The quicker he isn’t best 22 the better we will be. We should have a number of players putting pressure on his spot but they are not coming through as we would like or are getting injured…
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It would be even better if Merret wasn’t in our best 22.
Think how good we’d be!
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Is it a coincidence that a forward pocket starts playing well in the 2nd half when his team finally gets the game on their terms?*
*rhetorical question
He was quite in the first qtr, seemed to be a bit more involved in the 2nd then made the most of his chances in the 2nd half. Which is pretty much all you can ask of a small forward
He is doing a good job. And there is nobody that is a like for like replacement that is kicking the door down in the 2s to replace him with
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We had numerous forward entries in the first quarter and he had several chances to create a contest or lock the ball in the forward line and they either broke out of his tackles or ran it straight out whilst he was caught flat footed
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Is serviceable but it will be his last year at the club.
We have a lot of small forwards coming along still. Mozzie will get his chance next year one would think.
I notice when he was in space in game had option he brain faded and created a turnover st top of the 50. Seemed too many options for him and could handle the situation.
Overall he played well though and contributed, however his forward pressure has definitely tapered off. He needs too find that defensive pressure in his game again and lock the ball in our forwardline
You referring to Zaka?
Currently he is the best option for us as a pressure forward. IMO we will not be a true contender without an upgrade in this area. We also need to look at our ruck setup. Ideally someone like Smack becomes a consistent player (no more injuries) and is a serviceable back up ruck. We are not that far away from being complete
IMO
Upgrade small forward - Either Moz or Lav can do this (may not be in 2019)
Additional inside mid - Begley can do this.
Myers upgrade - Langford as an option
Ruck upgrade - This is the hard one. Belly is decent but gets found out against the best in the league.
If we fix 2 of the above 4 (and hold ground/improve in the other two) we can win the flag… So close.
Woosha needs to realise this now and start getting the team ready for finals. Lav with 10 games under his belt coming into 19 finals may be a match winner
We saw how well Langford did last year when he had confidence in himself and the selection panel showed faith. Why not try this again now.
Small forwards is a concern because Lav is injury prone, houlahan hasn’t come on and Moz isn’t ready. Baguley will keep his spot
We have to purist with Belly in the ruck. he is our best option.
Woosha always plays it safe. Why not pick a risky decision now? If it doesn’t work out you can always go back to the status quo.
Or you could cook your season in the process…
I’d be doing all we can to try lure someone like Tim English from the dogs. He probably needs one more season after this one to be fully AFL ready, but he is going to be an absolute jet.
Sure, we probably don’t have the picks to get it done, but he’d be the perfect guy for us.
- Moz has no tank and Lav is not a pressure forward, nor can he play more than 3 games in a row without hos body breaking down.
- Begley doesn’t get anywhere near enough of the ball in any competition.
- Langford, who the hell knows whats going to happen with this kid
- Belly, you have been really unfair. He has performed admirably against the best rucks this year.
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I’m not saying do all four changes but I would LOVE for him to at least try one. Myers isn’t getting any better and will be a liability come finals time. Why not try Langford in the middle instead of Myers for the next four weeks and see what happens. We won’t lose much or anything game to game. It won’t cook our season and if it works there is a lot of benefit that could come out of it. Best time to try it is now not round 20.
I would have thought that our ruck upgrade is pretty obvious, and potentially the least of our problems.
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This is exactly what we need to do. English is the perfect fit for what we need. Mobile ruck who can play as an extra mid when the ball hits the deck.
What do you think about Rowan Marshall?
Erm elephant in the room etc
Lets give Draper a shot. IMO the best ruckman in the league can play as an extra mid when the ball is in general play.
Draper still has a bit to go in this space but I’m all up for trying something.
- Moz has no tank and Lav is not a pressure forward, nor can he play more than 3 games in a row without hos body breaking down.
Totally agree which is why i said that Bags is the best option at this time. Also why I don’t think we have an answer for this in 2019. I’m thinking of the ideal side we can put together which will give us a shot at a flag. These are the four areas I think we need to improve on. If we can fix 2 of the 4 we can win a flag. - Begley doesn’t get anywhere near enough of the ball in any competition.
Not yet but I have faith. He can and will be the answer. It’s an ‘if’ at the moment but why not try? - Langford, who the hell knows whats going to happen with this kid
Again an ‘if’ but IMO we don’t lose out playing Langers instead of Myers. In addition if he performs our side gets better - Belly, you have been really unfair. He has performed admirably against the best rucks this year.
**He has been good but think about the last couple of premiership teams **
2018 - Vardy - mobile around the ground
2017 - Nak - "
2016 - Boyd - "
2015 - McEvoy - "
Come finals time IMO belly will be a liability. Out of my four suggestions this is the one that i would be least likely on moving. Draper plays like Belly. The only way I think we can improve on this in 2019 would be to get Smack in the side and play backup ruck. Extra risky would be to see how Smack went as the number one ruck and play JoeD as the back up but the risk on that far outweighs the reward…
The good thing is that over the past 10 years I have always had around 10 things we needed to improve to win a flag. Only having four is amazing at the moment. You can win a flag with a team that isn’t perfect. A confident team that has luck with injuries wins premierships these days. All we need to do is fix a couple of small things. Can anyone think of the last time Woosha took a risk or tried something new? My guess is the Geelong game last year where he brought in Ridley and Clarke. That was off the back of 4 poor performances.
The more players putting in 110% for the team the better as long as their skills aren’t shitpoor or are keeping out a genuine better player (which he’s not). Breeds good culture in a team.
Bags isn’t going anywhere nor should he.
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Rarely has a thread so exhaustively proved the concept of cognitive dissonance.
Small forward kicks three goals.
/Thread.
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Bags is a solid player, can take a contested grab and is smart enough to get on the end of goals
He’ll also chase and tackle at 110% all game every game
He’s a great forward pocket who has excellent consistency at kicking 1 to 3 goals
The Mark Johnson bp to fp of this era.
Anyone saying otherwise needs their head checked
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