The challenges of a 5 day break

[GVGjr]

Round 3 shapes up as a challenge for us (and GWS) as we will be coming off just a 5 day break. With a limited training block leading into round 2 I think the forward planning we need to consider makes for some added complexity to the team we select to play St Kilda.

With the reduced quarters the popular theory seems to be that most sides will will only need one ruck man supported by a tall forward or midfielder but does that logic still hold up when your number one ruck option is a young Tim English and another game is just five days away?

The other challenge for us appears to be how we manage the likes of some long term injuries with a returning Tom Liberatore and Taylor Duryea? And then we have a blue chip key position player in Aaron Naughton who has had some challenges. On top of that we won't have Lachie Hunter and have Patrick Lipinski returning from concussion

So some of the questions I have would be around if we play the likes of Jackson Trengove in round 2 to support English and giving him the best chance to be ready for round 3 or do we roll the dice and just deal with round 3 regardless? Lewis Young can prodive some support

Would it be too much to think Liberatore and/or Duryea given their lengthy injuries could back up in round 3 after just a 5 day break?
Would a 5 day break expose Naughton a bit more than would be ideal for us?

How important is it for us to keep introducing our younger players into the senior team or do we just go with our best 22 regardless?

I'm really looking forward to see how we handle some of the unique challenges of this season and I'm pretty close to being back into full footy mode.

I'd really like to hear some thoughts on who we might handle the challenges of round 2 and 3

[Bulldog Joe]

The 5 day break is clearly an issue, but GWS have the same problem.

Personally, I don't want us to play cute. Pick the best/fittest side we can for St Kilda with the view that we must bank the points.

After that we simply need to do the same thing against GWS, which possibly mean some players will struggle to get up.

GWS will have sore players from round 2 and we should back the depth in the list to cover those that don't come up.

Pick round 2 to have the best chance to win round 2 and then pick round 3 to have the best chance to win round 3.

DO NOT GET CUTE!!

[Rocket Science]

A five-day break after a two-month layoff seems decidedly less problematic than usual, and would humbly suggest we need continuity of form (and selection given the new parts in play) more than we need to manage workloads.

Fitness permitting, trot out our bona fide best 22 versus the Aints, ideally get our eye in and bank some confidence, then cue an encore against the fluoro arseholes.

[josie]

Thank you Rocketscience - “Fluoro Arseholes”. Going to use this, as well as plastic oranges and great waste of space.

[mjp]

A five-day break after a two-month layoff seems decidedly less problematic than usual, and would humbly suggest we need continuity of form (and selection given the new parts in play) more than we need to manage workloads.



I actually think this makes it worse.

When you are on the merry-go-round of the season, you are 'conditioned' for the game and everything that surrounds the game (meetings, stress, pressure etc). After a 2-month holiday, going into games then facing a 5-day turnaround? Good Luck being up for that.

[GVGjr]

I actually think this makes it worse.

When you are on the merry-go-round of the season, you are 'conditioned' for the game and everything that surrounds the game (meetings, stress, pressure etc). After a 2-month holiday, going into games then facing a 5-day turnaround? Good Luck being up for that.

MJP, how do you think the club should approach the 5 day turnaround from a selection perspective given the unusual lead in?

Would bringing in both Liberatore and Duryea be a bit more risky? Would English ideally need some support or could Lewis Young provide a chop out?
Or should we just go for picking the best side against the Saints and make whatever adjustments we need to against GWS which is the most likely scenario?

I'm interested to hear if there should be a level of forward planning given the extended break and the fact we have the likes of Naughton, Liberatore and Duryea with some injury concerns?

[mjp]

MJP, how do you think the club should approach the 5 day turnaround from a selection perspective given the unusual lead in?

Would bringing in both Liberatore and Duryea be a bit more risky? Would English ideally need some support or could Lewis Young provide a chop out?
Or should we just go for picking the best side against the Saints and make whatever adjustments we need to against GWS which is the most likely scenario?

I'm interested to hear if there should be a level of forward planning given the extended break and the fact we have the likes of Naughton, Liberatore and Duryea with some injury concerns?

