Who plays on Eddie Betts?

[GVGjr]

Key match-up for us, if we keep him quiet it will go a long way for a Doggies win.

Who gets the job of keeping Eddie quiet?

A bit of detail with your responses would be appreciated

[LostDoggy]

Mozza has to for sure.
Has towelled him up a few times,has the pace and strength to knock him off his game and a bit of niggle will see Betts go to water.

[Rocco Jones]

Let's start with who takes the talls first.

- Roberts vs Jenkins when he is forward is probably our clearest match up. This releases Roberts for about 20% TOG while Jenkins is in the ruck.
- Walker vs Hamling with team defence support?
- Wood on Lynch? A bit of the type of risk we need/love to take under Beveridge

That leaves our old mate the glove to take Eddie for mine.

[LostDoggy]

We've got a few options this week. I actually think Morris will take Walker, who catches most out with his hard leading and mobility. Morris has kept him quiet in the past.

I like Bob for Betts as he has the experience/smarts, has the pace and the long spoiling arms. Also, Betts can be lazy defensively and will hate being accountable for Bob on the rebound.

We'll play a team defence of course and rotate a bit but primarily I'd line them up as follows:

Morris - Walker
Jenkins - Roberts
Lynch - Hamling
Bob - Betts
Cameron - Biggs/Boyd
Resting midfieler - Biggs/Boyd/Wood

[chef]

I'd stick moz on him and just get him to sit and cut him out of the game. Murphy would be burnt the other i feel and he's to dangerous a player to have someone running off him.

[bulldogtragic]

Morris is more of a pure negator. Bobby is a counter attacking weapon. They're the two in my mind that suit Betts. Betts can't be given an inch so to keep Bobs attacking run and play, Morris plays on him for me too.

[Mantis]

Morris.. Keeping Betts quiet puts more pressure on Walker and Jenkins to hit the scoreboard.

[Bulldog Joe]

I expect to see a few players rotate on opponents as that seems to be the way it goes this year.

The team defence has worked well, but I see Roberts on Jenkins, with perhaps Moz taking Walker as the primary match ups.

There may be some interest in who they assign individually as they will really want to stop the intercept marking of Wood and rebound from Murphy and Boyd.

It is really a matter of who is most prepared to risk to set up scoring chances.

Murphy on Betts might restrict our rebound.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Morris.. Keeping Betts quiet puts more pressure on Walker and Jenkins to hit the scoreboard.

Yep, and Morris has given Betts plenty of baths in the past. Long may it continue tomorrow night.

[always right]

Morris to Betts
Hamling to Jenkins
Roberts to Walker
Murph, Wood and Biggs to rotate on the rest.

[boydogs]

I would start Morris on him. If one of the Adelaide talls gets on top we may need to move Morris onto them and put Murphy on Betts

[Go_Dogs]

I would really like to see Bob have first crack.

Eddie is better at ground level and loves to work himself back into space for an easy one. I've seen quite a bit of him this year and his aerial work isn't a huge concern. This may mean we're more reliant on Biggs, Boyd and Wood to provide our run but I'd prefer to see Morris utilised in a way he can be third man up more regularly. If he's on Betts I don't know if he can afford to zone off to impact an aerial contest.

This would mean we have something like:-
Roberts - Jenkins
Hamling - Walker
Wood - Lynch
Boyd/Biggs - Cameron
Morris - whoever
Murphy - Betts

By giving Morris their sixth forward, he can marshal the defensive group and ensure that any contest involving Tex or Jenkins is at least a 2 v 1.

[bornadog]

We lose the drive out of HBF if Murphy plays a lock down role. We need Murph to be creative and get the backline moving.

I think we should have Biggs on him. Tough ask but he has been in good form, as long as he doesn't try and short pass.

[kruder]

We lose the drive out of HBF if Murphy plays a lock down role. We need Murph to be creative and get the backline moving.

I think we should have Biggs on him. Tough ask but he has been in good form, as long as he doesn't try and short pass.

Id prefer to play Biggs slightly higher up the ground so the short pass brain fade doesn't come into it. HBF to wing I think he can be really effective. Morris for Eddie

[ratsmac]

I'd love to see Fletcher have first crack at Walker. He is our future fb prospect atm so let's see what he's got.

Hamlet to run with Jenkins who isn't afraid to get on his bike and run. Hamling is more than capable of going with him. Strength may be an issue in one on one's.

Wood goes to Lynch. Both pretty quick and agile. Lynch has a bit of height on Wood, but Woods vertical leap can cover that.

So it's Morris to Betts for mine. Moz has done a number on Betts in the past and he will again. If Betts see's Moz walking towards him before the bounce, that's enough, Betts will be mentally beaten already.

The others will all rotate covering for each other when we run off half back.

[LostDoggy]

We lose the drive out of HBF if Murphy plays a lock down role. We need Murph to be creative and get the backline moving.

I think we should have Biggs on him. Tough ask but he has been in good form, as long as he doesn't try and short pass.

This is a fair point, but I think the flip side is to say Bob will still run off, whether he's on Betts or anyone. What he then does is force Betts to chase, leave the 50 and get out of his comfort zone.

By running off a guy like Betts we may concede 1 or 2 if we turn it over quickly, but I'll back Bob in to create more than that and mess with their structures in the process.

I reckon Bevo's defensive setups are as much about destabilising opposition structures as they are about traditional one on one stopping.

[Mantis]

I'm hoping we try and free Wood up as much as we can.. His ability to take intercept marks could be a real key.

Happy for Boyd to follow Lynch around.

[Rocco Jones]

I'm hoping we try and free Wood up as much as we can.. His ability to take intercept marks could be a real key.

Happy for Boyd to follow Lynch around.

We must free up at least 2 of Wood/Boyd/Bob. No point in going with a small backline and then being cautious.

[bulldogtragic]

Somebody please.

[F'scary]

No-one.

[comrade]

Wood seemed to have him from the start which backfired. Should have moved Moz onto him after his first goal, in hindsight. Got them up and going.

That goal in the dying seconds of the 3rd really hurt.

[Go_Dogs]

There aren't many players like him, but Betts is one of the problems with team defence. Working back tonight, our blokes were too often caught up with where their fellow defenders were and adhering to the structure, which meant Betts was often able to find himself in far too much space.

This was always going to be what he tried to do, and I'm not sure we had a sufficient plan in place to counter it.

[Ozza]

Wood seemed to have him from the start which backfired. Should have moved Moz onto him after his first goal, in hindsight. Got them up and going.

That goal in the dying seconds of the 3rd really hurt.

Morris was definitely standing him at the start. Wood had Cameron.