The 'Aints beat Richmond earlier today.
Tigers have now officially lost their aura.
Saints will try to be physical against us. I think a lot of us walk that little bit taller with Pittonet around.
Saints are a bit different in that they run two genuine ruckman in Ryder and Marshall which will test Pittonet.
Also they rest the ruckman down forward rather than bench them so they have two talls with King and the ruckman plus Membrey down forward.
Not so keen on Plowman having to take Membrey if that setup continues.
I'm hoping Hill and Jones dont play as they were injured during the Tigers game...bit surprised Butler has done so well given I wasnt that impressed with him at Richmond.
Cripps will have a tough time vs Steele who seems to enjoy the challenge on our skipper so we need Cuningham, Setterfield etc to backup from the bombers game.
Very interesting game given Ratten is coaching the Saints and they have started the season well....was confident vs the bombers but this more 50/50 IMO..
Ryder didn't play yesterday. "Managed"
Had some value from their imports, Hill, Jones, Howard and Butler all in their best vs the Tigers and Ratten even has Carlisle playing well..
More confident against them than any other team we've played
Saints are currently top 8 and in good form. A very 50/50 game.
We will need to bring the Geelong from not the Essendon form to get across the line against this nob. Helps that we're at the 'G'. Also nice to be the underdogs again
That discard Butler, that some have ridiculed for showing interest in, was BoG on the weekend. Not bad for a freebie. Papley is a quality player but we missed an opportunity I reckon.
Interesting, they stated that is how they would manage him when he was traded.
Why is it they manage a guy like Ryder, while we run Kreuzer in to the ground at every opportunity?
Kreuzer breaks down in round 1 every year.
It also helps we finally found an alternative that is also not made of glass.
That's a bit of an early Crow, I'll wait until Pittonet has been challenged by a few more real ruck options, not B-Graders mixed with converted KPPs.
Bellchambers had it over Pittonet early, but our midfield was far better organised to rove to the losing ruck and it made a world of difference. To Pittonet's credit, he got himself back into the game by doing the stuff that makes rucks far more valuable than just the tap, the bullocking, the ground work, etc., etc.. They've even got Levi doing it now, it's a breath of fresh air.
Its not about quality, its about the ability to play 4 quarters every week.
The fact that he is effective is a bonus.
Yes. It's great seeing our big guys throw their weight around. Pitto's a natural. Levi's added this to his game.
I'd like to see Pitto use his positioning to advantage our players a bit more. It's those shepherds and momentary delays that can give our boys time to dispose more effectively. Gibbons does this regularly, taking the heat off and creating thinking space.
https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=16&playerStatus2=A&tid2=4&type=A&pid1=6406&pid2=4077&fid1=S&fid2=S
Marshall v Pitto
Pitto will hold his own, at worst.
Ryder - doubt they'll even play him. Slow as a wet week.
Will big H be fit (and picked)?
Is Fisher ready to resume - did he get a run this weekend gone?
Surely they must give Philp another crack? (though Fisher is an obvious like for like)
Kennedy for SOJ is a like for like replacement, but if they want Fisher and Big H in?
Newnes must be marginal, after that it gets tough....
Be aware that our game will be on Thursday night now. Qld Govt won't let Richmond fly in, fly out. Richmond are now going to play Melbourne and the Eagles will now play the Swans. Just all being worked through as we speak.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-29/west-coast-richmond-afl-postponed-victoria-coronavirus-outbreak/12402204
QLD are not allowing their teams to play a Victorian side anywhere without quarantining for 14 days afterwards lol.
Pretty difficult to keep going at this rate.
It's an interesting position to take, is this genuinely related to COVID-19 security or it is about the politics and financial reward of hosting a sporting hub?
The optimist thinks one, the pessimist thinks the other!
The murkiness is the financial windfall that comes with an NRL or AFL style hub!
The alarm bells ring when you get situations analogous to "Albury is bad but Paramatta good!" :o
Easy fix. Send the QLD clubs to a different hub outside victoria. Send the Vic clubs there as well.
QLD wants to play hardball, thats fine, but we will not let it benefit their clubs.
It's not just Qld acting this way.
Plus if the AFLPA sticks to the 4 week hub limit/rule, it means you have to add two months to the season as they will quarantine a home for two weeks after every fourth round.
