Sunday 10th of July
Etihad Stadium
4:40pm

Duigan in for White. Not sure if Curnow will come straight back or via the Bullants.

Russell has been down in recent weeks and maybe it is time for him to be the sub this week.

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Bower would have to be a good fit if white doesn't come up.
with grant-hall- r.Murphy IMO Bower is a perfect match against grant .

Who gets BBBH?

I hope the boys are forced to watch their insipid showing against the Bulldogs last year as preparation this week. That along with the second Filth game last year were just embarrassing.

So my changes at this point would be:

Out: Ellard, Tuohy, White
In: Curnow, Duigan, Bower/Austin

Houla should play IMO, and must not be the sub as a result.

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Jimmae I seriously doubt your judgement at times.

Three changes to a side that wins by 103 points?

Ellard was fantastic yesterday. His defensive work and his in and under is vital in releasing Judd and Murphy. Defensive pressure is the key to modern footy. Robinson proved that yesterday!

Touhy fills a vital role and played well on King.

Out: White
In: Duigan

Houlihan needs a full game one way or another. If it's in the Ants, Curnow will come in if fit as he is another important role player.

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Not sure about that. I think he's the perfect 'sub'. Comes on when general game fatigue has set in and space opens up for him to carve the opposition up with skill.

Agree with your single in/out.

Agree. I thought Ellard worked his arse off.
I thought Tuohy looked really good too. I love the way he moves and his understanding of the game.

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Cazz has been making similar points on Ellard but my counter-point is rather simple. He's getting a lot of pressure stats because he's second or third to the ball, much in same way you'd see Bentick rack up the tackles without making us a better clearance unit. If Houla wasn't fit, I'd shift him to HF to lock down a HB and cause trouble because his disposal is much cleaner these days.

But with Curnow fit to resume, Ellard is not putting up good numbers. 13 disposals, 3 clearances and 5 tackles does not cut it, and while I'd rather Curnow resume in the VFL, Ellard's output is such that a straight swap is warranted.

As for Tuohy I just see less flexibility in the use of him when compared to Jordan. They otherwise had similarly quiet games yesterday. Tuohy hasn't been pushing too far beyond HB in the last fortnight as you've noted. He is finding it difficult to work out when to attack and when to defend and this was something RR & ABNS were speaking about in their Bullants reviews. I think it's important the he goes back to the VFL and work on this, rather than have his confidence shot to pieces against a team with a bit more zip in the Dogs. Duigan's ready, so send him back with a list of things to work on.

The last one is simply like for like. I'd love to bring in the closing speed of Bower if he's right, but regardless we need a big body to chop out Barry. Duigan will come out of the game with cracked ribs and lacerations if he's the one constantly dropping in, and we need the option of a second tall forward to expose the Dogs defence. I don't think going shorter - as you've suggested in both of your selection predictions thus far - is the answer. The Dogs don't operate a small forward line like they used to.

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Again, the battle in the midfield is key. The Dogs may have a lot of outside runners but their centre square personnel are as tough as it gets.

Boyd, Cross, Cooney are all great extractors of the ball, and we need to match them for intensity or else their runners like Griffin, Gia, Murphy and Higgins can really do some damage. We have a more mobile ruck division with Hudson a rock (and Minson/Roughead no match), so around the ground we should have the advantage. But that centre square battle is key. Their backline is suspect right now, so our small forwards should cause them real troubles if they get decent supply. Their midfield and runners are their strength, their 'bookends' are their weakness.

Hendo to go to Hall, closest match for body type. Doggies' other tall forward stocks are raw and not big-bodied so we can find a best pick for each. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to isolate Hall like the Tigers tried yesterday with Jack.

Would be curious to get some thoughts from Sedat on this one.

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I'm starting to worry about you, Tuohy's understanding of the game is his key weakness and why he won't be selected come the finals. Next year will be his time.

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Well jimmae, whether you're right or wrong about Ellard, I don't think you'll get satisfaction this week. Only going by what I read, but Ratts singled him out for praise in the post match pressers so I'd say he's safe.

To me it looks like a straight Duigan for White swap and that's it.

The Dogs will open up the forward line to Hall, and he'll kick 6 or 7. Not because Hendo is a bad player or a bad defender, he just won't be able to keep with him on the burst.

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Duigan and Laidler a smart enough to peel off and provide assistance.

And if the Dogs crowd our defensive 50, suck us in and take Waite & the smalls out of the game while burning us on the counter?

Hendo's sitting down in defence, unable to be swung forward because that'll open it up for Barry or another marking option for the Dogs. The alternative is to have Warnock shape up in his f50 spells. We're robbing Peter to pay Paul and you can blame the sub rule all you like, but we're not getting our squad of talls to work to the best of their abilities at present.

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If our defensive 50 is crowded there's not much space for Hall.

If they crowd our forward 50 we'll just have to have one drop back into the space in front of Hall.

Our forward 50 entries must be precise.

Sorry, yes, I meant our forward 50.

Our forward 50 entries haven't been that precise all year. Can't field a team and hope it goes perfectly; there needs to be a clear plan B.

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Whether it is injury or age finally catching up with him - or even the Bulldogs midfield being weaker - BBBH is not the same player as last year. He looks a few yards slower and a good defence should be able to cover him.

Sorry but I can't agree with even a hint of suggestion at bringing Austin back into the team.
He was rubbish when given a go against West Coast.

So who do we put on Hall?

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Bower, with Laidler on the chop out. That, or swing Thornton forward, with Hendo on the chop out. Either move will straighten us up.

Didn't look like he'd lost much on Friday night Mols.

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And only 7 that you like;
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Or 20 ways to start a fight.