Match Committee - Round 22, 2017 vs Port Adelaide

[Mofra]

Port have brought in Todd Marshall for his debut (after kicking 5 for the Port Magpies last weekend) and that means they have Dixon (200cm), Marshall (198cm), Ryder (197cm), Westhoff (200cm), and Howard (199cm). In contrast to this we have only Roughead (200cm), Young (197cm), and Cloke (196cm) in the "super talls" category.

They are clearly going to try to exploit our defence ala GWS, but hopefully it will backfire with Marshall in for his first game and Dougal Howard only playing his second since an ACL (seventh overall). Regardless, we might just be doing some rain dancing before the game.

If it stays dry do we need to bring in Roberts? An extra tall obviously hampers movement but may provide defensive cover, help to get the ball to deck in our forward line (maybe even mean a few I50 marks!), and help us compete down the line/at kick ins.

Last week has rattled my confidence and perhaps I should be considering that Port have been pretty awful for a month and in current form are not the team GWS are in current form. Am I being too reactive? Can we get back to the way we played versus the Bombers?

"Accidently" turn the sprinklers on before the game?

[soupman]

As a general philosophy I've found that Beveridge has taught me it is better to err on the side of being too short as opposed to to tall.

There's only so much you can do with those talls if they are struggling, which they may very well do in cold and windy conditions. Our downfall against GWS wasn't that they were too tall for us, and honestly I am strggling to think of any games we have lost due to that reason.

Typically we lose through either being beaten in the middle or for not taking our chances. The only tall we have that fixes either of those issues is Redpath, thanks to his set shot accuracy, which has been down recently anyway.

Also I believe we saw Marshall as more of a Rioli type forward anyway so his height may be irrelevant.

Also I see no benefit in bringing in a tall so that someone like Dougall Howard has a more suitable matchup. I like our selection philosophy of only picking matchups that deserve matchups, and trying to explpit the rest through Wood or Biggs. Howard is firmly in the exploitable category.

[Testekill]

Hasn't Ballarat been pretty wet lately? Can't see how bringing in a really tall forward line would help matters

[boydogs]

Not worried about Marshall or Howard but Ryder has been in great form

[Rocco Jones]

Never worried about players solely based on their height. A good tall is dangerous, a guy who is just tall is an opportunity to rebound off.

[MrMahatma]

Going in favourites as we should

[The Underdog]

Going in favourites as we should

I'm not sure what aspect of our year should have us favourites against a top 8 team. Particularly at a ground nobody has ever played at in conditions that are likely to be poor. If I was a betting man, I'd be staying the hell away from this one.

[bornadog]

I'm not sure what aspect of our year should have us favourites against a top 8 team. Particularly at a ground nobody has ever played at in conditions that are likely to be poor. If I was a betting man, I'd be staying the hell away from this one.

There is only a game between us