I am too simple a person to answer this question - I just prefer to follow the bouncing ball.

By that I mean I would be going all out to win this week - and let the chips fall where they may. If Liber and Duryea are ready to go - PLAY THEM. No limited minutes, no thoughts about the Giants. And if English pulls up sore, well, he doesn't play the next week.

I am perpetually fascinated by the machinations of Bevo and the match committee though and I admit to being a little 'on edge' about what might be done this week with the idea that we have two games in 6-days. Quite literally anything is on the table I would suggest...there is no-one in the list whose selection would surprise me this week (with the possible exception of Trengove who seems to have been placed in the 'break glass in the event of emergency' bucket...and the nature of that 'emergency' hasn't EXACTLY been clearly defined!)

[bornadog]

We should only be thinking of the next game and go in with our best 22. Then we see how the boys pull up and if necessary make adjustments. It's not rocket science, so don't listen to the sports scientists :D

[ratsmac]

We should only be thinking of the next game and go in with our best 22. Then we see how the boys pull up and if necessary make adjustments. It's not rocket science, so don't listen to the sports scientists :D

Agreed. We are in no position to get cocky at the selection table. We didn't respect Collingwood nearly enough and had our pants pulled down. There is a time and place to blood the young players and round 1 isn't one unless they are better the other options.

If they are fit and are best 22, play them. If they are too sore, rest them.

[GVGjr]

I am too simple a person to answer this question - I just prefer to follow the bouncing ball.

By that I mean I would be going all out to win this week - and let the chips fall where they may. If Liber and Duryea are ready to go - PLAY THEM. No limited minutes, no thoughts about the Giants. And if English pulls up sore, well, he doesn't play the next week.

I am perpetually fascinated by the machinations of Bevo and the match committee though and I admit to being a little 'on edge' about what might be done this week with the idea that we have two games in 6-days. Quite literally anything is on the table I would suggest...there is no-one in the list whose selection would surprise me this week (with the possible exception of Trengove who seems to have been placed in the 'break glass in the event of emergency' bucket...and the nature of that 'emergency' hasn't EXACTLY been clearly defined!)

That's the response I was fully expecting. The Saints pose a big enough challenge and we should just deal with any fall out from that challenge. We start dealing with our planning for GWS straight after the game against the Saints win lose or draw.

Part of the reason why I asked it is to get a gauge on if people think our match committee might try and get too smart and overengineer the selection process. I wouldn't rule out that possibility though

My thoughts are we should pack the team with our contested ball midfielders, Bontempelli, Macrae, Dunkley, Liberatore, B.Smith, Lipinski, McLean and Wallis etc so we can get the right effort from the start of the game and from there we might need to manufacture some goals from the smaller and mid sized forwards. It's all about effort from my perspective.

If we get that right against the Saints we should have the passion to really push through against GWS as they humbled us the last time we played them.

I'm starting to get a bit excited about the footy returning.

[mjp]

T
My thoughts are we should pack the team with our contested ball midfielders, Bontempelli, Macrae, Dunkley, Liberatore, B.Smith, Lipinski, McLean and Wallis etc so we can get the right effort from the start of the game and from there we might need to manufacture some goals from the smaller and mid sized forwards. It's all about effort from my perspective.


It always is!

I'm not so sure about playing ALL of those guys but if Wallis plays forward exclusively I think you could make them fit.

I wouldn't play McLean.

[GVGjr]

It always is!

I'm not so sure about playing ALL of those guys but if Wallis plays forward exclusively I think you could make them fit.

I wouldn't play McLean.

Dale ahead of McLean or would you look at someone like Richards

Regarding the effort. Bevo must be concerned if we don't recapture it against the Saints and GWS

[bornadog]

Dale ahead of McLean or would you look at someone like Richards

Regarding the effort. Bevo must be concerned if we don't recapture it against the Saints and GWS

I prefer Richards

[mjp]

Dale ahead of McLean or would you look at someone like Richards.

I wouldn't play Dale either after his Round 1 performance.

Richards should play. He plays with intent and looks to run+carry the ball/take on the opposition.