Further, the political word is the case detection rates remains a closely linked function of testing, is it that other states are testing less so therefore reporting lower figures than reality? That is the assertion being made behind the scenes, less tests means less positive or false positives!
Vic is considering making testing compulsory, not just if you are unwell, but if you want to access services like a doctor or hospital for unrelated issues. That will further spike the detection rates, as the tests are geared for false positives in preference to reporting false negatives. What has happened to Conor McKenna is happening to dozens of people at this moment, they are positive until they get successive negatives.
I don't have a problem with what Andrews has done, at least he isn't treating the elderly and vulnerable as collateral damage to getting the economy back on track, which is the game being played by some States at the moment! That position won't save them, the hospital beds will still fill up eventually and people will notice it happening.
Sooner or later this is going to impact the remainder of the season.
Just watched a clip on the CFC page - all the 2s' goals - hard to think we didn't win in a canter given how easy many of the goals were but we appeared to move the ball quickly and sensibly towards our goals!
Goals:
Honey
TDK (boomer)
Kennedy 3 (I think)
Fish 2 (appeared to be ready but limited footage)
Owies
Moore 2
Stocker 2
Ben S
we need to match there runners ,our coaches have to watch how coll,stop there run.
Bit hard to get a handle on St.Kilda. Collapsed against an undermanned North Melbourne, cleaned up Footscray, got cleaned up by Collingwood and then cleaned up Richmond. I think Clarko and Hawthorn have worked out Richmond and Ratten used the key again last match. Ratten has always been a good game day coach so Teague will need to be on his game. In last years draft they gave up 1st & 2nd round draft picks, Newnes, Steven, Bruce & Acres for Butler, Howard, Ryder, Hill, Jones & Abbott. Basically last year's draft was an admittance that their rebuild from the Riewoldt and free kicks from the AFL era has been a failure. They have traded to become competitive. Hill & Jones will give them outside run and class, while King & Clark are pretty good players. When they are on top they appear to be able to kick goals, first half against North, game against Footscray & Richmond, but when they are losing they struggle to kick goals, 2nd half against North and against Collingwood. I think this means that if we keep it tight we should be able to restrict their scoring ability. Last week St.Kilda took their opportunities against Richmond while I don't think we have fully taken our opportunities against any of our opponents this season. O'Brien, Fisher & Kennedy are all pushing for selection, and maybe De Konning, and McKay would be handy to bring in. Silvagni, Philps and Newnes are possible outs. I think if we are competitive from the start and trust our skills, we should be too good for them, however StKilda, along with North, is a side we haven't played up to our abilities against for quite a while.
Tough one this week, if Ryder is back they have two serious ruck options, we do not need Levi tied up trying to pick up the pieces if Pittonet struggles like he did against Gawn. If Ryder plays this is Pittonet's toughest test so far.
Aints and Dawks both had efficient disposal days out. When the Ferals lost the footy all the kings horses and men running up and down the field like lunatics couldn't get it back again with any reliability, and the tricks that paid off in the past with A-Grade bounces are going the wrong way, even when they did get the footy back they would miss the target!
We are now the Main Event on Thursday Night Football!!!
Short turnaround might be interesting in terms of selection.
Anyone know why we've been switched from the MCG to Marvel?
Might have something to do with the MCG and the lights.
I think there is some rule that means the MCG can't be used more than x-amount of times for night games, or more than y-amount of hours per year. Might also be a certain amount of notice required for residnets.
Alternatively....
The AFL owns Etihad, can close the roof and pretty much do what they want.
I'm not expecting Doc to have the freedom he has had the last few weeks with a fwd playing a defensive role on him.
Before doc did his knees he played like that every week and was AA. I'm amazed at how well he has returned. Pure class. I also suspect teams will start thinking seriously about trying to curb his influence but I also think he's good enough to win out most weeks.
I can't remember us beating the saints at the dome.
That switch hurts our chances. We generally play better at the g. The saints usually do better at the dome.
Yes, we're better at the G. No question.
But we're not sooks anymore right?
Right. I said hurts our chances for a reason.
Losing SoJ hurts us, great contested mark for his size rarely gets beaten, so I wouldn't be surprised to find if he is fit that McKay comes straight back in, he is tall and quick across the ground a tough match up indoors.
I'm not sure the Aints or any team have the defence to go with our KPFs if and when our KPFs are switched on.
