We might have a few players ready for this one.
Hopefully we can load up....heading over for this game.
Looks like we got out of the Geelong game unscathed.
Looks like we will have Cerra back for this game.
Looks like we also have potentially all of Martin, Marchbank, Cuningham, Motlop and even Pittonet fully fit and available for this game as well.
Do we dare make any changes?
For mine.
In: Cerra + Martin/Motlop
Out: Fantasia + Durdin
Sub: Cerra/Hewett
Not making Georgie Hewett sub any time soon unless it is to give him a bit of a freshen up. I do wonder how we run all 3 of him Crippa and Kennedy in the one team, but how do you leave any of them out on their form?
Dont wanna be losing a game like this after a performance like last night.
Exactly why i had him (or Cerra) as the sub.
Give him a bit of a break.
or
Ease Cerra into it.
Could easily have put Kennedy there, but i think he is helping out as a backup ruck and as a 3rd tall option and is harder to 'replace' with someone else.
Cerra/Hewett are basically pure midfielders and more easily swappable.
The other thing to consider, our team is currently humming along. Unless we need to change up the dynamic, maybe we shouldnt. We might swap kennedy for Cerra, and then end up making Cripps shoulder more of a burden. We are almost in a position where we can start to look about 4 weeks away rather than worry about next week. A luxury we havent had in a VERY long time and will be the true test of how we are travelling.
Think I read somewhere yesterday that Martin's recovery has had a setback and could be another 3 weeks away. Even if he was ready, I wouldn't be bringing him straight in. Missed the first 8 or so games and then got injured again in his first game back. Similarly, Cerra had back to back hamstrings...might be worth a run in the VFL for one game.
I can see us going in unchanged this week unless Durdin and Fantasia swap the sub role.
We were good the other night, possibly as good as we’ve been for many years.
It was a complete performance, but…
One of the best football lessons I learnt was one of the earliest.
In this crazy game…”Take nothing for granted!”
I started following Carlton in 1968 and we were premiers that year.
The following year 1969 we went into the second game of the year and kicked 30-30-210.
It was the league record at the time.
If we’d kicked straight, it might still be.
I thought at the time…as Mick Malthouse would in later years ;) :D …
”I cant see where we would possibly lose a game”…ever.
We sat on top of the ladder with a percentage of 181% after Round 2
But the following week we trailed Footscray at ¾ time before getting home… and the week after that we lost to Collingwood by 10 goals.
Our percentage went from 181-126 in just two weeks.
I can’t see how we can possibly lose this game.
But “take nothing for granted.”
Tom Lynch has done a hammy
Cerra is 100% class and if fit goes straight in. This team punishes the oppo on turn over with aggression and pressure in the coalface and have decent runners on the outside - Walsh, Hollands, Saad, Williams.. Hewett, Cerra and Kennedys decision making tight in the contest is A grade. Good to see Owies going up another gear - time for Durdin and Fantasia to have a run in the VFL. Would love to get Docherty and Cottrell in this team right now
I reckon Tom Lynch is close to being done full stop.
He’s not having much luck!
Don’t take this team for granted and have a loss. Don’t show them any mercy. Surely if you can beat the cats by a healthy margin, a game against the Tigers at this point in time is a percentage booster. Logic would say this is what should happen. Then again, since when has logic been something to rely on. Just win the f#$king thing.
Too many injuries, wants to fight rather than play because he has slowed up to a walk and without Reiwoldt it's become a lot harder being a one man band.
Is that the karma bus rolling down Punt Road?
Karma and the reality after a great era you usually head for the bottom and need to serve time until a rebuild happens.
Only Geelong and the Swans from my memory have managed to avoid the obligatory descent to the bottom and extended dark years that most do after tasting success for a cycle of years.
Both have only done so with unprecedented assistance of the Big House, why they get it is beyond me, especially the Swans given that it undermines one of the Big House's babies in GWS.
