NAB 3rd Game Squad.

[nas]

Richmond v Port Adelaide
Etihad Stadium, Thursday 10 March at 7:10pm AEDT

1. Travis Boak, 3. Jake Neade, 5. Matthew Broadbent, 7. Brad Ebert, 8. Hamish Hartlett, 9. Robbie Gray, 12. Jackson Trengove, 13. Cameron O’Shea, 15. Karl Amon, 16. Oliver Wines, 18. Jimmy Toumpas, 19. Matthew White, 20. Chad Wingard, 22. Charlie Dixon, 23. Matthew Lobbe, 24. Jarman Impey, 27. Alipate Carlile, 28. Jay Schulz, 29. Jasper Pittard, 32. Dougal Howard, 33. Darcy Byrne-Jones, 36. Jack Hombsch, 39. Justin Westhoff, 40. Aaron Young, 41. Brendon Ah Chee, 42. Tom Jonas, 46. Sam Gray

Notable absentees: Jared Polec, John Butcher

[Atto]

> "notable absentee"
> "John Butcher"
;D

[PowerBug]

Richmond v Port Adelaide
Etihad Stadium, Thursday 10 March at 7:10pm AEDT

1. Travis Boak, 3. Jake Neade, 5. Matthew Broadbent, 7. Brad Ebert, 8. Hamish Hartlett, 9. Robbie Gray, 12. Jackson Trengove, 13. Cameron O’Shea, 15. Karl Amon, 16. Oliver Wines, 18. Jimmy Toumpas, 19. Matthew White, 20. Chad Wingard, 22. Charlie Dixon, 23. Matthew Lobbe, 24. Jarman Impey, 27. Alipate Carlile, 28. Jay Schulz, 29. Jasper Pittard, 32. Dougal Howard, 33. Darcy Byrne-Jones, 36. Jack Hombsch, 39. Justin Westhoff, 40. Aaron Young, 41. Brendon Ah Chee, 42. Tom Jonas, 46. Sam Gray

Notable absentees: Jared Polec, John Butcher

9 players fighting for 3 spots in the fully fit best 22 (As I've Greened 19 locks). The two in blue I think are almost locked into that side, the 2 guys in red I don't think can play in that fully fit side. So the others I guess are fighting for one, depends on what team structure requires. Wouldn't be surprising if Byrne-Jones got ahead of Impey, I can't see him being used as a rebounding defender too much seeing as Pittard, Broadbent, Hartlett and even our talls are very attacking minded when they have the ball

[powersuperkents]

> "notable absentee"
> "John Butcher"
;D

flower yes  ;D

#delistthespudalready

Huge improvement from what I saw last week. Not completely convinced, but happy nonetheless.

I just feel like that our list, on paper and with our player fitness, should really be capable of finishing a season undefeated.

Call me bias but I grew up watching the Mark Williams era at its peak, and I think Hinkley's list, although not as consistent, is capable of greater things.

I think consistency will still be an issue this season.

So far this NAB I've loved how Toumpas has gone about his footy as an individual player.

What I really liked today was Dixon, not only how he went about his footy, but also the impact he had on the game as a whole.

During the first half, the Tiges did a solid job keeping Wingard, Gray, & Schulz under lock and key. Our midfielders rose to the occasion and scored the goals while the immortal Westhoff (proving again why he is realistically one of our most important 5 players) scored the majority of our goals out of the forward group (and this was just when he went forward).

During the second half, the inclusion of Dixon overloaded the Tiges defence. Suddenly, Rance had focus purely on Dixon to negate the 110kg forward (or else he would dominate any kicks inside 50) and the remaining shut down defenders were overloaded.

Firstly, Wingard & Schulzy were freed up and as a result found more of the ball (despite not scoring much during this period, it will take time for Schulz to become acclimated to Dixon's presence and the significant reduction in attention, Schulz had a lot of uncontested touches in play and was involved in numerous plays inside 50).

