Playing at Frankston on Saturday night, 1905, to be exact.
Could very well be very wet and muddy.
Playing at Frankston on Saturday night, 1905, to be exact.
Could very well be very wet and muddy.
That ground is usually quite good condition these days, haven't seen it in recent weeks though!
With Marchbank back in I'm almost tempted to make the journey to the salty plateau for a gander at the Marchbank "The AWOL Messiah", but he'll probably be on for 5 mins and then off as "managed!"
Last 'first game back' he did his knee.
Anything other than that and its a win.
Is Honey back?
No mention as to who is playing tomorrow, except that Marchbank will be there and on restricted minutes.
Boyd will not playing: he has replaced Plowman, who is out sick. That hurts our structure no end, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. We'll have to deal with that.
I am hoping Honey gets out there, but with no mention of him, my expectations are not high.
Is Honey back?
Last I read somewhere was he was two weeks away, that would probably be after the VFL bye so for us Rnd 9 on the 22nd of May.
If Honey did play this week I suspect it would be on reduced minutes which to me doesn't really count as playing, it's just an intense match day fitness test.
Pretty firey clash in the first.
Dow, Hayes, Fogarty, Mirkov, Radanovic and Marchbank doing well.
1/4 time.
Blues: 5.2.32
Franganistan: 1.3.9
Wind favoured us in the first.
Setterfield got a bit of it in the first, but his disposals were pretty ordinary... panicky or kick and hope stuff.
Marchbank involved in a lot of the play. Meaning spent most of q2 defending. Scores flatter us. Fortunately they can’t kick straight despite the advantage of the breeze.
Mirkov, Kemp going ok. Dow the standout again. Fogarty’s tackling is great too.
Half time.
Great pressure from the BlueBaggers in the second against the wind.
Blues: 6.4.40
Frang: 2.7.19
Loads of mistakes by Franganistan with the wind... missed some sitters.
Highlight of the game so far is the game of Marchbank. BOG by a mile. Such composure and authority down back. It's as if he hasn't been out of the game for so long.
Of the CFC listed players... good in the 2nd: Marchbank, Mirkov, Fogarty, Dow (though quieter in the 2nd compared to his 1st qtr).
Serviceable... Motlop (always looks dangerous and with limited opportunities has been okay), Hayes... not his usual dominance.
Need more from: Willo, he's getting plenty of it but making mistakes and being too agro. Philp, not getting himself enough into the game. Kemp, looks better in defense but still not enough. Setterfield, involved in the play but disposal has been less than average.
Cr@p: the commentary, embarrassingly pro Franganistan.
Radavanovic BoG so far, been in everything, physical when he needs to be, moves well all over the ground.
Nice play from North
Cr@p: the commentary, embarrassingly pro Franganistan.
I reckon they are probably on petrol money and a drink card for remuneration. There for the experience and I dare say they are provide by the home team. Still better than silence.......
Dow’s clearance, another goal
Marchbank has had 18 touches so far.
Really enjoy watching the Blue Magoos. So much pressure and quick ball movement.
Blues by 39pts well into the 3rd.
Strong midfield efforts from Mirkov, Dow, Fogarty and Motlop.
3/4 time
Blues: 11.7.73
Frang: 3.7.25
Worth noting that the non-Afl blokes have really stood up this evening.
Really enjoy watching the Blue Magoos. So much pressure and quick ball movement.
Blues by 39pts well into the 3rd.
Strong midfield efforts from Mirkov, Dow, Fogarty and Motlop.
Apparently Vossy’s at the game.
Franger with the wind in the final qtr.
Marchbank has finished his effort for this evening... rested in the final qtr. Hugely successful return.
Caleb seemed to enjoy his return to footy. It was easy to forget how good he can be.
Willo has been so undisciplined tonight. We had the play, not far out from goal, with possession and he gives away a dumb free kick followed by a 50 and eventual goal to Franger. Not doing his chances of a recall any good at all.
10 minutes of terrible football.
4 unanswered goals by Franger in the final qtr. 23pts down and about 18 minutes remaining. Missing Marchbank down back!!
4 goals against in 12 minutes. Wake up Blues
17pts up. Franger all over us...
11pts up, 17 minute mark.
Pathetic. Gave up 6 goal lead
7 gls in 19 minutes from Franger.
5pts in it.
We've stopped.
8 unanswered goals and we’re behind
Franger 1pt in front.
8 goals and counting.
Shizen stuff from us in this final qtr.
Marchbank must have been holding that backline together!!
What a capitulation
Sorry but the Akuei 'experiment' is a failure at the moment. No idea under pressure.
Embarrassing
10 unanswered goals from Franger in this final qtr. Hard to see them losing from here... playing with dare and confidence... us? Shizened the bed.
