#29 Patrick Ambrose -- forward or back?

Put your best stopper on their worst forward, put a 5 game back flanker on their best forward, and drag the star CHB out of the backline to tag (??) Adams, a 5’11 midfielder who hasn’t kicked a goal so far this year?
Drag the super impressive McGrath to the backline… and presumably put McKenna up to midfield?

I’ll have what you’re having.

Would’ve been mute regardless

I know it’s radical, but Pidge was also given a massive assignment on Betts as a kid & destroyed him.

Redman sizes up better on De Goey.

Ambrose can nullify Mihocek’s marking ability.

Hooker has to take Cox (height) & the other three forwards are smalls.

Elliott is dangerous & warrants a player like Pidge to run with & spoil him.

Saad takes the other small, Thomas, & you could easily leave Irish on Adams, but where does Hurley play? Hurley takes Adams & has the height/marking advantage.

Push Irish to the wing on Varcoe who likes to use his pace to slip forward.

Lets just deal with North first then worry about the pies.

Don’t want to put the moz on our defence assuming that they get through fine etc.

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Gee, could have sworn that you originally proposed the Paddy on Mihocek idea 5 hours ago. Don’t abandon me now, dude/dudette. :grin:

haha yeah but the whole day has turned into talking about match ups for the pies, not norf

Was awarded a vote by the coaches. :blush:

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So ■■■■■■ underrated.

He will go to DeGoey and smash him on ANZAC day.

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Our preferred last line defenders are Hooker (big, slow) and Ambrose (mid size, athletic), with Hurley directing & patrolling 40-60m out.

Their preferred deepest forwards are Cox (big, slow) and De Goey (mid size, athletic) with Mihocek directing as a true CHF role.

I think you’re overthinking it, very very muchly.

And either they’ve got a new player called Adams since last week, or you’re absolutely smoking crack if you think Hurley’s going onto him

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Any chance you can just spell out the direct matchups you would like to see instead of being deliberately vague? And cut out the drug digs directed towards me, please. That’s twice now.

Cox - Hooker
Ambrose - De Goey
Mihocek - Hurley

Probably Saad - Elliott and McKenna - Stephenson

Are you sure you’re not confusing Adams & Stephenson?? Stephenson is probably 80% forward line. Adams is rarely fwd.

Yeah, I missed Stephenson. Just went off the lineup (which prolly changed before the game started). I didn’t catch the start of the Pies/Doggies game, so am not sure of the exact starting positions.

No big deal, as my point was that I’d like to see Paddy go to Mihocek & Redman given first crack at De Goey, with Pidge brought into the backline to take the dangerous Elliott (although Saad is fine as well). Hooker on Cox & Hurley on Stephenson - with more licence to intercept. Irish on Varcoe up on a wing.

Your matchups will most likely be accurate, however, I don’t think my suggestions are all that bad. Our recent record against them hasn’t been the best, so a few different moves isn’t a bad idea. Just throwing a different idea out there sans the crack pipe. :wink:

Oh.

Now I understand the level you’re coming from.

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Not much talk of Rutten at this point, but really, by the end of the pre-season his work had only just begun. Now to work on this defensive unit, to get them working as a tight knit machine with players like Ambo dovetailing with the tall and small defenders. Each game, each game review, we need to see improvement in the group so by the end of the season we are tighter than a fishes…down back.

Theoretically, I don’t mind the Redman idea, but maybe it’s something to look at next time we play them? I dunno, might be a bit early.

The DeGeoy / Caddy mid sized forward has given us a bit of trouble in the last few years, and it would be beneficial to find out if Ambrose can cover that type of match up too. It’s a massive win if he can.

I would like to see Redman’s defensive chops really tested soon, though.

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They tried Ambrose on de goey last year and he blew out his hammy trying to go with him.

I can see why we’d want to try it again but I can also see why we wouldn’t.

If Ridley is out Francis might be with a shot but I don’t like the way he tends to sag off leading forwards.

Hurley is pretty hard to get around when he plays in front

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Not sure you take much outta last year’s game, injury aside, Ambrose is in much better form this year.

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Yep. You interpreted well what I was getting at. Redman is super promising as a player, however, until such players are tested against the elite players, it is kinda difficult to gauge. I also believe Redman has the ability to defend well against De Goey. De Goey is an awkward size - 187-188 cm. Prolly too nimble for a taller defender & too tall for a shorter defender. Redman matches up well. It really is a compliment to Redman that I feel he should be given a first crack at De Goey.

Paddy will most likely be given the job, but that forces Hurley to take Mihocek. Again, not a bad move, however, he will be forced into a tighter man-on-man defensive role, not the free floating intercept role we saw at times last weekend. Mihocek likes to move around & can take a grab. Is around the 192cm mark, so Paddy shapes up well on him. Can both run with & nullify Mihocek’s marking ability.

Hooker to Cox. Hurley to take Stephenson or a resting Adams (using his height advantage to exploit the high balls in). Saad to Thomas. Irish could take Elliott, however, the latter is a dangerous forward. I’d prefer Pidge to start on him, with Irish pushed up to the wing & going head to head with Varcoe. Just playing with the pieces.

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He wasn’t chasing DeGoey when did hammy.

IIRC it was Stephenson

Edit. Yep…

We essentially had 3 missing from midfield rotations. 2 actual mids in Myers & Guelfi, and one who provides important minutes in Stringer.

In the end the Pies mids were able to run harder for longer and over ran us.

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He’d kept De Goey goalless while he was on. JDG eventually was the difference, kicking 2 of the last 4 or 5 to seal it.