8 goals to 3 in the first quarter was a telling sign, they placed us under pressure and forced skills errors, we tried to rough them up a little (eg. Robinson V Martin) but it had little effect on them.
What happened in the second was simply terrific, where it started and by whom is irrelevant, the fact that it happened shows that they are capable of matching it with the other teams in the eight if they want to be switched on and committed to each other.
Fighting gritty third quarter saw us hit the front quickly with a goal by McLean and then a goal after the siren from Casboult put us back in front at 3/4 time.
The things we did so very well in the 2nd & 3rd quarters which got us into the game and kept us in it started to dissipate halfway through the last, was it fatigue or a lack of faith in themselves ??
The Tigers were always going to throw the kitchen sink at us in the last so we needed to brace ourselves and confront their sustained attack. I felt that even though we knew they were coming at us, we started to fumble and make it harder for ourselves than we needed to. As it turned out, the longer the quarter went, the more the Tigers panicked as a result of the scoreboard pressure.
I'm still trying to understand how Maric was able to sneak forward on a number of occasions, take marks inside the 50m arc, kick goals from close range too. His mark & goal late in the last kept them in touch and a chance.
Menzel could of probably sealed it with 4mins to play when he had a relatively easy shot on the run from 35m out and missed everything. As an oddball parallel universe happening, Casboult kicked one off the ground to us 15 points up with 3.5mins to play.
Yarran, the player all Blues supporters get a woodie over, from 20m out on the run missed what would of been a certain sealer 30secs later. #badkarma
Ended up with a solid win and one that puts a smile on everyone's face especially after the crap they served up the past few weeks.
The young guys are the future now, that was the most obvious thing to come out of the match for me today, leave them in the seniors to learn the caper.
Did anyone see a Carlton team-mate go and give Menzel a pat on the back for getting back on his own and diving to touch the ball right on the line when to prevent a Tigers goal in the first ?? Didn't see to many say 'well done' when he kicked that terrific goal in traffic moments later too. #gonnabegood
Robert Warnock, here's a tip on how to play the ruck role by someone who never played ruck - try looking at the ball instead of the opposition ruckman at a centre bounce, you may get your hand a little closer to it if you do. #useless
Was Bootsma on Riewoldt part of a long-term development strategy or was it purely through necessity ?? #scratchinghead
Hey Bryce, feel free to actually tackle the Tiger player with the ball, standing a metre away flapping your arms like a seagull just doesn't cut it anymore. #exposed
Mitch Robinson's second quarter was the most devastating he has ever played, in fact, if he could constantly play with that level of disciplined intensity, non-one would ever doubt him. #trainthebrain
Eddie Betts, the smallest player on the field tried to take Mark of the Century by climbing high on Astbury's back only to give away a free kick. #playthepercentages
Nick Graham looked like he was meant to be there, just needs to kick through the ball instead of those that went flat & low. #thathaircutisrad
Tom Bell is dumb, pure and simple, made too many errors and bad decisions under pressure. Brute force with a lack of polish & general awareness will see him ousted from the club. #wicrapwasntso
McInnes looks like such a calm & reliable player now, resembles an old style cool Blues defender. #partofthefuture. Really like what he offers and disappointed that I ever doubted him. #nooneisperfect
Can we get Dr. Frankenstein to join Gibbs' kicking ability with Casboult's great pack marking to create the perfect player ?? #tellhimhesdreaming
Jarrod Waite playing as a permanent defender was the balancing act we need to keep Henderson up forward. #goodcoaching #rightthingtodo
Josh Bootsma, please sprint at the ball when it is well in front of you, don't lope along so your opponent can catch up to you. #worrying
Think you were a little harsh there, Sheik. I was very pleased with Warnock's game on Maric. Maric has been in good form and he didn't take a mark against Warnock. He did take some marks against our defenders, but that is another story. On the other hand, I think you were pretty merciful on Bootsma: he had a day he would like to forget. I wouldn't be playing him until he: [1] Spent a long time in the gym getting 10 kg of muscle on him. [2] Let him play on the wing for a while, to get his confidence up. He can defeat many guys in aerial contests: he has more spoils than anyone else at the club. But when he first got a game, he marked the ball, he attacked the ball and he kicked it to advantage. He does none of these at senior level at the moment. We risk setting him back a LONG way by sacrificing him like we did today. Play Laidler or Duigan or anyone who is physically ready.