Unbelievable to watch a team completely disengage from the task
Sorry but the Akuei 'experiment' is a failure at the moment. No idea under pressure.
Sorry but the Akuei 'experiment' is a failure at the moment. No idea under pressure.
Sad, but true. No desperation and clueless under pressure. Needs a lot more time at a lesser grade to have any chance.
An amazing capitulation from us.
Franger by 7pts with seconds remaining.
48pts up at 3/4 time, and then lose by 7pts. Says it all.
Should’ve left Marchy on 🙄
I'll write some more when I've had time to digest this, but it's clear why some players are where they are.
No Marchbank in the final qtr and undisciplined play from Willo were pivotal in that loss. But all credit to Franger in the final, they gave their all and were rewarded in an historic come back.
In that final qtr only Radanovic, Markov, Fogarty and Motlop can hold their heads up. Crocker cracked in hard with limited opportunities.
How did we lose that?
Anyway lads played well for 3/4 ers. Marchy welcome back. Did some nice things keep it up we need you.
Fogarty, Dow, Mirkov, Radovanovic, Trudgeon played well. But then thought they were millionaires at 3/4 time
Setterfield, Philp, Kemp, Akui, Williamson not great and havent shown much this year.
Motlop just looked hungry to lay tackles wish the other did too
Last I read somewhere was he was two weeks away, that would probably be after the VFL bye so for us Rnd 9 on the 22nd of May.
If Honey did play this week I suspect it would be on reduced minutes which to me doesn't really count as playing, it's just an intense match day fitness test.
Thanks LP
Well, I've watched tonight and found clear reasons why Dow isn't getting a game, as much as he collects possessions close in around the stoppage after that he is effectively out of play. Our mids were pretty much run all over by Frankston after 1/2-time, we had a dominant tap ruck and Dow, Fogarty and a host of others were unable to get hands on the ball, and often it's their direct opponents getting 2 or 3 touches in the chain of play as they run off being watched by Dow or Fogarty. Very ordinary.
Motlop is a long way off, hasn't the pace of his relatives, and has nowhere near the physicality yet needed to be AFL level. I'd call him a project player at best and it's 50/50 which way that will head. He's learning some bad habits off Dow and Fogarty types, he is only a kid but he needs to find intensity.
Mirkov was unable to turn his clear height dominance in the 2nd half into an advantage, pretty predictable in the ruck, not much in the way of 2nd efforts, he often won the tap and stood and watched which was especially poor when Frankston ran a small player against him. It was an opportunity to use his size and reach to advantage and he couldn't or wouldn't do it. I did not see him even attempt a single shepherd or block for Dow, Philp or Fogarty after 1/2-time.
Not sure why we left Hayes rotting in the F50 after 3/4-time, didn't seem injured and would have offered more than Dow or FOgarty around the footy. I have to assume we were playing to AFL orders and leaving Dow, Fogarty, Motlop and Philp in the midfield.
Looks like Marchbank and Setterfield were both pulled out early, not sure what that means for tomorrow. I presume Marchbank was managed, but really he looked to be doing it easy so I have no idea how that can be beneficial to his return.
Like our AFL side, we have a surprising lack of pace, we get away with it when our hands are clean, but once it rained and things become greasy we were shown up big time by most of the opposition.
Kemp is not a defender, we are dead-set wasting his and our time by playing this guy out of D50. Having Marchbank who is clearly a running HBF besides Kemp for the first 3/4 just highlighted that Kemp is not a defender even more, in 1/2 of footy Marchbank went past him at light-speed as an AFL D50 option!
Akuei is a way off, nice agility, good vision but very average skills even by VFL level let alone AFL level. Won some nice contests but then showed zero match awareness.
Over the 4-Qtrs, Radavanovic, Cincotta and Hayes were probably our best, with Marchbank closest of the AFL listed.
Coaches won't like today's loss, and it's not about the last quarter even though that hurts, we dominated earlier in the game but always looked to be coasting, going at 80%, we probably should have been 16 goals up not 8 if we had played with some intensity early. That is the biggest gripe I have with Dow and Fogarty, they are not newbies, they needed to lift and just didn't or can't and to me that is a hell of a tell! Getting a touch and a hand off then watching isn't AFL football.
Very very ugly stuff.
Bit harsh, Spotted One, with some of your criticisms.
Kemp, for whatever reason, has seemed down on form all year whether playing forward or back... though IMHO he's looked a bit better down back.
Losing Marchbank (a General down back) left a big hole in defense in the final quarter. And with Franger bringing desperate effort in the last our mids, at grass level, failed to adapt and adjust, allowing easy inside 50 entries which a depleted defense (no Marchbank, out of form Kemp) was overwhelmed by. Radavanovic was something of a lone hand down there in the last.
