Tall man selection dilemmas

[Cronin]

You forgot the number one reason, which is that Taylor is a very ordinary CHF at the moment

Shit, they're gonna keep him there for the next 16 weeks aren't they

 

[catters078]

Swing taylor back to back line.

Zac Smith back to starting ruck

Rhys stanley to 50% chf 50%

Hopefully we win enough games early in season so we can rest taylor/Lonergan 2 or 3 games each so Gardner can get half a dozen games in this season

 

[Cezz The Catter]

My ideal set up, coaching staff are ****ing stupid for doing otherwise;

Backs - Kolo, Taylor, Hendo.
Rucks - Smith, Blitz (Relief).
Forward - Hawkins, Stanley.

Lonergan comes in for the big games, prefer to get games into Kolo. Lets get a CHF, Stanley is the only one whose showed any promise. Keep the backline strong with Taylor back there and find a position for Blitz that isnt stupid.

 

[Cezz The Catter]

Swing taylor back to back line.

Zac Smith back to starting ruck

Rhys stanley to 50% chf 50%

Hopefully we win enough games early in season so we can rest taylor/Lonergan 2 or 3 games each so Gardner can get half a dozen games in this season

Stanley is the player of relevance when discussing a CHF id prefer him there 90% of the time. If Blicavs cant play forward then hes either for the 2s or second ruck, hes not a fricken midfielder .

 

[Cronin]

My ideal set up, coaching staff are ****ing stupid for doing otherwise;

Backs - Kolo, Taylor, Hendo.
Rucks - Smith, Blitz (Relief).
Forward - Hawkins, Stanley.

Lonergan comes in for the big games, prefer to get games into Kolo. Lets get a CHF, Stanley is the only one whose showed any promise. Keep the backline strong with Taylor back there and find a position for Blitz that isnt stupid.

Does Henderson play FB?

What about the development of Ryan Gardner?

 

[Cezz The Catter]

Does Henderson play FB?

What about the development of Ryan Gardner?

Id prefer Henderson around the CHB line to be honest, what do you reckon?

I reckon Gardeners got another year in the 2s, based on how our coaching staff operate. Bring him in and we're to tall, ideally he'll get a few games somehow.

 

[iameviljez]

Shit, they're gonna keep him there for the next 16 weeks aren't they

I never want to see Harry Taylor near anyone's forward line again except for the opposition's.

 

[Cronin]

Id prefer Henderson around the CHB line to be honest, what do you reckon?

I reckon Gardeners got another year in the 2s, based on how our coaching staff operate. Bring him in and we're to tall, ideally he'll get a few games somehow.

I think Henderson is our ideal CHB, I just saw your other two defenders in Taylor and Kolodjashnij and wondered who was going to play FB.

So you'd have Taylor FB out of those two I'm guessing?

 

[Cronin]

I never want to see Harry Taylor near anyone's forward line again except for the opposition's.

Yeah but it's Chris Scott

I would have a lot of admiration for our couch if he bit the bullet and played Taylor in defence, using him forward only if nothing else is working like in the Prelim.

 

[Stig_90]

Swing taylor back to back line.

Zac Smith back to starting ruck

Rhys stanley to 50% chf 50%

Hopefully we win enough games early in season so we can rest taylor/Lonergan 2 or 3 games each so Gardner can get half a dozen games in this season

I agree, Taylor immediately looked soooo much more comfortable when he went back today. He has to play there even if it makes us a little tall in the back line.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

The fact is we don't have the right puzzle pieces regardless of how we arrange them. A 28 year old Pods would be very handy right now as it would allow us to have Henderson Taylor and Kolo as our KPD's with Lonergan in the vfl as depth, two key forwards and play only one of Stanley or Smith each week along with Blicavs as the 2nd ruck. Allows us proper key forward support for Hawkins and puts Taylor and Blicavs in the positions they play best. In an ideal world we probably should have tried to trade whichever of Stanley and Smith we didn't consider to be our no 1 ruck and try and use that plus some picks to get us a proper key forward. I have no idea whether something like that was feasible with the trade capital we had and who was on the market (I doubt it was) but it sure would heck have given us a better balance.

As I posted in the other thread the reality is Stanley is a good ruckman and a poor forward and after 8 years that isn't likely to change and playing Henderson forward is madness when a) he is our best KPD and b) the defence will be built around him once Lonergan Mackie and Taylor are gone. So neither of those two are solutions.

