[9] On field leadership: we don't appear to have much. I know we recruited Lachie Young so we'd have an experienced player, but he doesn't appear to do a lot of captainy things to me. He tried hard enough, and he get a fair amount of ball, but he isn't a great decision maker and he doesn't do the clutch things. However, he is a superstar compared to Phillips, who cannot get a game at the moment. he has been a huge disappointment and has offered very little in the terms of leadership. Ned Cahill can, but he doesn't get the possessions to make a difference often enough. And he misses too many goals. But he gives as much leadership as he can. Our taller defenders have offered nothing in terms of leadership, not even winning one-on-one contests.
[10] Kicking goals: our forward footy isn't great. Our skills are ordinary and we lack body strength all over the field. However, our key goal kickers don't do enough regularly enough. I like a lot of what Liam McMahon brings, but he doesn't complete the marks he could. he gets out bodied too easily. However, he still kicks goals as he has some idea what to do. Lemmey and Monahan offer relatively little at this point and none of them takes a big, contest mark. I don't think they are utilized that well: I'd have Monahan leading from the square and leading hard into open space, where his pace is a winner. Lemmey is a work in progress, but he has a lot of work and a lot more desire to show before he is senior ready. I quite like his ruckwork.
Very disappointed. Being beaten by Preston is inexcusable, even on their patch.
[1] Not having someone pick up Velissaris was stupid in the extreme. But both of the Bullants' main mids had a picnic, as our mids have no idea how to play in the centre square. I was blue in the face looking at the ruck contests. Mirkov isn't going to make it, but that doesn't mean he has to be manhandled as he was. If he looked away, he gave away a free, but his opponents could do anything but kill him and it meant nothing. That irritated me no end. Our mids were always in the wrong spot, so Preston just walked the ball out of the middle. The only mid we had that did anything in the centre square was Carroll, but even he did better work at the ballups.
[2] Umpires: a pet peeve. I know how difficult the game is to umpire as I've done my share of doing so. but even so, this was almost as bad as the senior game against Gold Coast. In the 3rd quarter we got 2 frees to their 10 in a seventeen minute period. Our players were looking around in horror at the decisions, because they couldn't believe them. And this when every single ruck contest had the Preston rucks grabbing Mirkov's jumper and trying to shepherd him out. He looked around and couldn't believe it either. In the end, I couldn't watch any more and went to do some shopping.
[3] Kicking for goal: like the seniors, we couldn't buy a goal. Our kicking at goal was ordinary in the extreme. But one of the reasons was that we weren't getting a lot of easy shots. The number of times miskicks and the like ended up as Preston goals was mind-blowing. Yet, we could muck up almost anything.
[4] Senior players didn't contribute much: other than Carroll, who played a very solid game (and his disposal wasn't bad either), the other senior players contributed little. Motlop had 8 possessions, 6 coming when he was on the ball. Corey Durdin had 15 and a goal, but he couldn't have tackled me. Moir's 12 possessions were an improvement, but he still has some way to go. Even Binns was relatively quiet (21 possessions). Marchbank was ordinary, as was Young, but the ball came down pretty easily. The same could not be said going the other way.
[5] Monahan looks promising, but he has a long way to go. And we don't seem to use him very well. I'd be getting him to lead from deep so he can use his pace, somewhat like we used to do with brad Pearce. That would play to his strengths instead of his weaknesses. Lemmey wasn't as bad as he has been: he took a couple of nice marks, but he has a long way to go. Moir was better, but still a long way from being a senior player.
[6] Poor skills: we struggled to hold a tackle, especially in the 3rd and 1st quarters. They had an advantage in body size and strength and we didn't bring them down often enough. That was bad, but it was the kicking and handballing that was nowhere near a team mate that hurt.
[7] I brought this up in the pres-season: is Power the man for the job? I have been quite happy with his work developing some of our youngsters, but his coaching leaves me wondering if we shouldn't have someone else. We don't seem to play for each other enough. Robert Walls always said 'make your team mate the best player on the ground': I don't see that with the 2's. Granted that we lack talent, especially in the middle of the ground, but ...
[8] I am really disappointed in our midfield this year. last year Dow got 30 - 40 possessions each week as Mirkov hit the ball in his direction. Mirkov is still getting taps, but our mids do not get the clearances. Grant you that we have VFL mids, but other clubs seems to have better, stronger, faster mids than we do.
Thought Wilson was very average and dont get the hype on him, got very nervous when he had to stand under a high ball and dropped an easy mark, too outside for my liking and miles off senior footy. Carroll was ok but his opponent was BOG....
I thought Wilson did some nice things. He was far from our worst, but he isn't great overhead. I think that is his biggest weakness.
For a change, the line-up is available today. Mirabile visu!