This week this should be a more pleasurable task. It was fun being there!
Remember: [1] Votes must add up to 15. [2] No one player can have more than 10. [3] At least 3 players need to get a mention. [4] Give our performance a rating. It won't be 'E' or 'F' this week!
Still injured, as far as I know. I'd like him back: there is a spot there with his name on it in the seniors that would allow Gibbs to go back to the midfield and be useful. But that is another tale.
Northern Blues vs. Werribee Tigers Sunday 18th August Visy Park at 11:00AM
Northern Blues B: Yelland Valladares Drew HB: Dale Currie Posar C: Lincoln Ballard Thomas HF: Wilson Clark Temay F: Dufficy Visser Dorman R: Marchbank Taglieri Bransgrove Int: Cattapan Soncin Bonaddio Gleeson Petroro Grimes Jenkins D. Watson Delahunty
Werribee Tigers B Martiniello White Wormald HB: McDonald Wales Sodomaco C: Ruggles Sharp Hicks HF: Davis Clouston Maric F: Speight Tudor W. Sullivan R: Fort Bolton Laracy Int: Henderson Barbuto Stevens Purton-Smith Eade O'Shea Williams Lang Kershaw Zumbo Fairley Jones M. Sullivan
Again this week Adelaide produce a Rising Star nomination.......no.3 for the year.
Not saying its the be all and end all, but I think it's a fair indication that our kids ain't setting the world on fire!
Certainly our kids don't seem to get any kudos, Last year Tom Bell and bunch of others got games and really showed something; certainly they did enough to get noticed. The 'big name' kids had already had their nominations. But did they? Not a nomination to be seen. Did Zac Tuohy? He was deserving of a nod, but never got one. He has gone on to be a very serviceable and very consistent player. We do have issues with our development, that is clear. It is also clear that not a huge number of our kids have come up as yet. It is also clear that it is difficult to compete for the Rising Star against teams with large numbers of top picks. However, we have had players who COULD have been noticed and they simply weren't. We haven't had nominations since Garlett and Robinson and that group came on the scene.
If Bartlett picks Richmond to win by 10 goals then we really do have a chance to upset them. This guy is a moron. I wouldn't have given us a chance until this.
ROK - good off HB. Strong. Seems to be doing a 2E role - being groomed to release 2E into the guts?
I'd rather Gibbs be released into an attacking role more than Touhy to be honest.
Gibbs played well in the midfield when Murphy was out but has been back in defence since then to allow us to select multiple taggers - maybe its time to go and get the ball because we have been slaughtered in centre clearance the past two weeks.
If he is ever to make a midfielder, then there will never be a better time to try.
I'm a day or 3 behind this week, but I don't think it matters that much. Yesterday's pounding at the hands of the Dogs feels more immediate. Never mind, I've analyzed the votes and here they are:
Votes: Simpson, Kade 365 Scotland, Heath 288 Tuohy, Zac 258 Judd, Chris 70 Watson, Matthew 68 Henderson, Lachie 26 Kreuzer, Matthew 26 Robinson, Mitch 18 Walker, Andrew 11 Armfield, Dennis 9 McLean, Brock 7 Gibbs, Bryce 5 Garlett, Jeff 4
Rarely has there been such a clear and dominant top 3 vote getters. Considering that all 3 were a part of the defence that has to handle the small forwards (who killed us), that says something about the way we played.
