Preview Round 16, 2022: Carlton v St.Kilda - Marvel Stadium, Friday 1st July, 7:50PM AEST

[pebblesofsand]

Why did we recruit Campbell- as a backup ruck, or just a Sandy player? We have Paddy out against the Swans and instead of bringing in our backup ruck who is in good form, we shove an inexperienced forward with a non ruckman body into a ruck role and end having him running around like a headless chook instead of settling as a forward...we lose a ruck and a forward effectively for the game. Just plain dumb coaching and selection.

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Have the club said that because I haven’t heard it.

People confuse the sentiment of the big footy board to the statement of the club

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Why did we recruit Campbell- as a backup ruck, or just a Sandy player? We have Paddy out against the Swans and instead of bringing in our backup ruck who is in good form, we shove an inexperienced forward with a non ruckman body into a ruck role and end having him running around like a headless chook instead of settling as a forward...we lose a ruck and a forward effectively for the game. Just plain dumb coaching and selection.

We also put Ben long there

 

[plugger66]

I'd say our midfield has improved more than most lines. Ross is back to a top mid, Crouch is back to Adelaide form, Gresham is back and looks like a high impact mid. Steele being out for a few games was the only real issue and Jones hasn't been as good. Otherwise we had a step up there, the forward line is seriously dysfunctional though.

Sorry gringo but that is 3 or 4 weeks ago so yes you are right if you wrote that then. Since Steele was out we went from 3rd and 5th in midfield areas which I can’t remember to 18th and 18th. The forward line hasn’t been good since we dropped to 19th in those stats. That makes the forward line dysfunctional. The midfield will be rated over the whole year and it’s dropping every week for the last 5 weeks. By the end of the year if there is no turn around it will clearly be bottom 8. Why do you think both the backs and forwards are struggling lately? It’s the drop in the midfield. It’s been a huge drop.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Friday night
Packed house
Must win
So we will prob st kilda it up and get

 

[MordySaint]

Cool, Essendon were 10 spots below us on the ladder when they did us, i suppose its less disappointing cause Ratts didnt ask us to win?

Eveything youve put in bold is true of the Essendon game as well and, again, they were 10 spots behind us on the ladder when they did it. They are s**t (even watching them beat us looked like two bang average VFL teams playing) and still flogged us.

When we miss finals this year well look back on the Essendon loss as the beginning of the end.

Have the optimisim for this weekend but if our boys need a bake to show up then were pretty ducked either way.

When Essendon got beaten by West Coast the next week...

Then it really really sunk in.

 

[plugger66]

Why did we recruit Campbell- as a backup ruck, or just a Sandy player? We have Paddy out against the Swans and instead of bringing in our backup ruck who is in good form, we shove an inexperienced forward with a non ruckman body into a ruck role and end having him running around like a headless chook instead of settling as a forward...we lose a ruck and a forward effectively for the game. Just plain dumb coaching and selection.

I think the answer was simple. Marshall was struggling up forward and Campbell isn’t a forward. Marshall is clearly our best ruck now. He was our best player last week. Certainly top 3. We lost for other reasons. God know what happens this week as both paddy and Marshall are better in the ruck than up forward.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Can't agree there, Howard offers the element of surprise that we've all been crying out for. We're too predictable. I would encourage more of Howard's pirouettes to entice the defenders towards him and then double down by skying it which is a masterstroke from the vice captain because we have the two rucks and King who can mark it over anyone else.

If you can't see the value Howard's fake-outs have to the side then I'm afraid you don't really understand the tactical side of football. Shame really.

Not everyone can read it at an insane level

 

[Sarcoidevo]

I think we will see a response this week

Love that the Blues & their fans are getting ahead of themselves

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

I think we will see a response this week

Love that the Blues & their fans are getting ahead of themselves

Wipe some smiles off some faces. Would make my year this win. I’d take de-railing the blues season over finals

 

[gringo2011]

Sorry gringo but that is 3 or 4 weeks ago so yes you are right if you wrote that then. Since Steele was out we went from 3rd and 5th in midfield areas which I can’t remember to 18th and 18th. The forward line hasn’t been good since we dropped to 19th in those stats. That makes the forward line dysfunctional. The midfield will be rated over the whole year and it’s dropping every week for the last 5 weeks. By the end of the year if there is no turn around it will clearly be bottom 8. Why do you think both the backs and forwards are struggling lately? It’s the drop in the midfield. It’s been a huge drop.

I'm not sure what language you're speaking but I think I understand. I think the midfield isn't working but the pieces are still there. Either confidence, output, balance or motivation has collapsed. It looks like the moment expectations rise they sit down.

Our forward line covered a lot of issues early by converting over the average percentage but too much scoring is left to too few and our forward pressure game is probably the worst in AFL. We probably can't play Membrey and Higgins together in one forward line but neither are great outside the forward 50.

I'm not sure how we change it up because not having a pressure game inside your forward half goes against the last 15 years of footy but having a spread of scorers at the same time.

 

[plugger66]

I'm not sure what language you're speaking but I think I understand. I think the midfield isn't working but the pieces are still there. Either confidence, output, balance or motivation has collapsed. It looks like the moment expectations rise they sit down.

Our forward line covered a lot of issues early by converting over the average percentage but too much scoring is left to too few and our forward pressure game is probably the worst in AFL. We probably can't play Membrey and Higgins together in one forward line but neither are great outside the forward 50.

I'm not sure how we change it up because not having a pressure game inside your forward half goes against the last 15 years of footy but having a spread of scorers at the same time.

We could play them together when the mids were playing well. Matter of fact it was working very well. You can keep looking at the forwards as the problem which they are but it’s caused by a huge drop in 2 important categories by the mids as shown from those stats. I just wish I could remember the 2 stats but Joey pointed it out on his Sunday show and said how huge the drop had been and this was before Sydney. Doubt it improved in that game.

