Pre Match: Pies v. Cats - all comments please

[pietillidie]

Wellers will play if fit. No doubt about it.

[thebaldfacts]

^^Stan Alves's high of the week?

The form of Travis Cloke.
Made comment about the unfair criticism of a young player when they have a bit of a dip in form. Also mentioned, that even in his "lean" times, he was playing quite well, just not kicking a lot of goals. Stan now rates Trav as one of the best CHFs in the comp.

Reckon he is going to the next level. Going from good to very good, to very good to elite power forward. I tend to agree with Stan's assessment.
Love the way he has monstored his opponents over the last few weeks. And those goals from 50, gotta love them.

[swoop42]

I tend to think on reflection Wellingham will get a run in the VFL to get back up to match fitness, but I would think Medhurst and Presti are each a monty for selection, emu man. They are simply better options than the present incumbents, as inkling suggested. Wood and O'Bree stay in on form for my money, so it's not about making wholesale changes.

Agree, although I believe Medhurst would be the only Monty at this stage. So yeh, 1 or 2 changes perhaps, that's as far as I'd go, again, without considering possible injuries.

Mr. Emu on the one hand you don't believe Jack will be dropped but consider Medhurst to be a monty to return if fit.

I'm happy for Jack to be retained but wouldn't it be reasonable to assume he'll be the unlucky one to make way for Medhurst?

[roar]

I would think Medhurst and Presti are each a monty for selection, emu man. They are simply better options than the present incumbents, as inkling suggested.

So is Wellingham, IMO.

[swoop42]

Fraser doesn't seem to like playing the cats.
I have a sneaking suspicion he'd rather wear hoops than stripes!

Just My opine.

Fraser just doesn't perform against quality opposition, not since probably 2003. Fraser + Pressure + Expectation = Skirt of the highest dress size. If he plays Friday night I fear our chances of victory will reduce significantly.

Jollywood produces the only movies I want to see!

I share concerns about Josh as well and wouldn't be unhappy to see Wood retained.

I'm starting to feel that perhaps Mick will surprise us once again this season and not recall Josh on the back of one good VFL game and make him really earn it this time.

Is his patience finally wearing thin with Josh?

Guess we'll find out 5pm Thursday.

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

I tend to think on reflection Wellingham will get a run in the VFL to get back up to match fitness, but I would think Medhurst and Presti are each a monty for selection, emu man. They are simply better options than the present incumbents, as inkling suggested. Wood and O'Bree stay in on form for my money, so it's not about making wholesale changes.

Agree, although I believe Medhurst would be the only Monty at this stage. So yeh, 1 or 2 changes perhaps, that's as far as I'd go, again, without considering possible injuries.

Mr. Emu on the one hand you don't believe Jack will be dropped but consider Medhurst to be a monty to return if fit.

I'm happy for Jack to be retained but wouldn't it be reasonable to assume he'll be the unlucky one to make way for Medhurst?

This is the dilemma, I'd like to have both in. Perhaps the Caff but that's a harsh call. I'm thinking the selectors will go for something out of left field as I believe they'd also be keen on having both. A fwd line that looked something like this would be awesome I reckon

JA, Cloke, Didak
Medhurst, Dawes, Davis

Now if people think that is too 'tall' I must be missing something? I don't mind having a ruckman on the bench, don't worry about the rotations, there's plenty of room as the midfieders can also rotate through the fwd line

[suedehead]

^^Stan Alves's high of the week?

The form of Travis Cloke.
Made comment about the unfair criticism of a young player when they have a bit of a dip in form. Also mentioned, that even in his "lean" times, he was playing quite well, just not kicking a lot of goals. Stan now rates Trav as one of the best CHFs in the comp.

What's the cut-off for "one of the best"? His good recent form is very encouraging, however, consider the following numbers. Now I know stats aren't the whole story, and yes, this list is a mix of CHF/FF types, but Trav's scoreboard impact doesn't exactly stand out. I am not having a shot at Trav. I just think some of the assessments of him are generous at this stage.

[AN_Inkling]

I tend to think on reflection Wellingham will get a run in the VFL to get back up to match fitness, but I would think Medhurst and Presti are each a monty for selection, emu man. They are simply better options than the present incumbents, as inkling suggested. Wood and O'Bree stay in on form for my money, so it's not about making wholesale changes.

Agree, although I believe Medhurst would be the only Monty at this stage. So yeh, 1 or 2 changes perhaps, that's as far as I'd go, again, without considering possible injuries.

Mr. Emu on the one hand you don't believe Jack will be dropped but consider Medhurst to be a monty to return if fit.

I'm happy for Jack to be retained but wouldn't it be reasonable to assume he'll be the unlucky one to make way for Medhurst?

Well, we had one tall forward who went goalless last round. Maybe Jack would do better if allowed to return to FF.

[swoop42]

^Yeah he's been good but this is Geelong and I have question marks about his ability to perform at that level against the best opposition.

If Sharrods right I'd replace O'Bree with him and keep Macaffer who I've got earmarked for a big defensive role as I'll discuss later.

