Teague - Selecting Battlers over talent.

[Thryleon]

The proof is in the pudding Thry.  If filling our forward line with smaller players against a team with two of the best intercept marks in the business, and with Gawn's ability to drop back into defence, was tactical, we need a new tactician 

Of their taller forwards, McDonald was close to best on the ground (8 AFLCA votes), Brown dragged Weitering and/or Jones up the ground and he and Weideman took marks inside 50.  While he's not a tall, Fritsch is taller than most of our forwards and he bagged 3 goals. 

We desperately needed a third tall who could lead up, keep May and Lever honest and, most importantly, convert their chances.  Moving Jones forward at the death was too little, too late.

I don't think it is that simple ... and it's the coach's job to ensure that players play with intent and passion - not that I think that those players don't.  It's more a case of playing blokes where they're most suited and giving them licence to play their natural game.  Stocker wasn't outstanding but his move into the midfield showed that he has the ability to play there each week.  Will that signal the end of his career as a defender?  I doubt it.  Same with Samo.  He has been played out of position and was a different player when he was able to run through the midfield.

Willo was a fan favourite because he had a crack but now he's on the outer because his enthusiasm overrides his decision-making.  Good coaching should have had that sorted (our defensive structure, or lack thereof, doesn't help).  Parks has laid a decent bump and a good tackle but his decision-making and lack of ability have exposed him (again, our defensive structure doesn't help).  A bit more experience under his belt and decent development and he could be a player but he's not in our best seven defenders at this stage of his career.

Im not sure there were many other options on hand.  Last few weeks in the VFL our tallest players forward have been 184cm until De koning returned.  Playing him first up against a side sitting 8-0 was probably not going to end well, particularly if we needed the run to try and get on top via other means.

It all changes if we got torrential rain.  We didnt.  In that equation though, he picked the winning strategy.  THAT is the point.