Always Right Match Committee Round 12 v Geelong

[G-Mo77]

Agree the changes will be shuffling deck chairs.

Where would you play Khamis? The MC have him pigeoned holed as a forward. Clearly no spot for him up there.

I wouldn’t mind him as a mid sized defender but not sure he has the pace required.

Defence, get rid of TOB for good and try him in that role. It may not work but think we need to try something different rather than shuffling TOB, Hannan, Crozier, McLean , McNeil in and out of the team. We rushed Jones in after his injury and it's paid off, O'Donnell out of left field as well and he looks to have some potential and will be better for it. We need to have more balls with selections sometimes rather than being conservative.

[soupman]

Minimal changes please.

We've been awesome since round 2, largely with a settled side, and while we didn't win last night we were probably the better side even with ourmidfield not generating as much quality as usual, our forwardline completely lacking in execution and our defence losing it's ability to shut stuff down.

Some of the names nominated are harsh. O'Brien had a not great night but has been pretty good prior and is still a better hybrid for his role than the alternatives. McNeill was meh but his role isn't even meant to be one we are impressed by and there's no one pushing for selection anyway, JOD didn't offer much but we weren't expecting him to, Hannan was inneffective but basically all our subs are and again kind of gave us what we expected, Weightman nearly won us the game (although through questionable means) and has been a big part of why our forwardline has worked recently.

I don't think any of the mooted replacements (aside from Treloar obviously) are grounded in any real basis of improving us. Cleary is maybe the only one in form, Bruce is less suited to the TOB role than TOB, Crozier is meh, West hasn't looked like earning a game all year, Clarke is very much still finding his feet, Mclean has been a complete non factor in his few opportunities and I honestly think I prefer Hannan at this stage. Khamis is one I like the idea of but we picked a 3 game key defender in JOD to play the exact third tall role up forward that Buku would occupy for two weeks straight so I don't think we have him in our plans anyway.

[Happy Days]

In: Treloar, Cleary

Out: McNeil, JOD

I’m with Soup on the minimal changes but JOD isn’t ready yet and Cleary will give us a little more bounce.

TOB was horrible but he can stay in on the essential condition that he never, ever, ever is allowed to take a kick in again.

[josie]

If Treloar is fit then in for McNeil and McNeil back to sub.

ToB is our new whipping boy.

.

[Danjul]

Saturday night was not a totally unexpected disaster. There?s even a WOOF thread that suggested that it was a real possibility.

Why was it on peoples minds? Because there have been problems leading up to this game. Problems that were not addressed.

We defeated GWS, both teams had the same number of scoring shots. And GWS was missing their best? player. It was a win but not really a confidence booster. Fell over the line against Carlton and despite dominating against Adelaide our forwards looked suspect again.

Cracks were appearing in English?s ruck work but escaped examination in the euphoria around the wins. Grand Final- here we come. Nothing to worry about here. On Saturday the cracks in the forward line and ruck opened further.

Correct me if I am wrong but I saw opposition tap ruckmen give their rovers easy stats in the last 4 games. Bont and Libba struggled uncharacteristically this time. No criticism intended for any of them. We simply have not considered getting a plan B. English is taking 70 or 80 contests against big bodies, and still contributing around the ground.

We spend hours every week deciding whether we will play McNeil, McComb, Hannan, ?. and then more hours reviewing their meagre possessions (none of which were significant). These players should not be part of our strategy.

On Saturday the forwards were struggling. Naughton, Jones, Lobb and Weightman didn?t seem to understand that their reason for being in the team was simply to kick goals. The few we were getting came from others up the field. We needed to change the dynamics, put the Suns defenders under some real pressure. Swing our number 22 player into the mix, shake up the ruck and the forward line, let English get some pressure off the forwards and boot a few goals. Change the predictability around throw-ins, put a doubt into the minds of the opposition midfielders. Never been part of the plan. So echoes of the end of 2021. Let fate play out. Lose.

So lucky we have O?Brien to blame. I don?t see him as being any part of the problem. Lobb?s kick from close in was simply a catastrophe when it hit the behind post and failed to score. Naughton contributed nothing from his easy kick at goal from less than 30 metres. These are our seasoned champions. Two easy goals here and we still win. Our win should never have been at risk. But as we are clearly showing, without a real plan B we are always at risk.

[Happy Days]

Saturday night was not a totally unexpected disaster. There?s even a WOOF thread that suggested that it was a real possibility.

Why was it on peoples minds? Because there have been problems leading up to this game. Problems that were not addressed.

We defeated GWS, both teams had the same number of scoring shots. And GWS was missing their best? player. It was a win but not really a confidence booster. Fell over the line against Carlton and despite dominating against Adelaide our forwards looked suspect again.

Cracks were appearing in English?s ruck work but escaped examination in the euphoria around the wins. Grand Final- here we come. Nothing to worry about here. On Saturday the cracks in the forward line and ruck opened further.

Correct me if I am wrong but I saw opposition tap ruckmen give their rovers easy stats in the last 4 games. Bont and Libba struggled uncharacteristically this time. No criticism intended for any of them. We simply have not considered getting a plan B. English is taking 70 or 80 contests against big bodies, and still contributing around the ground.

We spend hours every week deciding whether we will play McNeil, McComb, Hannan, ?. and then more hours reviewing their meagre possessions (none of which were significant). These players should not be part of our strategy.

