Why not Max in for Eddy?

[The Sainter]

Max would be an ideal back up for our back line as he can match up well with any of their forwards if needed. He plays close and players will have to earn their kicks against him. We have to free up Goddard to play more attacking football around the centre where his long kicking will put the Cats backmen under great pressure.
Eddy surely would be very lucky to hold his place. Also our 2 small forwards this week must play at the feet of Kosi and Roo, how often they went missing when the ball hit the ground on Friday. I believe the inclusion of Max would lift the players spirits even more as he is such a favourite person whom they all respect so much.

[steph]

i think the issue with having Max in is it would take away a "runner".... from what I've seen and read about Ross' thinking, having Dawson, Blake and Max in the same team is not something he wants.

I think Dempster for Eddy is the way to go.

[SaintHomer]

time to let it go people.

i love maxie, and my heart goes out to him, but its just the way it is.

friday night was the first time i actually had admit (to myself) that dawson is the right man, especially this week with geelongs big forwards in mooney and hawkins.

[chook23]

If Eddy replaced..will IMO need to be a player capable of playing the medium/running rotation role.....

More likely Dempster
Geary

type.

Max has been a great player......I think current decision clouded by that memory......in a lot of discussion

If he was still that great player HE WOULD be in the 18

played 7 games this year

would currently being lacking match hardness and is NOT THE PLAYER he was.

Ross and match committee call.

[St DAC]

Dempster for Eddy I'd expect. Can't see how Eddy can be retained after 2 poor performances; Dempster offers what Eddy does, plus better flexibility and ball winning.

[Animal Enclosure]

I have been a critic of Eddy's inclusion but I thought he worked really hard on Friday & played quite well (albeit it with 4 touches!).

Dempster has to be a big chance to come back in, although Geary would give more in the way of pace & goal kicking.

Don't be surprised if Gwilt is brought in to provide a half forward option.

[samoht]

what happened to Geary - he was one of our most consistent players until halfway through the year and then his form just dropped off and he became ordinary?

He was averaging 20 running, long kicking possessions and then went to below 10 possessions with no run ?

He would have been one of our first picked players and a regular but for that form slump ?

[SainterK]

Gwilt for mine

[older saint]

MArking half forward is needed to keep Harley hnest and away from the contest. Gwilt or Dempster the obvious ones for that role. Lead up to the opposite side to Roo and Kosi, use him if left open keep Roo and Kosi 1 on 1 as much as possible as they do not have a good small dep defender (enright tallish mackie plays higher) which could open the door for Milne and Schnieder.

[Milton66]

Gwilt for mine

Would love to see that happen. Real fairytale about it, but unlikely.

Has Jimmy stepped up enough to keep HArley accountable?

Dempater would do it better IMO.

But we'll wait and see.

Max has not played for nearly a month, so I doubt he'll come in.

[SainterK]

Gwilt for mine

Would love to see that happen. Real fairytale about it, but unlikely.

Has Jimmy stepped up enough to keep HArley accountable?

Dempater would do it better IMO.

But we'll wait and see.

Max has not played for nearly a month, so I doubt he'll come in.

Can Dempster damage on the scoreboard though?

[ben@saintsradio]

while Dempster may not offer a goal kicking option, he gives us another tagging runner. that midfield that ran RIOT over collingwood on saturday night is going to take some shutting down.

While i'd love to see Gwilt crashing and bashing in the forward 50, we're going to need to get it in there first... it's got to be Eddy for Dempster.

[Thinline]

Dempster for mine.

Eddy's a real trier, but Dempster's big tank, negating ability, experience, and bigger frame will suit the opposition better.

It's the mids we need to stop.

No Gwilt. We're right for forward options and I like two pesky smalls against Mackie, Milburn, Scarlett and Harley who are all tallish.

Am confident our existing back six can cover Hawkins, Mooney, et al.

[degruch]

We're getting our yearly rainfall dished out all at once today, with thunder and lightening...if it's still raining Thursday I'm sure RL will be planning for a wet one, in which case you wouldn't replace Eddy with Max. If Eddy get replaced by anyone, it'd have to be Dempster...experienced heads in a GF will be required, as Geelong has a team full of 'em.

[Gurgman]

Either Jimmy or Dempster must play , we need another forward option , when Kozi couldnt get near it the other night they sent Zac forward and i dont think it was because there was no match up for him down back , it was just a case of Nick having to do everything , For mine its either of the above in Eddy out , and seriously anyone who thought Eddy was good the other night needs to stop smoking that green stuff

[Gurgman]

Dempster for mine.

