Dominated in the middle and overpowered GWS who got frustrated and Toby Greene helped us out with some old Toby behaviour. Pittonet played a blinder along with TDK showing some forward craft and credit to the defense for holding up despite injuries and some sore bodies. Cripps and Walsh were the catalysts but two low profile heroes were Cottrell and Boyd who were super effective at opposite ends of the ground. Impressive win given our injury list and dare I say it that was premiership form..
I wouldnt call GWS tough...got a few players who dont like it rough and disappear when it is, no doubting their skills but id be making it as contested as possible and picking players who excel in that area. Blues by 23 points....
Nothing malicious in the bump and it was fair under the old rules but the onus is now " duty of care" and I have noticed a few players pulling up short in contests to avoid contacting the opposing player in an effort to look after them and its going to become more common and hopefully doesnt get confused with shirking the contest. You cant just throw yourself at players anymore and not care about the damage you do, the other rule where players need to adjust is throwing themselves at the ball and taking the feet out from under the other player, the umpires seem red hot on paying that too..
I have developed a bit of a sniffle and, as Ms DJC is scheduled to have an operation on Friday, I thought I should do a RAT; positive!
Sorry to hear that DJ, hope you are symptom free and Mrs DJ 's op is of the minor variety and all goes ok. With winter coming on I'd expect a new strain or two of CoVid and ditto for the Flu. Sons inlaws recently came back off a cruise and we're infected with CoVid and wanted to see their new grandson straight away and were annoyed they were told no until they were testing negative and well clear...bit of a blase attitude existing in the community regarding CoVid still IMHO.
I know we are all probably sick to death of talking about it but...Daniel Hoyne from Champion Data was on SEN last night talking about the decision to play Pitto. Rattled off the amount of times we have won "turnover game" playing only TDK. Was 60% from memory compared to I think it was 25% when we played both. Also TDK played forward for 30 mins on Saturday and was targeted only once. Further to this, H doesn't get to ruck which affects his game and the team because he impacts when he plays ruck. Hopefully the MC listen to SEN...
Yep its a much talked about topic but its hard to argue against that in the modern game its hard to carry two genuine rucks who are of little value elsewhere and the allrounder ruck who can play either KP or somewhere else on the ground has to be the priority and that it was odd vs a pacy team who have troubled us previously who only carry one genuine ruck themselves why Pittonet was selected. It was a MC blunder that didnt help but hindered our efforts... I'll also add that TDK is nothing special when played forward either and I dont consider him a qualified forward and id rather rest him for 5 mins each quarter on the bench than send him forward to congest our forward line.
And what, they didn't know these blokes are pacy? They didn't know Keays was going to kick 3 or 4? They didn't know Walker knows a thing or two about playing FF and kicking straight? Shame on them because I'm a dumb ass and I knew all the above.
Those in charge were probably counting on us being a better overall team with more football talent and hoping that got the job done.We have often had DeJa Vu defeats over the years where the same opposition players do the same things and we dont seem to change what we do and the results are the same. Losing Cerra, Saad and Mcgovern probably left us with less pace and you only have to be a little bit off in todays game and you can get knocked over by most decent teams. Walker is a hard matchup given he is mobile, strongly built and needed a bit of double teaming imho...JW is the best in the business so you just have to tip your hat to Walker. On the other hand Ben Keays is a handy midfielder at best and letting him kick 3-4 goals again was a serious screwup. Keays is neither quick, a great overhead mark or brilliant kick but seemed to get on the end of forward entries close to goal and often be on his own in the process. One for the Video review crew to check out and find those responsible as who ever had him as an opponent didnt do much homework or didnt carry out instructions properly.
Yep. We are chasing the same players. What often gets overlooked is a) How easy is it to get them? Supply vs Demand b) How much does it cost to get them in terms of picks/players when it is i) Through the draft ii) Via trade c) How long before they are AFL ready once we do get them.
In terms of good KPPs Easiest way to get them is via trade, but that will cost you BIG time. Next best way is via the draft, but you have to be proactive as it is usually years before you see if they are up to scratch. Which, in the meantime means you could miss your (next) window if you get a bad batch and are not continually drafting them.
Yep....looked at the free agents this season who are defenders who you may loosely call KP types and you are looking at Tom McDonald,Dylan Grimes, Josh Battle, Nick Haynes and Adam Tomlinson only. All are undersized for KP roles imo bar McDonald and the only one I would consider is Battle given his age and future prospects, so its slim pickings in terms of supply.
That leaves State League players or drafting suitable types in the ND....both those sources are very limited and as you say kids from the ND take plenty of time usually. You are left with only one other method and thats developing your own from within your playing list and maybe changing a players role and position which can also take time and with no guarantee of success, plus then having to replace that player with another who can play his initial position... We saw Geelong take the raw Ratagolea after failed attempts at being a KF and ruck then turn him into a CHB in a fairly short space of time. Lemmey could be a candidate for that treatment or even Jack Silvagni on return.....TDK of course has been mentioned in the media for a transition as a CHB but Im inclined to leave him where he is playing ok.
So, we could, be going back to the draft to chase some genuine KP players for the future. Something we should've been doing for years. Unless we find one soon, we'll have Charlie, Harry and Weitering (and Jack) all over 30 without a genuine replacement on the list.
Agree with that, KP players should be on the agenda as a priority, need some more speedy ball winning mids but given we have the Campo kids on the way that might cover that area although I wouldnt mind a taller/stronger young mid or two to future proof the list as Hewett, Kennedy and Cripps get older.
Akuei has speed and a big leap plus the skinniest calves in the VFL but I have yet to see much in the way of football talent.
Lemmey has a decent pair of hands if he has a clear run at the ball and doesn't have to manoeuvre; he also seems somewhat lacking beneath his knees - despite the commentators remarks, I have not yet been impressed.
Tend to agree on Lemmey, he should be doing better given he had some senior SANFL experience and seems very mark and kick but not much else. He could be a player who needs a taste of senior footy to take the next step and VFL footy may just see him plod along at that lesser standard without challenging himself too much. Id like to see him run on the ball a bit more in the ruck and get more involved....Okeefe is a good blue collar kid but is another who seems to be showing little improvement after a good start last season.