In regards to not playing Taylor forward we better hope that Black channels his 2013 self or House channels Pods as we don't have many options unless one of those two things happens.

On the ruck it will be interesting to see whether we play both Smith and Stanley or just one throughout the season, and what role we use Blicavs in.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

I think it's as easy as Blicavs out, Smith in.
Stanley and Smith share ruck duties and everything else stays the same.
Smith has shown he can kick goals when resting up forward as has Stanley and both are quality (atleast at times) ruckman.
Blicavs to me is in purgatory, he isn't a second ruck (sure his disposal numbers look ok for a ruckman but he's not winning hitouts, hence not a ruckman) and he isn't a midfielder and as harsh as this is about to sound, he has very little genuine and instinctive AFL aptitude.
Often enough I've seen him balk when he should have gone, stop and prop when options were there and get tackled when he should have given off.
Nothing against him personally of course but IMO he's the out as far as talls are concerned.

 

[Cezz The Catter]

The fact is we don't have the right puzzle pieces regardless of how we arrange them. A 28 year old Pods would be very handy right now as it would allow us to have Henderson Taylor and Kolo as our KPD's with Lonergan in the vfl as depth, two key forwards and play only one of Stanley or Smith each week along with Blicavs as the 2nd ruck. Allows us proper key forward support for Hawkins and puts Taylor and Blicavs in the positions they play best. In an ideal world we probably should have tried to trade whichever of Stanley and Smith we didn't consider to be our no 1 ruck and try and use that plus some picks to get us a proper key forward. I have no idea whether something like that was feasible with the trade capital we had and who was on the market (I doubt it was) but it sure would heck have given us a better balance.

As I posted in the other thread the reality is Stanley is a good ruckman and a poor forward and after 8 years that isn't likely to change and playing Henderson forward is madness when a) he is our best KPD and b) the defence will be built around him once Lonergan Mackie and Taylor are gone. So neither of those two are solutions.

In regards to not playing Taylor forward we better hope that Black channels his 2013 self or House channels Pods as we don't have many options unless one of those two things happens.

On the ruck it will be interesting to see whether we play both Smith and Stanley or just one throughout the season, and what role we use Blicavs in.

I agree with 99% of what you said but Stanley isnt that poor forward. He's had games where hes plucked marks from all over and has some great agility. To be fair we really haven't distinctly allocated him a CHF game, he's more just rested there. I reckon we pursue it or Blicavs has to go for someone like Black.

 

[Lana]

I see no reason not to keep the Taylor experiment going but I'd give him more licence to switch from forward to defense within quarters and hopeful drag his man up the ground. But he really needs to start hitting the scoreboard, If he doesn't demand attention then he is no use as a decoy to open us space for Hawkins and Menzel.

I don't want Stanley to primarily be a KPF, I feel like he does his most damage in our forwardline when he is drifting forward as a ruckman and leading his opponent on a merry dance around the ground.

I have no real idea what to do with Smith/Stanley/Blicavs. I'm inclined to have Smith and Stanley battle it out as the 1st ruckman and have Blicavs be the designated 2nd ruckman.

Kolodjashnij is competing with Stewart for the 3rd tall position in our team while we have Thurlow in the team and Mackie's good form continues. Lonergan's understudy is Gardiner he won't/shouldn't be replaced by Kolodjashnij. I want to see Kolodjashnij become more attacking with the ball, last year he was too content to pass off the responsibility to others.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Stanley is the player of relevance when discussing a CHF id prefer him there 90% of the time. If Blicavs cant play forward then hes either for the 2s or second ruck, hes not a fricken midfielder .

He's a shit forward. I got another reminder of this watching him closely today.
Numerous times caught behind his man, who then intercept marked the ball.

 

[Toe Poke]

Is it just the emotion though? I think they're very attached to his defensive acumen. He's had a great career but at some point you need to look to the future.

I find the idea of 'looking to the future' to be a bit ridiculous when it's only round 2. The only future toward which the match committee should be looking is
(1) making the top 8 in 2017 and
(2) making the top 4 to get a double chance in 2017 and
(3) making the top 2, to get a home final in 2017 and then
(4) winning a premiership in 2017.

If the match committee think that Lonergan (and Henderson and Taylor) are better than Kolo, then Kolo (and Gardner) can both play in the VFL.

