Always Right Match Committee Round 19 V Melbourne At Marvel On Saturday Night

[DOG GOD]

What does this even mean?

Getting over concussion and not 100% switched on. Not getting in, dropping marks he’d usually take. Like he’s trying his best NOT to get another head knock.
It happened last year with him too.

[1eyedog]

I can’t see how we play Sweet & Bruce next week… Bruce wasn’t even competitive and Sweet either plays as #1 ruck or not at all.

You just play Bruce cause like, we need to and you just play Sweet because, have you watched English these past two weeks?

English is a rug on valium at the moment.

Astro and Hunter for McNeil and Weightman with JJ and West deep.

[boydogs]

Is there some kind of in joke going on with regard to Sweet? He contributed nothing and in some posts is being credited with the turn around in the team's form. Apparently we play better when he is in the side, regardless of how he plays?? That seems as credible as lucky socks, lucky jocks and lucky pre-game rituals.

2 kicks, 4 handballs, 1 mark 9 hit outs, not sure how many to advantage. Yep, sounds like the difference between winning and losing. I'm not saying he was our worst, but he was close. And yes, I watched the game. I'm happy to listen if someone can explain why my eyes and these stats are lying. But it needs to be more than "he makes us better". See lucky jocks reference above.

Having said all that, we do need someone to support English. If Schache is not ready this week, I would keep Sweet in until he is.

The hit outs and even hit outs to advantage stats don’t really measure what happens in the ruck. Competing, being predictable to your mids, blocking, tackling are critical.

9 hit outs isn’t much, but what percentage of ruck contests Sweet attended did we win the clearance for?

How many more ruck contests did he attend compared to our second rucks in other games to give English more of a break to compete harder in the ruck and up forward?

[EasternWest]

Of course not. No one could lay a hand on me there.

Wew lad.

[Hotdog60]

I think if Sweet can stop Gawn and Jackson from knocking the ball down Petracca and Oliver's throat its a win even if he doesn't win the tap. If we can neutralise the contest and let our mids do their work it will go a long way in our favour so how many hit outs don't worry so much as long as the other team doesn't get an advantage.

[hujsh]

I think if Sweet can stop Gawn and Jackson from knocking the ball down Petracca and Oliver's throat its a win even if he doesn't win the tap. If we can neutralise the contest and let our mids do their work it will go a long way in our favour so how many hit outs don't worry so much as long as the other team doesn't get an advantage.

Can he though? Honest question because while I understand the theory of Sweet as second ruck against most teams I wonder if Gawn is actually too good for it to apply?

[Hotdog60]

It may well be that Gawn or even Jackson will be too good but I can't see any of our other ruck option doing any better. Sweet is a big body and I have more faith in him holding his ground than the others.

[Danjul]

How very dare you Danj !

The young bloke who took me into the medallion area so I could get a better view of the game commented a number of times about how well McNeil was playing.

I have to believe him because all the players still looked the same.

[bornadog]

We must tag Oliver out of the game

[GVGjr]

We must tag Oliver out of the game

He's missing this week with an injured thumb, maybe he won't recover in time.

[Happy Days]

Wew lad.

You’re going about it the right way to feel these hands my man

[Happy Days]

Pause

[jeemak]

Not sure what that means.

I am under the impression that people want an out of form (for understandable reasons) Bruce playing against Melbourne because he is, well, Bruce.

I’m simply pointing out that we have a player who has done what will probably be needed, in next week’s game. He can play forward and/or back. He has done both well, the internet says that. Could also be a disaster and won’t be risked is my guess.

How do we maximise our result?

I was replying to posts that suggested putting someone in a position that they haven't trained specifically for isn't a big deal.

It had nothing to do with any of your posts.

[jeemak]

Sorry. I don’t want want Schache in the ruck. He has failed every time we have tried it. It detracts from his skill set. Melbourne have two good ruckmen and that section of the game has troubled us significantly recently.

But I agree with you about Keath. I thought he had a problem in the last 2 games so you are right to think ahead about possibilities there. It will be interesting to see how it all goes.

It didn't fail when we beat them last year when he was playing defence and also pinch hitting in the ruck.

In that game Gawn had 56 hit outs and Jackson 9 (plus McDonald with two), both more than English at 14 and Shache at 4. However, we won, with Schache playing defence and Bruce playing forward and Lever only taking four marks and May taking one.

So what I am saying is, bring Schache in to play wherever we need him to, and let Bruce do whatever he can to curtail Lever and May and hopefully get onto the end of one or two.

[jeemak]

We should actually be excited right now. Our season is alive after the Norf vs. Richmond result, and if we're honest the Carlton loss.