On Saturday the forwards were struggling. Naughton, Jones, Lobb and Weightman didn?t seem to understand that their reason for being in the team was simply to kick goals. The few we were getting came from others up the field. We needed to change the dynamics, put the Suns defenders under some real pressure. Swing our number 22 player into the mix, shake up the ruck and the forward line, let English get some pressure off the forwards and boot a few goals. Change the predictability around throw-ins, put a doubt into the minds of the opposition midfielders. Never been part of the plan. So echoes of the end of 2021. Let fate play out. Lose.

So lucky we have O?Brien to blame. I don?t see him as being any part of the problem. Lobb?s kick from close in was simply a catastrophe when it hit the behind post and failed to score. Naughton contributed nothing from his easy kick at goal from less than 30 metres. These are our seasoned champions. Two easy goals here and we still win. Our win should never have been at risk. But as we are clearly showing, without a real plan B we are always at risk.

So is there a change to the team in there or should we just fold the club because everything is so hopeless and bad?

[soupman]

Two easy goals here and we still win. Our win should never have been at risk. But as we are clearly showing, without a real plan B we are always at risk.

This bit to me says that this was one of those occasions where plan B should've just been plan A but better. Our loss wasn't a plan A or B thing, it was just execution.

[Grantysghost]

So is there a change to the team in there or should we just fold the club because everything is so hopeless and bad?

Can we just leave McNeil alone...?

Just leave him alone!

Maybe make Lachie hold the fkn goal umpires flag and everyone will be happy

I know Bont is the greatest player ever and it's never his fault, just wonder if there's any chance he can not drill the ball full pace every time to the forwards.

As a former superstar forward, I do hereby decree I would hate leading to him.

Libba every day. Takes the pace off and puts it out in front.

[Danjul]

So is there a change to the team in there or should we just fold the club because everything is so hopeless and bad?

Changes should focus on the true problem areas. At the moment they don?t.

Falling into the finals for a week is highly likely so things are not hopeless or bad. But are we going to get our first top four finish in a decade? What are the odds after last night? And this team was in a grand final less than 2 years ago. Great effort, any signs of building on it?

Look at the selection of JOD, for example. What problem did it address? 4 possessions followed by 4 possessions. Followed by another game. I looked back through the years and couldn?t find a similar case. People here said they liked his 4 possession game so I looked at part of the replay to see what I had missed. Saw a handpass direct to an opponent. That was enough, (4-1). He is getting experience for the rebuild and good luck to him. With a few more games and 5 kg he could become a star.

But is it a professionally sound strategic decision for the club?s benefit ? Has it helped the team and the club be more successful this season? Short answer is no. We need more flexibility to respond during games. Anticipating the problem and everyone knowing what the solution will be. How to quickly stop the 6 goal runs the opponents know are possible. (The Suns knew it last night and got it.)

Change at the moment is like what you get from a magician. You know it is not real. Then comes an unnecessary loss. But we are hearing that last night was not too bad. The Suns are quite good. No. It was bad. That is the only acceptable response.

[Danjul]

This bit to me says that this was one of those occasions where plan B should've just been plan A but better. Our loss wasn't a plan A or B thing, it was just execution.

We needed plan B to stop the opposition run that followed. 7 goal turn around.

[Grantysghost]

It's a pretty even comp Danj.

Lions smashed the Suns.

We smashed the Crows.

Crows beat the Lions.

Suns beat us.

If you can tell me who wins out of Suns v Crows in Darwin next week you'll have me

[Stevo]

Can we just leave McNeil alone...?

Just leave him alone!

Maybe make Lachie hold the fkn goal umpires flag and everyone will be happy

I know Bont is the greatest player ever and it's never his fault, just wonder if there's any chance he can not drill the ball full pace every time to the forwards.

As a former superstar forward, I do hereby decree I would hate leading to him.

Libba every day. Takes the pace off and puts it out in front.

Nice try big boy
McNeil just hasnt grasped his chances like he should.

[Grantysghost]

Nice try big boy
McNeil just hasnt grasped his chances like he should.

Agree. It's not his fault we lost though.

It's a tough position he probably wasn't miles off Weightman and Jones.

Not sure if he will make it tbh. Like his movement and commitment to the contest just doesn't seem to get it enough at the stage.

[EasternWest]

Agree. It's not his fault we lost though.

It's a tough position he probably wasn't miles off Weightman and Jones.

Not sure if he will make it tbh. Like his movement and commitment to the contest just doesn't seem to get it enough at the stage.

I like him. I'm not prepared to put a line through his name yet.

[Danjul]

It's a pretty even comp Danj.

Lions smashed the Suns.

We smashed the Crows.

Crows beat the Lions.

Suns beat us.

If you can tell me who wins out of Suns v Crows in Darwin next week you'll have me

the flaw in my comments is I usually only watch Bulldog games. But it allows me to disagree when you say Suns beat us.

We threw that game away. Using the team as an incubator for the 2024 season. Continuing with a dysfunctional forward setup. Allowing their midfielders to walk away from stoppages.

All we needed was to throw a spanner in the works. But where? Probably debatable. But we had to break their system, what they were obviously comfortable with. What did we attempt? Nothing. We had no flexibility to address what wasn?t working for us. We are like a formula 1 team that only has dry weather tyres.

The more even the competition the more important it is to be focused on winning and not make these mistakes. But for it to be even we have slipped. We spent most of 2021 as Top Dog. Now we can be harsh and say some of our wins involved good luck.