How the AFL has looked the other way for the Handbaggers as opposed to the blowtorch they put on us is bizarre, For example, where did certain nefarious types work before arriving at CheatsFC? How can it be the Handbaggers claim they accept lower wages to keep everybody together, then retire and build privately owned suburbs on Western District regional land, must be saving their pennies?
Then up north there is the COLA, don't mention the war!
I suppose this week Dangerflog will get off and Walsh will get banned for staging!
lands pretty cheap out west.
Irrespective if you go past Geelong, and buy acreage it will cost much less than anywhere equivalently closer to Melbourne. Geelong is a satellite city and comparison's of cost of land and housing don't stack up. What costs a million bucks here and is a tear down will cost half that in some of the suburbs like Norlane and Corio which are much more suburban than the regional new builds you touch on.
I don't think the price matters, it's got nothing to do with how they can afford or finance the activities! ;)
Like I said many years ago, when we got pinged document shredder sales went through the roof in Sleepy Hollow.
It's one of those football truisms that you shouldn't flirt with form, but I guess the flip side is that you are still compelled to select a team that gives you the best chance of winning. Richmond for all money look like they are on the wane, and their injury list is significant. I wonder if Pittonet would be a better match up for Nankervis, and whether the club may experiment with using De Koning as a part onballer / part ruck. He plays a little like Matthew Kreuzer, and against a struggling team we may get away with a little experimentation. It may become a weapon that we can deploy in the future.
I wonder if Cincotta would be a good match up for Martin.
I think Cincotta goes to Liam Baker.....
He would be another option. I guess Tim Taranto would be another prime mover for them.
Go around the corner to Queenscliff and its a real contradiction to Norlane and Corio where the residents have the Monaco lifestyle and properties are starting in the millions.
Yes, it's interesting because Cincotta works hard both ways, he'll get back and cover Dusty but I doubt Dusty will push hard to cover him!
Cincotta could go to Tarranto maybe?
Given Dusty probably spends most time forward, who gets him, Boyd, Newman? Dusty has lost of bit of pace in recent seasons, but he is still a bull at stoppages and you need someone with strength, Cincotta is my first thought with a mandate to run off Dusty at every opportunity. If a stay at home is preferred then Newman.
You could go with Cincotta at the other end to do a negating forward type job on Rioli who always causes us problems.
Lynch out throws a spanner in the works, it makes them a touch harder to predict, would they go two ruck against us?
Noah Balta always causes us a few problems.
Yes, I find it hard to get a read on Dusty. Has father time caught up with him, has he basically checked out ? The last thing we need is for him to pull out one more game for the ages. This game is at the MCG, so there's sure to be plenty of Tiger fans.
3:20pm on Sunday, Nthmond home game, could be one of our weaker turn outs unless fans think it's our last game against Dusty!
There'll be two less for the next six weeks as we are heading OS on Sat. I better not come back to a crapshow!
#theladderdoesntlie
I worry about these games but if we’re fair dinkum this year - which I think we are - we should win the easily.
I agree Micky. On paper and taking into account form, injuries, ladder position etc. we should win by 10 goals. But......
It's often harder to score against teams that are struggling. I'm expecting a win by a reasonable margin but not necessarily a blow out.
Don't worry GTC...heading over from WA for this one and dragging the missus along with me so we'll make up the numbers.
Continue the form of the last 4 weeks and it's hard to see Richmond keeping up with us for 4 quarters. They'll likely go with a smaller forward line in the absence of Lynch. Can't see them moving Balta forward as he'll get Curnow you'd think.
I heard abit of Daniel Hoyne again on SEN and he was rattling off stats saying afterwards that we are ranked very high in many of them. They were to do with ball movement from defence and TDK's stats over his last 4 weeks (highest of any ruckman in many years).
The dreaded "dragged us down to their level".
That’s what he criticised us for last week 🙄
I'm not paying too much attention to the stats these days. Saw the Champion Data AA team after round 14.....no Weitering, no Curnow, no Walsh, no Newman....and Cripps as sub or on the bench. Some of the other selections were laughable....Naughton at FF...despite missing the last 3-4 weeks with injury.
