Rowe and Casboult have "promised" a lot. ...as has Hampson in the past.
All have shown promise but...... None have yet proven to be more than just fillers. Henderson's shown that up in just a couple of games. I don't think any are a long term answer to that second forward/ruck role.
I agree, but neither has Warnock.
Kreuzer up forward isn't much better than the players mentioned above. Warnock up forward is about as useful as a 3rd goal post.
Warnock in the ruck gives us little improvement to when we have Kreuzer there.
What is the net benefit?
I guess its the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Which is clearly evident when we have been able to utilise Watson in the side who was only average in the 2's.
Rowe was very unconvincing today. He has no second effort, and if not on his terms, sometimes even no first effort. Can take a mark when he wants, but he is a bit too stand offish for mine.
Bottom line....
If Warnock's fit and available Rowe doesn't play.
I would also like to disagree with this.
I'd have Rowe in over Warnock. I'd have Rowe in over Hampson. I'd have Hampson in over Warnock.
Essentially Warnock is a 1-trick pony and having him in the side reduces the effectiveness of Kreuzer.
Ideally i think you need 6 big men in the side.
You'd want a spine consisting of something like... Jamison Watson Kreuzer Henderson Waite
with Hampson/Rowe/Casboult as the utility tall backup ruckman on the bench.
That gives us flexibility as Henderson can cover down back. Hampson/Rowe/Casboult can cover up forward or in the ruck.
Gives us the option of subbing out a tall late in the game if they are not required and adding more run.
Warnock only gets a game if Kreuzer is out IMO as he needs to be the #1 ruck.
Can't see any mids being dropped really, so where does that leave Robbo and/or Graham?
I'd swap graham for cachia this week.
Cachia probably needs a rest
Perhaps they were giving Cachia a break by being the sub against the Roos? We might need Cachia to close down Ablett or are you thinking of Curnow or Carrots for that job.
I like Cachia on Ablett for sure. Better Ablett get 33 hard fought possies than 49 damaging ones.
Not too sure how good cachias tank is, but we all know how good curnows is. He'd be my first priority to take on Ablett. Put cachia on omeara.
Wouldn't MM love to win this game on the back of keeping Gary Ablett quiet with some taggers. He could then say at the media conference that it was a bit of a no brainer - any competent coach would recognise that the key to beating Gold Coast was keeping Ablett on a leash.
That would only work if he adds the fact that he told our tagger, 2 weeks in advance that he would be on Ablett. ;-)
Jammo certainly was bad. He has no pace this year and obviously hates playing N.M. He gets a bath every time. His fumbling tonight was especially bad, but at least he tries. Watson is an absolute NO-TRIER!
Elwood you mention Watson's mark. Well done, it was his only highlight and as I said, he was in the vicinity so he had a chance.
Purlease - for mine, Watson was our best defender tonight.....how'd his opponent go? Best game Watson has played by a mile, really encouraged with his performance tonight.
Jamo was disgusting.....that's 3 consecutive weeks of us possibly witnessing the demise of Jamo. Has not got a clue out there at the moment, embarrassing he is, total liability. Can't kick, constant brain explosions, can't get near his man - even in situations whereby his opponent is the obvious choice for having the ball delivered, Jamo manages to misread the play/flight of the ball/be too slow off the mark.......I'm over him. He got lucky with Riewoldt's kicking for goal last week, but he is in career-worst form. I hope like hell we're talking to some other full-backs out there come trade time.....Jamo's cooked.
Tend to agree, starts the year off so well then fades away badly. I some instances last night, he actually got himself to the front of Petrie then swung around behind him (not by Petrie) and got out marked. I think Jamo plays his best footy when he reads the footy and attacks it. He just isnt doing that ATM, just focussing too much on his man.
Jamo is better suited to the leading forwards.
Petrie is more of a protect space, wrestler type of forward. Ideally, Hendo would've been a better matchup for him....but we all know its better for the team if he is played forward.
Jamo did struggle, and hasn't played to his high standard recently, but he is asked to do jobs he should never have too and still does them to a decent level.