 

[pebblesofsand]

I think the answer was simple. Marshall was struggling up forward and Campbell isn’t a forward. Marshall is clearly our best ruck now. He was our best player last week. Certainly top 3. We lost for other reasons. God know what happens this week as both paddy and Marshall are better in the ruck than up forward.

And Sharman and Long aren't forward/rucks but that didn't stop the selectors from picking them to play that role.

And they both failed in both their primary and secondary roles.

Campbell has spent a considerable time as a forward/ruck playing with Goldy so the question is fair.

Why bother picking up Campbell if all you want from him is to play at Sandy?

As for this week - well Ryder has been more effective as a forward than Marshall this year, has played as a forward/ruck with the Dons and Power - so here's a radical thought - perhaps they play Marshall as the ruck and Ryder as the forward/ruck.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

Cam bell was our best fed the game he played.
Must come in for Carlton.

 

[plugger66]

And Sharman and Long aren't forward/rucks but that didn't stop the selectors from picking them to play that role.

And they both failed in both their primary and secondary roles.

Campbell has spent a considerable time as a forward/ruck playing with Goldy so the question is fair.

Why bother picking up Campbell if all you want from him is to play at Sandy?

As for this week - well Ryder has been more effective as a forward than Marshall this year, has played as a forward/ruck with the Dons and Power - so here's a radical thought - perhaps they play Marshall as the ruck and Ryder as the forward/ruck.

Because that was longer ago than the arc. He just can’t get to forward contests as much as he could. Yes he has kicked goals but provides zero forward pressure. As for Campbell well can only play ruck no matter what he is paid which apparently matters. Let’s not pretend the rucking position had any real impact on the result. It was probably our only area we nearly won. Marshall will have to mainly play forward and paddy mainly rucking. We win one with Ryder but Marshall is really struggling as a forward this year apart from his forward pressure. If the mids somehow win which seems nearly impossible his forward pressure will be needed especially if we drop butler for Higgins.

 

[lewdogs]

Sorry gringo but that is 3 or 4 weeks ago so yes you are right if you wrote that then. Since Steele was out we went from 3rd and 5th in midfield areas which I can’t remember to 18th and 18th. The forward line hasn’t been good since we dropped to 19th in those stats. That makes the forward line dysfunctional. The midfield will be rated over the whole year and it’s dropping every week for the last 5 weeks. By the end of the year if there is no turn around it will clearly be bottom 8. Why do you think both the backs and forwards are struggling lately? It’s the drop in the midfield. It’s been a huge drop.

Do you think part of the drop off in midfield has been the drop off of our ruckmen?

 

[plugger66]

Do you think part of the drop off in midfield has been the drop off of our ruckmen?

Absolutely. I was actually including them as midfielders. Probably the main reason but then we won in the ruck last week but the midfield were still no good. Maybe the poor ruck has lead to midfielders losing confidence.

 

[lewdogs]

Absolutely. I was actually including them as midfielders. Probably the main reason but then we won in the ruck last week but the midfield were still no good. Maybe the poor ruck has lead to midfielders losing confidence.

Another factor is the massive drop in form of Zak Jones from previous years.

 

[Saintbloke]

Absolutely. I was actually including them as midfielders. Probably the main reason but then we won in the ruck last week but the midfield were still no good. Maybe the poor ruck has lead to midfielders losing confidence.

If that's the case, then we have a pretty weak core who go to water if we get done in the ruck -no wonder we lose games we are expected to win.

 

[plugger66]

If that's the case, then we have a pretty weak core who go to water if we get done in the ruck -no wonder we lose games we are expected to win.

Probably says says how average our midfield is. They do need a few to get back to form.

 

[AirWinmar]

Amazing how fast the narrative for 2022 has changed from “why not us?” to “we’ve never had the cattle to contend.”

Goalposts continually shifting.

The club just think we are idiots that will swallow anything at this point, honestly.

The team took it as a literal question and has opted to show us why not us. Demonstration is the best way of explaination

 

[lewdogs]

Just had a peek on the Blues board preview thread, it's a pretty different vibe to ours....

They seem, um, shall we say, confident.

 

[gringo2011]

Do you think part of the drop off in midfield has been the drop off of our ruckmen?

Yes, and the loss of Steele but Gresh was the worst he's been in ages too. Crouch was okay, Ross and Steele good. Sydney seemed to hold our mids so that others could grab the ball. They play team sacrifice for the good of the side, we play as a bunch of guys running around with no connection.

 

[gringo2011]

Just had a peek on the Blues board preview thread, it's a pretty different vibe to ours....

They seem, um, shall we say, confident.

They should be. I think they'd have to have a bigger bed s**t than we have to lose this one.

 

[gringo2011]

Another factor is the massive drop in form of Zak Jones from previous years.

Gresh is a better version of Jones and Seb and Crouch stepped up this year. Perhaps even having others back has pushed Jones to a lesser role where it's impact over longer stints on ball.

Structurally we have good pieces in there. Freo and Sydney don't have piles of high end mids but they all play for each other. We have individuals. Only the really top midfields are better than ours on paper. Dogs and Dees have top end and depth, Carlton has top end and not quite as much depth. Sides like Geelong, Freo, Brisbane and Saints have less top end and more solid citizens.


I think realistically Paddy slowing down has made our midfield worse. Marshall isn't a great impact ruck. He's more like another mid and turns into a tall utility around the ground. Our mids are going to have to develop systems. That's why I feel like a coaching change could be a big help. A really good midfield coach would be teaching them to shark taps, hold like Sydney do to free others and have set plays.