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Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #165 –
Quote from: cookie2 on
I thought Murphy went well and looked more assured in a way  - was tackling harder for one thing. I am looking forward to a significant contribution from him this year.
Being at the game and watching the whole ground, I thought we maintained our structure/shape way better than they did. This can cover lack of speed if done right. Sure youre going to caught out from time to time when a turnover occurs, by and large though, I thought we looked good.
2017-16th
2018-Wooden Spoon
2019-16th
2020-dare to dream? 11th is better than last I suppose
2021-Pi$$ or get off the pot
2022- Real Deal or more of the same? 0.6%
2023- "Raise the Standard" - M. Voss Another year wasted Bar Set
2024-Back to the drawing boardNo excuses, its time

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #166 –
Quote from: cookie2 on
I thought Murphy went well and looked more assured in a way  - was tackling harder for one thing. I am looking forward to a significant contribution from him this year.

2 tackles and D/E around 58%.

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #167 –
Quote from: JonHenry on
2 tackles and D/E around 58%.

Don't think that bare stats always tell the whole story. I got the clear impression he was playing with more confidence.
Reality always wins in the end.

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #168 –
Quote from: cookie2 on
Don't think that bare stats always tell the whole story. I got the clear impression he was playing with more confidence.

Yes, I thought he did a lot of sacrificial stuff Thursday, things we would expect him to normally be the beneficiary of.
The Force Awakens!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #169 –
Quote from: spf on
Okay, just watched a high definition replay of the game, the guy I 'thought' was a bulked up Lochie O'Brien was in fact, Sam Walsh who was everywhere. The guy covers ground I will give him that, AND he is only a first-year player. Really, Really impressive stuff from this guy.

Will Setterfield appears much taller than 190cm, he seems to be nearer to Cripps height - can anyone confirm in the flesh?

Cunningham's game was a class above anything he's previously delivered. Really fantastic by his standards.

Our forwards need to work more together, they really spoiled each other, but Jack was better than 7 possessions (can't quite believe that from the replay).
Setters looked a lot like the 19 year old Kouta, even down to his kicking. He is supposed to be 191 cm, but he played taller and he moved very well. I wasn't sure how fast he was, because he moved like the young Kouta did: he looked to have time even under pressure.
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #170 –
Quote from: Amers on
I enjoyed going to the game last night, it's always a joy to win against the Bummers!

Thoughts on the game....

Gibbo is a lock for a small forward role, he showed his class last night, I would like to have seen him play more midfield minutes, but alas. His greatest weakness is probably penetration in his kicking, but as long as he plays within his limitations, he will do just fine.

McGovern looked good, he got on the lead or at least lost his man a couple of times to take a mark and get a shot on goal.
H and Charlie both seemed too content to sit in the goal square and let the mids bomb it long to the top of the square. Ok we did score quite a few crumbing goals from this, but I would prefer to see more movement and creativity in our forward movement and leading patterns.

Newman was solid, dependable and exactly what he needs to be in his role down back. Nothing flashy, but he wins his contests and plays his role. He doesn't have Docherty's quality, but I would consider him a competent replacement. 

Settters seemed to have a quiet 1st half, at least I didn't notice him too much, but he seemed to work his way into the game from then on. To be expected for someone who has been out of the game for as long as he has I guess. He showed some class and skills and did enough in the end to encourage me that he will be a good addition to our midfield.

Schuey I didn't see until about 2 minutes before the final siren, so can't really comment. His stats read 2 tackles which might say something about his intent for the short time he was on the ground.

Walsh. Believe the hype, all of it. I could not have been more impressed, he was in everything, backing into packs, making 2nd and 3rd efforts when team mates were just ball gazing. Phenomenal game for a 1st year player. Very excited. 

Sammo has stepped up. He probably needed to, but IMO he has, or did last night anyhow, he looked good, got involved and used the ball well.

Dow, a year below Fisher and Sammo and looked a step below them last night too, which is more observation than a criticism. I was impressed that every time it was his time to 'go' he did, and more often than not got the ball and did something constructive with it. I didn't notice any 'wow' moments, but that's ok by me.

Phillips was probably the standout tall player on the ground, dominated the 2nd qtr and made solid contributions in the other 3 with some great marks around the ground.

I thought Daisy was the best of our older guys.

Without looking at the stats, the ball seemed to spend a lot more time in our forward half than it did theirs, so we won that battle. When they did get the ball out it was out the front of a contest and then on a fast break. We had no answer when this happened. Over all though our defense was much better than anything seen last year, but our ball movement seemed a bit scratchy at times, so plenty of things still to work on !!

A fairly high scoring game, Im sure the AFL will be happy about that, although the new rules didn't make any obvious differences to me, which is probably a good thing.

