Pre-Match. Magpies v. Demons. All comments.

[K]

Paul Roos on Melbourne:
"They really are a talent-based team at the moment. That is the biggest thing that would be concerning Simon that whatever he is telling them to do they are not listening.
"They are relying on their talent and they have got enough talent to win games as we saw. Max Gawn destroyed St Kilda the week before.
"Jake Lever has been amazing as an intercept marker, but when you take that out, there is not a lot of substance and structure around what they are doing at the moment."
...

"At the moment they are so reliant on their best players playing well because the system that Simon is trying to teach them is falling apart."

[qldmagpie67]

We will need to make changes
As some has suggested in WHE McInnes and Krueger
Outs will depend on how we want to line up I guess

We need to lock down on Langdon (the one member of the Langdon family who’s actually a AFL standard footballer) he drives majority of there attack.
He isn’t a speed demon but dies have great burst speed.
There midfield has been battered from pillar to post recently so they’ll be looking for a much better performance
Gawn is playing on 1 leg. Watched him last weekend and he didn’t want any physical contact he just wanted to try and make a contest of it.
We need to bring our absolute best in terms of pressure and tackling

B. Maynard Moore Howe
HB. Noble Frampton IQ
C. Josh D Lipinski WHE
HF. Hill McInnes Harrison
F. McCreery Krueger Schulz
R. Cameron Nick D Crisp
Int. Sullivan Sidey Markov McRae
Sub. Dean or Allan

Use at FF and make May accountable.
Our HF have to press hard up and back to stretch Melbourne defence and there lack of leg speed
Put defence back to the way it was DONT touch it leave it alone
Mids need to hunt as a pack and pressure Melbourne at every stoppage

If we get McInnes Krueger and WHE back this week hopefully that’s enough to get us over the line

[piffdog]

Love how Roos is coming in to bat for the coach he hand selected. Seriously, at the end of the day it’s the coach who wears it regardless of any other reason/excuse for performance.

I personally don’t think Goodwin is a great coach - but that’s just my opinion. And their list management… Imagine getting Grundy when what you should have been spending your dough on is a key forward. I was keen on us drafting van Rouen - but he’s not the answer and brown is done. Frotsch is a third forward at best (albeit a good one).

None of this means we’ll win of course.

[What'sinaname]

Reef and maybe WHE in

[Magpietothemax]

[Magpietothemax]

[David]

I'm finally jumping on the Kreuger bandwagon: bring him in! If only just to see what he's capable of.

Otherwise will be good to see McInnes back in the forward line along with, hopefully, Hoskin-Elliott if he's good to go. Otherwise it feels like we have more players needing to be dropped than to come in; whoever survives out of Johnson, Bytel, Macrae and Parker will be pretty fortunate. (I'd keep Macrae personally.)

[Take_a_Screamer]

For fun,
I picked the team for this week and left out players that I thought are not AFL standard.
Then I picked players from the 2010 premiership team to fill the gaps.
I came up with this. Of course, our spine is the problem.

B: B.Maynard, B.Frampton, J.Howe
HB: J.Noble, D.Moore, IQ
C: Jaicos, D.Swan, WHE
HF: B.Hill, T.Cloke, H.Harrison
F: B.McCreery, C. Dawes, L.Schultz
FOL: D.Cameron, J.Crisp, Naicos
INT: L.Sullivan, S.Sidebottom, P.Lipinski, R.McInnes, Dean(sub)

Would this hybrid team beat Melbourne?

[Piesnchess]

^ Yep, and beat the Swanettes too.

