Game Day. Magpies v. Demons. Late changes, comments.

[Donny]

MCG. Tonight 7.20.

Qualifying Final. Magpies v. Demons.

First final since 1989 for these 2 teams.

Darcy Moore, Beau McCreery and Nathan Murphy in.

John Noble, Billy Frampton and Finlay Macrae have been omitted. Jack Ginnivan will start as the Substitute.

Let's hear ya !!

[Scazlenka84]

Any ideas why Fly dropped Noble?

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

wow, John Noble. Love his pace and endeavour but gotta say, he does get shown up a bit in the one on ones and tackling ability. Melbourne's just the team to expose those vulnerabilities. Still a bit of shock though, he's become a bit of a staple. Courageous call, would've been tough but that's footy, to put it bluntly

[slangman]

I’m PUMPED!!!!

Now that the real stuff is upon us we will be back to our brilliant and dynamic best of earlier in the season.

We have nothing to lose and everything to win.

Pies by 34pts!!!!

[Clifton Hill-Billy]

The finals have finally arrived and destiny awaits, we need bring our manic pressure and make turnovers galore and then score from those turnovers. Make no mistake the path to ultimate glory is through winning this game! I'm big Kev excited, Cmon Pies let's go!

[warburton lad]

Winning finals is often predicated on courageous calls.

Omitting Noble and giving Nick Daicos (at least) another week to get right are tough, but correct, calls.

Melbourne are a seasoned and tough opponent- but so are we.

Melbourne's defence can be tough to crack- but so is ours.

If we can win this one, the confidence and self-belief will soar among the playing group.

We have a mix of those who played and won in 2010, those who suffered the heartbreak of losing our last finals of 2018, 2019 and 2022.

Such experiences are sobering and, hopefully, drive this team to success.

I don't like singling out potential match winners, but I predict that the likes of Sidebottom, Howe, Pendles, Elliott & Captain Moore will show the sort of leadership that is essential to winning big finals.

Much has been made of the brilliance of Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Gawn and rightly so. However, De Goey, Mitchell, Pendlebury, Cox/Cameron, Crisp, Lipinski & Adams are no slouches either.

With all the press beat-ups, we probably go in as slight underdogs- that suits me fine. Time to unleash: McCreery, Maynard, Markov, Hill, and run the Demons ragged.

Floreat Pica, folks...

[mgh3536]

I’m pumped thanks Lad

[Pies2016]

Any ideas why Fly dropped Noble?

He’s unlucky and could have easily been selected in the 22 against other opponents. I think it’s just a shift towards a slightly more defensive mindset of winning or halving a one on one over the rebound he has been so good at. Most of his possessions come from other team mates who dish off to him. CONTESTED Footy hasn’t changed in 100 years. You first have to win the ball before you can do anything with it.
Don’t be surprised if we possess the ball a bit more conservatively and not look to pull the trigger on any quick ball movement until about the centre onwards ( especially in the wet ) We simply can’t afford to hand it back to them inside their own F50 and that’s possibly another reason why Noble may have missed out.

[Magpietothemax]

Any ideas why Fly dropped Noble?

Arguments I have seen:
1) Noble has a poor record in defensive one on one contests (loses about 60% of these)
2) In the KB game, Melbourne identified Noble as the weak link in our defence, and their forward attacks often went through Noble's opponent
3) We have brought into the team two defenders (Murphy and Moore) who are automatic inclusions. Therefore we have one surplus defender to our structure. Markov trumped Noble because he is bigger and has better stats in one on one contests, as well as having just as good leg speed.

These arguments of course were made in retrospect, and no one saw this move coming.

[think better]

I'm a bit gutted for Noble but I think it is very consistent with the 'horses for courses' approach being taken by Fly.

I reckon the decision to have Ginni as sub rather than Noble reflects the need to kick goals against a very very good defence.

[think better]

Nice article which analyses the Pies method - interesting to see what the Dees will do to counter this.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-07/ ... /102820602

[MagpiesTheGreat]

CBD area:
Melbourne for Thursday. Becoming cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely late this afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm from late this morning and throughout the day. Damaging winds possible about the nearby hills in the late morning and afternoon. Winds N 30 to 45 km/h decreasing to 25 to 40 km/h in the morning.

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/vic/melbourne/melbourne

[Big T]

It's likely due to lack of contested possession ability. David King highlighted this 2 weeks ago as a major concern for Noble in finals.

Who does.the rain favour? Melbourne I heard 1-6 in the wet?

[mudlark]

Any ideas why Fly dropped Noble?

If you recall the last time we met Melbourne, they targeted Noble and his man contributed to at least 4 goals in our 4 POINT loss. He was as loose as anyone I've seen this year and as much as I am a huge fan and supporter of Nobes, I'm not surprised at all. No place for sentimentality in the finals. No Buckley/ Thomas moments here. Hard decisions win finals.

[LaurieHolden]

Last time : Round 13 Mon, 12-Jun-2023 Attendance: 83578
Score : Melbourne 8.18.66 def Collingwood 9.8.62
Qrt scores : CW 19-10 ME 16-15 ME 21-7 CW 21-19

Changes to R13 sides :
Collingwood ~ In : JDG, Elliott, Howe, McStay, Sidebottom, Ginnivan Out : N.Daicos, Johnson, McInness, Noble, Frampton, Harrison
Melbourne ~ In : Oliver, MacDonald, Bowey, Out : Spargo, James, Smith