Interesting to see Menzel listed as a follower. Hopefully he plays the majority on ball.
He played on the ball effectively all last week and played his best game for ages. But his relative lack of physicality did tell: he still gets out-bodied too easily. Early in the year he was mooted as spending more time on the ball and less up forward. Things didn't work out that way, but maybe we are seeing a glimpse of the future?
B: Daidone Laumets Williams HB: Neiwand Persson Coates C: McKay Maitland Weickhardt HF: D. Brown Hayes Davis F: Kreymborg White Uthayakumar R: Kelso Shakallis Verma Int: Huntington Woodman Fisher Hayres Cameron Bazzani Baker-Thomas Hooy Wallace Ong Haidon
Interesting to see how Giles pulls up. We can all wish him well in his first game for more than a year. I also note that Russell is named. I am a bit surprised, as he was playing OK before he was injured. But perhaps he is not 100% fit either.
B: J. Roberts Fields Yarran HB: Johnston Walton Rice C:Tutt Cattapan Viojo HF: Armitage Jones Murray F: Wilson Watson Johnson R:Wood Menzel J. Gleeson Int: Soncin McDonagh* Aujla Strachan Dirago Haynes Bolger Ballard Kilpatrick
Sandringham B: Le Grice Delaney Cook HB: Murdoch Simpkin Shenton C: Ray Jones Markworth HF: Siposs M.Brown Zijai F: Dennis-Lane Membrey Saad R: Holmes Templeton Schneider Int: Payne Kreymborg Pierce Noone Verma Ong Weickhardt White O.Jones*
Their team looks more like St. Kilda seniors compared to ours. With the game in Brisbane, it is questionable about how many of the emergencies play. That doesn't leave much at all.
Rice gets a 2nd go and we could probably do with about 3 of him. My God, have we fewer Carlton listed players available?
B: Sam Rowe, Michael Jamison, Clem Smith. HB: Dylan Buckley, Sam Docherty, Zach Tuohy. C: Mark Whiley, Andrew Carrazzo, Kade Simpson. HF: Tom Bell, Matthew Dick, David Ellard. F: Lachie Henderson, Andrejs Everitt, Andrew Walker. Foll: Matthew Kreuzer, Patrick Cripps, Marc Murphy. Int: Blaine Boekhorst, Ed Curnow, Nick Holman, Kristian Jaksch.
Emg: Blaine Johnson, Brad Walsh, Matthew Watson.
In: Matthew Dick, David Ellard, Kristian Jaksch.
Out: Cameron Wood (Omitted), Simon White (Knee), Levi Casboult (Knee)
Brisbane Lions
B: Liam Dawson, Daniel Merrett, Sam Mayes. HB: Marco Paparone, Harris Andrews, Daniel Rich. C: Dayne Zorko, Jack Redden, Lewis Taylor. HF: Allen Christensen, Luke McGuane, Jed Adcock. F: Daniel McStay, Jonathan Freeman, Trent West. Foll: Stefan Martin, Tom Rockliff, Pearce Hanley. Int: Mitch Robinson, Tom Cutler, Billy Evans, Zac O'Brien.
Emg: Josh Watts, Mitch Golby, Hugh Beasley.
In: Trent West, Tom Cutler.
Out: Justin Clarke (Jaw), Rohan Bewick (Omitted)
We don't appear to have many guys left with White and Casboult listed as injured, but this is ridiculous. As for Watson not playing, he very well may as yet: he is the emergency with height.
Honestly, looking at these teams, Brisbane should win easily. By goals! We are playing the Northern Blues boys in all but name.
IN: Ellard, Jaksch, Dick OUT: Wood, White, Casboult.
We are tanking, no doubt. I know that Wood probably needs time in the 2's to regain his form and play a full game, but with no Casboult, who is going to do the ruck work when Kreuzer tires?
In many ways the awards just don't seem to go to us. WE just don't seem to get the kudos. I've got over that. But I still think Cripps deserves this one. Cripps has been a senior player all season and has been tagged already. Hogan has been up and down and has played 2nds football. I don't think there is any question that Cripps has done better. Will that make a difference? I doubt it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and most of the 'judges' don't want to behold us. If Cripps wins, it will be extra special considering. If he doesn't, he will still be a champion.
Not a great result, not a great crowd and not a great voter turnout. However, we did play half a game, instead of no part of the game. So this was an improvement.
There were 12 voters this week who rated the performance a reasonable 7.29, close to a D+. A reasonable effort for a team that looks more like the Northern Blues each week.