B: [38] Sam Durdin, [22] Caleb Marchbank, [33] Lewis Young HB: [35] Billy Wilson, [41] Domanic Akuei, [55] Lachlan Young C: [43] Ashton Moir, [25] Jaxon Binns, [50] Zavier Maher HF: [19] Corey Durdin, [34] Rob Monahan, [3] Jesse Motlop F: [52] Liam McMahon, [31] Harry Lemmey, [54] Ned Cahill R: [45] Alex Mirkov, [16] Jack Carroll, [51] Heath Ramshaw Int: [74] Logan Prout, [77] Will White, [57] Luke Nelson, [64] Archie Stevens, [73] Dane Harvey, [79] Jack Lefroy, [80] Bailey Lambert
Em: [56] Flynn Riley, [62] Hayden Gill, [75] Oliver Poole, [66] Luca Goonan, [58] Michael Lewis
Nice to see Carroll named, although he may not play. We wouldn't have named so many Emergencies is someone wasn't going to come out. I guess Lemmey must be questionable as well. Marchbank: an interesting question. I'd love him to play as he gives our defence some experience that we really lack. But, can he get onto the park? I'm very happy to see Motlop and Corey Durdin named. That should improve our goalkicking. And both of them need a good game or three. Our defence looks top-heavy, but I guess we have to play these guys. I'd be tempted to play Dom Akuei forward, especially if there isn't a decent matchup for him. He can take a mark, even if he couldn't out-body me.
I would have liked to see Cooper Lord play, but it is probably a good idea to know his teammates first.
AFL Rd 12: Carlton vs Port Adelaide in Adelaide Rating: A To beat Port at home, especially when we are still so far from full strength, was nothing short of excellent. For three quarters it was something of a slog, but the last … That quarter harked back to better times.
Votes: I must admit I found giving votes much harder than normal. We were the better team in the first 3 quarters, but they always seemed to find something to hit back, and we weren’t always winning in the centre square. But we really found a way to win. [2] Sam Walsh [1.5] Patrick Cripps [1.5] Tom de Konng [1.5] Nic Newman [1.5] Jacob Weitering [1.5] Zac Williams [1.5] Alex Cincotta [1] Blake Acres [1] Harry McKay [0.5] Charlie Curnow [0.5] Elijah Hollands [0.5] Brodie Kemp [0.5] George Hewett
Explanations: [2] Sam Walsh: Probably our most consistent midfielder on the night, Sam had 34 possessions, 13 Tackles and 8 clearances. [1.5] Patrick Cripps: Not his biggest night, but when the game was there to win, he had 9 possessions and kicked 2 goals. A leader. [1.5] Tom de Konng: Tom was probably beaten in the ruck duels on the night, but his game around the ground was brilliant. Important marks, a great goal and 8 clearances indicated just how important he was. [1.5] Nic Newman: Another extra-solid game from Newman. [1.5] Jacob Weitering: Destroyed his opponents. [1.5] Zac Williams: Did a good job as a negative forward and kicked 3 good goals, 2 from great snaps. Loved his game. [1.5] Alex Cincotta: Continuing to be a great stopper. [1] Blake Acres: Another more than solid effort from Blake. [1] Harry McKay: Did a great job providing a target forward. [0.5] Charlie Curnow: Patchy, as he has been for much of the year, but those good patched were match-winners. [0.5] Elijah Hollands: Another solid game from the youngster. [0.5] Brodie Kemp: A great job inn defence. [0.5] George Hewett: Another excellent contributor in the middle.
Honourable Mentions: Adam Saad: Not as much drive as he can produce, but kept his opponent on a starvation diet. Ollie Hollands: Didn’t get big numbers, but did some nice things. Lachie Fogarty: His work as a defensive forward makes a real difference to us. Matthew Kennedy: Solid again as a mid and half-forward. Jordan Boyd: Excellent job as a small defender.
AFL 2024 Rd 11: Carlton vs Gold Coast What a difference a week makes! We were the superior team all day. Pity we couldn't put them away as we could have.
Trends: [1] There were 17 voters this round, which is excellent for this year. It is double the number who voted in this round last year.
[2] The rating was a 9.35, which is an B+. Consioderably better thanlast week!
[3]16 players managed a mention this week, which is nothing short of excellent. We had a lot of players who won their position and pretty much everybody did something significant to contribute.
[4] The average vote this week was 32. Considering last week it was 19, you can easily see the improvement.
[5]4 players managed 100 votes or more this week. A great contribution from all 4.
[6] Patrick Cripps managed 410 votes to be BOG this week, his 4th BOG for the year. Sam Walsh and Tom de Koning came in 2nd and 3rd.
[7] Only two players managed votes from everyone this week; Cripps and de Koning.
[8] Of our youngsters, Cincotta, Kemp and Ollie Hollands all made significant contributions. Cowan and Elijah Hollands also got votes.
[9] This was a game where all sectors of the team made significant contributions. The top 3 vote getters were mids, but the numbers were spread among the other places.
