm and it should be a comfortable win. Our midfield unit is much stronger and our forward line should outscore yours (most days).

That forward line places a little too much pressure on kids to perform
 

Cold Sober

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Goldy Mummy contest will be a great watch, hoping Cameron fires and Greene can string some games together.
 
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