Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

[Jasper]

With our late season injuries to key players and everyone writing us off, I believe Rodney is now in a position to make his case for his own and the club's future.

Rodney can choose players like Eagleton and Hahn, or he can back the future going into the last round. To choose the future would be a dramatic turnaround for Eade, but I believe now is the time.

Rodney has one game to get it right against the Bombers, one game to tell players who might not get another chance, to play for their lives. Or he can back aging players who have let us down in the past and are worse players this year. The choice to me is simple. But for Eade I believe this is a massive philosophical shift, that could produce gold, but at worst will tell us something about some of the younger fringe players. Its time to roll the dice, with our key players gone, no one expects anything, most people expect we will go out in straight sets. Its time for the future.

Team for the future

Out: Hahn, Eagle, Johnno, Cooney, Morris
In: DFA, Roughead, Everitt, Hill and Stack

With Wood to come in for the worst performed for the finals (Hargrave would need a good game). No more changes (injuries excepted), regardless of form, give these guys the chance, the faith to deliver.

Lineup

FB: Gilbee Lake Hargrave
CHB Murphy Williams Everitt
C: Moles Boyd Harbrow
CHF Picken Jones DFA
FF Gia Hall Grant
R: Hudson, Cross, Griffen
I: Hill, Roughead, Ward, Stack

Boyd to play lock down on Watson, in practice for Swan or Pendlebury. DFA, Cross and Picken to rotate forward in lock down roles. Murphy to rotate forward where appropriate.

People its time to be positive, its time for Eade to reject the past and embrace the future.

[SlimPickens]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Well said although i don't think Hill or Stack are in our best 22. Nor do i think Hill should be in it twice. :P

[anfo27]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Under no circumstances do I ever want to see Stack wearing the bulldogs colours.

[Jasper]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Under no circumstances do I ever want to see Stack wearing the bulldogs colours.

I hear you brother, but our hopes have been dashed at the tragic finals altar of Eagle and Hahn so many times, I say let them be dashed on Stack, he supplies some much needed pace and kicking.

With regard to Hill, I believe he is a natural replacement for the current half fit Johnno, Hill is probably better overhead than Johnno these days, and not far off Johnno on contested and defensive efforts. We need a mid sized overhead marking target, Hill is our best shot - despite his flaws.

I suppose the point I am making is these young players need to be given faith they need to be told you will play in the finals, you are going to get us over the line. With Higgins, Johnno, Aker, Cooney and Morris gone, we don't have many options.

[anfo27]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

I hear you brother, but our hopes have been dashed at the tragic finals altar of Eagle and Hahn so many times, I say let them be dashed on Stack, he supplies some much needed pace and kicking.

With regard to Hill, I believe he is a natural replacement for the current half fit Johnno, Hill is probably better overhead than Johnno these days, and not far off Johnno on contested and defensive efforts. We need a mid sized overhead marking target, Hill is our best shot - despite his flaws.

I suppose the point I am making is these young players need to be given faith they need to be told you will play in the finals, you are going to get us over the line. With Higgins, Johnno, Aker, Cooney and Morris gone, we don't have many options.

He may have pace but he refuses to put his head over it and tackle and in a final that is magnified by 100.
I like Hill but he needs to show that he will do anything to get a game. I have riden Everitt quite hard the last 3 years because of these same attributes but the penny has dropped with him and he has finally turned the corner, something i was not confident in though.

[DOG GOD]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Get rid of eagle and FFS play Hill on the wing. This is where he made a mark in the team in the first place. Eade needs to stop this madness in playing him as a key fwd. He is not a key foward. let him run, create space and use his overhead marking in a good way to create further up the field.

To me Johnno is no huge loss. Cooney, yes...Morris, yes.

Hill on one wing
Everitt on the other, and lets use their height for our attacks up field.

[cambo]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Under no circumstances do I ever want to see Stack wearing the bulldogs colours.

Or Hill

Both have had enough chances and both have no HEART!!!

