Kiwis through to the Final in a great game vs the Saffies who probably should have won given they got dealt a poor hand by the weather and the Duckworth Lewis system. A Grant Elliott six of Steyn from the 2nd last ball was the winning hit and the NZ fans went feral...er..more feral than usual.... Steyn and Philander both carried injuries which left the Saffies attack a bit light on but they fought it out and didnt choke this time...although they had one comical catching attempt where two players went for a skied ball and nearly collided and the catch was dropped at a crucial stage... Saffies really wanted this win and several of their players were in tears at games end...
Aus vs India next and I expect us to win it easily with our better pace attack and then beat NZ who have had their slice of luck this tournament and I think its about to run out away from their little grounds and banana ball bending conditions....
Daisy, Judd and many had some really soft tackle attempts. I never expect full intensity in NAB games. I hope we don't see too many soft efforts from Round one this season though.
Daisy's tackle on Guthrie when he did that blind turn and goaled was a Barry Crocker...no effort and Daisy looked like an old man trying to make it.....
I think the club have high expectations of Bell and he has been one of our better preseasons players and after losing Robbo I reckon he is a monty to be playing round 1...
I think the club is desperate for some heavy hitters who can also play a bit, but I'm yet to be convinced that Bell(187cm) is the answer.
I'd think our slower midfielder, who works well inside stoppages, has some smarts and some agility as well as the ability to hurt teams resting forward will be Gibbs(188cm), Cripps(190cm), Thomas(185cm) or Menzel(186cm).
At the other end of the spectrum, the tall ultra-mobile fast and deep running link/swing men, Jaksch(195cm), White(190cm) and Everitt(194cm) have him covered in height and speed alone.
In another season or so, if Bell doesn't learn a few more tricks, blokes like Sheehan(188cm) and Burn(187cm) might got right past Bell!
So where does Bell fit in, what are his tricks, what sets him apart or gives him an edge?
No doubt you need some mongrel, but you need more than mongrel at AFL level.
PS: I haven't seen it but I hear he was lucky not to be cited from the weekend, can you elaborate?
I remember he crunched someone could have been Selwood and maybe caught them high but I cant any other incident comes to mind unless it was off the ball...
I think blokes like Bell, Armfield and Sheehan are borderline at best.
It's a pity about Armfield, I would have liked nothing better than to see an Armfield / Yarran chase down a bloke like Nakia Cockatoo last weekend! The glory hunters get all the kudos while Armfield gets nada, but those run from behind shepherds, tackles and chase downs are worth way more than a sprint through an open midfield.
I think the club have high expectations of Bell and he has been one of our better preseasons players and after losing Robbo I reckon he is a monty to be playing round 1...
I think with Kruezer being out and Warnock being injured/sore/no good it was predictable Wood would be playing ....Sheehan was good in his 4 games last season but seems to have fallen off the list in terms of NAB cup game appearances...is he injured?
i) Carrazzo will likely take Cotchin ii) Everitt will take Deledio (has Deledio been playing NAB? last year he burnt us in round 1 until Everitt went to him) iii) Touhy will likely take Martin again. iv) Not sure where that leaves Curnow, unless we tag Ellis as well.
Carrazzo's best, imo, is elite. Though Curnow is a good footballer with superior fitness. So it is a tough choice between the two (if you had to choose)... but, as we all know, both their disposal can be questionable.
Also, while Whites form has been pretty good in the NAB it will be interesting to see how many games in the seniors he plays.
Dont want Touhy on Martin....he cant handle him one on one and you can bet the Tigers will be push everyone up the ground and leave Martin one out on whoever we play on him.... They may try and play Deledio on Judd....would expect Curnow and Carrazzo to both play...like to see Everitt free to roam around without having to man anyone up.....
I would play White on Martin and Curnow and Carrazzo both have to play.
I don't like the three talls forward line and would have Casboult and Henderson as our key forwards. Everitt and others can add a bit of height and mobility as required.
I suspect Jaksch will be our only debutant but Smith or Boekhurst could get a run as he sub.
DJ..White is a good choice, plays a strong game and might be able to match it with Martin physically........ Agree on the forwards..we look a bit top heavy with three talls however the club have been talking up Jones all preseason and reckon he and Jaksch will debut as newbies...... Reckon Tutt might get the sub role....
i) Carrazzo will likely take Cotchin ii) Everitt will take Deledio (has Deledio been playing NAB? last year he burnt us in round 1 until Everitt went to him) iii) Touhy will likely take Martin again. iv) Not sure where that leaves Curnow, unless we tag Ellis as well.
Carrazzo's best, imo, is elite. Though Curnow is a good footballer with superior fitness. So it is a tough choice between the two (if you had to choose)... but, as we all know, both their disposal can be questionable.
Also, while Whites form has been pretty good in the NAB it will be interesting to see how many games in the seniors he plays.
Dont want Touhy on Martin....he cant handle him one on one and you can bet the Tigers will be push everyone up the ground and leave Martin one out on whoever we play on him.... They may try and play Deledio on Judd....would expect Curnow and Carrazzo to both play...like to see Everitt free to roam around without having to man anyone up.....
[7] Conclusion: For all of the bad things, and there were many, we still lost by a relatively small margin. And, had we been able to kick straight, we could have done them in. It suggests that we are doing some things right. Judd, for example, was brilliant.
