Here are the votes for the Coaches Award this week: North Melbourne v Carlton 9 Lindsay Thomas (North) 8 Kade Simpson (Carl) 7 Matthew Kreuzer (Carl) 4 Drew Petrie (North) 2 Jeff Garlett (Carl)
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.
Hendo's a revelation. I had him in the plodder's category, but he showed some impressive agility and mobility to go with his marking ability. When he came to us, he wasn't a good forward option but he most certainly is now.
Hopefully, the 2nd half effort by Kreuzer (leaving aside the lamentable shot for goal when we were only a point up) shows Kreuzer has turned the corner and will help us dominate the midfield from now on. He was brilliant against a pretty good tap ruckman.
Simmo was brilliant and tough off half-back.
But what's up with Juddy?
And why did we take off Dirty rather than Juddy if we wanted to bring Cachia on?
And thanks Blueboys for bringing home my 3.80 line and total points bet.
Getting hammered from pillar to post by the media. Watch them respond!
This sort of attention doesn't seem to inspire us to perform, and I don't think it will be any better for the Shinboners.
North shares a common issue with us - they're good when they have the momentum but don't react well when the opposition has it. As some commentators have noted, they don't have players who instinctively roll back to stem the tide (cf. Geelong). How Scott must wish that he could be a coach on the ground as happens in the U10s, or that he could fit every player with an earpiece and micromanage them when the going gets tough. Fancy not getting men behind the ball in a number of games this year when they coughed up good leads in the last few minutes. The collective IQ to do the right things develops glacially rather than overnight because of media stories. Let's face it, Brad Scott is a former hard-nosed defender and it's impossible to believe he hasn't tried to inculcate a defensive mindset into his players over the last couple of years. No doubt his game plan tells the players what they should do to wrest control of a game, and yet the players haven't been able to apply it.
Media attention might be able to increase a side's collective intensity, but it's not as if North have lacked this. They are usually the side that jumps out of the blocks well. Media scrutiny, if it would have any value, would impact that initial phase of the game. After half-time, it's pretty unlikely that there'd be any residual benefit. By that stage, the way the game has unfolded and physical stress would have made the players forget the pre-game happenings.
Who would be Watson's best match up this week? To be used to best advantage, we need to utilise his kicking skills on the rebound. That means he'd be best off if we could put him on someone who'll be reasonably static around the goalsquare, allowing him to sag off for the handball receive out of defence. And of course he's most likely to be exposed by a fast leading forward who can double back towards the goalsquare. Petrie's probably too mobile for him. Hansen's out injured now, isn't he? Are they playing a 2nd ruckman as a secondary target at the moment? If so, that could be the go. Majak Daw would be too explosive, but at the moment he's not really a high possession player and I'm guessing he's not good defensively.
A win puts us temporarily in the 8 and if St Kilda beat Port, we stay there (assuming West Coast don't give Sydney a frightful flogging).
Why are you talking about the 8? We're in the 9, and that's all that's needed. If the AFL don't remove Essendon from the finals, it will be a laughing stock, especially if they go on to win the flag.