Progressives: 2538 - Judd, Chris (0) 2446 - Henderson, Lachie (0) 2119 - Walker, Andrew (0) 2109 - Simpson, Kade (0) 1658 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0) 1616 - Garlett, Jeff (0) 1287 - McLean, Brock (0) 1051 - Murphy, Marc (0) 995 - Gibbs, Bryce (0) 865 - Waite, Jarrad (0) 737 - Jamison, Michael (0) 724 - Scotland, Heath (0) 647 - Yarran, Chris (0) 607 - Tuohy, Zac (0) 534 - Armfield, Dennis (0) 446 - Curnow, Edward (0) 424 - Cachia, Jarryd (0) 392 - Lucas, Kane (0) 375 - Warnock, Robert (0) 326 - Robinson, Mitch (0) 211 - Carrazzo, Andrew (0) 207 - Betts, Eddie (0) 206 - White, Simon (0) 98 - Rowe, Sam (0) 80 - Hampson, Shaun (0) 72 - Watson, Matthew (0) 62 - Casboult, Levi (0) 29 - McInnes, Andrew (0) 15 - Bell, Tom (0) 6 - Ellard, David (0) 5 - Menzel, Troy (0) 4 - Buckley, Dylan (0) 3 - Duigan, Nicholas (0)
With Judd out for the season, one would expect Hendo to end up on top, but weirder things have happened. Walker has continued to stagnate.
Oh well, if nobody else is willing to put in their 2 cents worth, then I may as well. Even though the anger is still deep within me.
Team: E But for the 3rd quarter, I'd be tempted to give us an 'F'. We were actually playing some decent football until Judd was injured. That was the last yelp we gave.
Explanations: [4] Judd: This wasn't a classic Judd performance, but things are entirely relative. Clearly our best player, Juddy went back into a role where he was the workhorse, and he did it very well. When he went off injured, we lost our way and whatever drive from the centre we'd managed to claw back. It is a sad state of affairs when our best player only plays 3 quarters. [3] McLean: Brock worked as hard as anyone on the day and gave us something in a badly beaten midfield. [2] Curnow: Worked hard and did OK. [2] Betts: Best game from Eddie in weeks! Since early in the year, in fact. Eddie took some nice marks and was always dangerous. [1] Jamison: Took out the Dogs' tall forward, but lost confidence in himself badly. [1] Scotland: Plenty of the ball. OK. [1] Warnock: In the end he probably came out on top of Minson, but he struggled early. He did manage to keep Minson to 1 mark. Not our worst by a long way!
Honourable Mentions: Cachia: Worked hard, but isn't having as much effect as he did earlier in the season. Bootsma: Like Jamo, he appeared to lose confidence in himself. He came back and did some really good defensive work, but he gave no drive at all. His huge torpedo just shows what he can do if he had confidence to attack sometimes. Gibbs: I so want Bryce to be back in the midfield, giving us some drive. Murphy: not our worst, but only a shadow of himself at the moment. Watson: Until he got injured, he wasn't that bad.
A black evening if there ever was one, it was clear from the first few minutes that we were dead meat and our season with it. Well, we still need to rate our performance, so please, do vote this week. I expect a pretty ugly set of figures, but that is nothing less than we deserve at the moment.
[1] Votes add up to 15. [2] No more than 10 votes to any individual. [3] At least players need to be mentioned. [4] Please include a rating.
Just like the players, I have lost interest and just don't care anymore
That is really what it looked like, which really bothers me. I don't expect us to win another game this season now, but I still have the urge to win. I just can't see how we can beat the Tiges on our present form.
Woops... forgot Graham - good, again, but looked a little tired at times. Tried up forward as a 'small forward' and looked likely, though on one occasion, running into an open goal tried to do the team thing with a cute pass to a team mate that went astray.
...and Robbo - was really disciplined and focussed. Took a terrific attitude into the game - good to see. Encouraging to team mates.
You'd look hard at, for a call up: Robbo Meat ROK Dinger (interesting that all 4 have a dash of mongrel and are hard at it).
Many thanks, Baggers. Nice to read something positive after yesterday's disaster. At least a few guys put up their hands to replace Judd next week.
It is really nice to see the Baby Blues winning because it does suggest we are not just a spiritless group of individuals.
2013 AFL Victoria Development League Northern Blues 6.3 13.3 15.6 21.13 (139) Sandringham 0.1 1.2 3.2 3.2 (20)
GOALS: Northern Blues: Dorman 5 Dufficy 3 Temay 2 Gleeson 2 Clark 2 Thomas 2 Visser Jenkins Bonaddio Lincoln Posar Sandringham: Banfield Banfield McKay
