Ins and outs

[Banger9798]

We needed a change up and some new energy in there.

Hopefully Jones and Billings hold up physically.

Sharman should be confident and could play defensive forward on Lever

[Saints58]

Higgins might be a back injury from a moment on the edge of the goal square in the third quarter last week. In the previous game his knee was strapped. Could be either. He's had back issues before.

I think Higgins has hurt his fingers he did it a few games ago

[SaintPav]

Right. Big outs!

don't have a good feeling about these changes.

Interesting. I’m the opposite. Regardless of whether we win or not all of this makes sense.

Hill, Battle and Higgins out injured. Can’t do anything about that. Byrnes dropped after a sustained patch of mediocre form.

Cordy in good form at Sandy in like for like with Battle. Gets an opportunity to make a statement,

Jones comes in for Byrnes… playing for his career and we know Zac can play albeit his durability is a major concern. Zac demanded the spot through his work at Sandy.

Cooper comes in for Higgins as a marking forward more tall than small… rewarded for knocking on the door.
Billings replaces Hill as a winger. Pbly more forced than earned but he has some runs on the board. Billings and Coops interchangeable to a degree.

I like it though obviously most of these changes are forced

Good points.

I’m more worried about Hill being out.

Fair call. Hill is a huge loss and one we can’t cover. Hopefully Billings can turn back the clock a little

I was thinking Cordy might be superfluous to needs but then I looked at the Demon’s bench again.

Just like in chess, always consider the whole board.

[B.M]

Doubt Ross will play

Hunter Clark might come in

[Jacks Back]

So now Jones+Billings are getting a chance to prove they belong.
They need to make the most of it.
Can they adjust to the pace of AFL compared to VFL?

It's effectively round 1 for Jones and Billings.

Keen to see how they fit in the team, and respond to their criticisms.

Impinged by injury is a reality, not a criticism. Had these two been fully fit all year we'd be a better side this year. Hopefully, they can impact and stay healthy form2 months

3 months

[BringBackMadDog]

Higgins might be a back injury from a moment on the edge of the goal square in the third quarter last week. In the previous game his knee was strapped. Could be either. He's had back issues before.

Sore knee will miss one according to saints web page

[Zed]

I hope Billing and Jones do enough to justify selection next week
If so, we might finally start to get some competition for spots which might just raise the intensity and standard - assuming we don’t lose anyone to injury

Sharman to play a whole game ! Hope he gets some confidence and can build from here

[ace]

Hunter Clark is listed as an emergency!

He will only play in an emergency

[shanegrambeau]

Battle is our Cam Green.

Cordy will be our Mitch Marsh!

[Sanctorum]

If Billings can reproduce his best form that will more than offset the loss of Bradley Hill.

Likewise, Zaine Cordy should be a like for like with Josh Battle.

Zak Jones for Byrnes is a distinct plus, his explosive bursts of pace will give added zip to the centre bounce contests and at stoppages.

Sharman for Higgins is okay, especially as the latter has had the horrors in front of goal in recent games.

Jack Sinclair as principal mid is something I've wished they would do for a while and if he does in fact play that role for 120 minutes it could prove to be a master stroke by the selectors.

Overall I like the look of this lineup, let's hope the coaches had a look at last night's encounter between Richmond and Sydney, where rookie coach McQualter pulled off an unlikely win by throwing a few players around after half time, that's straight from the old coaching manuals of Sheedy, Matthews and Malthouse.

[meher baba]

Jack Sinclair as principal mid is something I've wished they would do for a while and if he does in fact play that role for 120 minutes it could prove to be a master stroke by the selectors.

I acknowledge that so many fans seem to feel this way, but I continue to think that Sinclair is far more effective on the half-back line than he is in the middle. Even when he appears to have been selected in the middle, his instincts always seem to be to drop back and play the puppet master role, at which he is superb. Nowadays, the engine room is predominantly a bash and barge sort of place. Sinclair can play ok in that environment, but he doesn't get the time to use his skills to their full effect.

[DJ Higgins]

Jack Sinclair as principal mid is something I've wished they would do for a while and if he does in fact play that role for 120 minutes it could prove to be a master stroke by the selectors.

I acknowledge that so many fans seem to feel this way, but I continue to think that Sinclair is far more effective on the half-back line than he is in the middle. Even when he appears to have been selected in the middle, his instincts always seem to be to drop back and play the puppet master role, at which he is superb. Nowadays, the engine room is predominantly a bash and barge sort of place. Sinclair can play ok in that environment, but he doesn't get the time to use his skills to their full effect.

You are not alone in that logic. All Australian back so let’s make him a mid? Reads the ball so well, cleans up spills, always seems to have extra time, creates the run off half back to put us into attack so why move him into the mids where he has played before to good effect. But not great effect. Ain’t broke don’t fix

[MC Gusto]

We’ve missed hunter which is a good thing I reckon

[saintbob]

I don’t mind the look of the team