Hooker in the first 10 weeks of the season was producing way better than he has in the past 7 weeks. I can’t see how he could have any influence on the match this week.
I’d rather they drop Waterman first and foremost. Hooker I’d like out too but that wouldn’t happen.
Would love to see Smith as sub. He’s been dead set horrible for some time now. Hopefully this gives him a bit of a rocket.
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It’s so hard to decide on the INS and OUTS for this game as a slippery Metricon surface would favour smalls, so maybe add Hird into the mix as an extra speedy pressure small. If conditions conducive to High marking then maybe Francis up forward. I worry about Smith and his productivity so that’s where Hird could come in, but not sure who would go out for Francis. On a dry night Hooker might clunk them. On a wet night he gets the ball to ground. So it may come down to whether there are any niggles needing to be managed.
I’m not sure what’s going on with Smith, but he’s severely out of form. Meant to be playing that pressure small fwd position I assume, but only 3 tackles and 6 disposals. I guess 1 goal is better than nothing, but he’s gotta stop giving away silly frees. Happy to keep him in for another go, as we are limited for replacements in that position.
Would love it if Francis was available for selection as 7th defence rotation. Hope he’s feeling loved up there. Any idea how he played in that VFL scratch match on the weekend?
Getting the ball to ground is an influence we still need
GWS intercept game has been a long standing strength of theirs - Haynes in particular elite at it and Davis/Taylor also very good.
It didn’t play so slippery in the Sydney derby. I think they were actually surprised.
The only change I see absolutely necessary right now is dropping Smith. He is a liability, simple as that. We will have atleast a goal less scored on us with him out of the team.
The free kick and 50m penalty charity must end.
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It was a dry Westerly airstream/wind over the weekend on the Gold Coast so night games (entire game) and twilight games (second half) weren’t as impacted as usual.
Rest assured though, that wind will go back to more onshore and it will be as slippery as anything and skills/game standard will slip. Hopefully not when we are out there but it’s probably inevitable.
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I don’t think we can assume Greene will be out. According to today’s HS, Tier 2 contacts in Qld must be tested and “isolate until notified by the Department”, which “could be up to 14 days”.
So, what are the odds they are ok to play and just miss against the good old Swannies.
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At the moment it’s Smith vs only Hird / Cahill / Johnson. So he is lucky.
As much as it’s probably deserving I just don’t think they will drop him.
Pressure wise he is still leading the way in our fwd line
From those smaller types who played in our fwd group on the weekend.
Smith - 18 pressure acts / 3 tackles (1 inside 50)
Ham - 12 pressure acts / 1 tackle (0 inside 50)
Perkins - 11 pressure acts / 2 tackles (2 inside 50)
Tippa - 9 pressure acts / 2 tackles (1 inside 50)
Waterman - 6 pressure acts / 2 tackles (2 inside 50)
From the heat map looked like Snelling played up ground more
Snelling - 17 pressure acts / 2 tackles (0 inside 50)
As a side note
Top for us was - Parish 28/ 6(2). . With Merrett 22/ 3 (0) and Durham 15 / 1 (0).
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No changes for mine
Boys need to fire right up though from the very start. GWS are coming for our current spot in the 8.
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I don’t care who’s in or out for GWS, if we’re good enough we’ll win.
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And conversely if we make too much out of who they’re missing our players will get complacent
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I don’t think we could possibly look any more complacent. We have mailed in the last two games with pretty ordinary efforts.
It’s been confirmed a back date of 2 weeks from Tuesday. So they miss our game as well.
I’m angry.
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The very least they could do is broadcast these moved games live on TV as some form of compensation for the fans who cannot go to the game.
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The lines in the Bible? Coz it will take a Miracle!
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