Let's see what tactics Ratten will come up with, against us I suspect the Aints rucks will float defensive side of centre and for them to be very reliant on a wide spread of small forward and midfield goal kickers.
If our KPFs kick 2 or 3 each we probably win.
Out JSOS, Simpson (managed)
In McKay, Fisher
This gives Simmo a rest (5 day turnaround) keeps Philps in for another week and gets Fisher back in the side. Move Newnes to the half back line.
I'd leave Philps in the D50, he'll be better this week and can rundown opponents, he lost his way a bit last week, but when he had to commit he did.
I doubt Fisher will come straight back in
Only forced changes imo. Got to keep backing in a winning team for the moment. I don't think we had anybody who put in a bad one v. the Bombers, although Plowman looked a little shakey at times.
Plowman did some nice stuff also, he's not in the same bracket as a Weitering or Jones so I'm not going to hold him to the same level of expectation.
Some of the general defensive problems came from Jones chaos punching which caused an imminent turnover, also while on ruck rotations Levi interfered with our marking defenders a couple of times in recent weeks. But we mustn't stop Levi attacking the ball, we cannot afford him to be hesitant. With Levi, see ball get ball, no further instructions needed and most of the time it'll work in our favour.
@LP Agree. I don't think Plow should be dropped atm either but we do need to keep a watchful eye on him. I'm sure he is being made aware of where he needs to improve or play differently, as hopefully, are all the players.
CFC site reports Fisher and Harry likely ins.
Harry for SOJ.
Who goes out for Fish? Surely they'll not drop Philp?
https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/734938/reserves-player-by-player-review-v-essendon?fbclid=IwAR2qcdIyuY00cQB10mdNqMzWrRAT2i-VzAQpAOAzb4g8mtYe697qdj9IIfM
Plowman will probably get Membrey and I dont like that matchup, the Stkilda player plays taller and is a good converter and in recent times Plowman seems to have struggled with the body on body stuff and I see him as the weak link in the backline.
Yes agree. Both he and Jones look a little off the pace in recent times.
Geary apparently a big chance to play.
Nothing wrong with Jones ATM, he and Weiters are pillars. Haven't been this confident in our back line in years (Plowman aside). Marchbank is not the answer either, gets beaten way to easy and too often for my liking. Coupled with the fact that he cant stay on the park is almost rendering him surplus (or useless depending on how you want to look at it).
Now that its been moved from the G to Basketball Stadium, I am even less confident.
Compare the pair
Round 22 last year vs Saints
In the team
Dow
DeLuca
Kennedy
Krueser
Lang
Newman
O’Brien
Silvagni
Thomas
Missing last year
Jones
Weitering
Martin
Doc
Pittonet
Betts
Cuningham
Williamson
Philps
Some nice ‘ins’ from last year’s victorious team!!
Their ins
Jones
Hill
Hannebery (missed last year I think)
King
Butler
Ryder
Some handy additions. Hill and Butler need to be stopped.
Jones apparently not playing this week. Ryder didn't play last week. Expect he misses this week too.
Jones won't play with a tight hammy, Ryder was rested/managed, I'd expect him to be playing given the form of Pittonet and how the Saints setup usually. Sinclair may come in for Jones..
If Fish does come in, which seems likely, what about giving Murph a rest this week. I know he was good last week, but coming off a 5 day break? Settled backlines are important and I reckon there will be a lot more work put in to Doc this week so Simmo may need to help out more with that run and delivery from defence.
Have been watching Butlers progress closely.
Was getting interest from Gold Coast last draft, then Carlton.
He was very keen to get to Carlton, coming from a family of big Blue Bagger supporters.
Suddenly, SOS refused to answer his calls because of the Swans drama...
Saints rang at last minute.
In retrospect it looks like a bad deal, but at the time there were very few if any fans on this forum who were interested in Butler, in fact most didn't want to touch him!
Would he have the same impact at Carlton, are we physical enough to carry a player of his style?
Correct me if I am wrong but Richmond moved Butler on right? If so, most players tend to grow a leg when they get a kick in the pants and moved on. Look at Robbo for example. There is no way in hell he would have won a B&F at Carlton. Now I understand comparing B&F winners at different clubs is a little difficult but you get what I mean.
Lets see if Butler can go the journey and play at the level he is now for the rest of the season, he would be used to getting the 5th or 6th defender when he was at Richmond and now he is showing some form and being the main event lets see how he handles it when he manned up closer and by better players.
