Gold Coast are a different proposition at home, while we lack a lot of players still. Not an easy game.
The exact same fixture cost Brett Ratten his job in 2012.
I am hoping no repeat of that sorry day.
Doc is probably out. But who comes in?
Reckon we've got a few returning from injury this week.
Boyd is available to come in for him too.
Walsh, Cerra and Gov will be tests.
Cerra won't be a test to play.
That game last night was intense.
I think both Carlton and Melbourne may struggle next week so an injection of a few players might be a help.
Our defensive game is amazing. Kemp, Newman and Cincotta are desperados.
GC need to bring their A-game
Cincotta's spoil late in the last qtr (whilst probably a free kick as he took the Melb players legs out) was desperation personified.
Yes, and having to travel to Queensland adds another layer to the challenge.
Definitely a free IMO, but the law of averages applies. Sometimes you get a bit of lady luck to even things out.
Agree, IMO our luck vs no luck has been somewhat skewed in recent years, I couple of things going our way is a pleasant change.
Walsh back next week , Cerra still weeks away is what they said on CH7.
GC are always tough at home and have a dominant ruckman and good leg speed but we need to and should win.
The GWS game concerns me more...
Not everyone can be best on ground, just need the role playing types continuing to do their alloted tasks.
Interesting to see who is fit to come in. Certainly Boyd put his hand up.
Maybe the time for Binns?
I wouldn't say 'no'. However, who goes out for him? He is mainly a winger and our wingers have been doing well.
Id probably play Boyd if we intend to play him in the finals, reckon the time for experiments like Binns have passed.
Crash, I'm assuming worst case scenario so if both Doc (injury) Cunners (suspension) come out, maybe Binns comes in as a Winger and Acres goes in as a mid. With Doc, Boyd, who had a reasonably good game today in the magoos, comes in. He goes to back pocket and maybe frees up Fisher for on ball somewhere? Although with Fisher's form off half back I'm not sure.
Then again if Walsh is right this week we will have no problems
I'd bring Boyd and Carroll in - Carroll 20 y.o now built up an AFL body he is getting closer and a run with an in-form team will do his confidence the world of good.
He looks like he will be the goods but can wait until next year
Based on the VFL game, I would say Boyd is first cab off the rank and should at least get a game as the sub.
Indeed, Boyd was very good. Ran hard, defended nicely and used the ball effectively.
Thanks for the feedback, first VFL game I've not been able to watch this season so I appreciate the discussion.
If we can get a win this week then subject to other results Rnd 24 might not mean much to us, but it could be a big deal for GWS so it might a good time to give someone like Binns a run against quality opposition while we take the opportunity to freshen one or two others up before the finals.
No mention of Cunningham in any Match Review commentary so presumably no case to answer? Game was on Saturday night so surely something would've been said by now?
If Doc doesn't get up, maybe Ed back into the 22 and Binns or Boyd as the sub?
I thought Cuners was unlucky to be free-kicked ... Razor Ray let it go and he was right on the spot.
Officially have the best defence in the competition with two rounds remaining.
Just amazing work by the club really. Leaders from on field and off field group at the club should be proud of these small wins and it's not over yet!
demons player should get a week for staging.
That was woeful. Cunners even let him go and caught them both on the way down.
They might need to force hair cuts from now on. Make players less floppy looking because the hair bounces.
McKay looks like he is back this week. Only has to get through training.
Source: 7 News.
Carroll is closer to being delisted then getting a gig in the 1's IMO.
Saw that. Extraordinary, but no mention of Walsh?
I would have said the same but he was very good yesterday in the midfield.
He came back 2 weeks early the last time he had this injury too and came back strong.
No mention of Walsh.
We need Harry back, Charlie has really missed him.
This was on the website;
Adam Cerra Hamstring Aiming to be available next week. (Update: 14 August)
Sam Docherty Cork Was subbed out after receiving a cork to the calf, which tightened up as the game went on. Will be assessed later in the week in regards to availability. (Update: 14 August)
Matt Kennedy Knee Chance to be available next week. (Update: 14 August)
Mitch McGovern Hamstring Aiming to be available next week. (Update: 14 August)
Harry McKay Knee Has been back in full training. Expected to be available to play this week. (Update: 14 August)
Jack Silvagni Knee Back in full training. Expected to be available to play this week. (Update: 14 August)
Sam Walsh Hamstring Aiming to be available next week. (Update: 14 August)
Has the team?
