It isn’t the sort of thing you easily forget.
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10 goal win
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Can Green or Tippa play a defensive forward role/tag on Rory Laird??
They don’t have Smith and if you can stop Laird from playing his natural game that will really disrupt the way the Crows like to play.
Laird is IMO one of the best if not the best reader of the play in the comp, His positioning is faultless.
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Well said, my only worry would be the 4 tall forwards based on forward pressure. We aren’t great at it even with the three talls, adding McKernan would allow the crows to waltz out of our forwardline pretty easily IMO, and etihad is the type of ground where defensive half chains can kill you (something we are very good at when we have the ball). Last year they cut us up in that regard with the likes of Smith, Laird etc. Hopefully we are onto them a bit more this time.
Jack Watts kicking six (albeit JLT) on the weekend bodes well for our forwardline.
Adelaide’s backline has gone through the most change this preseason so hopefully we can exploit that.
I can understand the calls for McGrath to play on Betts but for mine we need to win the ball in midfield for a chance to win this. McGrath has already shown enough to suggest that he is up to any challenge.
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Yep McGrath stays in midfield, we need his pressure and ability to break lines. Saad has done a good job on Eddie previously
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Yep, having McGrath down back is conceding ground before the bounce in my opinion.
We need to start putting faith in these young talents we have and not baby them.
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Trying to remember…has Baguley historically played on Betts(before McGrath)? I think club will be tempted to play McNiece for this game and move Bags to a Gleeson type role.
There is no chance McGrath doesn’t play on Eddie. Woosha already said he would play in his small defender role when there is a job that needs him. Clearly Betts is one of those jobs
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Still reckon McGrath will start middle.
If Betts kicks 1-2 goals in the 1st qtr, then McGrath goes to him.
But I’d rather we back winning the 1st qtr and Betts not getting much of a sniff because of lack of opportunity.
Mcgrath in the middle is part of how that can happen.
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2nd half on Sunday by McGrath tells me there is a good chance he plays middle still. Tough call though
I just hope it’s not another Adelaide training session like the previous 2 encounters with them.
If memory serves, yes and with mixed success.
There is a massive chance he won’t. I reckon what Woosha was saying was really referring to break glass in case of emergency situations.
Eg. Saad and/or other small defenders out injured. Or getting taken to the cleaners in the 1st qtr.
But considering McGrath came onto the ball late and had a big impact, it’s probably worth putting him on betts early, then maybe switching him to midfield later depending on how things are going
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Don’t mind that scenario. You’re right that if the on-ballers get on top, then Betts will get less of it.
As Hird would say - Be Brave.
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I know it wont happen but, i’d like to move Hooker back at put Smack up forward. Ambrose has been underwhelming as a lockdown defender. He needs to use his endurance to work his man a bit more when they are not near the ball . At the moment he seems to be trailing his man to the contest constantly.
Ambrose is wasted at full back. He needs to be running a CHF into the ground.
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B: Baguley Ambrose Dea (replace Gleeson)
HB: McKenna Hurley Saad
C: Zaharakis Heppell McGrath
HF: Smith Daniher Stewart
F: Green Hooker McDonald-Tipungwuti
R: Belly Stringer Zerrett
Int: Parish Goddard Myers Fantasia (If fanta not fit then Long in)
Emg: Begley Langford Brown
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I appreciate that Betts is the best small forward in the last decade or so but if we are trying to turn McGrath into a midfielder we can’t keep losing our nerve and sending him down back to play on a small just because the opposition has a small forward that’s worrying us. If we had goal kicking concerns we won’t be sucked into playing Zach on the HFF. You’ve got to have the balls to put the kid where he’s going to belong if and when he’s ready which he is otherwise he’ll spend a third of the season patching holes down back and slow his development
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Gleeson is cactus mate!
Also if Crows playing Tex, Jenkins & McGovern + Lynch we will need 3 talls minimum.
Long could well be an good inclusion though given his versatility.
Has played HFF, wing, HBF. Then again so has Jerrett. Who you’d turn to as depth fill in for pace not sure.