There’s seems to be a consensus building that not picking Reidy is bad coaching. I don’t really agree. Here’s a few reasons I reckon Jlo would be reluctant to pick Reidy this week.
Coaches don’t love putting first-gamers into must-win games. They are all control freaks, and the range of potential negative outcomes is just too great for coaches to handle. That’s not a JLo thing – that’s an every coach thing.
The ruck is a unique position, but there’s something to be said for when you’re facing a marginal selection call, maybe just pick the bloke who is better at football. Voss had a shocker last week, and I don’t think Tabs helps us, but I reckon both would be better footballers at this stage that Reidy. Reidy doesn’t seem to mark the ball around the ground (he averages less than 2 marks a game in the WAFL!). He’s not going to give you anything outside the taps, so you’re basically playing one short for 95% of the game. It’s too big a cost just for the chance to win taps, especially where Reidy hasn’t played with our midfielders and so you can’t expect there to be great connection on hits to advantage.
Games are won in the middle. Jackson is – at times - a ruckman. He’s not played well in the ruck lately, but he should be able to influence the game in the middle more than a GWS second-stringer, even if he doesn't win the taps. Jackson just needs to pull his finger out.
I don’t think we’ll see both Tabs and Voss in the team, and I think we might see Voss and another option. Maybe we play smaller forward, perhaps someone like Hughes or Davies comes in with the idea of Cox going forward at times.
I think any of those options are better than playing Reidy.