I asked an Essendon supporter sitting next to me how many they had out from their best 22? He counted 4, I counted 4 for us as well, so no excuses for either side there.
Nice. I haven't had time to put in my 2 cents worth yet, and this is good. Amers and I met at the game and enjoyed the game sitting under the coaches' boxes. The light could have been better - it reminded me of the conditions at QEO in Bendigo, quite surreal. 
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #171 –
Right. I guess it is time I put my 2 cents forward, or it will be next week already.
[1]   I met Amers out under the coaches’ boxes on the southern wing. It was nice to discuss things on a pretty warm night. I had some mini chocolate eggs in my suit pocket, bribes for students when and if they deserve them. They all melted into an unidentifiable mess in their plastic envelope.
Yes, it was a warm afternoon and evening.
[2]   You can tell a lot about how much we’ve worked on our game plan. We still have a long way to go, but it was refreshing to see the effort, the self-belief in the players and the improved way we moved the ball forward.
(a)   One really good thing was the way we handballed to get out of trouble. Last year we wouldn’t have had the self-belief to try it, let alone the skills to do that task. We were also quite good at interfering with Essendon’s attempt to try similar things.
(b)   The forward pressure was really good. When we got the ball into the forward line, it rarely cam back out. The pressure made mistakes happen and allowed us a number of crumbing goals. Crumbing goals were the main way we scored.
(c)   Moving the ball quickly from the middle was another highlight, especially as we didn’t have to depend on Cripps to do it. We still often go back for a few metres, but our handball and our following up from defence allowed us to move the ball quickly and give our forward a chance one out.
(d)   We didn’t lose a lot of one on one contests, especially marking contests. Our key defenders were out-marked twice for the night. One of those was Daniher in the first 30 seconds. He didn’t beat Jones in a one on one contest after that. Similarly, Weitering lost only one contest for the night, being out-marked in a pack by Zac Clarke.
(e)   One of the bad things was the way Essendon did score their goals: getting the ball over the back and getting cheap goals. Almost all of their scores came this way. As a rule, our defenders were too far forward when the ball did come out and couldn’t get back on their opponents.
(f)   Another not so good thing was the way we kicked long to a pack. It was our default way of going forward and it did not result in a single mark and goal. It did produce some good crumbing goals, but nobody held the big mark.
I was disappointed that so few players led out. Mitch McGovern led only twice or thrice, with one being successful (chest mark and goal). I can’t remember H doing it even once. Jack Silvagni did it a few times and produced some opportunities.
   Just kicking it a pack was silly, as there would be 8 – 10 guys trying for mark of the year. Silvagni and McGovern almost made the marks but end up with no pack marks between them. Basically, our forwards got in the way of each other. We need to open that out, and quickly, as that would give us some better forward options.
   One good point was the way our smalls got around the pack and kept the ball from getting out. It was a reason we won.
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #172 –
It was good to meet you Crash, you can tell from our reports which 1 is the teacher and which 1 of us barely scraped through year 12 (and a long time ago now too!!).

Hey Crash, we're famous, you can see us in the game highlights package, during the 3rd qtr, if you know where to look!!
Mens sana in corpore sano - A healthy mind in a healthy body.

Navy, it's not just a color, it's an attitude !!!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #173 –
Quote from: Amers on
It was good to meet you Crash, you can tell from our reports which 1 is the teacher and which 1 of us barely scraped through year 12 (and a long time ago now too!!).

Hey Crash, we're famous, you can see us in the game highlights package, during the 3rd qtr, if you know where to look!!
If I ever see a replay, I'll look carefully. :)
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #174 –
[3]   Players:
1.   Jack Silvagni:   This was probably the best 7 possessions game since Robbert Klomp won the TV in the old days. Seriously, Jack was in the play a lot more than his stats would suggest, and he did some really good stuff. I would like to see him get more of the ball, but the things he did were significant.

2.   Paddy Dow:   19 possessions to Paddy Dow with a few moments of real magic. Promising.

3.   Marc Murphy:   Murph didn’t get into the centre square and wasn’t required as we ruled around the packs. He wasn’t at his best, but he was much better this week. With 22 possessions, he is warming up for the season proper.

5.   Sam Petrevski-Seton:   18 possessions tell you a lot about SPS’s game. He spent time in the middle and did some really nice things, his kicking was solid, and he had his opponents rolling around trying to tackle him. His fitness level is probably not quite where it should be yet, as SPS can drift out of the game. However, the last 2 weeks show how much he has improved.

6.   Kade Simpson:   Like Murphy, Simmo was better this week and should be better again by Round 1. 14 possessions and 5 marks was a good warm up.

9.   Paddy Cripps:   Crippa managed 33 possessions without getting out of 2nd gear. But the most important thing was that he wasn’t required to do it all. He spent considerable periods playing forward, where he could have done better if 10-12 players weren’t going for every mark. His goals were really good.

10.   Harry McKay:   While H was dangerous, he didn’t get a lot of the ball. But when we moved the ball more intelligently, he was a handful. His opponent got some easy possessions as we tried kicking over the top and didn’t get it near H.

11.   Mitch McGovern:   Still some weeks off from being match ready, which isn’t a big surprise with his interrupted pre-season. He really needs to lead more, which would open the forward line and allow the remaining tall forward a better chance if the ball is bombed in. he only did it about 3 times for the night and looked like scoring every time it happened. He was rested after half time.