Eddie, Kingy and co were pumping up the Kangas at every opportunity. In 40 minutes of television i dont think they said something positive about Carlton nor something negative against North.
They showed how close North had come in their losses this year and how hard done by they had been. They suggested that they could have been top 4 if things had've gone their way. They failed to show that Blues had the same amount of close losses and thus a similar opportunity for a higher ladder position.
Their individual pre-match predictions were all pro-north. - Boomer to kick 4-5 goals - Norths 3 talls to kick 10 between them - Thomas to kick a bag - Hansen to take 8 intercept marks.
They were also suggesting that Lachie Hansen was the equal of Lachie Henderson...or that he was in fact better. Never did they suggest that Henderson was actually going to play forward or that his role has changed recently. It was a 'battle for the intercept marks' which they spent 5 minutes talking about....yet it was never on the cards as Hendo was always going to play forward.
North lost last week. Carlton won. Carlton are placed higher on the ladder.
North were favourites with the bookies, and certainly all of the panel.
Apparantly North are better placed in 2014 compared to carlton too. Obviously suggesting that both teams had written off 2013, yet here we are sitting in 8th position currently.
I couldn't understand what i was watching. I'm pretty realistic with where i think we are in relation to other clubs, but i thought i had entered the twilight zone or something because nobody spoke a word of sense the entire show. Even the commentators were very pro-kangas early "unlucky to not get a free there were north" vs "probably a bit lucky to get that one was Carlton"
There was no love at all for us, and a decade worth of valentines days rolled into 40 minutes worth of TV directed towards North.
I got more joy from the win knowing that all those fools had to suck eggs then i would've had we had beaten someone like the bombers last night!
Watson's man was Robbie Tarrant for anyone in doubt, I mentioned in my discussions prior to the game that it was always likely to be him, but that I thought North should have played Daw instead, I also think if they did... they would have won this game.
Watson was so far behind Tarrant on the lead tonight that it was embarrassing. I was sitting with a North mate and pointed out the contest before the game, but both agreed that it was unlikely Tarrant would be able to exploit it, because if he gets a free hit at a contested pack mark he is going to reach in to mark, or turn away, because he severely lacks the fortitude required to put a body into the contest, he also is only an average mark anyway and when he kicks a few goals it is often with great kicks, which he is.
I think Tarrant created plenty of chances to influence the game and very little that Watson done had any influence on Tarrant not taking those chances.
Now I have said negative things about Watson before, so perhaps this comes across as biased.... But I absolutely think he had a poor game, it would be akin to saying in the first half McInnes beat Black... nope Black's horrific kicking beat himself. I do think McInnes was better in the 2nd half and the same goes for Watson.
That's what I mean about Watson. Tarrant beat himself, Watson didn't do it. A forward not scoring does not necessarily mean that his opponent has played well. Perhaps some of Jammo's problems last night may have been because he was aware that he could not depend on Watson for support. However, saying that I reckon that Jammo has a mental problem playing North, which, added to his loss of closing pace (carrying an injury??) resulted in a really bad game for him.
I wasn't at the game last night, but i was there last week. I made some comments about how Watson was used last week and although its tough to guage on TV it appears he was used in a similar role.
Essentially he is used as the spare man who fills the hole. Last week he played in front of Riewoldt, this week Petrie.
So he may have let his opponent, Tarrant, run free out of the forward line and trailed behind him....but that was probably the plan. Ensure he doesn't get the ball inside 50. If he is outside 50, help out Jamo.
Smart play by Mick as it's worked 2 weeks in a role, using a guy that most people thought was destined for the scrap heap.
The fact Watson took THAT mark later on shows what he is capable of. Big boy who can take a grab under pressure and doesn't panic. At the time of that mark i couldn't help but call out "Leo Barry you star!" as it reminded me of that moment.
Credit to Watson for his game last night. Played the team role and took more baby steps towards becoming an AFL player.
That torp and goal was just the icing on the cake.
I think Yarran has struggled this year, but he has certainly had his highlights along the way.
I also think that despite some decent form last year, he was far from our best each and every week then.