[Remi Moses]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Fair points I don't think a final It's going to happen.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Whilst it is tempting to throw a preseason and 21 weeks of work out of the window, in the cold hard light of day its not going to happen and neither should it. Looking objectively:

1) The Geelong game - aside from the 1st 15 mins it was farsical. Hard to forget though that we had a flu ravaged team so it wasn't the most ideal preparation. Coupled with the loss Geelong had to Collingwood the week before and the fact that winning more games really wasn't going to improve our position on the ladder the result was understandable....even possibly predictable.

2) The Swans game - milestone games for cherished players like Kirk don't come around often and you would think that if that was Johnno holding up his hand to say I'm done our boys would do the same. Again add to the fact we had little to play for the result wasn't surprising. Add in injuries to Cooney and Morris....well....its tough enough covering one guy, but 2.......

There are good reasons we failed in these games. Its not justification though to throw the final series away playing a bunch of rookies who are just not going to perform. There needs to be a balance because getting flogged by 100+ points in a final is not really going to be of much benefit and I'm pretty sure all the posters on this board calling for the kids to be played will be unsurprisingly absent to pick through the shambles.

My call, eade needs to call time on a few guys:

a) I think the Eagle's time is up. Kicking is now woeful and he has lost a yard of leg speed. Unless he reinventis himself this week as a lockdown midfielder then Sydney should have been his fairwell lap;
b) Hahn.....in 2 minds with Hahn. his form this year has been horrible, but I still think he has something to offer the side. In a final I think he will stand up more than Grant and Jones will so I'd almost play Hahn ahead of Jones on the basis that finals are all about mature hard bodies;
c) Hill & Stack - one of these guys should probably play. If based on form then its Stack, but I've seen nothing in Stack's play that justifies why we selected him.....sorry Clayton, but I reckon this guys is a lemon! Hill on the other hand often looks disinterested, laconic and uncommitted......yet he has a tendency to kick goals and is the kind of player who does nothing for 3 quarters and kciks 3 in a matter of minutes....he is a burst player, a guy who can change a game.
d) Higgins - glad to see that a call has been made to leave him out for the rest of the year. He is hobbled and no use to anyone with his lack of fitness
e) Ward - if we had back-up I'd almost consider spelling him as well......as it is though I think we need him and hopefully the games he is playing will lead him to some level of fitness and form.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Time to throw Harbrow into the middle.

[Desipura]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

I would add a few more to the outs (as trades) to address our weaknesses. I shall wait until after the finals as to who I would seriously look at trading.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

.

Hill on one wing
Everitt on the other, and lets use their height for our attacks up field.

Love this idea

[LostDoggy]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

1. Harbrow isn't a clearance player, nor a mid, nor a run-with player. Has never played any of those roles in his career, he isn't going to rock up in the heat of finals footy and beat the best centres in the game in arguably the most demanding role on the park (that took the likes of Dal Santo, Ablett, Griff, Coons etc. 3+ years to learn to play effectively).

2. Hill and Everitt on 'wings' -- other than maybe FF and FB, strict positional roles don't really exist anymore, and if we are using the 'wing' position as a way to hide Josh and Andrejs's lack of accountability for direct opponents, it simply means we're hiding/carrying TWO players, from whom any attacking thrust would be well and truly nullified by our opposition having two free players around the park.

[Greystache]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

1. Harbrow isn't a clearance player, nor a mid, nor a run-with player. Has never played any of those roles in his career, he isn't going to rock up in the heat of finals footy and beat the best centres in the game in arguably the most demanding role on the park (that took the likes of Dal Santo, Ablett, Griff, Coons etc. 3+ years to learn to play effectively).

2. Hill and Everitt on 'wings' -- other than maybe FF and FB, strict positional roles don't really exist anymore, and if we are using the 'wing' position as a way to hide Josh and Andrejs's lack of accountability for direct opponents, it simply means we're hiding/carrying TWO players, from whom any attacking thrust would be well and truly nullified by our opposition having two free players around the park.

Harbrow played in the midfield this year against West Coast including centre bounces and played very well.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Rodney: Your Choice - Future or Past?

Harbrow played in the midfield this year against West Coast including centre bounces and played very well.

I stand corrected.

Still to be convinced that he can do it in Finals against the best mids (with all due respect to the Eagles).