The idea that someone like Saad can make it through a whole AFL career and still be effectively a unilateral ball user is a condemnation on our club and the AFL system in general. It's a fundamental high level skill that is almost completely absent in our list.
Saad is competent with his right foot but so much better with his left. Even when wrong-footed, he's able to hit targets with kicks that may make purists wince but do the job. How many times did Kade Simpson or Buddy Franklin kick on their right?
Paul Roos actually discouraged his players from kicking with their non-preferred foot:
"I'd rather the 10 non-preferred kicks go out on the full and the 90 preferred hit someone on the chest. That's my philosophy. I have a very different philosophy to some people.
You can practice on it. But if you're trying to practice now at AFL level, and wanting to be proficient, unless you're doing a heap of extras, it's never going to work.
I certainly wasn't worried as a coach if blokes couldn't kick on their wrong foot. I played 369 games and to be perfectly frank I reckon I kicked on my left foot 20 times.
It wasn't something we were focused on when I coached. Some of the guys could do it, and some were terrible. It was embarrassing how bad they were. So what do you do [by then]?"
Our AFL and VFL teams play the same gamestyle ... or attempt to play the same gamestyle. Depending on the opposition, the VFL team often executes it quite well, as does the AFL team in patches, because it's much harder to execute against quality AFL teams.
If Cowan and/or Carroll get promoted to the AFL, they'll be flat out trying to negate their opponent and supporting their teammates. They may get the odd opportunity to break the lines and it may come back to bite them on the butt if there's a poor delivery or a fumble in our forward 50.
Thats all good in a perfect world.
Try telling Pittonet to play like TDK.
Try telling Lemmey to play like Charlie.
Try telling Ben Camporeale to play like Cripps.
Good luck
It’s not about players trying to be like other players. It’s having the same gamestyle across the VFL/AFL. Some players will struggle … and they’ll struggle more against better opposition.
I think it's easy to confuse a perceived difference in tactic with an inability to implement a tactic. Structurally I can't see any real difference between the AFL and VFL game tactics from last weekend, but the tactics are significantly easier to implement against Port Melbourne in the VFL than they are against even a weaker AFL opponent. We can do it in the AFL, but not for 4-qtrs.
Anyone watching Evans and Durdin struggle in the AFL should be acutely aware of that.
Could Cowan and Carroll do in the AFL what they did in the VFL for 4-qtrs, possibly, but most likely only partially, certainly it would be to a lesser extent. Without Cowan and Carroll breaking lines and hitting those targets forward of the contest, Evans, Durdin and Camporeale would find themselves in heavy traffic and the outcome would be very different, they would lose effectiveness. That surely seems familiar.
If it was as easy as moving into the AFL and repeating the VFL procedure everybody would be doing it!
Spot on LP!
Our AFL and VFL teams play the same gamestyle ... or attempt to play the same gamestyle. Depending on the opposition, the VFL team often executes it quite well, as does the AFL team in patches, because it's much harder to execute against quality AFL teams.
If Cowan and/or Carroll get promoted to the AFL, they'll be flat out trying to negate their opponent and supporting their teammates. They may get the odd opportunity to break the lines and it may come back to bite them on the butt if there's a poor delivery or a fumble in our forward 50.
Congratulations to Jack on playing the Silvagnis' 679th V/AFL game tonight.
The Silvagnis will pass the Murphys' tally tonight and are closing in on the Kennedys' 695 game record. Of course, the Silvagnis are unique in that they are a one club family.
Let's hope Jack and his teammates mark the occasion in style!
Fair enough, cant understand how Acres keeps getting a game TBH.
Because he is one of our best and most consistent players?!
Against North.... 2nd most pressure acts (28) 3rd most meters gained (356) =2nd most score involvements (6) =1st marks inside 50 (3) =1st contested marks (2) =1st tackles inside 50 (2) =4th most inside 50's (4) 5th most possessions (21) 4th most contested possessions (9) =4th most marks (7) =8th tackles (3) =7th clearances (2) =2nd most shots on goal (1.2)
What more do you want from him?
We have certainly got some harsh critics.
I think that Acres isn't playing his best footy but he is consistently among our top performing players. I guess he hasn't kicked a match winning goal in the dying minutes for a while now
Between the two of them they should be able to wear Xerri down?
Xerri won the hitouts last time but we dominated the clearances. Pitto and the King combined might win the hitouts but will they reduce our ability to win clearances?
Five changes from the team that smashed North in Round 6; Cincotta, Pittonet, Fantasia, Docherty and Binns come in for E Hollands, Young, Cottrell, White and Walsh. Apart from Walsh, I'm not sure that those changes make us weaker or stronger. I guess the answer lies in how we use Pittonet and De Koning.
Agree with DJ....Id have Cincotta on Curtis but I think the plan will be cut off the supply and that would be LDU being the most prominent of the Nth mids. Im not a fan of the Pittonet selection, when TDK is not rucking we tend to lose momentum and I cant see Pittonet being picked to play 5 mins a quarter as relief ruck, we need TDK as that defacto midfielder exploiting a meathead like Xerri for as long as possible imo.
Last season - or was it the season before? - we went with both Pitto and De Koning on the ball with the latter basically playing as a genuine "big-bodied" midfielder. I wouldn't mind seeing that again, with Crippa going forward.
As you say, we can't afford to have De Koning not rucking for long periods and we can't afford to have Pitto sitting on the pine for long periods.
It will be interesting to see how we manage our ruckmen and how our forward line is structured
North are going in quite tall. Particularly in defense.
Wonder if they are going to screw themselves in a way we normally do.
I dont necessarily like the Haynes match up with Zurhaar, but I suppose we could swap him with JSOS and have Haynes match up with Darling instead. Larkey is Weitering's cryptonite normally so we have a bit of flexibility for match ups down back.
Looking at the lineups, Im not confident they are putting out a side that can beat us. The problem is we have become pretty good at beating ourselves, and any club who takes us seriously could challenge us.
Cinc to Zurhaar?
I would play Cincotta on Curtis but I suspect that his assignment will be Davies-Uniacke.
Zurhaar's best footy is behind him and he hardly got a touch last time we played North. He's averaging just under two goals a game this season though and does need attention.
I was chatting to some colleagues about his apparent random behaviour, when one of them chimed in with a interesting hypothesis.
It's not random, it appears to be a behaviour of a person who's already had half a dose of Novichok, and knows if he makes the wrong decision Part B is coming via express delivery.
Have you ever seen him open a door?
I have seen him walk into a wall
I have also seen him attempt to walk out of an executive order announcement without signing the order. I have also seen him fall asleep during a meeting with the Saudis, then walk away from the document he was supposed to sign. One of the Saudis led him back as you would lead a toddler or an elder with dementia.
