You are the coach

[Winmore]

Who are the 22?
Jones in for Kent for mine.
How do we beat the Dogs again?
Will Geary go to Johannisen again? Worked once, will Ratts give it another crack?

[True Blue Sainter]

I think Jones in for Kent would be the natural change.

However, Ratts has shown a tendency to play 3 small forwards, so not sure it will unfold like that.

If Geary is going to play as a defensive small forward, Daniel would be the one he goes to. JJ seems to have been playing as more of a wingman recently

[Goose is king]

Geary to JJ.
Jones in for Kent
Billings to play small leading forward like Kent but actually dangerous.
Battle on Keith

[SaintPelican66]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

[SaintDippa]

Ratts will not drop his captain.
Ratts will not pick a bloke who has only played a couple of games.

[bigred]

Jones for Kent.
On last weeks effort, Kent would be stiff, but Jones has more definite value.

And after the WCE game I was happy to leave Kent behind in Brisbane.

[CQ SAINT]

We will have to win this game from the stoppages. We need to win the clearances, defend the middle of the ground, dominate fwd50 entries and wear them down in the first half.
We should be able to out scored them and force them to kick to a man on man defence.
We are the better side and we really need to set the pace of the game and take it away from their midfield.

[Munga]

I don't really want to swap Kent for Jones. I'd be waiting until the last minute, probably a baby or two might force some changes anyway.

[Toy Saint]

Who are the 22?
Jones in for Kent for mine.
How do we beat the Dogs again?
Will Geary go to Johannisen again? Worked once, will Ratts give it another crack?

Really don't think that Johannsen is the problem, he's had a crap year.

Caleb Daniel, Bontempelli & Jack Macrae are they players we need to stop. Macrae especially gets under the radar, he gets it a lot in the middle and uses it superbly.

[spert]

Kent should stay, as he can run with some of the Dog play makers as a tagger, but also has goal-sense and is an excellent field kick. Jones has outside run, adds speed but not good defensively and is a ball butcher by foot.

[ace]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

You may have good reasons to drop Geary but it is never going to happen.
Geary has earned the right to play in this final series over the last 9 years.
9 years and when the team at last makes it into finals you drop him.
Not while he is captain.
Replace him as captain next year and he has to earn his place in the side.

Gresham has been ruled out for the rest of 2020, never going to happen.

[ace]

If Jones is fit he plays.
Someone has to make way.
Lonie's score sheet says 2 goals BUT
Hill kicked a gal from a Lonie mark - Lonie may have missed.
Ryder kicked a gaol playing on from a Lonie free wich he could not miss.
Call that a 3 or 4 goal game and Lonie is safe.

Geary will paly defensive forward or wing.
That leaves Kent highly vulnerable BUT
There is often an unrevealed injury that forces a player to miss.
If so Kent may get a reprieve.

[fugazi]

Lonie was great vs GWS and will definitely hold his spot.
He does have a strange capacity to go under the radar like his tackle that lead to Ryders goal, and will often bob up in space.
It's hard to identify how he does it but must think differently to the average player.
He teams up well with Butler.

Kent seems to have been played higher and is more effective the last few games when he gets it about 70metres out and launches.

Having said that, I think he makes way for Zac Jones, and Hannaberry or Sinclair start in his position.

Sinclair as a few have pointed out, seems to have realized what it takes. Playing with a bit of passion rather than the cool dispassionate clinical style. Getting to more contests and being a genuine mid option.

My only real concern is Carlisle. Needs to be there for structure and at his best makes the backline very hard to penetrate.
But equally, he can be a weak link that allows a key forward to have a field day and pulls down the whole team

So if I were coach, I would be having a real chat with him, Let him know how important he is to the side and what a difference he makes to his younger team mates when he leads them...pump him up and get him to speak in front of his teammates about finals etc...

[skeptic]

It’s very clearly Kent...

A strong second half by the team as a whole has disguised the fact that he was fairly ineffective when the game was on the line, is in a goal kicking drought, has a tendency to slow play down when he gets the ball...
And frankly, mostly gets the ball only when he’s in space.

He really hasn’t been effective for a long time

He got a pass when he kicked and set up goals but IMO you can’t carry that against better opposition

[saynta]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

We are all thankful you are not picking the team then.

[SaintPelican66]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

We are all thankful you are not picking the team then.

[Impatient Sainter]

Kent for Jones. Too late to be making any other unnecessary changes.

This game Ratts has to work the angles going into our forward line to prevent the opposition intercept marking. Our ruckman need to get dangerous when forward or drag English away from contests.

We need a big game from Jones who has been a bit down in the leading weeks. We need him to get on his bike and start cutting the opposition up again.

If Bruce or Naughton dont play (inj) and they dont replace them with a tall forward I would leave out Carlisle.

[realdeal]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

Dropping your captain for what is the first final in nearly 10 years...
Telling us with certainty that in a final a 19yo 2 gamer will match this same player

[SaintPelican66]

If I was coach I would drop Kent and Geary for Bytel and Jones.

