Backline under more pressure without Roo ?

[howlinwolf]

I think our backline is going to be under more pressure now because
opposition clubs are going to be less likely to play an extra in defence
to cover Roo.

This means our backline are less likely to have a spare down there.

If we also move Sam Fisher forward as Ross has suggested it will test
the defence even moreso.

It could prove to be as big a test of our backline as our forwardline.

[degruch]

I think one-on-one this week would suit us. After that, they can choose not to double team Kosi at their own risk.

[Solar]

very good, post, our ability to get gilbo free is crucial to our play

[jmac101]

wouldnt surprise me if nothing much changed in regard to the approach of other teams.

most teams tend to set up with a loose man in defence playing the 'quarterback' role these days. hodge does it for hawthorn, adelaide normally have someone back, maxwell doesnt do anything else for collingwood and the list goes on.

with roo in the team it seemed as if the loose man made sure he was around riewoldt most of the time, but i wouldnt expect teams to get rid of the loose man altogether. perhaps the role of the loose man will turn into more of an 'aggressive' one than we are used to though..

[Moods]

No doubt the whole team will be under more pressure, not just the backs. The mids won't have that easy get out kick to Roo or a great target on the lead, so they will under more pressure to find a target with the same amount of pressure. The backs as stated. And the fwds will probably find their area more clustered as backs tended to be drawn to Roo freeing up other players.

It will be fascinating to see how they ALL respond - however I reckon the last 1/4 last week will have given them a lot of confidence. Best thing that happened was that Roo's injury occurred in the 2nd 1/4 rather than a few minutes before the end of the game. It's only human to be a little swayed by the 'No roo no saints' hysteria. The player themselves though know that after playing a half without Roo and playing well, what to expect this week and the coming weeks. THey also know that they can beat most teams without Roo and are hopefully looking fwd to the challenge.

[Geezer]

we will just throw an extra back until we get the matchup we want or crowd their forward line.
wouldnt be surprised if we see a 3 man forward line for us this week and a 8 man backline to clog the area. . .will continally push 1 back till we get the balance in our favour. and run an extra on the wing to swing forward and back.
clubs will realise they cant let sammy or fish or anyone who can use it run free in their forward line. . .thus clogging their own forward line. they key for oppositions is to try and stratch and space our backline so they isloate one and one and dont let our back 6 or 7 work as a group when the ball hits the ground.
last week proved that if they let our guys run free and help each other out, they get starved of quality opportuntites