No, he criticised 2 things specifically. 1. When we go long down the line, we only mark it 20% of the time. 2. We look to move to different angles the second least of any club (when we do we are very good at it).
He was explaining abit about that tonight too. E.g Gawn is statistically the no 1 ruck, TDK's last 4 week have been off the charts, if that continues, there will be a conversation about the ruck position. He then went onto talk about FB and Weiters and stated that it was due to what they were talking about earlier (which I missed) and then I had to jump out of the car.
Point is, its not just about stat numbers per se`, the good analysers (like Hoyne) put together blocks of stats grouped in a may to tell a story or build a case for something.
Grundy would have to be the AA No 1 ruck wouldnt he?....Swans are braining the competition and he is a big reason why their star trio are smashing the opposition. Be Grundy and TDK for me in the AA team with Gawn missing out....I dont care about stats more about whats actually happening on the ground than the stat sheet.
Again EB, he explained that Grundy wasn't near Gawn yet but it may change in the coming weeks.
Fair enough GTC, the AA team often baffles me with its selections and when you see who is picking the team its not surprising imo.
If Weitering isn't AA in one of the key posts they should hand the keys back.
Not mark it G2C, it was that we win possession or force a stoppage on only 20% of our kicks down the line,
When you watch our games, we mostly transition the ball with short kicks, forward handpasses and breaking the lines. We also dominate clearances and go forward from stoppages, so kicks down the line aren’t all that important.
I think we need a footy stats thread …
Weiters missing AA last year was a travesty.
Weiters should have been AA multiple times already, in my opinion Weiters is the best AFL KPD since Harry Taylor.
Agree on Weitering....which was the one that really stood out on that Champion Data AA team. I think they had Sam Collins as the FB. He's a very good player but Weitering is a class above.
I think i heard that weitering has been in the AA squad of 40 the last 3-4 years, yet never made the final cut.
This year will be his year.
I have little concern to how the AA team is selected and which one or maybe two players make the cut. I would rather see us have minimal players selected as AA and win a flag. We are second on the ladder and absolutely looking as the second best side in the league. Natural assumptions would be to have multiple players in for AA selection. Maybe we are a well balanced side with few stand outs. I heard a long time ago that a team of champions doesn’t always make a championship team. Balanced efforts across every position holds for a better result. This might be close to the weakest side Richmond will send out on the park against us for quite a few years. Better we not drop our guard in this one. Is Lynch a definite in or out? Limited fire power without him. Less than 6 goal victory to us would actually be disappointing. Let me hope injures are not a consequence of this game. How have we carried the season with more than enough injuries and still stacked up so many wins?
Just watched the Footy Feed segment on the AFL website : Tom Lynch won't play this game (minor hamstring issue), Hopper is back in, and Dusty is 50/50. Yze said Martin will play against the Blues or Freo, but not both.
Cerra, Marcbank, Motlop and Pittonet in. Durdin out. Zac Williams plays his 150th. Looks like Dusty is in, and also Nankervis' 150th.
https://www.afl.com.au/matches/team-lineups?GameWeeks=16
Bench, sub and emergencies to come from.
[17] Brodie Kemp,
[7] Matthew Kennedy,
[39] Alex Cincotta,
[14] Orazio Fantasia,
[29] George Hewett,
[22] Caleb Marchbank,
[3] Jesse Motlop,
[27] Marc Pittonet
I'm a fan of Marchbank, but i'm not sure why he appears to be prioritised over Kemp.
IMO....
Bench: Kemp, Motlop, Cincotta, Hewett/Kennedy
Sub: Hewett/Kennedy
EMG: Marchbank, Pittonet, Fantasia
Cerra for Durdin. Fantasia sub... I's reckons.
I think Cerra should be sub. Ease him back.
Agree.
Fantasia will play, he always does regardless of form..
