From the available players not injured/sick etc. I would make 4 changes and make a number of positional changes as well.

Firstly Chris Bryan has got to be better than De Luca irrespective of where they are played. He can ruck, kick, play back/forward and most importantly he holds his marks.

Secondly we need some bulk in the backline and whilst Prenda didn’t play there, Livo is a backman and he is better skilled than Prenda, so off to the Ants Ian.

Thirdly Scotland is about as accountable for his man as Stevens and Kouta and had a shocker IMO, so make way for a lad who has skill, speed and above all will do as he is told. Welcome to the big boys JR. Now this will get some of you kiddies going.

Fourthly we are still missing grunt and run in the back half, so let’s create a special possie for Houla Skirt…Left Right Out…David Teague has more commitment in his little finger than Ryan the Rabbit.

So that’s the 4 changes I’d make, now to the positional changes:

Flash Eddie is a crumber, not a mid. Get him back at the fall of the pill at the feet of Fev and Carlos. We saw what he can do in the pocket last year. He also exerts forward pressure on indecisive defenders similar to how Hickey used to.

Red is not a friggin Centre Half Back, but then again who is? I reckon Whittas would be better off in the Forward Goal Square.

1AW should be let loose on the wing rather than defence. Enough of the tagging roles. Remember Kouta in 94-95? Would be a difficult matchup with his flair and speed.

If Livo could contain Neitz he could have done a fair job on Kingsley IMO. But then again when 3 senior players are not accountable for their men, the pill will keep coming in like rain.

Waiteys not a backman at his current body shape and is better as a third or fourth tall in attack, whether that means wing or flank, I’m not sure but if he was in the forward line that I have worked out, he would gets heaps of the red thing.

I have long been an advocate for Fev playing at CHF cause he can lead from a way back and kicks it a mile. Needs room and to be on a different line to Carlos.

With Carlos down next to Red, at least he will learn when to go and when to stay. Very pleased with his performance on Saturday night.

As for the midfield, we now have a number of rotational options with Smurf and Blackers likely to be 200 gamers. They both need a body before they will have a major impact, but they are both class players with very good in close skills. You can’t teach awareness, but you can put muscle on bone.


Out: Adrian Deluca, Ian Prendergast, Heath Scotland, Ryan Houlihan

In: Chris Bryan, Luke Livingston, Jordan Russell, David Teague


Backs: Cory McGrath Luke Livingston Adam Hartlett

H Backs: Matthew Lappin Bret Thornton Jordan Russell

Centre: Andrew Walker Nick Stevens Kade Simpson

H Forwards: Brad Fisher Brendan Fevola Jarrad Waite

Forwards: Eddie Betts Lance Whitnall Setanta O'hAilpin

Followers: Barnaby French Anthony Koutoufides Adam Bentick

Interchange: Chris Bryan Dylan McLaren David Teague Luke Blackwell Andrew Carrazzo Marc Murphy

Hopefully Saddo gets right soon and adds some experience to the back six. Walk up start when fit. After Clarks debut for the Yogi Bears, can’t wait to see young JFK in action. His work ethic and all round skills should mean an early entry to the big time. The future is a bit brighter than some make out. What say you?

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What a peculiar thread...........!


kindest regards tommi

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

I dont understand a word of that!

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If you are wise you'll listen to me

What is that doing here?

I feel dirty.

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hehe, it says grunt.

It's perfect for TalkingStuff.

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OUTs: Fev, Waite, Prendagast, Hartlett (injured?) would also consider resting Kouta and Stevo
IN: Bannister, Russell, Bryan, Livo (Wiggins, Teague for kouta and stevo)

somethhing like that i would be looking at.

Fev and Waite aren't right, and can play a half in the ressies.

Do practice matches have the huge interchange bench?