We are playing better without him.
If we wanna continue to play 2 rucks, we can get away without him.
2 rucks and Harry is starting to stretch how many talls we can have.
Charlie is getting double teamed we are missing H
As i said above, i'm not sure we are.
We've beaten 3 of the top 4 teams without Harry.
It seems i'm not the only one who is hesitant....
https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/should-the-blues-leave-harry-mckay-out/video/708badbf199289ff6c1548b5e2b29abb
I think Charlie and Voss disagrees.
Worked fine before he was injured. Last 2 weeks we have struggled to score with Curnow being held.
Not to mention H's running capacity presenting down the wings isolating Charlie in the 50.
Did it?
Last 2 weeks we have come up against 2 very good defensive sides. Both top 4, along with us.
Points against...
Carlton - 1505
St. Kilda - 1520
Collingwood - 1532
Melbourne - 1544
Western Bulldogs - 1595
Geez if that injury update is correct, it's looking good. We just need to snare one or two wins and we could go into finals with almost a full contingent.
We've been winning without all of those players, but I'll happily have Harry back in the team. Some of his stuff working up the ground in the weeks before he got injured was pretty good.
If the club is fair dinkum about list depth and reward for effort, then none of Walsh, Cerra, Silvagni or McKay should be automatic ins. I know it will never happen, but they should earn their spot. None of the blokes that played against Melbourne deserve the ar$e. And that was such a super effort, perhaps that's an excellent balance right there ?
So Walsh and Cerra don't get back in either?
Absolutely but Charlie will be better if two key defenders are not hanging off him.
Pitto and Hollands were serviceable but making way for Harry (reputation, scoring and score assist ability, high marking, ruck forward 50) and SOS (forward pressure, overhead marking, smarts, relief ruck) will not be the end of the world. We are extremely strong with the ground balls and about to get stronger.
There won't be as many changes as people think, if you look at the squad that player GC in Rnd 14 it is probably a good guide to next weekend.
I think our biggest problem is that with Dew gone GC is now tactically a known unknown, that makes it a danger game.
Pitto Hollands (Doc)
Harry SOS (Boyd)
We can try having two defensive playmakers in Boyd and Fish. Doc plays further up the ground can have Boyd playing deeper defensively and not push so much further up the ground if SOS and H play.
If Doc plays then Doc stays more defensively than pushing forward maybe.
On the VFL v Casey and Boyd.
I thought he played at the level we've come to appreciate. What stood out for me was his leadership. He was barking instructions with real confidence. At times pausing until his mates got in position.
Players like McKay, Walsh, Cerra and Silvagni can “earn their spot” by performing well at training.
A forward line with Charlie and Harry, even with the latter going at half rat power, is considerably better than a forward line with Charlie and a bevy of small and medium forwards.
Of course Harry comes in when he can.
Talk of Charlie doing it on his own is fanciful. Not doubting his skills, but for the last two weeks against two solid defensive sides, he has been double- and triple teamed. Being Charlie, he has still managed some big moments, but we have only kicked 9 and 10 goals in those matches. As long as those two work out a way to have one working up high, and the other dropping back, it is a nightmare for the opposition.
I would back Charlie and Harry in 1-on-1s, and they certainly won't be outmarked often, so the smalls will have plenty underneath to go to work on.
And I am confident that Harry has overcome his yips ( :-X ) so we will get better value from his possessions.
After all of this discussion, what a nice problem to have! At this stage of the year, we are usually talking about guys getting games gifted because there are no other options.
Here is the question, do we need to risk Harry on a road trip recovery just a few weeks after surgery, or would we be better to give him an extra week to front up against GWS?
If we do not pick Harry, is it hurting / overloading Charlie?
Do we pick Harry and SoJ then give Charlie a week off, or does the Coleman really matter too much?
I doubt we'll go with one ruck against Witts just a couple of weeks out from finals the risk is too great that the overloaded solo ruck breaks down.
Coming off knee surgery I doubt our MC will risk Harry rucking anywhere even at boundary line throw ins.
