AFL highlights and of course the first two goals are against us. https://youtu.be/LOSq1XzzPMs?si=nqls8gx5vSB5UmXQ
Nothing much in the highlights to read from
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McGrath says hold my Matcha Latte.
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Would be good to keep a spot open for MSD given this year was supposedly a super draft.
Maybe we take Baldwin knowing that in all likelihood we will have a season ending injury by the MSD thus freeing up a spot on the list
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The only reason prior is getting delisted is because Brisbane are stacked with small defenders and have Coleman and doedee still to plug in somewhere into that premiership defence.
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The new Tom Cutler
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With Prior destined to play lock down small defender Iām predicting McGrath to blossom finally playing as the rebounding defender he was born to be. Great signing.
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Spot on itās going to be a good mid season draft and itās something we typically do well.
Iād suggest those questioning his physicality/contested work based on a Pre-draft profile from 5 years to go to actually wait and watch him play before sealing his fate.
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Thank god, thought you were about to say it would allow McGarth to play in the midfield again.
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Jaxon inb4
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Oh no we better not
I reckon heāll play there less this season, but it will still be his primary role.
Maybe more of a 60% half back, 40% mid/forward role. He remains the only guy we have across half back who can do more than kick down the line. He switches angles and opens up plays.
He turns it over more than he sets up anything, which is why heās better further up the ground
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I donāt think he does.
I think his turnovers are easier to remember because heās trying to hit risky kicks, so there is hurt factor (especially if in the back half of the ground), but I reckon he remained pretty good by foot.
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Isnāt this what Kelly was already doing most weeks?
Surprised he has played 59 games.
He will be ready to go should Scott require him.
could release Martin forward or El-Hawli if selected, or maybe just depth.
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Which is weird because half this forum bangs on about how (genuinely) good he is at locking down on small forwards.
I donāt think it has anything to do with McGrath.
I hope it frees up Martin.
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Iāve only noticed him playing as a wing.
His kicking is average, but maybe heās conservative with his choices. I never saw a pass from him and thought āfarking hell thatās an awesome kickā.
He can run pocket to pocket. Heās not Langdon like. Heās more capable and consistent than Roberts though but Roberts could still be anything. Itās fair to say heās almost a poor manās Durrsma (running, kicking, etc) without the attack on the footy that Duursma has.
Brisbane switched the way they used the wing just like almost every other team in the league. They started playing a resting / surplus midfielder off the wing rather than in the forward line. So that meant Prior was left out of the Brisbane 22 and eventually Deven Robertson was pushed out too. So thereās genuine reasons why he wasnāt getting games at Brisbane.
Iād say he knew that very early on and his time at VFL level was used developing as a player off the backline and spending some time on a wing.
I donāt think heās a Kelly replacement. Kelly was defensive first, then attack second. I didnāt see that kind of play from Prior. Maybe I missed it, but a winger is more likely to play more of a zone and force a perfect kick or get beaten over the top defensively than play more of a close checking lockdown role.
It will be interesting to see how we handle the backline mix and still balance the number of talls versus the number of smalls given most teams slowly moving towards having more small forwards than medium and talls. Weāre pretty much going the opposite direction with more talls and mediums than smalls in our backline.
I donāt think Prior replaces Martin. I know a lot of people are looking for it to occur and looking for any sign whatsoever that it may occur. I think this is more likely a player who will keep Saad and Roberts in the VFL a little while longer than push Martin elsewhere on the field.
It will be interesting how the half back / wing spots get rotated between Martin, Cox, Duursma, Prior, Roberts and Saad. We might even see Redman push further up the ground and spend some time as a wing rotation. Thereās also some here wanting to see Merrett off the backline, but I doubt we do that from the start of the season. Maybe itās trialled through the year though giving Martin more of an on ball role every here and there.
Iād be happy if he ends up being better for us than Tom Cutler was. A āstop gapā player until someone younger takes over his spot. And thatās a pretty low bar of expectation.
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Youāre new here arenāt you?
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