It's hardly a surprise Newman is back.
Doesn't make it right but no surprises there
This.
The loss last week, and the especially the way we lost with the lack of leaders standing up, was always going the see the team selectors, who love Newy anyway, put him straight back into the side.
Even ignoring Newy's selection, the other ins are surprising. Lambert was great last week in the VFL but it's a big ask to step up from just 3/4ers in the ressies after returning from injury to playing the Swans on their home deck. I can only guess Lambo will be the sub or we think the smaller SCG will enable him to play out a full AFL game. Gordon, on the hand, was ordinary in the ressies last week. Clearly, only picked because he's playing against his old side. As someone else said, it surely must be his last chance. McDonough is the one who is stiff but I'm not surprised he wasn't selected just from what Clarke said in his summary of the VFL game. When you read 'a return to form after a few quiet weeks for young player X' then you know they won't be picked, no matter how much they starred. It's not right but some guys walk straight back in based on past reputation while others need to play well for 6 weeks straight before even getting a look in.
As for Morris being omitted, I just don't get it. Not because he was poor last week but because he kept his place in the first 6 weeks despite being equally ordinary. Morris' best game for the year for mine was against Freo just from a pressure and intensity point of view. Not sure why one bad game last week when most Tigers had shockers now makes a difference to the first six rounds. Compare that to Macca who also had a terrible game last week with just 4 possies. Not saying he should've been dropped either but the lack of consistency in our team selections from player to player makes you scratch your head sometimes
. The only thing I can think of is Dimma has specific match-ups in mind. We'll find out tomorrow night if they work or not.