I suspect if Harry comes in it will be for Ed, and perhaps Boyd in for Doc, that will be the only changes. It's possible that Harry comes in for Hollands or Cottrell simply because Harry covers so much ground and demands opposition attention, they'll run a tall and a crumber against him at contests as he gets up the ground, so the loss of a pure wing like Hollands or Cottrell is not so critical.
Cripps- Walsh were sublime in the clearances. Cue Paddy Dow.
Some talk around that McKay and Silvagni both expected to be available for this game.
Hope they are will find out in couple of days.
I'm quite disappointed that we couldn't get Walsh up for this game. The Suns key strength is their midfield - Walsh destroyed them at the 'G, and we didn't have to face Touk Miller in that game either.
I'm also a bit worried that several of the Suns will be aiming to show their newly-appointed coach what they're made of.
Don't stop now, Blues......
Does every thread have to be infected with this f-en ruck debate? Just sayin.
For all the permutations and combinations of our best team, there are a set of names that are constant.... Newman Weitering Kemp Saad McGovern, Docherty, Cincotta. How good (and advantageous) is it to have a settled, cohesive back 7, with a couple of soldiers in reserve if required!!
It'll end at the trade period.
Because I can see the negativity towards TDK is baseless, and that I agree with Voss about the complimentary nature of our ruck duo, it's fairly obvious.
I'm not anti Pitto or SoJ, that spurious claim was made by a 3rd party and seems to ramp up whenever TDK or the team has a notable result with both rucks playing.
I've moved most of the ruck talk...
Keep this one for the pre-game
Continue the TDK discussion here
https://www.carltonsc.com/index.php?topic=6329.0
Our defence is unbelievably good Sammy and Vossy have done such a great job.
Defences win you premierships.
Absolutely! Although Doc has mostly played as a midfielder. Boyd and, most recently, Fisher, has been our seventh defender. And Marchbank is a more than adequate replacement for Guv.
We shouldn’t underestimate the defensive work of our wingers too. Acres, Hollands and Cottrell have all made regular critical defensive efforts. Then there’s Owies, Motlop, Cuningham, Martin, Silvagni and De Koning.
Team defence wins games.
Bring H and SOJ back. SOJ as starting sub to replace H.
These guys need game time.
I think if Petracca's kick had been ruled a goal last week, and we'd lost, the discussion around H would be more about getting him back in because of Charlie getting double teamed in the last few weeks. I'd be playing him this week and next...then he's got a week off before finals, if we get there.
If JSOS plays and is in the 22, it's hard to see who goes out but Pitto might be unlucky....but IMO we need him up against Witts this week.
Funny enough I thought the same thing.
We can only do it because both H and SoJ have sufficient aerobic capacity to cover lots of ground, some fans will say we lose too much run with H or SoJ as sub, but we can compare them to Ed who has been our regular sub and we lose very little in terms of run and coverage because Ed while also aerobic is not overly quick or agile.
SoJ could also be quite a useful Midfield rotation, as a chop out for Cripps, we don't need the chop out player to give us dominance, we just need to ensure we do not lose momentum when Cripps is resting.
Harry in
Fogarty out (soreness)
With no Silvagni, probably means both TDK and Pittonet play. We'd be crazy to ruck Harry part-time in first game back from a serious knee injury. Fog is a bit of a loss given his forward half pressure but still a strong lineup.
Emergencies:
Jordan Boyd
Ed Curnow
Josh Honey
Jack Silvagni
My money would be on Boyd. Given we have 2 rucks and Harry I cant see us going JSOS, Honey I don't rate and Ed I think is cooked.
Cant see Harry rucking much ever, think he would be eased back in down forward....seems Jack will probably struggle to get a game with a full list available and its appears the coach wants both TDK and Pittonet in the team and when you add Harry we start to look a bit toppy so unfortunately I think Jack might be waiting on injuries to crack a game.
Fogarty will be a loss as he has given us a different look but he is another who will fighting for his place when we have all troops reporting for duty...
Given GWS's lineup this week I could see the MC resting Pitto next week and trialling TDK with backup from JSOS and if need be Harry in the final round.
Fogs tackling is elite and is a huge loss.
But Harry averages two tackles a game to Fogs five.... so we are giving up a bit on forward tackling pressure.
