Chol out plus other changes next week

[mightytiges]

Although the Saints will be without injured ruckman Paddy Ryder and key defender Jake Carlisle, Hardwick said the Tigers would prefer to give their ruckman Toby Nankervis some more support in the warm conditions.

Lynch is expected to replace Mabior Chol against the Saints although Hardwick said they were weighing up whether to retain Chol or go with a different combination for Nankervis to lead.

Richmond used two ruckmen in last year's grand final but a knee injury to Ivan Soldo and the absence of Callum Coleman-Jones due to a protocol breach meant they were forced to look at other alternatives this season.

He said he had not ruled out using an undersized ruck although they would contemplate what structure the Saints might use before making that decision.

"We'll have a look at something different for this weekend's game," Hardwick said.

Nathan Broad, Oleg Markov and Josh Caddy will be available for selection after playing in a practice match on the Gold Coast on Saturday

Source: The Age

Could Pickett be the man to use? He was used in this role during the practice games. Wouldn't be surprised 

If it was anyway successful during the practice matches then you would've thought we would've tried Pickett in the ruck during the H/A season when either Soldo or Nank were missing.

[mightytiges]

Hoping Chol keeps his spot just for the meltdowns...

Last time Chol played against the Saints he kicked 3 goals  .

Saints bringing back Jonathan Marsh apparently to replace Ryder. We allowed him to kick a goal and have a goal assist against us last time .

Battle did 85% of Saints training today according to the news tonight. Another we didn't respect last time either (16 disposals, 1 goal).

[Diocletian]

Pickett in the ruck would at least put him right in the guts which is where he plays his best footy IMO...

[big tone]

We seriously couldn’t pick Chol again on the last few weeks form- he has been utterly putrid.

I would rather we moved Balta than play Chol.

The Saints aren’t tall and we could simply go back to Grimes, Astbury and Vlastuin as our key defenders.

Bring in Lynch and Markov and drop Aarts and Chol.

Play a quick moving defence with Markov, Baker, Houli and Short.

And stretch them defensively by playing Lynch, Jack and Balta resting forward with stints in the ruck.

Without a decent backup ruckman, we need to change things up with Balta IMO.

We cannot afford to carry anyone going forward and Chol is a liability!

[one-eyed]

ST KILDA coach Brett Ratten has all but confirmed Josh Battle and Jon Marsh will play against the Tigers, with the pair to replace Jake Carlisle and Paddy Ryder.

The final inclusion for Ben Long is set to be between Shane Savage, Nick Hind and Dylan Roberton, with Savage looming as the most likely inclusion for the Saints.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-finals-teams-2020-for-semi-finals-joel-selwood-finger-injury-tom-lynch-scans-geelong-vs-collingwood-richmond-vs-st-kilda/news-story/d238c69f54b2f428f6472dd081281aee

"Last time it was Marshall against Nankervis and it was one ruckman each," Ratten said.

"They [Richmond] might have two this time, by all reports.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/515539/tall-or-small-saints-still-undecided-on-defensive-decision

[one-eyed]

From the pics of the Captain's run today - Lynch, Caddy & Markov joined in training with the 22 from last week including Aarts & Chol.

Dusty, Aarts & Chol training in the forwards group with Lynch & Jack.