Secondly, the shut down defenders were so occupied with Schulz and Wingard (w/o any assistance from Rance) that they could not prepare for attacking mids and half-forward like Gray, White, Ah Chee, Neade, etc. who kept receiving possessions whilst unaccounted for by the opposition.

I'm certain that this was initially Hinkley's vision when recruiting Ryder - why this didn't eventuate was obviously because Ryder isn't a forward. It looks as though Dixon isn't only offering a tall target up forward, but also freeing up Schulz, Wingard, & Gray (or the resting mid).

He was quick to embrace the PAFC spirit and tackled unlike any injury prone player I've ever seen. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this works out when Dixon, Wingard, & Schulz play a full 4 quarters together (also note how Robbie Gray was freed up in the second half when Dixon came on - in the first half he literally could not get an inch of space).

Also good to see that Butcher, Young, & O'Shea were left out (flowering spuds  >:( )

The midfield depth is looking to be it's best yet under the Hinkley era (Ah Chee, S. Gray (who's starting to become our no. 1 ball winner), & Toumpas all look right at home).

Dougal Howard has also been impressive (for a big kid, he has a surprisingly accurate kick - he's score assist to Schulz for the first goal was a spectacular kick).

Lobbe really has me worried  :-\  (if we had Ryder I would say that the hype is true - however, Lobbe is looking like a seriously weak link in the team...)

[kilbluff1985]

Dixon for AA if gets enough games

[PowerBug]

So from what I posted above, looks like Ah Chee, Impey and Toumpas play round 1? And if Hartlett gets done then maybe Byrne Jones comes in?

[nas]

So from what I posted above, looks like Ah Chee, Impey and Toumpas play round 1? And if Hartlett gets done then maybe Byrne Jones comes in?

Rush of blood, seesh, reckon Hinks will pull him to one side & tell him "To pull his head in" pun intended.

[powersuperkents]

So from what I posted above, looks like Ah Chee, Impey and Toumpas play round 1? And if Hartlett gets done then maybe Byrne Jones comes in?

If he gets suspended it means the AFL have a conspiracy to impede Port Adelaide (nothing in it and Townsend was being a showerhead all night - looks like a really good pick-up for Richmond though (will probably be the next Ryan Crowley)

I don't think Bryne-Jones is AFL-ready (he seems similar to Pittard in his first few seasons - when he would just give me headaches). I won't feel comfortable with him in the lineup - Pittard took years to mature (I would say his big step forward was in 2013, however I didn't feel comfortable when the ball was in his hands until 2014 - he's now one of my favourite defenders). DBJ seems to have the same problem with dropping the ball and turning over the ball that Pittard took a while to get over.

Maybe play him against the Bombers or Carlton for AFL experience but the problem with Port is when a few players don't fire, the team turns to shower (players like Young, Butcher, DBJ increase the likelihood of that occurring).

I would say Ah Chee, Impey, & Toumpas are round 1 players (I still cannot believe we got Toumpas for next to nothing - he has taken responsibility for his output in Melbourne, but I also suspect his delayed start was a result of the Demons not utilising him correctly - he looks at home across half-back and provides an additional disposal option to the midfield group).

[Money Shot]

Do you guys think Howard is a chance for round 1? He's looked good in the games he's played.

[PowerBug]

Do you guys think Howard is a chance for round 1? He's looked good in the games he's played.

Not a chance if the other talls are all fit. Hinkley will back Lobbe in to start the season off.

[powersuperkents]

Do you guys think Howard is a chance for round 1? He's looked good in the games he's played.

Not a chance if the other talls are all fit. Hinkley will back Lobbe in to start the season off.

+1

Fantasy football wise, keep Howard on the watchlist - he could be a quality downgrade player (he should receive ample opportunities alongside Lobbe later in the season - the way I see it, there is no way Lobbe will be dropped (we just don't have anyone to cover him) but Dougall should receive some chances to back him up sometime in the season - most likely in the point of the season when Lobbe starts tiring and needs a reduced workload)