I know I have been on this for a while, but if McLean is to play, he MUST be given a task. I would play him on Brad Hill. Rolling him out as a permanent forward and letting him run his own race has not been working (even a little bit). So give him a task and therefore a chance to be successful. It isn't about making him a tagger. It is about adding a string to his bow and enabling him to become a critical member of the team. One day he MIGHT just become an elite mid - right now he is behind 6 or 7 others...so let him become something different.

[jeemak]

It kind of resonates with why I wanted to give Toby a chance at being a defencively minded/ grunt inside midfielder over an extended period. We're crying out for someone to do it, and like you said it doesn't have to be a pure tagging role just something we need and he hasn't done yet.

[mjp]

It kind of resonates with why I wanted to give Toby a chance at being a defencively minded/ grunt inside midfielder over an extended period. We're crying out for someone to do it, and like you said it doesn't have to be a pure tagging role just something we need and he hasn't done yet.

I suggested it last year as well and it wasn't well received on here so maybe we are on an island together. I just think for things to change then first someTHING has to change. What is that thing going to be?

[soupman]

I suggested it last year as well and it wasn't well received on here so maybe we are on an island together. I just think for things to change then first someTHING has to change. What is that thing going to be?

I'm with you.

He's been crap since we stopped letting him be a full time mid so either we find a way for him to contribute or we continue to get mediocre performances from him as a largely ineffectual forward.

[jeemak]

I suggested it last year as well and it wasn't well received on here so maybe we are on an island together. I just think for things to change then first someTHING has to change. What is that thing going to be?

I probably told you that you had rocks in your head at the time!

It's unclear to me what his running ability is like. Baz Smith isn't going to stay on a wing forever, so that's another player going into the middle to make things difficult for Toby. Is he good enough running wise to command a wing position for the bulk of the game?

If he's not going to be an effective forward, and doesn't have a spot in the middle he's on the way out I think. He's too good a player to be on the fringe and someone will come to him with an offer too good to refuse sooner rather than later.

[FrediKanoute]

I wouldn't play Dale either after his Round 1 performance.

Richards should play. He plays with intent and looks to run+carry the ball/take on the opposition.

I know I have been on this for a while, but if McLean is to play, he MUST be given a task. I would play him on Brad Hill. Rolling him out as a permanent forward and letting him run his own race has not been working (even a little bit). So give him a task and therefore a chance to be successful. It isn't about making him a tagger. It is about adding a string to his bow and enabling him to become a critical member of the team. One day he MIGHT just become an elite mid - right now he is behind 6 or 7 others...so let him become something different.

I would play Dale. I think that there were bigger issues in that team than Bailey Dale's no-show. Fact is he is a half foward which is a tough role to play when the ball is getting into your half of the ground. The way our ball was being moved meant that no one was going to be able to have an impact.

We were badly structured through the back half. Taht's where I would focus. Lewy Young??? Just not sure if he is ready yet. Can you play Young, Cordy, Wood in the same side? I would focus on the backhalf of the ground and make sure for both the Saints and Giants these were spot on.

[Remi Moses]

I’ve heard players say 5 day breaks aren’t the issue it’s the back to back 6 day breaks .
I think the fact the seasons in it’s infancy it won’t have that big an effect .

[GVGjr]

I’ve heard players say 5 day breaks aren’t the issue it’s the back to back 6 day breaks .
I think the fact the seasons in it’s infancy it won’t have that big an effect .

I think that might be the case with a proper lead into the season but this disjointed stop start might still pose some challenges

[Remi Moses]

Definitely going to pose unprecedented challenges
I just think the players should be fresh
Back end might be a different scenario
Time will tell

[bornadog]

I'm with you.

He's been crap since we stopped letting him be a full time mid so either we find a way for him to contribute or we continue to get mediocre performances from him as a largely ineffectual forward.

He has never been a fulltime mid. He may have had alot more midfield time in 2018, but he was resting in the fwd pocket where he has played the majority of his career.

I for one thought he should have been dropped a few times last year, he just couldn't get his hands on the ball.