Eddy's a real trier, but Dempster's big tank, negating ability, experience, and bigger frame will suit the opposition better.

It's the mids we need to stop.

No Gwilt. We're right for forward options and I like two pesky smalls against Mackie, Milburn, Scarlett and Harley who are all tallish.

Am confident our existing back six can cover Hawkins, Mooney, et al.

Are you Kidding thinline , Forward options are ok , Well they may be ok if the two rats can get hold of it which they have hardly done in the last few weeks , you cant expect Nick to kick half the teams score in a GF

[lefty]

Hrm tough week for selections, I thought a few players had average games.... Eddy, Ray, Gram... when the going gets hard, they dont seem to be able to "step up" unlike L.Hayes for example. They dont have enough influence to change the game in our favour. Schnider had a shocker, too much flumbling was frustrating to watch.

Players that can come in...
Dempster, Armatige, Hudgeton, Geary, Gwilt

Hard to choose, I would love to see armo or max in.

RL loves Dempster though, so I wouldnt be suprised if he went in for Eddy, although I'd be questioning his goal kicking abilities.

Armo imo is a gun, always goes in hard and gets free kicks for his efforts, and seems to kick a few goals per game. Could play the Eddy role very well as well as being able to rotate into the midfield for L.Ball

Gwilt could come in, depending on matchups, if Geelong are short on talls etc. I thought Gwilt has been good this year, and is pretty quick. If Geelong double team Roo (or if he gets injured), it going to be hard for us to go forward imo, so gwilt could be that guy.

Geary, good player, quick and fast, could play the Eddy role, imo he's way ahead of Eddy, much better kick, fast, smart, kicks goals.

Max, we all love max, best fb I've seen, I still think hes ahead of Zac, but wont take his spot, depends on matchups, eg who takes tommahawk? There could be a spot of Max I think, max is quick as well and keeps up with the opponent leads etc.

[degruch]

RL loves Dempster though, so I wouldnt be suprised if he went in for Eddy, although I'd be questioning his goal kicking abilities.

Dempster kicked 2 goals in his only performance forward this year, didn't he? Would most likely be used to negate a player like Chapman or Johnson...Eddy can't do that.

[StPeter]

Well Max or any of the list would be an improvement for Eddy who has done nothing in two seasons to warrant selection including five very poor finals performances.

But much as I would love to see Max in the team I think others will provide better options and team balance. I think that last place should go to one of Gwilt , Dempster or Eddy.

[meher baba]

Dempster for Eddy I'd expect. Can't see how Eddy can be retained after 2 poor performances; Dempster offers what Eddy does, plus better flexibility and ball winning.

I'm sure lots of things can be said in favour of Dempster (I'm not a fan, so it's difficult for me to think of what they are), but Eddy is far and away a better ball winner than Dempster.

However, I reckon there's a good chance we'll see Dempster running out: like many on here, I suspect the club will find it hard to resist the "lucky charm" factor of having another previous GF winner in our team.

But I hope I'm wrong. Like others on here, I'd really like to see Gwilt run out. I reckon we're starting a little bit behind the eight ball, and could do with the X factor and physicality that Gwilt could possibly bring.
Failing that, we should stick with Eddy IMO: he's a tougher sort of player than Dempster.

I can't see Geary being much of a chance, given that he played such a poor game against the Cats last time.

[DWOODROW]

Eddy has a tank. That is it. His football ability is Non existent in places. Good luck to the kid but he is the most frustrating player to watch. Especially when there are players who have good football skills and get the ball and USE it that are sitting left out of the Team. If he gets a gig this week I will very surprised.

[Milton66]

Gwilt for mine

Would love to see that happen. Real fairytale about it, but unlikely.

Has Jimmy stepped up enough to keep HArley accountable?

Dempater would do it better IMO.

But we'll wait and see.

Max has not played for nearly a month, so I doubt he'll come in.

Can Dempster damage on the scoreboard though?

Yeah, I reckon he can.

Going to training BTW? with the little one?

[degruch]

Failing that, we should stick with Eddy IMO: he's a tougher sort of player than Dempster.

...I'd also be concerned about the ease of which Eddy is put off the ball. It's likely to be wet, so it may mean either he falls over so much will will start laying on the ground, or others will be brought down to his level.

[MC Gusto]

get armo in. extra runner in the mids. hard at it and can kick goals.

[meher baba]

get armo in. extra runner in the mids. hard at it and can kick goals.

He'd be a better option than Geary or Dempster, but I doubt it will happen.