Always Right Match Committee Round 12 vs Collingwood

[Axe Man]

Do we bring Lobb in or leave it for just JUH and Darcy?

Would Buku or Bedendo as medium forward be worth a try instead?

[Sedat]

A big no from me... as per another thread Bont plays more forward and others (Garcia, Sanders & West) play more in the midfield.

Darcy is improving at a rapid rate but he needs another bigger body to chop out up forward - last night proved he's not quite ready physically to handle being double and triple teamed, which is what will happen every week that Naughts is out. We're going to gas him if we don't bring another seasoned aerial target in.

[Mantis]

Darcy is improving at a rapid rate but he needs another bigger body to chop out up forward - last night proved he's not quite ready physically to handle being double and triple teamed, which is what will happen every week that Naughts is out. We're going to gas him if we don't bring another seasoned aerial target in.

So, when Darcy needs a rest from the team when he's gassed, we bring in Lobb.

I feel we become too top heavy with Lobb replacing Naughton.

[Sedat]

So, when Darcy needs a rest from the team when he's gassed, we bring in Lobb.

I feel we become too top heavy with Lobb replacing Naughton.

Lobb has a pretty big tank and has the capacity to do the Naughton higher-up role (obviously not quite to the same level but still more than competent enough). JUH or Darcy don't have that in them yet - I fear our forward structure will break down if we are relying solely on JUH and Darcy as our targets up forward (it broke down a bit in the 2nd/3rd qtrs last night). Also we have been training all off-season with the 3-headed monster up forward, so our players have continuity in game style.

I'm happy with Bont spending more time in F50 and continuing to alter the mix of our mids like we did last night - I just don't think it should be at the expense of a 3rd tall target when the 2 fit ones are still young and not physically strong enough for 120 minutes each week. Bont is not a liability when it hits the deck either. Our 3 talls are a point of difference to the competition, and it would be extremely difficult to re-train the playing group to change mid-stream.

[PR0408]

Agree. About to top heavy. With Lobb Darcy and Marra. Pies will destroy us.

[mjp]

The first 50m against Bont was also rubbish. Players milk it by dropping the ball when the player hardly touches them.

C'mon mate. He was unlucky but that's a clear 50. Ball knocked out of his hands after a mark - prevents him playing on...that's 50m every day of the week.

Bont knew it as well.

[mjp]

Agree. About to top heavy. With Lobb Darcy and Marra. Pies will destroy us.

Not if they catch it.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Not if they catch it.

Are you confident they'd catch it enough?

I'm not.

[mighty_west]

So, when Darcy needs a rest from the team when he's gassed, we bring in Lobb.

I feel we become too top heavy with Lobb replacing Naughton.

Agree, i feel Lobb can really only replace Darcy or English unless he had a crash course in how to defend and play down back, which won't happen.

[Sedat]

Are you confident they'd catch it enough?

I'm not.

How did JUH and Darcy go in the last 20 mins of Q2 and the whole of Q3 last night? We forget they are both still young in key position terms (especially Darcy) and don't yet have the core strength to compete aerially for a full 120 minutes, let alone against 2-3 opponents at any given time.

I reckon we need one of Lobb or English up forward to help out Darcy and JUH, which will make them even more dangerous - it stops the oppo from double and triple teaming these 2 like they did in the middle part of the game last night. We need the small forwards to step up to lock it in - Naughts is a bit of an outlier in the competition as a KPF with his amazing defensive ethic and ability at ground level.

Lobb is really not rated by our supporters. He is a very capable AFL forward/ruck and a hardened AFL player with a good engine to get to multiple contests and also help English in ruck (Darcy understandably is a bit of a liability at ruck contests). The next 6 weeks is exactly when we need him.

[mjp]

Are you confident they'd catch it enough?

I'm not.

No - I'm not really...but if we don't select Lobb now then what exactly is he at the club for.

We have a large number of "capable" tall forwards. Collingwood have a LOW number of "capable" AFL defenders.

I wish we Naughts who is the best of them but we don't...we still gotta lean into what we do have. If we had capable smalls I would say we should lean into them...but we don't.

[Danjul]

He certainly creates a lot of angst amongst supporters.
I see it differently. He works hard, both ways, is a dilligent role player and is on minimum chips investment wise.

We want hard workers, well they don't work any harder than Lachie. His run down tackle to save a goal in the third was brilliant.

Sometimes as fans we need to look at what players can do more often than what they can't.

He covered more distance than everyone except CD last night.

I look at higher paid more fancied types like Williams before I do the essnetial work horses like Bramble.

Respect fans opinion on him, I just think he does what the box says.

I find that Bramble highlights one of our major problems. When he gets the ball he runs. Then he finds there has been no movement up the field. No good options. He is a 35 metre ahead type player and our game plan doesn?t operate on that basis. If it did we would have won comfortably last night. He should learn from Daniel, look first before you commit.

[Rocco Jones]

I would play Lobb but we might need to change things up a tad.

Lobb looks okay leading up. He isn't explosive or agile but he has a good tank.

I would play English forward more and use having three rucks. Maybe rolling with what's going well a bit more than being locked in.


If there are no injuries, we can also tactically sub out Lobb or Darcy.

[lemmon]

How did JUH and Darcy go in the last 20 mins of Q2 and the whole of Q3 last night? We forget they are both still young in key position terms (especially Darcy) and don't yet have the core strength to compete aerially for a full 120 minutes, let alone against 2-3 opponents at any given time.

I reckon we need one of Lobb or English up forward to help out Darcy and JUH, which will make them even more dangerous - it stops the oppo from double and triple teaming these 2 like they did in the middle part of the game last night. We need the small forwards to step up to lock it in - Naughts is a bit of an outlier in the competition as a KPF with his amazing defensive ethic and ability at ground level.

Lobb is really not rated by our supporters. He is a very capable AFL forward/ruck and a hardened AFL player with a good engine to get to multiple contests and also help English in ruck (Darcy understandably is a bit of a liability at ruck contests). The next 6 weeks is exactly when we need him.

I think everything you've said is true - and playing Lobb would help Marra and Darcy in the air, as well as English in the ruck - but I'm not sure that disputes the argument that others are making.

Naughton chases and pressures as well as our smalls, and is very good below his knees for a guy that size. Marra brings some of that, but nowhere near the level of Naughton - Lobb and Darcy bring none and are liabilities when opposition defenders have ball in hand.

I just don't think you can get away with the lack of pressure and the lack of ability to win a ground ball that occurs when you have Lobb and Darcy in the same forward-line. Especially against the Pies who'll win it back at ground level and sweep it away faster than any side in the competition.

If we feel like we need extra experience to cover for Naughton, then bring in Lobb for Darcy. If we feel like we need the extra third tall up there, I'd play Bont (or maybe Bedendo) in the Naughton role. But I think we can get away with playing the three talls at the moment, purely because Naughton brings what he brings when the ball isn't in the air.

[bornadog]

C'mon mate. He was unlucky but that's a clear 50. Ball knocked out of his hands after a mark - prevents him playing on...that's 50m every day of the week.

Bont knew it as well.

That rule was brought in for a different reason ie purposely wasting time - this was pure accident and Amarty should have held the ball.

A massive penalty for what it is. These sort of things is why footy is a joke sometimes.
The VDM one - the umpire didn't even blow the whistle for a mark and yet he gives 50m penalty on a split second.