Also there are often injuries (and sometimes suspensions), which means Kolo will get games when Lonergan / Taylor / Henderson are not available. I don't see the need to gift him additional games on top of that.

The whole 'looking to the future' might be nice for winning a premiership in 2018 and beyond, but what's wrong with trying to win a premiership in 2017 first?

.

 

[dazbroncos]

I know I will get killed for this and probably fair enough:

HT goes back to defense.
Buzza comes in to FF. Cowan goes out.

North did the same thing with Brown 3 years ago. Buzza is not ready but he provides a target and a contest. He's not overly skilled, not overly ready or overly fit.

But from a structural perspective, he allows Tomma to go to CHF and HT to go back.

HT back was an entirely different player in the last quarter. He MUST MUST MUST stay back.

Stanley can rest forward at times when needed and BLitz plays as MF/2d ruck.

Buzza can lead and with the better ball movement can cause an issue. They have to honour him as a presence up there.

You could also do the same by pushing HT back, Stanley to FF, Hawk to CHF and Smith to the ruck.

Regardless of the whom, HT must play back.

GO Catters

 

[Zeroman]

If HT goes back can you have Lonergan in the team?

 

[iameviljez]

Buzza comes in to FF. Cowan goes out.

North did the same thing with Brown 3 years ago. Buzza is not ready but he provides a target and a contest. He's not overly skilled, not overly ready or overly fit.

Let's not pretend that Buzza is now where Ben Brown was three years ago. Brown was pretty much ready to go when he was given his debut, while WB is raw and quite new to footy.

Buzza won't be done any favours by getting beaten up and having six touches every week in the AFL. He needs to spend another year in the VFL, getting his hands regularly on the footy and kicking two to three goals per game.

I know there's no natural fit for CHF in our current best 25 players, but don't be tempted to think that throwing Buzza in when he's not ready is the best solution. Prioritise his development first IMO.

 

[iameviljez]

If HT goes back can you have Lonergan in the team?

Yes, until either Gardner torches the VFL or Kolodjashnij gets over his groin injury/lack of preseason. But I think we're a little way from either of those.

 

[dazbroncos]

Let's not pretend that Buzza is now where Ben Brown was three years ago. Brown was pretty much ready to go when he was given his debut, while WB is raw and quite new to footy.

Buzza won't be done any favours by getting beaten up and having six touches every week in the AFL. He needs to spend another year in the VFL, getting his hands regularly on the footy and kicking two to three goals per game.

I know there's no natural fit for CHF in our current best 25 players, but don't be tempted to think that throwing Buzza in when he's not ready is the best solution. Prioritise his development first IMO.

I did specifically list:

Buzza is not ready but he provides a target and a contest. He's not overly skilled, not overly ready or overly fit.

But yes I agree with the points you raise.

GO Catters

 

[iameviljez]

I did specifically list:



But yes I agree with the points you raise.

A target, yes - but not a contest. He'd get wiped.

 

[Toe Poke]

If HT goes back can you have Lonergan in the team?

yes.

B: Ruggles Lonergan Taylor
HB: Tuohy Henderson Mackie
C: Duncan Selwood Blicavs
HF: Motlop Stanley Murdoch
F: McCarthy Hawkins Menzel
R: Smith Dangerfield GHS
I: (from) Stewart, Parfitt, Menegola, Lang, Thurlow, Cowan, Bews

So if Taylor must go back and Smith must come in to ruck - the popular sentiment - that's our 25 man squad for next week.

Then it's up to the match committee to select the 4 bench players and 3 emergencies. I'd select Thurlow, Cowan, Lang and Menegola. Which leaves Stewart, Parfitt and Bews as the emergencies.

The net change would be: IN: Smith Menegola OUT: Stewart Parfitt

.

 

[iameviljez]

The net change would be: IN: Smith Menegola OUT: Stewart Parfitt

I am just aware of the dearth of players under 23 in that team - for that reason, Parfitt over Cowan for me.

 

[Landgraft]

If - note the big IF here - you wanted to try Buzza in the seniors then I would give him a run from Rounds 4-6 and see how he goes. Hawthorn, St Kilda and Collingwood are relatively ordinary backlines and games in VIC, so probably his best chance of a run at it in the near future.

Still doubt it'll happen and I don't think that it should either.