Preview Preview and Changes: Round 6 - Port v Collingwood

[Ah12]

100 BigFooty posters saying something isn't evidence.

I can remember us coming home with a string of losses at the back end of 2018 after he got injured and starting 2022 with a string of losses when he was out injured.

I remember us starting 2023 without him and it took awhile for the players to get used to. Once they did our forward line looking far much efficient with a ton more space.

Hes important when we play the bomb it in long style, hes not important when we have space for forwards like Marshall, Georgiades and Finlayson to lead into.

Collingwood won the flag last year without a key contested marking forward.

 

[TeeKray]

I also remember us starting 2022 with the bomb it in long to Big Dixon tactics, even though he wasn't there, and being shocked that it wasn't working.

Then (among other changes like putting rozee in the middle) we adjusted our forward structure, and started playing less s**t.

(also got to play North and West Coast just in time to save Daddy's job and then Dixon came back to straighten things up)

 

[Willsy10]

Yeah I just can’t see the correlation to Dixon being out and our performances lifting. I think it’s a bit of a myth.

And for all the s**t Dixon has copped for getting his arse handed to him by Pearce, he still kicked 2/9 goals including 1 really crucial mark and goal late when we were in trouble.

Yeah Pearce played a blinder and gave Dixon a bath for most of the game, but Dixon still drew Pearce away from our other forwards. I thought georgiades was pretty solid but I was more disappointed in Marshall than Dixon. He basically did * all and didn’t have Pearce wearing him like a glove.


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[JimmyBC]

" Sweet smell of success "

" Sweet blitzes them "

" Sweet revenge"

" Sweet on Port"

“ Sweet dreams “

" Sweet FA" ( free against)

" His own Sweet time"

"Sweet mother of god he's another bollard"

 

[jackag24]

Regardless of the stats around Dixon in/out of the team, this is >90% going to be his last season. Right..?

It's round 6 and he's already being managed. The reliance on him as part of the game plan is very shaky

If we are actually worse without Dixon, we need to find out as soon as possible and deal with it. Especially when heading into finals

 

[Poo Eckert]

Absolute last chance for McEntee. I don't care what he's doing defensively, at AFL level you need to provide more than just pressure acts. He needs to be shutting down someone like Crisp or Noble and also be making them accountable the other way. You don't get anywhere just cancelling players out, you need to actually do something offensively.

There are so many forward entries in a game. You theoretically have up there, Dixon, Marshall, Mitch, Finlayson, Rioli, SPP even DBJ who would you like to place Mckentee infront of as a go to target?

There’s a finite amount of possessions in a game? What 330? You have Rozee, Butters, Wines, JHF, Drew, Houston to start with most likely collecting half of those, 6 players, his opportunity to receive the ball again is very limited.

He is the weak seagull fighting for the very last chip.

People’s expectation on deliverables here IMO are unrealistic, his value is pressure acts and defensive pressure, if he sucks there well he should go, possessions or goals isn’t his metric.

Just my thoughts

 

[Schulzenfest]

Jed Heads vindicated at the selection table once again.

Being the only people in the world who think Jed McEntee is good:

Jed Heads Ken Hinkley

 

[longdonkey]

Yeah I just can’t see the correlation to Dixon being out and our performances lifting. I think it’s a bit of a myth.

And for all the s**t Dixon has copped for getting his arse handed to him by Pearce, he still kicked 2/9 goals including 1 really crucial mark and goal late when we were in trouble.

Yeah Pearce played a blinder and gave Dixon a bath for most of the game, but Dixon still drew Pearce away from our other forwards. I thought georgiades was pretty solid but I was more disappointed in Marshall than Dixon. He basically did * all and didn’t have Pearce wearing him like a glove.


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Dixon isn't the problem. He does quite well for somebody who should have retired due to injury 3 years ago.
The problem is Hinkleyball.

 

[LittleLika]

Sweetey yeah, sweetey yeah

Didge solo

 

[Duckimus Prime]

I also remember us starting 2022 with the bomb it in long to Big Dixon tactics, even though he wasn't there, and being shocked that it wasn't working.

Then (among other changes like putting rozee in the middle) we adjusted our forward structure, and started playing less s**t.

Yes, we adjusted and started playing less s**t... had nothing to do with the games being against West Coast, St kilda, Norf and a Bulldogs side without any key defenders.

Our "Better without Charlie forward line" was completely shutdown by Geelong during that time of playing less s**t.

I remember us starting 2023 without him and it took awhile for the players to get used to. Once they did our forward line looking far much efficient with a ton more space.

Hes important when we play the bomb it in long style, hes not important when we have space for forwards like Marshall, Georgiades and Finlayson to lead into.

Collingwood won the flag last year without a key contested marking forward.

That interesting because Charlie Dixon kicked 9 goals in our first three games in 2023.

The games he missed were West Coast in round 6, then Norf, Dees, Richmond and Hawthorn in the middle of the streak.

At the end of the year, when he'd already been ground to dust missed against Carlton, then missed all the games through to the Semi Final loss after the Showdown.

 

[Powerage]

Soldo has been productive up forward so far at nearly a goal a game. If Sweet can be hold his own in ruck, I look forward to seeing how Soldo goes with a decent amount of time up forward

 

[Buget]

Regardless of the stats around Dixon in/out of the team, this is >90% going to be his last season. Right..?

It's round 6 and he's already being managed. The reliance on him as part of the game plan is very shaky

If we are actually worse without Dixon, we need to find out as soon as possible and deal with it. Especially when heading into finals

Puts Lord’s injury into perspective.