The Votes: Round 18: Carlton vs. North Melbourne Murphy, Marc 359 Cripps, Patrick 250 Kreuzer, Matthew 132 Simpson, Kade 115 Docherty, Sam 96 Buckley, Dylan 36 Carrazzo, Andrew 33 Curnow, Edward 26 Everitt, Andrejs 26 Boekhorst, Blaine 20 Jamison, Michael 7 Henderson, Lachie 3
Progressives: 2768 - Murphy, Marc (0) 2117 - Cripps, Patrick (0) 1724 - Docherty, Sam (0) 1630 - Bell, Tom (0) 1237 - Simpson, Kade (0) 872 - Judd, Chris (0) 838 - Tuohy, Zach (0) 801 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0) 778 - Curnow, Edward (0) 617 - White, Simon (0) 575 - Everitt, Andrejs (0) 546 - Buckley, Dylan (0) 468 - Armfield, Dennis (0) 445 - Wood, Cameron (0) 419 - Henderson, Lachie (0) 405 - Carrazzo, Andrew (0) 340 - Gibbs, Bryce (0) 337 - Rowe, Sam (0) 325 - Casboult, Levi (0) 250 - Graham, Nick (0) 140 - Tutt, Jason (0) 126 - Jamison, Michael (0) 125 - Yarran, Chris (0) 89 - Menzel, Troy (0) 87 - Walker, Andrew (0) 34 - Boekhorst, Blaine (0) 23 - Holman, Nick (0) 14 - Byrne, Ciaran (0) 12 - Jones, Liam (0) 9 - Dick, Matthew (0) 5 - Jaksch, Kristian (0) 3 - Warnock, Robert (0) 2 - Ellard, David (0)
Cripps looked like he could play from day 1. Had he not broke his leg, he would have played a lot more. Mind you, he can still improve, but he does have the sort of things we need: poise, strength, the ability to get the ball, etc. His kicking is the next thing that needs work: move over Casboult, you're about to get a partner or 4 in the goal kicking training.
I think we need to be careful here, all eyes will be on us after our previous tanking history.
All we need to do is to pick Jones and Viojo-Rainbow, and maybe Johnson (although he does have a go). Then we won't be able to win, no tanking required.
I think Smith shows something, but at the moment he's trying to impose himself and it's not coming off due to his physical limitations and lack of experience. He was a very highly rated junior and is worth persevering with, given time to find his feet we might have a player. At least he backs himself which is always good to see in a young player.
Yep re smith I wouldn't be too critical of him just yet. He's a young bloke who hasn't quite come to terms with the pace of the game. He's just a bit rushed with his decision making at the moment and a bit slow to get rid of the ball...and he's also brushed aside a bit easily and some of his tackles aren't quite sticking....but he has a crack. Give him twelve months and see if he's still the same player.
Smith is soooo not ready for AFL footy that I find it hard to describe. He has so much to learn and he fumbles terribly. But he is very young and he is willing to tackle and chase. But at the moment he couldn't pick up a cold.
Matt Dick: Did very well in the first half but was less conspicuous after half time. He looked good enough to give him a go instead of Smith. 23 possessions. Matthew Watson: I don’t see how Watson has not been able to get a game when Jones has got games, to be honest. He has his issues: pace, being the most obvious. But he actually has been taking some reasonable marks and he does lead. He managed 13 possessions and usually did something with them. He also spent time in the ruck to spell Auricchio. Not our worst by a long shot. Brad Walsh: Very quiet early in the game, but got into it more after half time. Of the kids left in the NB’s, he looks to have value. Troy Menzel: Played mostly in the midfield and did a decent job, especially in the first half. I’d still play him in the NB’s next week, but he responded well to being dropped. He is not 100%. He can’t be. His tank let him down, as it has all season. Blaine Johnson: 13 possessions was just not enough. Didn’t look dangerous enough. Dillon Viojo-Rainbow: Pretty reasonable after half time, but I don’t think he got a possession in the first half. I am really worried about him. David Ellard: Had a very quiet game for him at this level. He really didn’t do much and looked proppy. Chris Yarran: He didn’t have the intensity required and his skills were just not on show. 11 possessions, after spending time both forward and back, wasn’t enough for a player as good as he is. We really need to get into his head, as this was just unacceptable for a guy like him. Kristian Jaksch: Did a good negative job, but provided little drive from defence and didn’t do much when moved forward. Probably his least effective effort in some time. However, he did keep his opponents very quiet. For mine, he goes to ground too easily. Liam Jones: Spent time in defence and did a reasonable job, but gave no drive at all and fell over too often. Maybe he will make a defender, and maybe the horse will learn how to sing.