Backs: Cory McGrath Luke Livingston Jordan Bannister

H Backs: Matthew Lappin Bret Thornton Jordan Russell

Centre: Andrew Walker Andrew Carrazzo Kade Simpson

H Forwards: Brad Fisher Jarrad Waite Simon Wiggins

Forwards: Eddie Betts Setanta O'hAilpin Marc Murphy

Followers: Barnaby French Adam Bentick Luke Blackwell

Interchange: Chris Bryan Dylan McLaren David Teague Adrian Deluca Ryan Houlihan Heath Scotland


tall bench but with kouta, waite, prenda and fev out we need to cover those guys and the 6 man bench can give us this flexibility.
soulc swap the small fowards in murphy and wiggo for talls.

of course murphy, houla, scotto would also make up part of the midifield rotation

Deluca moved well and got to plenty of chances. He didn't hold anywhere nearly enough, but you don't drop a player after one game for something that often needs time to come good. If he's still juggling everything a few rounds into the season then he gets a run in the bullants. His upside is big enough that we need to give him some time.



Prenders didn't play too badly on Saturday. But I'd also like to see Livo get a run, so maybe he has to make way. We need Scotland playing well during the year, that gets him a few chances in the pre-season. If he's not showing anything by Round 1 then a decision has to be made.



I don't understand the reaction Houla has received on here. Sure, there were a couple of times he was going to get tackled and he made some wild disposals, but he still got it 25 times, and did some good things.

You've now swapped 3 midfielders for 3 defenders. Even with the larger bench that's put the balance out of whack.



You've got 5 talls in the forward line. It's just too tall and will end up too crowded.

Fevola isn't, and never will be a CHF. He doesn't have the tank. Especially at the moment, as he's not fit, but even when at his best he can't play CHF.

Chris Bryan had a rocket put up him last week for not showing intensity.

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It's just a practice match. We may have wanted to win last week but this should be purely about experimentation & preparing for rd 1. We have a lot to get right between now & then. May want to give a few others guys who missed out last week a try. But I wouldn't think we'd be too worried about the result or trying to put our best possible team in & I'm not going to try naming who should be in the team.

I thought Deluca started well and was reasonable..ok dropped a few marks but I wouldnt drop him though...I would include Bryan in the team along with a few others...its a practice match and we have a few more...try and give everyone a game I say....

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thought deluca played alrite, 1 of his better games for a while

Mordan, I think one day Fevola could play at centre half forward if thats where he was needed. At this stage however, i would much prefer him at full forward.

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When is this practice match scheduled for?

1.30 saturday arvo.

pretty sure it wont be televised at all though.

i'd think about coming down if i could get cheap enough flights

Have to disagree there Mordan. He hasn't been able to take a mark the whole time he has been at the club, not sure that another few weeks will change anything. I hope I'm wrong, if he could hold marks I think he'd be extremely dangerous but I just don't see it happening unfortunately.

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i wish we could combine archie and fisher into the same person.

fishers kicking would be fixed and so would archies marking. that or we would have a player who couldn't mark or kick.

archie's marking is the only thing i can see holding him back.

that piece of play in the first quarter on saturday just shows his potential. collecting the half volley at pace, turning on a dime, bruning off and opponent while keeping the ball inside the boundary and the hitting kouta on the chest after steadying for a few steps was pure gold.

his chest marks are fine, it's just his marks infront of his face he seems to juggle. needs more flex in his elbows i thinking, or his writs are two rigid maybe, i dunno.

part BGD is right that it's been a problem for 2 years with us now. he hasn't show much improvement in this area.

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt over last year due to injuries. If he'd had two trouble free years and was still taking three grabs to pull them in then I'd probably be ready to give up.

Marking is a skill that requires confidence. As soon as you lose that confidence, you're prone to grab at it, thus the hard hands.

I just don't see we've got much to lose. Give him a good shot at making it, if he has his chance and just doesn't show improvement, then he can be delisted. He's still a difficult match up, it would take a ballsy coach to punt on him dropping everything that came his way. If they want to match him up properly, he takes a mobile tall, which no team has in abundance.

There's a potential Spoonerism train-wreck

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