R26 v Adelaide | Sat 25 July | 7:00pm | SS7 / Harbourside Function Centre

For those who haven't seen this

Chances of the crowd there being streamed onto big screens at the match?

I think it a great idea.
Funny enough it's actually more expensive than watching the real game at the sky stadium on season pass.

I think there might be a YF section of the stand

Not really you get 2  drinks and nibbles as well included in the price. The 1st game at The Churchill was good value i thought

Talay has a few squad management calls to make for this, Ball ran his butt off last night and deserves a break. Maybe one of Taylor/DeVere could have the night off and do you rest Cacace or Fenton?\

Matti is suspended for this game, so it should be a Rufer/Devlin midfield

In midfield and up front besides from Ball, players have been rotating and not many have played full games. But yes different story at the back like you say. Are we going to see TAHW, Elliot and Scott get some game time ?.

Payne would have been handy to have available right now. 

If we can rotate, not get any injuries and still get a result out of this game will be a real good.

looks to be one drink for that price

I think its to early to do big rotations. Maybe the last couple games if a second-place finish is comfortable but for now we need points and most of those guys are capable of playing 90 minutes every 3 or 4 days. Many epl teams are fielding teams with very little changes and seem to be coping so keep the focus on the 3 points.

Up front, we have more than enough quality to rotate the players. Especially with Davila and Hooper regaining fitness.

Midfield will be ok too. I'm sure Steinmann's yellow card was deliberate. We will have used Rufer/Stein Stein/Devlin and Devlin/Rufer over the first 3 matches, ideal really, not having to ask any of them to play 3 in a week.

Doubts about the defence though, are all 4 of them going to play 270+ mins? TAHW showed he was up to it, so id give him at least 70+ mins this week, and let Dever/Taylor have a rest. Fenton we should try and push if we can, and he can rest once Payne is back.

Not sure how to rest Libby or the other CB though. McGing, Elliot and Scott havent had much chance to prove their worth yet. Wilson maybe?

Adelaide like to play with pace up front. I'm just wondering whether Taylor and DeVere will have the legs for another full 90min of that type of game after last nights effort.

... what's the correct round number?

Talay spoke about playing the first team from the WSW game on wards. These first 3 games are in quick succession after a long break, so they need to be where most rotations happen. After Adelaide its basically back to a weekly schedule for us.

Adelaide is our Rnd 26 game.

Nope 2 if you pay 35.

Not saying $25 is a rip-off. I always thought watching the Nix for $190/season (as far as I remember) is a very good value.

After this game we've caught up with most of the other teams and our schedule gets a bit lighter, it makes sense to rotate for this game rather than risk injuries for the final three games.

Payne has really cost the team badly, we need the depth in his position.

Did that say R28 until a few minutes ago, or do I have to stop sniffing Janola?

AUFC have had more days to recover and i think we will see it in this game as i cant see us getting a result and for once I'm not being negative or trolling i just believe the wear and tear on the squad will show in this match. Lets just hope I'm wrong.

AUFC 4 - 1 Nixs

The original thread had Rnd 28 in the title, yes. Guess someone corrected that mistake.

Other than the rotation of players, a big concern I have for us is how we have drastically dropped off in the last 15mins of our two games. It is where we lost the Sydney game and could have lost the Perth one. I know they are coming out of lockdown and all that. But it's not like the other teams are 100% match fit either. 

And I'm not totally sure it's fitness-based either. I feel like our midfielders overplay their hand or we drop deep and stop offering forwards options, or a combo of both and other factors. Whatever it is, I hope Uffie has got a few tricks up his sleeve to resolve it.  

Totally this.

I am no expert but I did not think Devlin did very well at all against Perth.  Possibly out of practice. Steinmann was OK but seemed to be almost carrying Devlin at times. I would expect Uffie to work some magic on Devlin before Saturday.  It was good for Rufer to have had a break.

Devlin is the goat dont @ me

One of the benefits of our squad is that four of the five imports are European and well used to the two games per week model as a more often than not scenario. Especially the three Englishmen who are all hardly at the novice stage of their playing careers.  Also others like Marinovich that have played in the English leagues as well

How they prepare and recover game to game in that game load environment will surely be a lesson that the others will be learning from.  

Good point about the imports being used to mid week games. You could well be right, But even in the UK it is more likely once they into a season and match fit they will play two games a week. Coming straight off a long layoff and expecting these guys to back up 3 games in 8 days is still a big ask. Reports are there have been alot of injuries in Europe post covid hiatus. Risk verse reward, I guess. 

I wouldn't mind seeing TAHW getting a game at CB anyway, I think he deserves a start and that builds a bit of depth and cover . Then maybe have DeVere and Taylor play 45min each.

he gave the ball away a little more than usual, but he still had 6 tackles and 6 interceptions, both more than anyone else on the pitch. Not his usual exceptional level with the ball, but defensively still immense 

You are right, but I think these were mostly early in the game and that he dropped off later in the game. I was almost expecting that Rufer would be brought on at that point. 

DeVere left out in the match day squad announcement.

that's big. So TAWH comes in and McGing onto the bench?

big, but probably warranted given DeVere has probably played more mins than anyone, along with Taylor.

Would Taylor be rested for next round? I have to admit, I was expecting both Taylor and DeVere to have missed a lot more gametime than they have this year. You wouldn't even have known they had troubled injury histories!

Remember how we used to worry about this injury-prone acquisition?

It's actually amazing how DeVere has gotten through this season. I thought he started slow and had some issues building play from the back, but he's really been great overall.

Devere has been good, but still very limited in his passing, will be interesting what we look like playing out from the back with someone like Wihongi who is technically better.

https://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/news/ins-outs-round-2-vs-perth-glory-wed-22-july?fbclid=IwAR3F8OBjDhKbK7c200WxFZllzVX2xfR-agLeBiZkwFlfvgJPV8tnzRQG8wc

Devere being left out for a rest. 

Christchurch based fans - Get on down to Robbie's Ricarton for the game. 

All welcome

Assuming TAHW is likely to take his place?

Second place up for grabs.

COYN.  you can do it.

Winter football: easier recovery than summer football.

Rotation City - an inexperienced line-up. A real test of depth tonight. Wihongi-Hudson, Elliot, Sutton and Wilson alll starting. No Ball, Devlin, Steinmann, Fenton or Devere. Not sure about this ...