Morning, everyone.
Well, this didn’t shape up as a vital, must-win-at-all-costs game when the fixture was released last year. What would have otherwise been as close to a banked four points as you can get without playing is now very much a critical contest. Drop this, and our sliding season will be in a complete plummeting tailspin (if it isn’t already).
The teams…
Tip: No comment. That’s as far as I have the confidence to go at present. They’ve burned my hand too many times.
Over to you…
You forgot perhaps the major reason we lost the GF last year Rosco – Pendlebury and Sidebum’s insipid performance, probably the worst of their careers.
If ever there was a time for the Captson to stand up and drive the team to victory it was last year, and unfortunately we didn’t have that.
Magden in for Cox. I think he will play as a defender – probably on Petty as he is the only real tall that they are playing and dropping Preuss means that there will be only Gawn to cover when he moves forward. I think that Roughhead will do the ruck work for the 10-15% that Grundy does not do it. They have picked May Lever and Frost in defence and Hibberd to play in the centre. It will be interesting to see who we play forward – we are going to have to keep the ball low given the height differential. They have picked a very tall team and we have responded with a very small team – that did not work so well for us against GWS but the difference here is that the Dees do not have a lot of tall forwards -they are largely defenders. Perhaps Grundy and Roughhead will share rucking duties and spend the rest of the time forward.
The treatment of Balme was disgraceful RS. A worse decision and process than bringing in Allen.
But none of that was a factor in us making and losing the GF last year so it’s past history and irrelevant now so I am not sure what your point is, dredging this up in reference to what we may or may do for the rest of this year and in September 2019?
Lack of a tall defender on the list didn’t cost us the GF. Injuries to the ones we had was a factor but crucial turnovers were bigger issues on the day as we DeGoeys decision when we were in front with 2 minutes to go, to drop off McGovern, look for the Joe the Goose out the back and not defend WCE best intercept player. And the free kick not paid to Maynard was the nail in the coffin.
The latter three issues were bigger than missing a tall defender in the context of the game.
As it stands we have gone back to the same well we got Crocker from by bringing in Magden again but the well is dry (save for the pending explanation we will all get at seasons end on Goldy).
I can only imagine that Magden will chop ruck because with Preuss out the Dees now have a slightly smaller forward line – they may play Petty there but he may go back and maybe May goes forward – but Melbourne are in experimentation mode now so he could even end up in the ruck with Gawn and or May forward.
Either way we don’t have much of a choice and May or Petty will probably be more manageable by Magden and team defence than what Gawn and Preuss might have presented.