Sam Walsh has come under more attention and Jack Martin was heavily tagged last game and its the class players who can handle that extra attention week in and week out who are a cut above the rest and I want to see how Butler performs before I label him a recruiting fail on our behalf.
In fairness to SOS he probably thought he had Papley across the line before Essendon fecked up the Daniher move and in turn the Papley trade. With Papley, Eddie and Martin all likely he probably felt Butler was one too many of that ilk.
In H and Fish
Out SOS and Philp
These two better perform.
That's what i picked earlier in the week.
Makes the most sense. Strongest team possible.
Its a shame for Philp, but he got exposed to the speed of AFL and will be better for it.
No point picking him again if it is to the detriment of the team in doing so.
We no longer need to hand out games for the sake of it.
Would love to have Papley in Blue now!
Nice to win and go 3-2, and 9-7 since Teague took over. We'd have to start being taken reasonably seriously at least then. Hopefully it come to pass.
My recollection is that Harley had agreed to terms on Papley wiuth SOS irrespective of how the Daniher deal played out.
But Harley spat the dummy when the Daniher deal didn't pan out.
He then reneged on his deal with SOS.
Round 5 team
Backs:
Lachie Plowman
Liam Jones
Kade Simpson
Half-backs:
Sam Docherty
Jacob Weitering
Sam Petrevski-Seton
Centreline:
Sam Walsh
Patrick Cripps
Marc Murphy
Half-forwards:
Mitch McGovern
Levi Casboult
David Cuningham
Forwards:
Eddie Betts
Harry McKay
Michael Gibbons
Followers:
Marc Pittonet
Ed Curnow
Jack Martin
Interchange:
Tom Williamson
Jack Newnes
Will Setterfield
Zac Fisher
Emergencies:
Sam Philp
Lochie O'Brien
Callum Moore
Matthew Kennedy
In: Zac Fisher, Harry McKay
Out: Jack Silvagni (ribs), Sam Philp
No surprises but a pity Philp has to make way. He'll be back though.
I reckon Philp should have been given another game purely on the basis of that sublime pick up under pressure in the last quarter.
One game and out is not a good way to introduce a young bloke to the pressures of AFL and it could make him even more nervous when he gets his next chance.
Fish needs more than a cameo ten possessions to justify Philp's omission.
Hopefully, they forewarned him before his debut that others were likely to supplant him once recovered from injury.
I just look at their back 6 and say 'is that it'?
FB
[33] Ben Paton, (20g, 187cm, 79kg) Betts
[44] Callum Wilkie, (26g, 191cm, 87kg) the Guv
[2] Jake Carlisle (137g, 200cm, 106kg) Big H
HB
[21] Ben Long, (34g, 184cm, 79kg) Cuners/Gibbo
[20] Dougal Howard, (49g, 199cm, 92kg) Levi
[14] Jarryn Geary (190g, 183cm, 82kg) Martin
Lot of inexperience there and our talls are simply better players than theirs by some margin.
Ditto Setterfield, SPS and Ol Mate Cunners needs go back it up.
Yep, Fisher has work to do to win back a few of the doubters. Glimpses and cameos aren't enough anymore, to improve as a club he (and a few others) needs to start delivering a lot more.
I just wonder whether blokes like Fisher and Setterfield are those in between VFL and AFL types. That is, too good for VFL, not good enough for AFL.
I take encouragement from Cunners who finally has started to look good, if he can keep it up. Fish and Setterfield could do the same. We have actually seen already how good Fish can be - he just has to regain form as he has the talent,
Well said.
In his (Philp) after game interview it sounded as if he already knew that this year might hold such decisions. Personally, I believe his leg speed would have been really useful against the Aints.
And I completely agree with other comments here re: Fisher and Setterfield. And Plowman's form worries me somewhat as well. There'd want to be some good stuff from Fisher, Setterfield, Plowman and Newnes for mine. And time for H to do more as well. Might sound a little too critical but if we're to start winning games by deserved margins then we cannot have passengers.
I reckon Setterfield does a solid defensive job each week and is winning more of the ball with each game. I think that he will be a very good player for us for many years to come.
Fisher’s best is very good but he goes missing too much. If he can become more consistent (like Cuners) he could be a very important player. Perhaps he needs better players around him :-\
We’ll see tonight and I hope he has a ripper game!
