Bolton says Goodes is struggling

Goodes will always take one of the best from the opposition......Towers won't. Towers and Laidler are not regular quality in my opinion. One of these guys will be bounced out for McGLynn. Likely to be Towers, as McGlynn offers so much more in his ability to chip in to the midfield, a hard body at the contest inside 50m and a quality goal scorer. Laidler will likely stick around but I don't rate him in our best 22. He is a bit slow. You could argue Grundy and Teddy are slow but I wouldn't put Laidler in the same category in terms of defensive ability.

But could you see how important Towers and Laidler were structurally? Even though neither exactly excelled in their roles, them two blokes playing in their respective position (half forward and floating man in defense) was crucial. Without Towers, we lack a certain speed going forward, and his presence also opens up the forward line to create more space for the mids and Buddy/Tippett. And Laidler, being that extra man down back, always ensured every opposition entry was to a contest, as opposed to a one-on-one. With both playing in those roles, our back-line and forward line seemed to work far more efficiently. While I obviously rate Goodes ahead of those two blokes, he doesn't really have a position anywhere that benefits the team. We work well when we create space for ourselves, and I just don't see a guy of Goodes' size helping us create space.

This is one of those knee jerky articles. Goodes has less than standard game one week, gets subbed...........next week he is the sub. Toot toot.....battle stations!!! If you expand it out. Goodes had a less the standard game, on a wet night, where his ordinary efforts were mirrored by just about everyone else on the paddock, there were some who were worse. There was a young bloke who came on for a qtr and a bit and absolutely played out of skin. He racked up 13 touches in a little over a qtr of footy and depending on who you speak to in the media and around the club, swung the game. Jake Llyod. It's not surprising the to see that in a game that is a must win, and yes, the Port game was definitely a must win the scope of the entire season (an away match at the Fortress against a flag favourite), Jake Llyod gets picked ahead of Goodes for the Sub Vest. Not a decision made necessarily because of Goodes effort the week before, as you could easily have given the vest to Towers, Heeney, Rohan or Jetta. But a decision made based on the fact that the old Mercedes will need to be carefully managed throughout the season to ensure the elder statesman makes it through his final season of footy. For every argument about why Goodes got the sub vest, there is one as to why the others didn't. It's a credit to Heeney that he got the 4 qtrs. He put in a great effort throughout the pre season and an even better effort in round 1. Rohan is playing fantastic defensive football at the moment and deserves the opportunity to prove that he is the best replacement for Malceski. Towers overall pace was probably a more suitable choice than Goodes in a game where speed was a necessity. When the old boy did replace Rohan, for about 10min of the final qtr, he contributed with 6 touches. Almost more than Rohan had for the 3.5 qtrs that he was on the field. We are a little quick to judge. Bolton, god love him, was a fantastic footballer and obviously knows a thing or two about what is going on inside the club, but his analysis can sometimes be hit and miss. This one I believe is a miss. As for the best 22 right now, that would be the team that won the other night wouldn't it? My best 22 does not include Towers or Laidler. It has McGlynn. It has Goodes. It has Cunningham.

Agreed. I feared Goodes playing on and thought he would prove me wrong. In his first two games, no.

Hmmm... As of now, I see our best 22 as this: FB: Smith, Richards, Shaw HB: McVeigh, Grundy, Rampe C: Hannebery, Jack, Jetta R: Pyke, Kennedy, Parker HF: Rohan, Franklin, Bird FF: Towers, Tippett, McGlynn IC: Lloyd, Heeney, Reid, Laidler Now, that is based purely on how well the whole team worked last night. Whenever we had possession in the forward line, we clicked. It wasn't crowded and scrappy like it was at times last week. I think that's because we went back to our 2012 roots with the rotating mids/small forwards. I get what Horse was aiming for with the whole tall timber set-up, but our team was just too talented and there were often too many cooks in the kitchen. So, assuming Reid plays a role in defense (which gives me hardly any confidence), and we go with the 2012 forward set-up, I just don't see a role for Goodes. Having re-watched last nights game, and seeing how well the fleet-footed Tower, Jetta, Rohan, Hannebery, Jack, Bird etc worked in cohesion with Tippett and Buddy, I want to stick with that. Just structurally, last night felt right. Every man had their role and position that they basically nailed. I now also prefer Rohan as a forward. His lack of composure is too costly in the back-line. But please Longmire, put a pin this tall forwards set up and put your mids back inside 50!!