Your right question marks over Barham's disposal remain but he's been knocking on the door with his performances the last 3 weeks so expect him to be given another shot soon.

are you sure you're not mick?

the likes of barham are crucial to the success of the season. he provides that depth and competition for a spot in the side. you'd expect him to get a game in the next 2-4 weeks. may come in for another of our youngsters. even though i don't much like him i hope he does well.

Scarily I'm probably more like Mick than I care to admit.

This season once another win has been accomplished I'm already thinking about next weeks game and want to quickly move on to focusing my attention towards it.

Dare say Mick thinks along the same lines.

As for Macaffer I've gone from thinking he might make way this week to believing he is required to play an important defensive role Friday night.

He's been solid in his 6 appearances this season averaging around the 15 possessions and generally makes the most of them but just think it's time to throw him a challenge and see what more he has to offer.

I'm thinking that Macaffer could be used on one of Chapman or Johnson with O'Brien taking the other. Both these players are barometers for there side and add that touch of class to there forward line, it'll be vital to our chances of winning to curb there influence.

The other suggestion of where Macaffer could play a vital role is in the forward line as a defensive forward. Both Enright and Mackie had 29 possessions off half back against the swans and we simply can't allow them that much latitude this week. Macaffer provided one of the few highlights from last years prelim when he outmarked Mackie in the goal square so perhaps he should go to him, play tight but use his marking ability and forward nous to hurt him offensively.

Either way I'd like to see Mick set him a definded role to play this week against a single opponent.

[pietillidie]

Another week of little say; it would seem mostly down to the finer points of form and fitness.

[E]

^^Stan Alves's high of the week?

The form of Travis Cloke.
Made comment about the unfair criticism of a young player when they have a bit of a dip in form. Also mentioned, that even in his "lean" times, he was playing quite well, just not kicking a lot of goals. Stan now rates Trav as one of the best CHFs in the comp.

What's the cut-off for "one of the best"? His good recent form is very encouraging, however, consider the following numbers. Now I know stats aren't the whole story, and yes, this list is a mix of CHF/FF types, but Trav's scoreboard impact doesn't exactly stand out. I am not having a shot at Trav. I just think some of the assessments of him are generous at this stage.

some teams rely on a player to kick goals and some dont. collingwood dont rely on cloke. If you are going to point to goals as the only criteria then you are missing the point. go through the list and rank these same players by contested marks! see where travis comes out!!!!!!

[roar]

Well, we had one tall forward who went goalless last round. Maybe Jack would do better if allowed to return to FF.

What is it about Dawes that you dislike so much? I figure it must be personal because nobody could be that clueless.

[Lazza]

Well, we had one tall forward who went goalless last round. Maybe Jack would do better if allowed to return to FF.

What is it about Dawes that you dislike so much? I figure it must be personal because nobody could be that clueless.

Probably the same reason as to why you dislike Leroy Brown dude.....

[Doc63]

Well, we had one tall forward who went goalless last round. Maybe Jack would do better if allowed to return to FF.

What is it about Dawes that you dislike so much? I figure it must be personal because nobody could be that clueless.

Probably the same reason as to why you dislike Leroy Brown dude.....

There is no way know Dawes will be dropped for Brown at the moment.
Don't judge his performance against Freo on the fact he didn't kick a goal.
He had 19 psessions, 6 marks (2 contested), 5 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 3 goal assists & 3 1%ers. Thats a pretty good game in my book. Better that 6 goals against a basket case like Frankston.

[Neil Appleby]

Lots of good analysis here and food for thought. I'm looking at the game a little differently. Are we Challengers, Chumps or Champs?
Collingwood sits top of the ladder for a very good reason; we've beaten just about every team the AFL (in its wisdom of blockbusters and a draw from hell) threw at us. The StKilda game we had in our control but really, we beat ourselves.
In every blockbuster we have thrived and massacred the opposition. Geelong has been beaten by Carlton and Fremantle; we demolished both.
The New Magpies have done the job for us. Jolly and Ball have added the centre grunt and skill. Sidebottom, Wellingham and Beams the pace, slick skills and clearances in contested situations.
Johnson has lifted his game to A status with a capital A. His inside 50's and fantastic decision making has made it a picnic for our forwards.
Inside 50s, tackling and brilliant, blindingly fast use of the ball, is the hallmark of the new Collingwood.
O'Bree, L Brown, Lockyer are the players who have made way. Leon may be on the verge of joining them; his defensive skills are keeping him in the team, but this week is crunch time for Leon. He needs to make a statement against the Cats, who must see him as their pussy.
Presti at this stage is still our most reliable stopper down back. He will play if fit, but by Round 20, he too will be on the verge of making way.

It's an exciting time and we now get the chance to see just how far we have come. I reckon the Cats are still a 4-5 goal better team at this stage and so think they will win this week, retaining their Champ status. Collingwood is no Chump, regardless of what happens on Friday; we are challenging fast. By year's end and with Brad Dick back in the team, I think we might be pushing the champs.
Injuries aside, Dick still makes it into the best 22 for mine and so does Reid. Anthony, Lockyer, O'Bree, L. Brown, Barham are not.

In: Presti, Wellingham
Out: Brown, Anthony