14.   Liam Jones:   Liam only had 6 possessions this week after totally dominating last week, but he did a good job and held the Essendon tall forwards under control, he was beaten only once in a one on one contest.

18.   Sam Walsh:   Another excellent performance from the young lad, who showed already that he is ready for senior football. 28 possessions and 4 tackles and some real magic moments.

19.   Angus Schumacher:   The lad didn’t have much time on the field and managed 2 tackles. Needs more time on the ground.

20.   Lachie Plowman:   A very solid game in defence.

21.   Jarrod Garlett:   Very busy down back and didn’t make so many errors. Only 10 possessions but his opponents amounted to nothing. Garlett needs more time getting used to the position, but he looked better doing the job this week.

23.   Jacob Weitering:   15 possessions and 5 marks suggested that Jacob has turned the corner. He again controlled his opponents while taking some good marks. Good signs.

24.   Nic Newman:   Very solid in defence and cleaned up well around the packs. 20 possessions and 8 marks show just how much he did. He ran and he beat his opponents.

25.   Zac Fisher:   Welcome back! 26 possessions and a lot of time in the middle, Zac was good in the middle and helped us to get more clearances.

27.   Matthew Lobbe:   Only played half of the game and did OK, but he lost momentum when he was in the ruck. He was also a liability in the forward line.

28.   David Cuningham:   15 possessions and 3 goals. Cunners showed a lot, although he also was a bit in and out. Definitely did some nice things. This sort of game will do him the world of good.

29.   Cam Polson:   8 possessions and 4 tackles. Not enough yet, but not rubbish and his disposals were generally better.

30.   Charlie Curnow:   Not a huge game and he went of in the 3rd quarter, but he looked terribly dangerous. He led and moved unground.

34.   Andrew Phillips:   One of his best games, with lots of taps to advantage, some towering marks. Andrew was fundamental in our ability to get the ball out of the middle this week.

35.   Ed Curnow:   Solid and workmanlike. Need to get more shots on goal.

39.   Daisy Thomas:   26 quality possessions. A top game from Daisy.

40.   Michael Gibson:   Lot of lot of ball, but he was dangerous around goal. He needs to spend a bit more time on the ball. Showed enough to suggest he’ll play Rd 1.

43.   Will Setterfield:   Started quietly in the first half but came into his own after half time. His clearances work was good and he looked like he has a real future with us.
Live Long and Prosper!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #175 –
The biggest difference in our game from last year to this game was the permanent forward presence of Ed, Polson, Gibbo and Cunningham.

This is a significant shift in our forward half game plan of the past which was built around bombing it long and hoping for a clean mark.

Vs. the bombres our tall fwds contributed 4 goals (I think) and these smalls at least 6. That is far a more functional / sustainable mix. Our talls only have to halve the contest and we can still score.

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #176 –
Better ball use into the front half and better leading patterns and the talls should score more frequently.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #177 –
Quote from: Professer E on
Better ball use into the front half and better leading patterns and the talls should score more frequently.

It wasn't rocket science, especially with the new rules.

Get the ball I50 fast - before the opposition gets numbers back....

Perhaps on Thursday the instructions were to minimise leading given the heat?
Finals, then 4 in a row!

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #178 –
Quote from: Professer E on
Better ball use into the front half and better leading patterns and the talls should score more frequently.

We can't underestimate the importance of the addition of Walsh into our midfield.

When teamed up with Cripps, you have a great 1-2 punch.
Add another year into Dow and even OBrien, the maturing of SPS and the addition of Setterfield and we have a midfield made up of Cripps and kids taken in the top 6 all coming through together.

That in turn allows us to let Murphy prolong his career playing on the fringes

Re: JLT Round 1 - Blues v Hird's Old Crew (this Thursday, Princes Park)

Reply #179 –
I watch these games with caution and pretty much use them only to get a decent look at the new players. Setterfield and Walsh both looked better then I expected. Having said like love beating those pr1cks even if its a nothing game.

Both above players looked calm with ball in hand are evasive in traffic and use the ball well. These 3 traits that are almost bloody hard to train into if you don't start with some of them. The top end midfield players usually have all 3.....and its exactly the quality you need when building a list capable of going all the way.

It's the very reason I struggle to see any future in players like Garlett, Polson and sadly even Lang I don't have much faith in. Its generally heart in the mouth stuff even when they have space and hold grave concerns this can be turned around. If after a few seasons at the top level you don't show at least some of these traits, you wont make it - players within out definitely don't make it in teams that go deep in Sept. It's as simple as that.  

Therefore one thing I'm rapt with SOS work in the last few trade periods is we have a young midfield group of players that have this trait - Cripps, Dow, Walsh, Setterfield, Fisher and I would even throw in SPS and Cunningham.

We haven't had a midfield group with this sort of depth for decades! They are still young, will get better so wait till you get 40-50 games into the youngest of that group and watch out. It's within this group that you will see the wins coming from its where our biggest growth will come from IMO.