Bit harsh on Mirkov. He's in his first season as the number 1 ruckman and still learning the caper and coming along nicely. Franger started roving to him and our mids just didn't adapt. Not sure criticism of Fogarty is justified, he never gave up and was probably our best... laying 12 tackles was testament to his defensive effort. But criticism of Dow is justified... when the heat was brought, he wilted and his defensive game vanished. His endeavour and work off the ball is still a concern. His inside work is really good, but not consistent and somewhat one-dimensional.
I agree that Hayes would have been a better option in the midfield in the last qtr, but maybe he's struggling due to something we don't know about... wasn't at his best last week either.
I don't think we were coasting in the first 3 quarters. We were on with quick ball movement and were hitting our targets and quite dominant - you don't go in at 3/4 time with an 8 goal lead just coasting. Franger, however, did help us in the first 3 quarters with some dreadful errors and turnovers.
The undisciplined stuff from Willo was just dumb, and he knew it. That 12 point turnaround in the last qtr was very costly... on the scoreboard and to team morale/discipline.
Of the non-Afl listed players, Radavanovic and Trudgeon were both good 4 qtr contributors.
The undisciplined stuff from Willo was just dumb, and he knew it.
I didn't see it that way at all.
Firstly, my associates at the ground also expected the Willo incident was going to be awarded down field free kick to us, and they were shocked to see it reversed they couldn't understand where it came from!
As for JGM the Frankston players were sledging Motlop all night long, they basically targeted the kid as he is just a kid and a bit timid in the contest, the tackles he lays are ineffective as he basically sneaks up from behind and stretches a jumper staying at arms length to avoid physical contact. I think it was fair JGM stood up, the timing did not help, but if nobody stands up the team culture would be described as rotten by most fans.
When I wrote we were coasting, you could see we weren't going 100%, we played like we could go to another gear then didn't or couldn't, when the Dolphins turned up the heat we faded horribly. Millionaires to start, heartless to finish!
I didn't see any of the match, but i've been cautioning everyone from writing off Marchbank for a while as people were forgetting how good he is.
Based on all the reports, people have been forced to remember ;)
Further to that, people are seeing that someone like Kemp (and others like him) are a fair way off AFL level by comparison.
Welcome back Marchy!
I didn't see any of the match, but i've been cautioning everyone from writing off Marchbank for a while as people were forgetting how good he is.
Based on all the reports, people have been forced to remember ;)
Further to that, people are seeing that someone like Kemp (and others like him) are a fair way off AFL level by comparison.
Welcome back Marchy!
People aren't writing Marchbank off because of his ability, they write him off because to date he has been a chandelier!
Kemp looks out of sorts because they are trying to turn him into a KPD of sorts, this kid made his name in a short pre-draft burst as a Cripps sized midfield option, prior to that he was at best having an average time as an oversized running flanker, and we appear to be turning him back into an average flanker. Let's hope it's a learning curve and not just another case of short sighted pigeonholing.
I didn't see it that way at all.
Firstly, my associates at the ground also expected the Willo incident was going to be awarded down field free kick to us, and they were shocked to see it reversed they couldn't understand where it came from!
As for JGM the Frankston players were sledging Motlop all night long, they basically targeted the kid as he is just a kid and a bit timid in the contest, the tackles he lays are ineffective as he basically sneaks up from behind and stretches a jumper staying at arms length to avoid physical contact. I think it was fair JGM stood up, the timing did not help, but if nobody stands up the team culture would be described as rotten by most fans.
When I wrote we were coasting, you could see we weren't going 100%, we played like we could go to another gear then didn't or couldn't, when the Dolphins turned up the heat we faded horribly. Millionaires to start, heartless to finish!
JGM???
I didn't see any of the match, but i've been cautioning everyone from writing off Marchbank for a while as people were forgetting how good he is.
Based on all the reports, people have been forced to remember ;)
Further to that, people are seeing that someone like Kemp (and others like him) are a fair way off AFL level by comparison.
Welcome back Marchy!
One game in a row ...
One game in a row ...
....to go with his games previously makes more than 1.
JGM???
Jesse Glass-McCasker, shoved a Dolphins player who was sticking it to Motlop in the last qtr to give away a 50m penalty on top of a 50m penalty.
I haven't seen the game yet, but I will tomorrow. I'll comment then.
[1] Disappointing to lose, but we were really ordinary for a lot of the night.
[2] We struggled in the conditions all night. Our kicking and marking was really down. Our taller forwards struggled to have an impact all night.