[Kingston Lucas Tuck]

Pretty exciting times for us . If full list available , opportunities for ‘trial and error’ are limited . But here , let’s be frank, the ball is bouncing in the direction of several “ next cabs” off the rank …( Remember Richards had the chance and now we can’t wait to see him back) and the ranks are short.
Who ? Fred K must surely get his chance . Big , mobile, can kick, can mark , no squib and wants to compete — simple answer : turn him loose at CHF and let’s see how the young bloke goes .
Confession here — I’m also a Parker fan . No he didn’t get even half a sniff last week ( he was in for a 1/4) yet one searing dash in his first match said that this kid has something special …so I’d retain him
Ask this question about last match - what in particular was wanting ?
My answer is this — we had utterly zero forward nous
Frammers is clueless as a forward . TJ ( possessing an enviable range of footy abilities) currently lacks desire and application
So I answer with these questions - who is potentially the best overhead mark in this team ? And who is probably the best dual sided kick in this team apart from Josh D ? — my answer J. Howe esq . Don’t ask the world of him but play him up forward with Reef leading non stop and Fred offering additional distraction .
Frammers - needs to be quickly educated in exactly what Body on Body means and returned to defence
In coming weeks three names we may see
Harry D
Athletic , quick and a piercing kick
TJ
Yes he is skinny , but “ talent” is just that and , provided the kid is used judiciously ( a wing for starters) he will surprise
Eyre
200 cm+
Unusually athletic in the sense that he is more middle distance or 400 mtr runner than “ lumberer”:…so watch this space too
My most disappointing player is Carmichael — where is he ? Handles it well. Thumping kick. Strong body . Promising first season . Extracto digeo Carmichael’….we need to see you perform

[The Black and White Lion]

[Kingston Lucas Tuck]

Carmichael …Lion magpie ..I knew that the table tennis star had copped a head knock and was subject to assessment . What I hope will happen is that the young bloke pushes his way back in because he has an interesting mix of body power, strong run , decent ball reading and he gives that Sherrin one hell of a thump . Sadly he seems to have marked time even pre head knock .

One player who Needs to seriously lift is IQ
Has he become over muscled and slowed down as a direct consequence ?
Is “ fashion” ( braided locks…eye catching coloured boots ) now his priority ?
Whatever the cause the pack bursting runs and sure ball gathering are history …even his overhead work is less confident and his kicking is unpenetratively disappointing in that it invariably invites spoils .

One further move I want in Maynard in the Middle
Every kick would land close to the goalsquare

[RudeBoy]

Welcome to Nicks KLT.

A couple of good posts there. I generally agree with your analyses, though I'm not sure about playing Howe up forward. He clearly plays his best footy in defence and as long as Frampton is also in defence, there'd be no need to play Dean. That would make us stronger.

Up forward we'd be significantly better with the inclusion of Freddy Krueger, McInnes and (possibly/hopefully) WHE.

Like you, I've always liked Carmichael, but clearly our coaches view him differently. Given our depleted midfield stocks, I'd prefer him to Macrae, but I guess we'll have to see what Fly decides.

Fwiw, I can't see Maynard used as a midfielder. Like you, I've always thought he had all the attributes of a powerful and dynamic midfielder, but when thrown in there he has never had much of an impact. I prefer to leave all our best defenders in defence.

[Kingston Lucas Tuck]

Rude boy thanks …just a few points
High leaping Howe — recruited to the Ski Lodge batch as a forward after eye catching efforts in Apple Isle …didnt instantly click but who does ? Ablett ,moved on from Hawks , Superboot Quinlan was moved on from Dogs and managed ok at Roos and Sav was shoved out of Pie land but continued to score goals and this bloke ( Jumping Jeremy is — surely you agree …an absolute freak of this game , plus with that horrid fracture and infection last year showed exactly how special this man is. He is a footy freak . ) I say put distractions around him ….a fast leading Reef and a “ I know nothing but will try everything “ Sgt Shultz and an immensely worrying Freddie K ….and the only one amongst them who understands footy ( Howe) will score goals .
Last weeks forward line was simply ‘ bereft” …of what ? …I say footy nous .

Maynard imho is utterly beside himself to get into the MF action
Would he make an impact— you betcha …heads would be turning higher thither and yon . Petracca might be strong but the Bruz is a bruising beast and his kicking is AFL top notch stuff ( just my humble on lookers opinion Rude Boy )

[Pies2016]

Just a reminder, Carmichael has been battling the after effects of concussion for close to a month. He hasn’t even entered the protocols yet. To listen to Wade, it sounds like he may also be out for a while to come