Now before everyone goes apeshit, here are my reasons.....

Bytel will at the very least match Geary's output and secondly it would give Bytel the experience of a pressure cooker final which will be invaluable going forward. Bytel is our future, Geary is a champion of our club but Father Time waits for no man.

If Gresham was not injured I would not hesitate in playing him instead of Geary.

I know this will not happen but I was just answering the OP.

Dropping your captain for what is the first final in nearly 10 years...
Telling us with certainty that in a final a 19yo 2 gamer will match this same player

I reckon Bytel would match Geary's output yes. Would I drop Geary? No I wouldn't because that would rip the heart out of the team.

[sks023]

We need a big game from Jones who has been a bit down in the leading weeks. We need him to get on his bike and start cutting the opposition up again.

[/quote] Jones had a big game out against them last time, mind you he wasn't alone
Billings is the one for me, seems to dominate against the Dogs, hoping he can repeat the dose
If we can get our kick mark game going I think we will be sweet.

[Saintmatt]

Kent should stay, as he can run with some of the Dog play makers as a tagger, but also has goal-sense and is an excellent field kick. Jones has outside run, adds speed but not good defensively and is a ball butcher by foot.

100% agree. I've got kent pegged for Daniel. Pressure, harass, pound into, tackle. He sets it all up from the back. JJ is the run but Caleb is the kicker who slices through the half backs on the way out. Without him - the Dogs aren't nearly as potent on transition from defence.

[Saintmatt]

Kent for Jones. Too late to be making any other unnecessary changes.

This game Ratts has to work the angles going into our forward line to prevent the opposition intercept marking. Our ruckman need to get dangerous when forward or drag English away from contests.

We need a big game from Jones who has been a bit down in the leading weeks. We need him to get on his bike and start cutting the opposition up again.

If Bruce or Naughton dont play (inj) and they dont replace them with a tall forward I would leave out Carlisle.

Agreed. But the intercept marking of the Dogs relies pretty much on one guy - Keath. Like Haynes at GWS. If we play Battle on Keath and actually make Keath defend Battle then we take away a big strength of the Dogs.

[Sanctorum]

Lonie was great vs GWS and will definitely hold his spot.
He does have a strange capacity to go under the radar like his tackle that lead to Ryders goal, and will often bob up in space.
It's hard to identify how he does it but must think differently to the average player.
He teams up well with Butler.

Kent seems to have been played higher and is more effective the last few games when he gets it about 70metres out and launches.

Having said that, I think he makes way for Zac Jones, and Hannaberry or Sinclair start in his position.

Sinclair as a few have pointed out, seems to have realized what it takes. Playing with a bit of passion rather than the cool dispassionate clinical style. Getting to more contests and being a genuine mid option.

My only real concern is Carlisle. Needs to be there for structure and at his best makes the backline very hard to penetrate.
But equally, he can be a weak link that allows a key forward to have a field day and pulls down the whole team

So if I were coach, I would be having a real chat with him, Let him know how important he is to the side and what a difference he makes to his younger team mates when he leads them...pump him up and get him to speak in front of his teammates about finals etc...

Well summarised fugazi, the only change for me is Jones in for Kent.

Jack Lonie plays one of the most difficult positions on the field, that of crumbing small forward, but is a fearsome tackler. Roams far and wide when required and reads the game well.

Jake Carlisle is a a frustrating player, at times he seems to lack concentration and effort, interest even - I well remember Ratts giving him a severe baking earlier this year when he lost his cool and gave away a fee kick and goal. He needs to lift his game and put in 4 quarter efforts if St Kilda are going to stay in the race for the GF.

Geary to again subdue Johannisen and prevent the Dogs drive from half-back.

The Dogs have a lot of other danger men - The Bont, Tim English, Mitch Wallis, Josh Dunkley, Caleb Daniels, Bailey Smith, Lachie Hunter, they are a really classy outfit and it will require St Kilda to play their A game if they are going to go through to play the loser of Lions v Tigers.....

It should be a cracker of a game!!

[Vortex]

If Jones doesn't come up and Jake is still around the team will be unchanged.

I watched the replay again last night and Kent was very good, really got us going with his long roaming up the ground and pressing back towards goals. He had the teams highest i50 count of 6 and was 6th for meters gained. So you can really see what role Ratts is using him for and I'll give you a clue, it aint as a small forward. Anyone that thinks Kent is a small forward is misguided, moreover anyone that thinks Ratts is playing three small forwards is also misguided. Ratts loves Kent and the role he is playing which is not a small forward.

After watching the replay again it could be Lonie who makes way for Jones. Yes he kicked 2 goals but he wasn't as productive as Kent and Ross with play from the middle towards goal and those two were very creative with score assists and the other stat that Ratts loves, "assisted meters gained". Another invention by Ratts right hand man, DOS.

[bigred]

Geary spending time as a def forward again would be at the forefront of my mind.