What Changes Round 13

[Bornadog]

Re: What Changes Round 13

. Alot of people have Power or Robbins as a possible inclusion. I dont think these 2 offer us something we dont already have or need, would be more than happy to blood another first gamer at the expense of these 2 playing.

Although I am a Robbins fan, he hasn't done much in the first half for either Werribee or the Dogs. Power doesn't derserve to come up just because he has the most experience of the players left at Werribee.

I also would like to see us blood another youngster, then that will make it 5 teenagers in the team. When is the last time we played with 5 teenagers????

[dog town]

Re: What Changes Round 13

If Robbins had of put in a half reasonable performance at Werribee then I would have been looking for him to come in allowing us to give guys like Cooney more midfield time to cover for the loss of yet another runner. With Grant coming in already the other player has to be a small or atleast someone that will give us a bit more versatility in the running department. I suppose that puts Power as next in line.

Eade hasn't seemed to put a heap of stock in Werribee performances this season so I still wouldn't be surprised to see Robbins come in. The role he plays does rely on delivery a little bit and we dont have a whole lot of options. I wonder if having Grant back might allow us to play Hargy in more of an attacking running role for a week or two while we are a couple of runners short?

[Go_Dogs]

Re: What Changes Round 13

I wonder if having Grant back might allow us to play Hargy in more of an attacking running role for a week or two while we are a couple of runners short?

I could certainly see this happening and releasing McMahon/Gilbee a bit further up the field at times. Hargrave has the capability to play as a taller running half back and I think he could do well in the role. Grant will be mainly used as a 3rd man sort of thing in defence I imagine as he will often struggle for a suitable match up against some teams who have more agile and quicker forwards.

It's like we've taken not having any major injury problems to our runners for granted over the last few years when its been all talls falling down, but as soon as we are 3 runners down, we're really not in too good a position. Real shame DMac got injured early in the season, this could've been his time.

[dog town]

Re: What Changes Round 13

Does the weather and ground conditions add some complexity to the selections?
The likes of Everitt and even Lynch might not have the strength to still be effective runners in heavy conditions. Robbins and Power "might" be considered even though their form isn't the best.
Not sure what the problem is with Faulkner but I think he would have also been a good alternative.

I dont really subscribe to any big theories surrounding wet weather. I have seen players of all types flourish in wet weather. As a rule guys with strong hips tend to do well in the wet but I can think of plenty of skinny blokes who are pretty good in the wet as well as big blokes. Chris Grant is one of the best wet weather players I have seen. When the conditions are heavy all it comes down to is which team is up for it on the day and willing to work that little bit harder. You can usually pick a winner by quarter time as very few teams can come back from any sort of sizeable deficit when the conditions are heavy.

Lynch might not be able to hold his body over the ball that well if its wet but its a big ground and if his pace gets him free to create or score a couple of goals then that will be invaluable in a low scoring game.

I think in those conditions its important not to get to caught up in changing your game to suit the conditions. You still need to create and use the ball especially at afl level where the skills are capable of still moving the ball quickly in wet conditions. If you get caught up kicking the ball down the line and turning it into a scrum then you deserve to lose. Nothing to say you cant still take a few risks and get the ball out in the open. Sure you dont want to overuse the footy as errors will be more frequent but I have seen so many teams just completely remove any system from their game and they have always fallen short. You need to find a bit of a mix of the two.

[dog town]

Re: What Changes Round 13

I could certainly see this happening and releasing McMahon/Gilbee a bit further up the field at times. Hargrave has the capability to play as a taller running half back and I think he could do well in the role. Grant will be mainly used as a 3rd man sort of thing in defence I imagine as he will often struggle for a suitable match up against some teams who have more agile and quicker forwards.

It's like we've taken not having any major injury problems to our runners for granted over the last few years when its been all talls falling down, but as soon as we are 3 runners down, we're really not in too good a position. Real shame DMac got injured early in the season, this could've been his time.

Agree with all of that. How far off is D-Mac?

[Go_Dogs]

Re: What Changes Round 13

Not too sure, I believe he played seniors for Werribee last weekend, not sure if it was his first senior game or not as a few weeks ago he was playing reserves down there. Apparently struggled a bit, which isn't too surprising as he did miss quite a few weeks. Hopefully he can get himself up in the next few weeks/month and start pressing for selection again.

[southerncross]

Re: What Changes Round 13

Agree with all of that. How far off is D-Mac?

He played last week but is a fair way off with his fitness. I think the club and sees him as a natural defender and that is where he is likely to played for the balance of the year. McCormack also thinks he is a better as a defender than as a midfielder/forward.

[Bornadog]

Re: What Changes Round 13

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Morris
HB: Gilbee, Williams, Hargrave
C: Harbrow, West, Akermanis
HF: Giansiracusa, Johnson, Hahn
F: Grant, Darcy, Higgins
FOLL: Street, Cooney, Boyd
I/C from: Addison, Lynch, Ray, Everitt, Power, Minson, Robbins
IN: Everitt, Grant, Minson, Power, Robbins
OUT: Eagleton (susp), Murphy (hamstring)

[Go_Dogs]

Re: What Changes Round 13

anyone fancy a guess at what the final squad will be?

[LostDoggy]

Re: What Changes Round 13

I will be looking for a huge game from Gia.

[LostDoggy]

Re: What Changes Round 13

Gia hasn't quite lived up to the expectations this year but he also hasn't been as bad as some might think.

Yes, I know the coach has been happy with his performances and I think DogTown has posted some good positive analyses of Gia's games. With Eagleton, Cross and Griffen missing I really want to notice him around the ball more (maybe I haven't noticed/appreciated his off ball work to date).

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: What Changes Round 13

We will go in with the two ruckman plus Darcy. Bench to be Addison, Lynch, Ray and Minson.

You know or you think?

[Bornadog]

Re: What Changes Round 13

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Morris
HB: Gilbee, Williams, Hargrave
C: Harbrow, West, Akermanis
HF: Giansiracusa, Johnson, Hahn
F: Grant, Darcy, Higgins
FOLL: Street, Cooney, Boyd
I/C from: Addison, Lynch, Ray, Power
EM: Everitt, Minson, Robbins
IN: Grant, Power
OUT: Eagleton (susp), Murphy (hamstring)