Votes: Cripps, Patrick 410 de Koning, Tom 220 Walsh, Sam 209 William, Zac 138 Curnow, Charles 69 McGovern, Mitchell 63 McKay, Harrison 63 Acres, Blake 58 Kennedy, Matthew 44 Newman, Nicholas 33 Cincotta, Alex 28 Kemp, Brodie 25 Hollands, Oliver 22 Weitering, Jacob 17 Hollands, Elijah 3 Cowan, Lachlan 3
Progressive Voting: Patrick Cripps 2538 Sam Walsh 1633 Harry McKay 1392 Jacob Weitering 1072 Tom de Koning 1062 Blake Acres 785 George Hewett 775 Nic Newman 715 Charlie Curnow 623 Marc Pittonet 606 Mitch McGovern 549 Matthew Kennedy 413 Adam Saad 310 Matt Owies 274 Adam Cerra 262 Brodie Kemp 260 Zac William 243 Matt Cottrell 244 Jordan Boyd 169 Elijah Hollands 140 Alex Cincotta 102 Oliver Hollands 71 Lachie Fogarty 68 Jack Carroll 64 Lewis Young 60 Orazio Fantasia 13 David Cuningham 13 Lachie Cowan 3
AFL 2024 Rd 10: Carlton vs Sydney Our worst game by some margin: the only time this year that we've been comprehensively beaten and broken.
Trends: [1] There were 14 voters this round, which is reasonable consider that we lost so badly. Please, do take the time to vote. Everyone is appreciated.
[2] The rating was a 6.36, which is a E+. The first time all year the rating so significantly low.
[3]14 players managed a mention this week, which shows that most players made some sort of contribution. However, not many of those contributions were winning ones.
[4] The average vote this week was 19. By far the worst for the year.
[5]3 players managed 100 votes or more this week.
[6] Nic Newman was BOG with 328 votes. He was a long way in front ofBlake Acres (143 votes) and Mar Pittonet ( 138 votes).
[7] Only one player managed votes from everyone this week, Nic Newman.
[8] Our youngsters were not significant this week, although a couple were recognized for their efforts.
[9] Our defenders were the main area of vote getting, which tells you something of the game.
Votes: Newman, Nicholas 328 Acres, Blake 143 Pittonet, Marc 138 Kennedy, Matthew 95 Cripps, Patrick 48 Boyd, Jordan 42 McGovern, Mitchell 32 Kemp, Brodie 29 Hewett, George 24 Cincotta, Alex 21 William, Zac 21 McKay, Harrison 13 Hollands, Elijah 11 Curnow, Charles 8
Progressive Voting: Patrick Cripps 2128 Sam Walsh 1424 Harry McKay 1329 Jacob Weitering 1056 Tom de Koning 841 George Hewett 775 Blake Acres 727 Nic Newman 682 Marc Pittonet 606 Charlie Curnow 554 Mitch McGovern 486 Matthew Kennedy 369 Adam Saad 310 Matthew Owies 274 Adam Cerra 262 Brodie Kemp 235 Jordan Boyd 169 Matthew Cottrell 144 Zac William 106 Elijah Hollands 101 Alex Cincotta 74 Lachie Fogarty 68 Jack Carroll 64 Lewis Young 60 Ollie Hollands 49 Orazio Fantasia 13 David Cuningham 13
For a change, the line-up is available today. Mirabile visu!
B: [38] Sam Durdin, [22] Caleb Marchbank, [33] Lewis Young HB: [35] Billy Wilson, [41] Domanic Akuei, [55] Lachlan Young C: [43] Ashton Moir, [25] Jaxon Binns, [50] Zavier Maher HF: [19] Corey Durdin, [34] Rob Monahan, [3] Jesse Motlop F: [52] Liam McMahon, [31] Harry Lemmey, [54] Ned Cahill R: [45] Alex Mirkov, [16] Jack Carroll, [51] Heath Ramshaw Int: [74] Logan Prout, [77] Will White, [57] Luke Nelson, [64] Archie Stevens, [73] Dane Harvey, [79] Jack Lefroy, [80] Bailey Lambert
Em: [56] Flynn Riley, [62] Hayden Gill, [75] Oliver Poole, [66] Luca Goonan, [58] Michael Lewis
Nice to see Carroll named, although he may not play. We wouldn't have named so many Emergencies is someone wasn't going to come out. I guess Lemmey must be questionable as well. Marchbank: an interesting question. I'd love him to play as he gives our defence some experience that we really lack. But, can he get onto the park? I'm very happy to see Motlop and Corey Durdin named. That should improve our goalkicking. And both of them need a good game or three. Our defence looks top-heavy, but I guess we have to play these guys. I'd be tempted to play Dom Akuei forward, especially if there isn't a decent matchup for him. He can take a mark, even if he couldn't out-body me.
