Young has been our only tall key defender in both games. In Round Zero, he had Daniher, Hipwood and, occasionally, McInerney to contend with. Daniher managed 14 disposals and one goal and Hipwood had 9 disposals and one goal. Young had 14 disposals, took 6 marks and made 7 spoils.
Young played mostly on Lynch in Round One and, yes, you could argue that Lynch was underdone but he is still one of the premier key forwards in the game. Lynch had 10 disposals and kicked two goals, both from soft free kicks (one against De Koning). Young had 17 disposals (at 94%), took 10 marks and made six spoils.
How many of Young's 16 marks were contested or intercept marks compared with short pass-uncontested marks provided by teammates?
Individually, we had our fair share of blokes down, well down - Fantasia, Hollands, Cuningham. A large number of 'did their job' ...just. But then there were the blokes who really carried us and had exceptional moments - TDK, Saad, McKay, Kemp, Charles, Acres, Newman, Williams (that run down tackle late in the game to earn a free was just brilliant). Then, at the pinnacle, was Cripps and McGovern.
...and some pretty handy blokes to return in the coming weeks...
Fantasia and the other small forwards need to convert the limited number of chances that they get - not doing so will likely cost Fantasia a spot in the team if/when another option is available.
Hollands seems to be less productive than last year but he is always committed to chase and tackle - an attribute that is catching on with a number of other players who were previously inclined to fade in and out of matches. In that regard, I thought Cuningham was better than last week.
Very impressed with the number of tackles-on-the-run that players managed to stick last night. Even Dusty was collared on multiple occasions.
Charlie should have had 5 goals, but ended with 2. That mark in the square was brilliant; the play on and get a rushed behind was almost comical. His defensive work late was good and he generally had the better of his duel, but he has brain fades that need work to fix.
A very instinctive player who desperately needs a dose of poise to take the next step.
Kemp was terrific all night but that 'Mark of the Year' attempt on the last line of defense was also a massive brain-fade, it looks great when it comes off but its too costly when it doesn't. Just do the team-orientated thing and give a defensive punch and follow it up on the ground.
Displays great athleticism and skill but makes too many errors due to indecisiveness and second-guessing himself. Needs to create space for himself when he has the ball instead of hovering in the midst of the action.
I thought that Harry was our best player by quite a margin and his ruckwork has improved considerably. Geelong rotated four players through the ruck to our two (Young did contest one hitout when our ruck couldn't get there) so Harry's effort was quite impressive, as was De Koning's.
H appears to have been coached and looked much more at home in the ruck than ever before. Maybe there is an intention to have him spend more time in the ruck this season. If so, hopefully he will be resilient because I don't know if we can afford for him to get injured.
TDK also seemed to have more strength to body up against his ruck opponents - not that the pussies are generally considered to be strong in that department.
I like the games of both Hollands brothers but the big positive for me was the fact that Cripps appeared to be more mobile and to have a bit more zip - maybe he has dropped a little weight and done some speed/agility work or maybe he is just injury free for a change.
Dan Andrews has pulled the plug after his reign of terror and will officially take the money and run tomorrow at 5pm after spending all of our money and leaving behind a trail of debt..
I would like to add in a class small forward who pressures and kicks goals. We are slightly below par here imo. Not sure what we have will improve.
Motlop lacks the blistering speed that we associate with dominant small forwards but IIRC he has shown he can be a player - more so than Eddie Betts, who developed into a top player but who was gifted quite a few games in his early career.
Well it's over...but at some stage through the final series we had lots of players stand up to show they're more than capable finals performers.
Week three...and of course Walsh is there again I'll add Marchbank (please stay healthy in 2024) stood up and Boyd (good selection) stood up. There are a few more. Add them on.
The selection committee pulled the right strings for a change.
