Opinion Round 13 Changes vs. Richmond

[BananaOnTheRun]

Thrashings of Richmond have been historically rare - only one 10 goal win for Freo over them in 2002, and the next best being a 49 point win in 2010 during that run where they lost their first nine games and had a percentage of 50%.

Richmond are crap this year, but nowhere near as crap as their usual standard.

The signs aren't good for them at the moment, though. Last week, they capitulated to a ten goal turnaround after half time, from a six goal lead. The week before they lost by 50 points to a bombers outfit that has been less than impressive. They're mentally suspect at the moment and those types of teams can be touched up with a pressure game.

 

[Tonga Bob]

Has the team steamrolled anyone aside from Geelong in the first quarter this year?

I expect another grinding game for the first half.

We had North's measure early IIRC...

 

[go_the_dockers]

He was excited at the opportunity to represent his new club.

“I’m very honoured,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there, it’s a great opportunity for me.”

Sylvia said his main focus would be to play his role for the team.

“Working on the defensive side of the game and just giving a lot of effort,” he said.

Sylvia was the third pick in the 2003 National Draft and made his debut in round 9, 2004.

He kicked 129 goals in 157 games with Melbourne and had a very consistent year in 2013, playing 19 games and finishing fifth in the club's best and fairest.

 

[Boppo]

Shane Edwards back in for Richmond? Geez he's not a top grade footballer.

Pit a tenner on him to kick the first goal and watch a disappearing trick.

 

[E Shed]

Not that I expect to lose but we are going to seriously miss MJ & Macca. I was watching the first half against Adelaide last night & MJ was sweeping up everything & running straight down the middle setting up attacks. Jack may be a sook but he can really play when he gets his tail up. Hopefully Dawson shuts him down completely & Silvagni starts well. Good signs from Spurr, Duff & Ibbo last week so defense should stand tall.

 

[clivenator26]

Shane Edwards back in for Richmond? Geez he's not a top grade footballer.

Pit a tenner on him to kick the first goal and watch a disappearing trick.

No, that's Aaron Edwards, Shane is already in the team. Shane isn't a bad player - probably a frustrating player for Tigers fans but he has kicked goals against us before.

 

[Harry Reems]

I expect Ibbo will move to being the sweeper in the backline, with Sylvagni playing as the second tall.

Other than he with the quivering bottom lip, do they have any other forwards that we need to worry about?

Crowley will go to Martin I think as he seems to be their only inform player in the middle at the moment.

Sylvia will play either half-back or half-forward.

 

[Sal_Paradise]

Not that I expect to lose but we are going to seriously miss MJ & Macca. I was watching the first half against Adelaide last night & MJ was sweeping up everything & running straight down the middle setting up attacks. Jack may be a sook but he can really play when he gets his tail up. Hopefully Dawson shuts him down completely & Silvagni starts well. Good signs from Spurr, Duff & Ibbo last week so defense should stand tall.

If there was a time for them both to miss, I think now is probably it. Not necessarily because of the opposition but the way the team is shaping up.

Earlier in the season there was questions about Spurr's form and Ibbo was out injured. Like you've alluded to, the both of them did well in defence last week, Ibbo looks fit and Duffield's past couple of games have been a real improvement. Been back to his best by foot. Silvagni's got a couple of AFL games under his belt already this season and look really good in the both of them. Even Mzungu has gone back at times this year and filled in MJ's role and looked good doing it.

Undoubtedly big losses and both in our top few players, but I think we are pretty well placed to cover them at the minute.

 

[go_the_dockers]

I expect Ibbo will move to being the sweeper in the backline, with Sylvagni playing as the second tall.

Other than he with the quivering bottom lip, do they have any other forwards that we need to worry about?

Crowley will go to Martin I think as he seems to be their only inform player in the middle at the moment.

Sylvia will play either half-back or half-forward.

Edwards, Hampson, and Riewoldt could stretch us for height\marking ability. Edwards isn't as tall as I thought, but I still expect him to be a handful for Ibbotson on the lead.

With a good team defence I doubt we will have any issues.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

Yeah, they have to get it out of the midfield first.

 

[Wizard]

I expect Ibbo will move to being the sweeper in the backline, with Sylvagni playing as the second tall.

Other than he with the quivering bottom lip, do they have any other forwards that we need to worry about?

Crowley will go to Martin I think as he seems to be their only inform player in the middle at the moment.

Sylvia will play either half-back or half-forward.

Would be shocked if he goes to anyone other then Cotchin.

 

[Belnakor]

Would be shocked if he goes to anyone other then Cotchin.

maybe he can just play on Martin in the first half

 

[Belnakor]

This is a massive danger game for mine. The 2011 game still gives me nightmares how badly we gave up.

 

[Wigarus]

This is a massive danger game for mine. The 2011 game still gives me nightmares how badly we gave up.

I don't think anything pre 2012 has any bearing on how we play at the moment.

 

[Righteo]

I don't think anything pre 2012 has any bearing on how we play at the moment.

