- Adelaide supporters all last week
Hasn’t missed yet
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I reckon we would be a silly chance against Saints. Sounds stupid, I just think with their injuries we’d be half a chance!
You’re right, that does sound stupid!
I’m kidding, of course. I’m just jealous of your optimism.
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On what we saw on the weekend, we’ll win 4-5 for the year
And they’ll be absolutely impossible to pick. Probably knock off one really good side, one OK side like the Saints and a couple of the other shitkickers.
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We still have a pretty favourable draw.
Play Hawthorn, North, Collingwood, Sydney and GWS twice. Big chance none of those teams make the finals.
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I’m not an optimistic guy at all, I don’t think we will win, I just feel the Saints can sometimes be their own worst enemy (sounds like us!).
Does anyone else think that we’re playing him 2s purely to keep his head down? Or am I projecting?
I suspect it’s more because he missed so much preseason training, he’s probably a bit behind the others on getting the hang of our structures and gameplan. He spent aaaages in the modified group, remember. He certainly seems to be ticking the boxes on field in the 2s so far, but he’s basically the #1 guy there right now. Learning how to fit into a structure at a level up when he’s a smaller cog in a (hopefully…) better machine might require a bit more work for him at training.
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Tudor said in the VFL review they’re still trying to iron out his mid-forward balance as well. Goes to your suggestion about needing to catch up on structure and role within the team having missed a lot of preseason. Get him used to the sort of role he’ll play in the senior while building his conditioning in the twos.
I expect he’ll debut by Round 4 against Sydney.
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… and positioning on the opponent’s kick outs particularly in that 30-60m from goal zone. Imagine what a team would have done to us on a wider ground
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The mid/forward balance comment from Tudor is interesting. Having seen both practice matches, I’ve a vague notion that he may have started in the forward line once. But in general, if he’s been on the ground, he’s been at the centre square bounces. He also hasnt had a look at the goals too often - had one chance on Saturday crossing into the 50 but was crunched as he kicked and the ball ended up in the pocket. Been working predominantly between back pocket and half forward. As an onballer. Doesn’t always go to the contest though, sometimes sits off it to give us some width (actually in the middle) if the ball is out near the boundary in middle field. That will definitely be a setup/structure thing.
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I’ll also add that the "tag’ wasn’t what you might picture re Crowley / Cornes’ complete lockdown . It certainly looked like McGuiness had the “job” on Perkins, but more along the lines of two kids playing on each other all game. What impressed me is that McGuiness had an edge in size and strength ( 2 preseasons make a difference) but Perkins was happy to engage in the fight for position and found ways to get the footy. His ability to one-grab the bouncing footy on the move through traffic, and a couple of very silky long passes are the obvious things so far to take away from his two games. But he’s also taken a couple of strong grabs and has quick hands inside the contest.
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Ok, I’m there…
BRING!
McGuinness is only 1 year older than Archie.
Unless you’re meaning that Archie didn’t have a preseason prior to 2021 season (track watchers say he was in modified group for large parts).
I’ve no problem if they give him another VFL outing. Fourth competitive game in 18 months, playing more against similar peers , plenty of midfield time and it may all click for him wherein his tears a game to shreds.
At which point Blitz will lose its collective mind. Win-win.
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The sooner we play Perkins, the better IMO. Get his debut out of the way and then think about how many other games we give him this year.
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McGuiness has just completed his second preseason. Perkins a reduced 1st. McGuiness may be a naturally bigger body too.
The spot in the AFL that would suit Archie’s skills and development best would probably be Parish’s for/mid role. Can’t see them dropping him though. And I can’t see them dropping one of the midfield group into Hams/Snelling/Cox’s high kilometer role; which is probably the position Perkins will be debuting as
or they’ll just wait for an inevitable injury
This kid is already a better player than at least a handful of the guys who we threw out there on Saturday night and would probably have more immediate impact too. He doesn’t strike me as the type who will get overawed by the big stage, if anything he may excel and develop better playing seniors than running around in VFL for half a year when he is clearly a class above. If he is deemed fit enough to run out a game then play him.
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