B: Lachie Plowman, Jacob Weitering, Nic Newman HB: Kade Simpson, Liam Jones, Dale Thomas C: Marc Murphy, Patrick Cripps, Sam Walsh HF: Paddy Dow, Charlie Curnow, David Cuningham F: Mitch McGovern, Harry McKay, Alex Fasolo FOLL: Andrew Phillips, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Zac Fisher I/C: Michael Gibbons, Ed Curnow, Jarrod Garlett, Will Setterfield EMERG: Jack Silvagni, Lochie O'Brien, Matthew Kennedy, Cam Polson
NEW: Mitch McGovern, Sam Walsh, Nic Newman, Alex Fasolo, Will Setterfield, Michael Gibbons
UNAVAILABLE: Matthew Kreuzer (knee), Sam Docherty (knee), Darcy Lang (foot), Caleb Marchbank (back), Harrison Macreadie (back), Tom Williamson (back), Jarrod Pickett (knee)
NOTES: It appears likely Andrew Phillips holds his spot in the ruck due to a combination of his impressive JLT form and Matthew Kreuzer's injury-interrupted summer. Alex Fasolo is tracking well to be fit, with Polson or Silvagni a chance to take his spot should he not be given the all-clear. Matthew Kennedy should be fit following a shoulder injury, but is unlikely to make the side after failing to feature in any JLT games. Sam Walsh has clearly done enough to earn a debut, while new recruits Michael Gibbons and Will Setterfield work their way into the team based on solid JLT form. Jarrod Garlett narrowly edges Lochie O'Brien for a place on the bench to provide some dash from half-back. - Riley Beveridge.
PRETTY HARD TO ARGUE WITH THAT LINEUP AS SUGGESTED ON AFL SITE. PROBABLY THE ONLY CHANGE I WOULD MAKE IS SILVAGNI IN FOR GARLETT...INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT OTHERS THINK.
Can't believe the negativity towards Simpson. The bloke has played over 300 games for Carlton and I reckon you could count the number of bad ones in that lot on your fingers. He has an ordinary practice game and all of a sudden we want him gone? Without Docherty (again), he is a crucial part of the backline....maybe not as the best player but someone with experience...and it's not like we're flushed with that down back at the moment.
If Walsh had've nailed that shot and we'd won (a practice game) would we be talking the same way?
And someone posted yesterday that "Rankine would've kicked that"......he's done a hammy and likely to miss 8 weeks!
Agree Shawny....unfortunately Polson has become a bit of a whipping boy for us on this forum but you're right...he needs to do more and show that he can actually do something with it on the rare occasions he actually gets it. There are some players who are 10 possessions/game types but who can win a game for you...he's not one of them. If he's spending the entire game chasing and tackling then it implies he's not getting enough of it himself. Gibbons probably deserves a spot in round 1 as does Cunningham and that's your two "small forward" types. Silvagni isn't high possession either and can still butcher it himself too but if it comes down to one or the other for round 1, I'd have Silvagni in there. Said it before re Garlett, he's not a defender (not sure where he played today)....in a top team he could be a bit of cream on the top with his skills and flashiness up forward but for the moment I reckon he's a liability.
Back 6 would be Weitering, Jones, Simpson, Plowman, Newman and Thomas for round 1. Richmond small forwards might hurt us but there's a few of the mids that can work back.
A bit harsh capcom.....only a practice game and if one of those late shots goes through, we win against a side that was within a whisker of winning the flag and has been strengthened even further with the addition of Beams and the return of Elliott.
Didn't watch it so can't comment on the skills or gameplan (or lack of) but that's two good JLT hitouts....a win against a team most would rate as a top 8 chance this year and a close finish against a team most would have in their top 2 or 3 going into the season.
But yes, apart from Kreuzer and maybe Marchbank, we were close to full strength so a bit of work still to go. I don't count Docherty or Pickett in that "full strength" list as they're unlikely to play at all this year and it's impossible to say on Fasolo right at the minute.
fly....reckon there might only be minimal changes for round 1 assuming no injuries? Maybe Polson and Garlett go out with Silvagni possibly one to come back in. And does Kruezer come straight in and keep Phillips out or do they play both and leave McKay as a permanent forward and push Charlie up the ground a bit?Hard to see Fasolo coming in for round 1 so Cunningham and Gibbons might retain the small forward positions with Polson going out?
Agree Shawny.....Pies within a bee's dick of the flag last year and fielding a pretty strong team and we were last by the length of the straight last year....with so many new blokes (Newman, Walsh, Setterfield, McGovern, Gibbons etc) it's going to take a bit of time.
Interesting that despite the massive difference in possessions, inside 50 numbers are almost exactly the same....but we can't score. Maybe McGovern might spend a bit more time in the backline? I haven't been watching so I'm assuming he's playing forward? But yes, McKay needs to be able to utilise his height and size and clunk some marks.
Agreed Cookie....seen both Port games and Butters looks fantastic....lightly built but not afraid to get in and get it and has great speed and foot skills. I think he was pretty highly rated but probably not in that top 6-8 names.
Agreed bignic! Watched a fair bit of JLT games so far (much to the chagrin of the wife) and from what I've seen of the other highly ranked blokes (Lukosius, Rankine, Rozee, Smith, King etc), Walsh is vastly superior and ready made....the others have shown brief glimpses here and there but Walsh looks like a 60 game "veteran" already.
I think Simpson will play his role and probably still very important to the structure without Docherty there. But we lack a player who can take advantage of these new kick-in rules.....look at Hurn from West Coast....run 20m and then put it beyond the centre with one kick. As some commentators have said, it defeats the purpose with these new rules if you're going to chip it 20m sideways from a kick-in and get hemmed in...especially if you don't have the elite kicking skills that other teams seem to have at the moment.
I know we're building a great young midfield list but geez when you look at the Pies' midfield, we're still a fair way off the mark:
Sidebottom Treloar Pendlebury Adams Beams
Then throw in the likes of Varcoe, Stephenson, Phillips, Thomas, Langdon etc...and with arguably one of the best ruckmen in the game, Grundy, it's hard to see them not finishing in the top 3 or 4 this year. They bring in Beams and effectively get a new player in Elliott, and from last year's GF also bring back Dunn, Howe, Scharenburg etc as defenders.
If Williamson gets back and playing it's an added bonus for sure but not holding my breath on that one. It might be a horses for courses strategy with defenders when Marchbank is fit. With Jones & Weitering the two main key defenders, Marchbank might get squeezed out...then the likes of Plowman, Newman, Simpson/Thomas. If nothing else, it might mean we've got some depth for a change with blokes fighting for spots. Weitering looked 10 times more assured when attacking the ball than last year....another good sign.
Agree with an earlier comment about Garlett...not sure he's suited to a defensive role. On more than one occasion yesterday he tried to take mark of the century and left his opponent over the back to get easy balls. He's got pace but just doesn't seem to have a defensive nature to his game and his kicking lets him down at times too.
Of our blokes out, I would probably only think Kruezer, Marchbank, Fasolo (fit) and maybe Kennedy would be in the possible best 22 this year...obviously Docherty out for the season.
But a very encouraging performance and the midfield looked 100% better than anything from last year.