I think Motlop will be Sub with Kemp, Pitt and Marchbank emergencies.
Fantasia sub, Kemp, Cincotta, Hewett and Kennedy in the 22.
The latter four are automatics for me and you couldn't pick Marchbank based on last week's game imo.
We wouldn't want to get too cute with selection or we might get knocked over...
For mine pittonet should come into the 22. The Tigers can't kick a winning score and rucking a tandem would be desirable against nankervis. Need our jets ready for finals football. Cerra as the sub first week back and maybe o. Hollands a bit of a spell.
You don't stuff around with good form and continuity. Minimal changes required... Cerra in, Durdin out.
True, but we don't know what injuries players carry and at this time of year they will all be carrying something.
The ultimate target is to safely get to the pointy end in the best possible condition.
I picked cerra for the sib roll prior to the teams coming out but he is named on the ground so can't be sub.
Thing it will be a mid in need of a rest hewett/kennedy or a small forward fantasia/motlop
In the absence of injuries, I can't see Hewett, Kennedy, Kemp or Cincotta going out, so perhaps I should expect a late change.
Has Motlop done enough in the last VFL game to earn a Sub role?
At least one of Alex Cincotta, Orazio Fantasia, George Hewett, Brodie Kemp and Matthew Kennedy has to miss out and another has to be the sub.
That's two very unfortunate players, even Orazio, or perhaps one with a niggle.
If more than two miss out, it has to be with an eye for keeping players fit and fresh rather than for form and improving the team :-\
No...dont mess with a winning combo, Id stick with Orazio, ....Hewett and Kennedy have been good in recent weeks and the Tigers have got their first choice mids all back in if Martin plays so Id be picking our best mids and looking to rest players vs weaker lineups..
Vossy has confirmed that Motlop needs another game in the VFL.
One change.
In Cerra
Out Durdin
Bench (inc sub) - Cincotta, Kemp, Kennedy, Fantasia, Hewett
Emg: Marchbank, Pittonet, Motlop.
Happy with that outcome...
I would've preferred the swapping of Motlop and fantasia, but this is the next best option IMO.
Maybe not this game, but I'd be tempted to give Cincotta a game as sub, or even a complete rest, in the not too distant future.
He's done some massive jobs in recent weeks and if there is no clear match-up we're worried about give him a rest.
Id want Motlop to have a good game this week and force his way in if Fantasia doesnt perform well.
Many good suggestions from the learned supporters on this forum.
It gets down to what the MC know and we on the outside don't.
The pointy end of the season is where they earn there keep.
About the best we can put together right now.
Good day for me. I retired today!
Make the most of this next phase of your life Jim.
Congrats Jim, I can recommend retirement.....
Thanks, I certainly will!
Thanks! I can see why even after being just a few hours retired.
Well done Laj. I can't wait - 14 years to go!
Congrats on your Birthday Jim......been a big week for you!
Happy Birthday and Retirement...more time for the coaching ;) :D
Thank you! most definitely!
All the very best, LAJ. There might be an ale/red or two tonight?
Thanks! Got a nice drop as a present. Will be open soon.
A lot depends on the Cincotta tag. If he is in the midfield on a Tarranto then it's really impacts M Kennedy's midfield minute and I was expect one of him for Hewitt to be the tag. If he plays on a half back on like Stewart last week then Kennedy will get his CBA's and it maybe Fantasia.
Congrats on the retirement, enjoy. HBD also Jim.
You $%&#@$ lucky b@#$tard, I hope it's long, happy and healthy!
Enjoy your red and have a fulfilling retirement 🍷
TDK managed...Pittonet in.
Lookout, the mushrooms will revolt!
George Hewett the sub.
Balta playing forward, newcomer Blight on Harry....danger game imho.
Good move. Pitto is just the opponent for Nankervis... on paper.
Good call.
Wet conditions suits grunt.
Give tdk a rest. Let pitto push and shove with the tank
Nankervis with his usual professional unco tackle on Harry...missing TDK.