So how do we beat GWS this week?

[D Mitchell]

If English was to come back in so Lobb back and O'Donnell retained, Hogan hardly an issue, the ball would never get that far.

[azabob]

If English was to come back in so Lobb back and O'Donnell retained, Hogan hardly an issue, the ball would never get that far.

English is not coming back this week.

[Flamethrower]

I have a two game Ballarat membership with the same seat every game there - get on to it.




and watch crap footy - no disrespect for local footy, I like it too, but AFL std better fun to watch.



Club membership building outside of Melbourne - all for the future of the club

Off topic but not sure what comp you watch but I have seen some highlights over the last few years in the WFNL and EDFL that would not look out of place at the MCG.
- Torpedo goal from the wrong side of the centre circle (went at least 80 metres).
- Miracle goal from the boundary line 40m out against a 5 goal wind.
- a couple of massive marks sitting on player's shoulders.

Overall the standard can't touch the game at the top level, but community football is often far more enjoyable than a mistake riddled game between 2 bottom AFL teams.

Back on topic, the felon (aka Toby) and the Great White Hope (aka Hogan) are the 2 guys we need to contain. Can't let the GWH match up on Buku at any stage, and we need a defender to handcuff the felon - shame we won't have English, as we could have Lobster shut out the GWH and the Jones boy take the felon.

[AshMac]

If we?re not careful we will get exposed by hogans ability to read the flight of the ball. He is making top shelf back lines look disorganised at times.

The way we bottled up Geelong and Sydney?s midfield and choked the supply in is how we win this week IMO. They?ll look very different to the last time we played them in form and flow.

Wish it wasn?t in Ballarat

[D Mitchell]

English is not coming back this week.

O'Donnell and Jones will just have to work harder.

[The Adelaide Connection]

If we?re not careful we will get exposed by hogans ability to read the flight of the ball. He is making top shelf back lines look disorganised at times.

The way we bottled up Geelong and Sydney?s midfield and choked the supply in is how we win this week IMO. They?ll look very different to the last time we played them in form and flow.

Wish it wasn?t in Ballarat

The funny thing is, isn't Whitten Oval usually blowing a gale? You would think that playing in wind would be something we would view as an advantage (despite playing home games at Marvel) but I think we all fear it.

[mjp]

GWS are playing well but their handball game is their biggest weapon and their biggest weakness. If we come forward to defend strongly - and Duryea and Jones seem to understand this as well as anyone in the league - then we will 100% be able to disrupt them, win the footy back and (if we are smart) put some scoreboard pressure on...just need to do the basics well and each player take charge of their moments.

Contest wise, obviously Briggs and Coniglio coming back in last week is huge for the orange and really changes them around the footy. The midfield battle is going to decide this one and I suspect if we let Green, Coniglio and Kelly have 85+ possessions between them things are probably NOT going well. I don't think we will see any effort by the MC to lock down on any of those players though - it will just be head to head with their best vs our best and let the chips fall where they may.

I think we MIGHT see Bedford go to half-back this week with the express purpose of shutting down Bailey Dale and I do hope we have a plan for that...half-forward is basically his (Bedford's) natural habitat so I really don't think we should let that happen...we do need Dale kicking the ball from D50 though so if the plan is to start him on a wing and then slide back (or something) then I would be in favour of that.

The Giants have the double punch of Whitfield and Perryman behind the footy and they will need attention - I think we will just let the small forwards play that role and not set 'anyone' in particular for them...whether it ends up being McNeil or VDM or West or whoever...our forward group have been doing a great job of minimising d50 runners and this is just another challenge to meet.

Forward of the ball, the Giants really have 3x key players. Hogan and Greene of course - I guess it means we go with Jones and Duryea here and just see what happens. They are our best two defenders and, well, it's not like we're over-flowing with shutdown players. Jones will need help in the air vs Hogan (of course) and that will mean JOD sliding off Cadman to help...Bramble gets Daniels and hopefully pays him a little more respect that Jordan Clarke did for the Dockers last week...he's had a slashing season though and you would expect he can get it done.

We're playing a pretty good team and ball in hand just getting the basics right, changing the angle of attack to separate the Giants defenders and make life difficult for Taylor, well...that stuff all goes without saying - they're a really good footy team and we will need to play strong, consistent footy to win.

[angelopetraglia]

The funny thing is, isn't Whitten Oval usually blowing a gale? You would think that playing in wind would be something we would view as an advantage (despite playing home games at Marvel) but I think we all fear it.

We may be used to it, but the wind exposes any minor flaw you may have with your ball drop.

[bornadog]

MJP, good post. I really don't like Duryea on Toby Greene. Toby is too good in the air and has beaten Taylor many times in the past. What do you think of say Bramble taking on Green and Duryea going to Jones?

[comrade]

I know it sounds gross but I?d probably give Khamis first crack at Greene. He?s not going to get mauled like the Crows game, and I?d prefer Duryea to either peel off and get free as much as possible to help out through the D50 and/or take Daniels when he?s forward.

[bornadog]

I know it sounds gross but I?d probably give Khamis first crack at Greene. He?s not going to get mauled like the Crows game, and I?d prefer Duryea to either peel off and get free as much as possible to help out through the D50 and/or take Daniels when he?s forward.

I thought of Buku as well, but also got frightened of the idea

[Sedat]

I know it sounds gross but I?d probably give Khamis first crack at Greene. He?s not going to get mauled like the Crows game, and I?d prefer Duryea to either peel off and get free as much as possible to help out through the D50 and/or take Daniels when he?s forward.

Yes it does. Greene is one of the highest IQ footballers going around - he will take Buku to places that will hurt like hell.

[mjp]

I really don't like Duryea on Toby Greene.

Yeah - I do get that...but to me this is a simple "Back in your Best" type setup. Duryea is our best defender - Greene is the one we need to stop. Plus, Duryea is experienced enough that if he DOES get beat, we know he will simply fight through it and move on...if he ends up on another opponent, he will remain consistent in effort and continue to provide great leadership. If another of our players was thrown the challenge and Greene got 2-3 on them early, you might lose them for the game.

Best on best = plan a. Break glass plan for me is Bailey Williams - has the physical size to really challenge Greene, runs well and knows how to win one-on-one contests. I'm not sure I want Bramble to Greene...I think he's had a great year but Brent Daniels with his up and out the back running is a much better match up.

[bornadog]

Yeah - I do get that...but to me this is a simple "Back in your Best" type setup. Duryea is our best defender - Greene is the one we need to stop. Plus, Duryea is experienced enough that if he DOES get beat, we know he will simply fight through it and move on...if he ends up on another opponent, he will remain consistent in effort and continue to provide great leadership. If another of our players was thrown the challenge and Greene got 2-3 on them early, you might lose them for the game.

Best on best = plan a. Break glass plan for me is Bailey Williams - has the physical size to really challenge Greene, runs well and knows how to win one-on-one contests. I'm not sure I want Bramble to Greene...I think he's had a great year but Brent Daniels with his up and out the back running is a much better match up.

Toby is hard to match up on. We just have to stop the ball getting to him in the first place.

[jeemak]

I know it sounds gross but I?d probably give Khamis first crack at Greene. He?s not going to get mauled like the Crows game, and I?d prefer Duryea to either peel off and get free as much as possible to help out through the D50 and/or take Daniels when he?s forward.

Sorry man, I just can't see it.

If we were going to try someone who can go in the air with him it would be JOD and even then I struggle to see how Toby doesn't gut punch him and get distance on him.

I know Duryea has had his issues in the past but he's the most likely to keep Greene as a known quantity, even if that means three or four. A Khamis or JOD match up stinks of six or seven to me.