Team v Dockers

[kosifantutti]

St Kilda has made one change ahead of Saturday night's encounter with Fremantle.

Defender Darragh Joyce will return to the senior side for the first time since Round 2, also against the Dockers, while last week’s medical sub Tom Highmore has been named in the starting line-up.


The incoming Saints replace injured duo Dougal Howard (knee) and Hunter Clark (face).

Ben Long, Ryan Byrnes, Jarrod Lienert and Cooper Sharman have been listed as emergencies.

St Kilda will face Fremantle on Saturday 9 July, with the opening bounce at Marvel Stadium set for 7:25pm.

IN: Joyce
OUT: Clark (injured), Howard (injured)

Last week's medical sub: Highmore (replaced Howard)

[cwrcyn]

Long the most likely sub

[skeptic]

Well good luck to Joyce

Not his biggest fan by any means but he deserved his opportunity and hopefully he makes the most of it

I hope to see him play with a bit of confidence like he belongs at the level and not hang back in contests, stay back, zone off and cover space like he has done before. If he needs to go up he should and not wait/look for others to go in his place.

Take the opportunity and make the spot his own

[WellardSaint]

VFL coach Batchelor has, in the past, said Joyce had to learn to gel with the other backmen.
I recall the comments after several games.
His last Zebs game had him doing some good things so we'll see if he's really come up properly.
But I don't believe he's a long-term answer in our backline- he's fringe

[saynta]

Hope SS fans give the guy a fair chance.

[meher baba]

Have to include Joyce to play on Taberner.

I would have preferred Lienert to Highmore but there’s very little in it and most fans will be happy to see Highmore playing.

[WellardSaint]

Have to include Joyce to play on Taberner.

I would have preferred Lienert to Highmore but there’s very little in it and most fans will be happy to see Highmore playing.

Lienert and Highmore are almost the same height and weight, according to AFL app.
Hope Highmore grabs this chance with both hands.

I kept a close eye on Lienert in Rd 2 at Optus Stadium- he seemed to know where to run and seemed to gel with the backline.
Not sure why he hasn't played more games, but it must be team balance. The coaches know what they're doing

[axcellence]

Calling It- Leinert to be the sub.

[chook23]

Lobb/Darcy.......Taberner

their height will be an issue

[chook23]

Lobb/Darcy.......Taberner

their height will be an issue

[Teflon]

2 best players in VFL consistently for some time this year with Joyce/Highmore get their chance
I hope they take it
Amazed Sharman emergency…..he’s at least 4 years off it according to some SS experts…I wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t been delisted as after 7 games we’ve seen by enough surely !

[Ghost Like]

Provided our mids can put enough pressure on Freo's ball movement into F50, Joyce and Highmore will hopefully give us an edge in speed - let's hope Freo are too tall.

Let's also hope Paddy & RoMa are again in our best players because that usually means a St Kilda win.

[B.M]

They are big forward of the ball

Lobb 204 vs Wilkie 191
Tabbener 198 vs Joyce 195
Fyfe 193 vs Battle 193

Highmore will provide aerial support

Which is a concern

And Darcy is going to be tough as he is a monster - must be 110 at a minimum!?
And he can play
His injury is what helped us in the 3rd Q vs them last time!

Double team him and run him around

But as they always say

It’s the midfield

Brayshaw vs Crouch/Ross
Serong vs Jones/Gresham
Mundy vs Steele

Logue will probably take Membrey
Pearce will take King
Ryan will roll off his opponent for Ariel support

Ryder/Marshall will stretch them a bit.

It’s a 50/50 game

[Ghost Like]

Yep, spot on B.M. Darcy is a huge threat we need to nullify if we are to have any hope. If they roll Fyfe through the midfield, even more pressure on our contested ball and clearances.

[B.M]

Fyfe will start forward and push up to the midfield and attend front half stoppages

Interesting to see if Battle let’s him go?