I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere Dixon had the virus that is going around the club.

I can see how everything added up to Dixon having a week off.

 

[sobrave]

Mac and cheese is like the worst possible sub. He has no utility. He's very bad at the one job he has and is too small and slow for anything else. Who can he cover for? Being a worse version of DBJ?

Note: of course he shouldn't be picked on the ground either. But he's an awful sub. Even a ruck as sub is better

 

[Bulldogs85]

Wish Jordan Sweet all the best in his Port Adelaide debut hope he has a good one.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Jed is just a poor football player but hey, he may improve. Jed never really flew for marks but after that collision when he was put into protocol, I seriously doubt he will go near any aerial contest ever again and there were many times before that incident when he squibbed possible marking contests with no one around. It's terrible.

The problem with Dixon is that he's slow, old, injured and never been a good shot at goal. He and Jed will be exploited by smart coaches. He also won't be a part of the future and a more ruthless coaching staff would've blooded our next big key forward who I hope is a great kick for goal.

The only reason I would have Dixon in the team is if he is the difference between winning and losing a premiership.

Dixon still is a very good contested mark and he was a great second ruck when he went in there but I get the feeling these strong parts of his game are eroded and will continue to eroded by the creakiness of his body. He winces after marking contests and if he gets hit. He is slow on any lead. He's running out there like a wounded animal.

And that is one of the weird elements of our team. We have hyper elite players like Rozee, Butters, Horne-Francis and Houston but on the other end, we have guys who are easily exploited like McEntee and Dixon this year and last year with Lycett, Jonas and McKenzie.

In regards to moving Dixon on and getting someone else in. A big forward who can kick well in the F50 would be an upgrade on Dixon. The ball is coming in fine enough and Dixon and Finlayson for that matter have left a lot of goals on the table because of their inaccurate kicking. A good kicking forward like Tex Walker would be leading the Coleman on our team.

I like Lord but he's not a great kick for goal while Scully looks to be a very, very good kick for goal.

 

[bomberclifford]

The only reason I would have Dixon in the team is if he is the difference between winning and losing a premiership.

For me, this is the reason to keep him out of the team.

Charlie's time is done. We need to move forward with the next tier and get games into them when we can so they can all learn to work alongside each other as a forward unit.

Stop pumping games into a broken player.

 

[simba_]

good team

 

[TazD]

Is Dixon our best forward or is he the only one they target?

 

[Schulzenfest]

Mac and cheese is like the worst possible sub. He has no utility. He's very bad at the one job he has and is too small and slow for anything else. Who can he cover for? Being a worse version of DBJ?

Note: of course he shouldn't be picked on the ground either. But he's an awful sub. Even a ruck as sub is better

If it means he's wasting a spot on the field for one quarter rather than four, I'll take it.

 

[Izzy01]

I think Dixon out will help out forward entries, forwards will lead more and hopefully the midfield honor those leads.

 

[TeeKray]

Is Dixon our best forward or is he the only one they target?

He's our best key forward but the competition isn't hot.

 

[Poo Eckert]

There is nothing wrong with the infield player of Charlie. Happy to have him there for the long bomb, however it shouldn’t be our go too, it should be if all leading targets can’t be hit and we’re in trouble bomb it long to Charlie.
It benefits everyone, he will less likely have a cluster around him, it will give us better shots on goal and a more diverse game game plan

 

[Powerage]

The problem with Dixon is that he's slow, old, injured and never been a good shot at goal. He and Jed will be exploited by smart coaches. He also won't be a part of the future and a more ruthless coaching staff would've blooded our next big key forward who I hope is a great kick for goal.
...
And that is one of the weird elements of our team. We have hyper elite players like Rozee, Butters, Horne-Francis and Houston but on the other end, we have guys who are easily exploited like McEntee and Dixon this year and last year with Lycett, Jonas and McKenzie.
...
I like Lord but he's not a great kick for goal while Scully looks to be a very, very good kick for goal.

Dixon over his career and this season (55.3% and 44.4%) has a better GA% than Marshall (54.9% and 41.2%) and Finlayson((50.8% and 42.1%). You cannot point a finger at Charlie for goalkicking without also doing it at those other two.

You may say Dixon is easily exploited, especially on the back of the Fremantle match. You can also say that every team like to have a target man and Dixon is still one of the best in the competition. 5th for contested marks, rarely outmarked and brings the ball to ground more adventageously than any of our other talls. He commands the number one defender, and often one other, which should assist our other talls. If it doesn't that is on our coaches and our players, not on Charlie. Despite being slow, he still averages nearly a mark a game on a lead.

So who would these ruthless coaches be blooding? Lord who is an even worse kick for goal and is currently injured. A 19 yo Scully who gives away about 10kg to the best key defenders?

Blame our list management, blame our gameplan. I do. But blaming Charlie for still being our most commanding forward at 33 is just not his fault. Thus he continues to get games. At least until Lord is fit. Alternatively we can hope that Mitch becones a viable contested target deep which despite his athleticism is quite and ask for a 192cm forward these days.

 

[Ports1870]

Just realised we have never seen a KPF combination of Marshall, Lord and Georgiades.
Am hopeful that this will be our best combination by the end of the season

 

[Duck Farmer]

Jed has been very low on form all year and it s getting to the point where the name of his continuing thread might get a Bhagavad Gita reference.

I am become Jed, destroyer of threads.