For example, Josh Cripps had 5 possessions and 1 goal, Hugh Hamilton had 8 (granted he is just a kid), Crocker had just 10, although he did manage 3 goals.
Similarly, a lot of our better defenders struggled for possessions and couldn't take marks. Kemp got a bit of ball, but didn't take many of his trademark marks.
[3] Whether it was a plan or not, Hayes was really down, as was Tom Williamson. They get a lot of possessions at this level and we missed their drive.
[4] I know Mirkov is learning the caper, but, especially in the last quarter, he could have changed his taps up by thumping the ball forward. It would have put the Frankston mids off their game.
[5] Frankston were up for this game, even if it didn't always appear on the scoreboard. We weren't.
[6] With a number of our players struggling in the conditions, we really missed the steadiness of Marchbank in the last quarter. We really needed someone to stand up in defence in the last quarter, and we didn't have someone.
[7] Setters had a good 2nd quarter, but otherwise didn't do much at all. I would have left him on because he needs time at this level to get some form.
[8] 10 goals straight on those conditions were pure luck. No other way to describe it.
[9] I think we'll be better when we get some players back. Too much is being left to too little. Sounds familiar?
Really disappointed in Philp's game. he contributed very little.
Motlop isn't AFL ready yet. he also struggled with the conditions.
Where is Josh Cripps at?........KP forward who pinch hits in the ruck, or 50/50 both roles?
5 possies vs a standalone low profile team like Frankston isnt exactly braining it, have we been seduced by the Cripps name or can this kid take the next step?. Seen him play for about 30 mins so I have no idea what he is capable of other than his WAFL form which was encouraging..
Where is Josh Cripps at?........KP forward who pinch hits in the ruck, or 50/50 both roles?
5 possies vs a standalone low profile team like Frankston isnt exactly braining it, have we been seduced by the Cripps name or can this kid take the next step?. Seen him play for about 30 mins so I have no idea what he is capable of other than his WAFL form which was encouraging..
For his size he's quite good when he gets involved, good mobility and agility not unlike his brother, but his tank is way way off Cripps Snr, and at this stage Cripps Jnr just doesn't get to enough of the contests.
I can see SpecialK's influence in the coaching, because he's not really a natural ruck, the tap isn't his go, but he and Mirkov both crack on with the 2nd efforts. So in this regard at the moment Cripps Jnr is a poor man's SoJ maybe without the ability to cover the ground.
He's still growing, was 199cm two years ago, not sure what he is now but as is typical for 200cm types he might not peak for another 2 or 3 years! If anything I'd say he is in the awkward stage, with his body and strength needing to catch up with his size.
For his size he's quite good when he gets involved, good mobility and agility not unlike his brother, but his tank is way way off Cripps Snr, and at this stage Cripps Jnr just doesn't get to enough of the contests.
I can see SpecialK's influence in the coaching, because he's not really a natural ruck, the tap isn't his go, but he and Mirkov both crack on with the 2nd efforts. So in this regard at the moment Cripps Jnr is a poor man's SoJ maybe without the ability to cover the ground.
He's still growing, was 199cm two years ago, not sure what he is now but as is typical for 200cm types he might not peak for another 2 or 3 years! If anything I'd say he is in the awkward stage, with his body and strength needing to catch up with his size.
Pretty good summary.
At this point Josh really needs to work on his endurance, so he gets to more contests. As he gets stronger, he take more marks. Similarly, if he gets to more contests, he kick more goals.
He doesn't appear to be a natural ruckman; his ruck work is quite primitive. However, give him the strength and that problem will solve itself.
At the moment, our style of play isn't providing the same opportunities that our seniors have because our 2nd don't kick as well. That isn't helping him. But he has to learn to get in front and hold his ground.
There is something to work with, but it is a way off at the moment.
For his size he's quite good when he gets involved, good mobility and agility not unlike his brother, but his tank is way way off Cripps Snr, and at this stage Cripps Jnr just doesn't get to enough of the contests.
I can see SpecialK's influence in the coaching, because he's not really a natural ruck, the tap isn't his go, but he and Mirkov both crack on with the 2nd efforts. So in this regard at the moment Cripps Jnr is a poor man's SoJ maybe without the ability to cover the ground.
He's still growing, was 199cm two years ago, not sure what he is now but as is typical for 200cm types he might not peak for another 2 or 3 years! If anything I'd say he is in the awkward stage, with his body and strength needing to catch up with his size.
So more years in the system so he can get fitter before a call can be made, maybe a rookie spot to fast track him.
Talls as we all know take time but in todays modern game its tougher to carry project players unless they are seen as potential Blue Chip players of the future.
From what I have seen he is more than good enough to hold a bottom six spot on the list that won't demand to play every week.. but there for back up.