Gold Coast play with three tall key defenders - Ballard, Collins and Andrew and need to cut Charlie some slack and drag a key back away from his zone. Despite the loss of Fogs we will still have four small forwards to their three small backs with Charlie freed up abit.
Cottrell and Cuningham both play their 50th game. Well done and good luck to both.
Fogarty is a huge loss, hopefully the forwards maintain the pressure that he added to the side 8 weeks ago.
Fantastic. We should win then.
Per my We win milestone games theory 😉
And what different routes they’ve taken to get to their 50 game milestones.
Both would have wondering if they would get there.
Congratulations to Cuners and Cotters 👏
Hopefully that is now firmly established team culture.
King out for GC
Chol in I believe. As is Sexton, who has played well against us in the past as I recall.
It's simple. Bring what we've been bringing and the W will follow. Conditions there can play a role. Let's hope we start well and hunt 4q.
Go Blues
Agree, add to that:
- Don't get beaten by what you know (or learnt from last time).
- Don't take this mob lightly, players will be auditioning for their new Cocker, some will be playing for the football lives.
Anything less than what we have brought the last 7 or 8 weeks and it could go against us, but I dont want to think about that.
Lets go Baggers - Lets reset and restart another streak starting with this mob again.
If we’re good enough and deserve a real finals spot, we’ll win convincingly.
As GIC suggests, "those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it".
We need to approach this game with the memory of the bitter pill we had to swallow at the end of last year burnt deep.
We know the disappointment.
It's inconceivable that we would take any of the last two game with anything less than a full-on effort.
Sub from Honey and Ed Curnow😕 Surely JSOS offers more flexibility?!? Probably means that Doc is in otherwise Boyd might have been elevated to emergency.
And if we follow the trend of our 2's, like we often do .. . We're buggered 😳
Watch what the VFL side are doing....and don't do that! ;)
Exactly.
THAT is what happens if you are only slightly off your game. Don't get ahead of yourself and stick to the basics we have been doing over the past 8 weeks.
Decimated in the clearances. Thats the game right there.
As Nana used to say, "It's not a game...it's a shame!"
Does anyone have a towel to throw in?
You can seriously see why so many clubs are chasing Ned Moyle, in a different class!
This is an interesting game - I dont think I have seen a cricket score in a football match.
Has anyone falling off a cliff as much as Young has this year?
Thats enough from me.
I'm not sure what we are trying to do, but its not play football. I've seen training runs with more intensity.
Providing panic buttons are not pushed just have to be sure youngsters like Hudson Okeefe learns from this game and makes some in roads on how to play against 207cm 105kg 21 year old competitive animals.
In the gym you go son
The VFL thread has turned into the Pre game thread....and the pre game thread has turned into the VFL thread. ;D
What we see in VFL, when they play before the AFL, can be a litmus test to the wider groups mindset. It's like watching the 2s at Punt Road before you walk into "The G", so often the trend continues!
(https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/NINTCHDBPICT000722355386.jpg)
The weather here in Brisbane today has been very windy.
It's obviously had some impact on the game a little further South, although we didn't take advantage.
It may be something we have to contend with in a little over an hour.
Yep Everyone loves a beanpole ruckman...😁.
We've won up there. We were the first team to beat them there in 2011, by over 100. It's just a coincidence that this year has been our best season since then.
Recently, however, our record there has not been so bright. The Suns are also much improved this year, despite their ladder position, but especially much more at Metricon, where the home fans have had a lot of reasons to smile this year. We can't be off our game here. Slim, slim chances of a double chance fourth spot or at worst, a home elimination final, rests on finishing the year with Ws. It's still been an amazing run of late to see in any case. Now bring it home boys and give yourselves the best shot you can in September.
I don't want to stir up the ruckman/talls debate again, but they showed an interesting stat which i have been suggesting.
Pressure with McKay - 9th.
Pressure without McKay - 3rd.
I was suggesting that maybe we give McKay an extra week off and playing TDK as the other forward with Charlie, and thats largely why.
We've dominated the pressure ratings with our 'smaller' team or IMO a more balanced team.
Hopefully we can continue it.....but i'm not so sure.
But he's always going to play finals if fit, and probably better to get a few games into him before the finals.