OK then the 2013 game still haunts me. Agree that Crowley should go to Martin and not Cotchin, like he went to Dangerfield and not Thompson last week.

Cotchin these days is a bit of an honest accumulator in the Priddis mould but Martin can rip us apart in no time. Just back in Fyfe and co to beat Cotch in the contested ball.

 

[E Shed]

I think Crowley went to Delidio last time. Martin is a tough match up in the forward half as he is so strong and quite mobile.
Richmond were very competitive in clearances for the first half last week and they have been putting an emphasis on contested ball.
Its going to be fought inside but Richmond have a way of playing against us that is quite effective, its similar to what Hawthorn do, work the ball in increasingly wider circles away from the contest to separate our press and then spread.

 

[Dudley Leopard]

Martin will play forward I reckon. Put Spurr onto him. Crowley to take Delidio.

Agree with comments above that Cotchin is a great accumulator but he wont hurt you as much as Lids or Dustin.

Its scary to think what Martin could become with the right coach to kick him up the arse and get him fully fit.

 

[Gekko71]

I would have Colin play half forward and counter-rotate him with Ballaz into the midfield... it gives lots of room for Col to make repeated 'deep penetrating runs' into attack

That being said, I remember RTB saying earlier that if Col could start winning inside ball that would free up Fyfe to drift forward more often too - Col seemed to strike me as a pretty god inside mid (and fyfe seems to strike me as a pretty good mark ) so hopefully we see this happen a few times as well.

Should be a good game, I'll keep an eye out for that banner too Seppo!

 

[The Anchorite]

I would have Colin play half forward and counter-rotate him with Ballaz into the midfield...

How does a "counter-rotation" differ from your garden variety rotation, pray tell?

I do like the cutting-edge sound of it though.

 

[Arcassius]

In the game we won by 10m - for the first half they had an extra option around the stoppages and consistently would handball back and sideways, then handball to a stationary player, then handball to a player running past who would escape the congestion. They did this over and over getting the ball out of congestion easier than we seemed to. It was frustrating to watch at the time since it looked like we had to work harder for our clearances than they did. Getting the ball out of the stoppage wasn't the problem for them - it was having to kick from bad locations thanks to our defense (and generally spudding it up) that helped us

We sometimes seem to drop our level down to our competition ...

 

[Arcassius]

I think Crowley went to Delidio last time. Martin is a tough match up in the forward half as he is so strong and quite mobile.
Richmond were very competitive in clearances for the first half last week and they have been putting an emphasis on contested ball.
Its going to be fought inside but Richmond have a way of playing against us that is quite effective, its similar to what Hawthorn do, work the ball in increasingly wider circles away from the contest to separate our press and then spread.

this

 

[Gekko71]

How does a "counter-rotation" differ from your garden variety rotation, pray tell?

I do like the cutting-edge sound of it though.

When you're running rings around your opposition, you need to counter-rotate, otherwise you end up dizzy. I expect both Ballaz and Col to do quite a lot of this come Saturday - you'll know they're doing it right when the defenders have driven themselves nipple-deep into the ground like drill bits.*


(*...oh all right, I made it up. A normal rotation where one goes forward and the other goes back is just fine - though 'i suppose a counter-rotation could be a rotation used specifically to 'counter and negate your opponent's rotation' of gun players to different positions or opponents - like my idea of using Gu and Crowls as a tag-team of taggers... but man - did I cop a lot of crap for that suggestion, even though Gu already plays a rolling-tag role in the team when necessary.
I sprout nuggets and dribble in equal measure - it's a curse I know. I advise you run with the nuggets, and ignore the dribble. ).

 

[go_the_dockers]

Martin will play forward I reckon. Put Spurr onto him. Crowley to take Delidio.

Agree with comments above that Cotchin is a great accumulator but he wont hurt you as much as Lids or Dustin.

Its scary to think what Martin could become with the right coach to kick him up the arse and get him fully fit.

I would imagine Spurr would get the small forward, and either Sutcliffe or Ibbotson would get martin.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

I think Crowley went to Delidio last time. Martin is a tough match up in the forward half as he is so strong and quite mobile.
Richmond were very competitive in clearances for the first half last week and they have been putting an emphasis on contested ball.
Its going to be fought inside but Richmond have a way of playing against us that is quite effective, its similar to what Hawthorn do, work the ball in increasingly wider circles away from the contest to separate our press and then spread.

Yeah I think so too, he did go to Cotchin for a bit in the 2013 home game after he started ripping us up. Delidio is the best one to tag though, his disposal is better than Cotchin and he plays more of a critical role for Richmond, a Sam Mitchell inside/outside orchestrator. I honestly think a lot of Richmond's struggles at the moment have been because Delidio has been injured/out of form.

Martin has played a bit of HBF this year if my memory serves, maybe a defensive forward role for Mzungu or someone.

 

[george2]

6PR are reporting on twitter that Morabito is still a chance to play against Richmond tomorrow???? is he even in Melbourne? he isn't named in the Peel team