So...its been a bit of a steady decline over the past 2 years that have glimpses of his best along the way.
Jeffy has struggled, Eddie too.
Might be the game plan, might be the (lack of) forward targets. Might be teething problems.
I also think that all this talk about Yarran dominating small forwards last year is a bit rich. There were plenty of people calling him lazy and soft last year too.
Personally i think Yarran has lost a bit of his attacking flair, but has gained a bit more physicality. I'd like to see him moved permanently to a wing. I think it suits his skill set.
I know you don't see any. I've tried pointing it out to you all year and you still don't see it.
In reference to your last comments... The positives are that we can have a list cleanout and basically still keep our best 22. Hence, no rebuild required.
Apparently we can't win a flag in the next three years so no point going for experience, we need to develop our own and hopefully have them right before blokes like Murphy, Gibbs, Hendo etc are past their prime. Murphy will be 30 in 4 years time will he not? Scary stuff.
Rubbish. Of course we can be a serious contender within 3 years... even next year. And the injection of an experienced player or 3 would be highly beneficial (1 being a tall defender, 1 being a tall forward & 1 a hard mid... plan assuming Waite will not front up next year, making him a bonus), provided they meet our immediate needs. And we got rid of a few 'non-hackers'. Non-hackers in terms of being able to execute our needs... these blokes might serve another club well, but not us.
Nah no rubbish, straight from the horses mouth, the list needs a cleanout remember, this is what your new coach has brought us. Judd, Carrazzo, Scotland, Simpson, Jamo are all gone in the next 2-3 years and in possibly less time than that. They are the heartbeat of the side. I saw Scotland put his body on the line multiple times against the Saints, something no one else in our team seems to be able to do.
Enjoy waiting at least another ten years, should be fun, let's start counting shall we?
Straight from the horses mouth?? Which horse?
You can actually have a 'list cleanout' without losing too much top end talent.
If we were to delist/trade away the list cloggers like Joseph, Davies, Duigan, Laidler and Ellard. Make some tough calls on some kids like McCarthy, Mitchell and Watson. Trade away/upgrade some players who may or may not be of benefit to us in the near future like Warnock, Yarran and Bootsma. Have a cleanout of some of the rookies like Collins, Okeefe and Dale
I have mentioned 14 players who we could potentially be without next year and i doubt they've played a total of 20-30 games combined for us this year...and half of them would be from Yarran alone.
I know you've tipped your glass over, but there is plenty more water around to fill it up with. You just gotta open your eyes and look around. You are so focussed on the negatives, that you miss the positives
I have to have a chuckle whenever I think about what the Lion's supporters must be thinking about that trade. The better Hendo gets the more pain they must endure,ditto Voss.
A troll on their forum could have a field day.
Even if Fev was still kicking around scoring 40-50 goals a year for the lions, we are still the winners out of that trade. Hendo is a star...and Lucas is a fair set of steak knives.
Watson kicks out from Fullback to Centre Half Forward where Casboult marks it... not sure what happens after that though....
A glimpse of the future to look forward to perhaps Lods??
It's actually a tactic we used to use quite effectively...(I think it was back in the Madden days.) The fullback would kick long to our ruckman in the middle. Often he'd just knock it further forward and we were into attack from the kickout. There was one monster kick by Watson last night.
Jamison was using the same tactic early in the year. Usually once a game he would unload one from FB to the centre circle where it would be fisted further forward. Jamo hasn't been taking many kickouts of late though.
Walker, with his chip to himself and run seems to be the preferred option of kicking in lately.
He was asked to fill space for most of the night. The space 15m in front of Riewoldt. Jamo had roo inside 50, and most of the time he went on a searching lead outside 50, Jamo handed over to Watson. Walker also performed a similar role.
Both Walker and Tuohy spent a fair bit of time on Milne.
The combination of that TEAM defence is why we did so well against the sainters down back. They were all covering for eachother and forcing the saints to go out wide.
Watson didn't have a brilliant night, but he performed his role. The fact his inclusion meant Henderson was able to play a full game forward, with obvious benefits, is another tick for Watson....and Mick and the MC.