I think guys like Fisher and Cuningham are both too small and light to be expected to perform in traffic to a high level week in and week out, it is just too tiring for them even if they survive the brutality of the contest.
Setterfield is different, he's a different size and weight, he's got to get his head around not being an outside receiver ever, he cannot waste his and the clubs time by being a passive observer at the contest. Like Cripps, Setterfield must be one of the players taking affirmative action in traffic and stoppages! Setterfield needs to think of himself as a poor mans Cripps or Fyfe, nobody expects him to be racking up 35 possessions with 20 contested hard ball gets, but if he is in there competing the opposition do not get easy footy either. When he observes he is too slow to impact the contest, he's no good as a hunter of players because he can't catch them, so he has to hunt the football.
Justin Murphy has to be the all time clubhouse leader in this - you'd watch him in the 2s, and think he was a cross between Chris Judd and Craig Bradley, then he would give donughts in the 1s.
Fisher had that good year 2 years ago when he was played in the guts, then struggled last year with a new role and injuries - im hoping he will develop into a valuable hff/wing. Setters is still very early in his development, and (outside a few freaks), inside mids take a while - hoping he will be a solid contibutor
Thought Murphy went pretty well. Certainly AFL level. Was close to BOG in a Grand Final until he did his knee.
Cuners is bigger than Joel Selwood.
Fisher the same height as Neale, just 10kg lighter!
Cunners has put together 1 solid and above average performance, I need to see that consistently from him before I judge, clear the talent is there. Fish has had 6 x 25+ disp games (28 disp max)(16.2 ave) in his 56 games for 9 goals. Setters has 3 x 24 disp games, thats it in the 20's in his 24 games(15.04 ave). Both still babies I get it, one off a knee reco but I just dont see what everyone else does. Time will tell. Cunners has just 29 games so just a baby also. However, Its time to produce at the level everyone thinks they are capable off.
Beat me to it Fly; Cuners is a big lump of a lad and should be more than capable of spending time in the midfield each week.
Fish is on the small side for an AFL player and you wouldn’t want him in a bash and crash role.
An overwhelming majority of tipsters have picked the Aints tonight.
Current betting has Saints at $1.80 and us $2. Sounds about right IMO.
Not surprising really. They played some really good fast footy last week against a fair side while we bumbled our way through against average at best opposition. That plus we don't play that well at Marvel and they do. Still, things have to change one day maybe tonight it all starts?
Well we don't have to highlight how "relatively soft" Fisher and Cuningham are compared to Joel Selwood just to prove my point! ;D
But seriously, guys like Fisher and Cuningham will fatigue very quickly if they have to compete week in and week out with players of the likes of a Cripps, Fyfe, Bontempelli, Dangerfield, Martin, etc., etc..
When we already lack run and spread, why would we wish Fisher and Cuningham further inside punishment which only takes the run out of their legs? It's as silly as fans wanting sMurph to play as an inside bullocking midfielder.
Um no, the Selwood analogy simply shows that Cuners could play a largely full time inside role (well as much as Selwood).
After all, he's also quicker than Selwood by a margin. Selwood's almost clocked up 300 games - decent longevity?
(btw, Cuners has 2cm and a few kg on Selwood)
Fisher's a lightweight midget, mostly outside is obviously the role for him.
Fisher played inside at U18 level and played WAFL @61kg......
Brent Harvey 172cm 75kg......if you are good enough you can make it, agree its harder but Fisher has the talent as long as he gets the support from his bigger team-mates. Problem we have its not the most vigorous or hard hitting team that Fisher plays for...Harvey had Archer, Carey, Martyn, Pickett, Pike, Mooney, Stevens and King down at Nth doing the heavy lifting while he supplied the creative silk.
Che? What the fark are they paying Jack Russell for then? To make them fatigue? FMD I can do that for them for free.
With all due respect EB, Fisher's only role is outside at AFL level. He would be rag dolled inside and would frankly fill his shorts if he had to put his nose over it time and time again. What role he played at Schoolboy or U18 means jack now. Some kids thrive at AFL level (ie Rowell) in the contest, others? Well, Fish is an example of "others".
Looks like Fisher's a late out by the way.
Really interesting test for Newnes tonight. If you can’t produce against the old mob, you never will.