If we have a spare behind the footy, (Battle) one of our forwards (ie Windhager/or extra mid?) will have to come up to round up Fyfe

That will leave Ryan free behind the ball for them - which they love

Other options- be outnumbered at the contest - and even numbers in front of the ball - that is super dangerous and difficult to pull off.

Or Battle goes with Fyfe to stoppage - he is not comfortable there!

My guess
Both sides will play with a plus 1 in defence and it will be low scoring

[Ghost Like]

I doubt we will elect to be outnumbered at the contest. We tend to want to outnumber the opposition at contests. The key and where we come unstuck is that extra getting sucked inside the contest and not keeping the numbers on the outside. That's where Melbourne killed us early.

[skeptic]

Hope SS fans give the guy a fair chance.

Me too.

Seems unlikely though. Earlier in the week, I read with interest as a lot of forumites suggested that 1yr, 10 game Sharman should be banished to to the ressies for an extended period based off of that one game where the entire team was taken a part by Sydney, if you can believe that. Some very harsh forumites around here IMO

[Gershwin]

By what criteria should Joyce be judged?

I would suggest the most important one is not to be out marked in one-on-one contests. At least get the ball to the ground.

[Vortex]

2 best players in VFL consistently for some time this year with Joyce/Highmore get their chance
I hope they take it
Amazed Sharman emergency…..he’s at least 4 years off it according to some SS experts…I wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t been delisted as after 7 games we’ve seen by enough surely !

4 years is a bit much, 3 years tops.

[spert]

Sharman medisub

[Saintmike65]

They are big forward of the ball

Lobb 204 vs Wilkie 191
Tabbener 198 vs Joyce 195
Fyfe 193 vs Battle 193

Highmore will provide aerial support

Which is a concern

And Darcy is going to be tough as he is a monster - must be 110 at a minimum!?
And he can play
His injury is what helped us in the 3rd Q vs them last time!

Double team him and run him around

But as they always say

It’s the midfield

Brayshaw vs Crouch/Ross
Serong vs Jones/Gresham
Mundy vs Steele

Logue will probably take Membrey
Pearce will take King
Ryan will roll off his opponent for Ariel support

Ryder/Marshall will stretch them a bit.

It’s a 50/50 game

Tipping Windhager goes to Ryan..did an important role on Docherty last week and Ryan super important to Freo.
Agree with B.M on running Darcy around, also, when Ryder and Marshall hit the scoreboard we normally win.

[Saintmike65]

By what criteria should Joyce be judged?

I would suggest the most important one is not to be out marked in one-on-one contests. At least get the ball to the ground.

I’d love see Joyce back himself and not just be a negating dour defender.
He has some good attributes such as speed, strength and kicks both feet.
It must be incredibly difficult for an overseas athlete to compete in a foreign sport at an elite level.
I, for one, would love this guy get the job done while Howard is out, who, by the way was not settling the world on fire himself!

[meher baba]

Hope SS fans give the guy a fair chance.

Me too.

Seems unlikely though. Earlier in the week, I read with interest as a lot of forumites suggested that 1yr, 10 game Sharman should be banished to to the ressies for an extended period based off of that one game where the entire team was taken a part by Sydney, if you can believe that. Some very harsh forumites around here IMO

My low opinion of Sharman - at least at this stage of his development - is based on the four low-impact games he has played this year, plus his slight build and his limited defensive game.

If all we needed from forwards was an ability to mark the ball when it is kicked properly to him and then kick straight on a set shot, then Sharman would be the go. I think that frustration with dropped sitters and missed easy shots on goal have led some fans to overrate Sharman on the basis that he does these things less often than most. (Although his game against the Swans featured an appalling shot on goal and several dropped marks.)

He’s got promise, but he needs to bulk up and work on his tackling.

[skeptic]

Sharman medisub

Fact or opinion?

Though l like the kid, would have been my last choice amongst the emergencies

[spert]

Sharman medisub

Fact or opinion?

Though l like the kid, would have been my last choice amongst the emergencies

I read it in my tea leaves this morning, but other than that no other information about the game etc.