Thought Judd lowered his colours which doesnt happen often and Guthrie both held him and flogged us when he had the ball....Juddy didnt pick him up at any stage and allowed him to get the footy too often.. I'm probably a bit different with regards Judds future and I think he needs to retire at years end and let Cripps, Bell, Graham etc take over and it may force them to step up....we are over reliant on Judd and I expect teams to now try and exploit him by playing more talented players on him rather than going purely negative..
Bell looks like the sort of player who has been bigger than his opponents for the whole of his life and is used to breaking tackles at will, now can't adjust to the fact that he can't ragdoll opponents at will. He reminds me of Robinson in that he has immense desire and heart, but is dumb, doesn't read the play as well as his opponents and has poor disposal. At the moment I feel he is getting games on potential, if he doesn't wise up this year, he may well be gone.
Watching the game on TV I wasn't convinced that our forwards were doing enough in terms of leads and trying to create space. Anyone at the game care to comment on that?
Agree....Jones, Henderson and Rowe didnt move around enough , delivery was poor but i remember fev would make poor delivery look by better by working hard to get to the footy. Jones just wants to take speccy's over the back, Rowe was ok in the 2nd quarter when he did move up the ground more and Henderson is lacking confidence.
Spot on about Bell too....at 96kg playing vs smaller schoolkids he would have looked like the hulk and been able to get away with smashing his way through packs etc but not vs men who are as big and know how to tackle....never seen him sell a dummy or sidestep players...
Bell was carltons best player.....a seriously developing player
Played with good effort especially when we were well behind on the scoreboard and he won the ball well when contesting...still butchers the ball though and has that habit of running into trouble trying to barge his way through traffic rather than giving the ball off....you look at Guthrie, Caddy and Duncan and they are more sophisticated players. I dont expect Bell to be ever the smooth operator but he needs to give the ball off to players who are.....
I haven't seen the game - or any of the NAB Cup - but I'm pleased with the reports on Cripps' progress. He may be a tad slow like old mate Brock but Cripps' height adds another dimension (although McLean did take quite a few marks inside 50 for a little bloke).
Having a midfielder who can win his own footy and go forward and be a marking target is something we have lacked. Yes, Bell and Judd do it occasionally but, from what I hear, Cripps has the potential to be a consisent goal scorer.
DJ ..Like all the good inside players Cripps gets rid of the footy quickly and goes with the first open target he sees...he always seems to get the ball away cleanly by hand and find his man. Agree I think he can be a good goal scorer with his extra size and create matchup issues...he is A grade in the making. When Bell kicks a goal or hits a target its usually an accident but we all like the contest he creates.....Juddy didnt kick well today and at times struggled to make the distance....still wins the footy as well as anyone on our list but needs some runners to dish off too once he gets in the clear. If he plays forward he needs to be close to goal....
I guess Cockatoo at around pick 10 vs Smith pick 66 is where you see some difference...the former is probably the replacement for Varcoe and has electric pace and is a well balanced player with neat skills....Smith has more vigour and a love for contested footy but the new Geelong player is dangerous every time he gets it unlike Smith who wins it well but has less idea what he is doing with it.
You look at Bell vs Guthrie and its the same deal...the Cat player isnt as rugged but is a more polished player with the footy and has more nous....
Smith...attacked the footy well but turns it over by foot and his kicking isnt flash..
Surprised by your assessment on Clem EB. I though he was much better with his disposal this week, especially when the heat was on him. Still has some work to do but I expect he's still a chance for round 1.
JK..There was one kick that stuck in my mind where he turned it over with a wild kick so I probably went hard on him because it was a shocker...I like him though and think he will be a player but I think when you play such a polished team like Geelong you cant afford easy turnovers. Saying all that though its very hard to hit targets down field when we have so many players pushed back into defense and there are not enough options for players like Smith when we get the rebound play and have none to kick to...
Smith needs an attacking game plan to get the best out of him....
Cripps was good and is a lock in for round 1 but needs to do more with the ball by foot, however the rest of his game is very good and showed the way today and has some leadership prospects IMO....his big frame helped him vs the Geelong bigger bodies and I thought Bell was handy as well getting the footy and getting his big body into contests....still burns the ball does Bell but at least he gave some effort when we were down.. Contrast was Boekhorst who started well enough but once Geelong got rolling he wasnt sighted and his light frame meant he was out of the picture with the contested stuff and was just pushed off the ball.
Our forward line other than Menzel was next to useless although to be fair the delivery wasnt anything like what Hawkins and Clark got....Mnezel is a class player and we need to pray he doesnt get injured...
Watson doesnt move around enough and is a one trick pony with his big kicking.....isnt the answer up forward IMO. Henderson...not really anywhere near his best and while being able to play both ends isnt playing either that well... Rowe....Sam is one of my favourites but his form so far has been woeful...wasnt too bad in the 2nd quarter up forward after being unsighted in the 1st but his old enemy in Hawkins really towelled him up down back after he was moved down there to cover for the injured Jamo...
Jones..got towellled by Taylor, played from behind and although he took a couple of marks and kicked two goals I wasnt impressed by his efforts....ok the delivery was poor but so was his work rate and nous IMO.
Jaksch...not as good as last week and made some mistakes...Clark is a big unit and Jaksch needs some more kegs to handle that type of player. Docherty....very average IMO and hasnt kicked on after initially showing promise. Touhy....just went, got a bit of a ball but didnt do much with it...
Judd..went ok at times but his opponent Guthrie really hurt us, Judd spent some time forward and won the ball but he isnt a great converter and didnt impact on the game...
Murphy...got better as the game went on and needed the run...won some footy but was under pressure and didnt really hurt the cats...
Byrne...liked his game....neat player with potential.
Wood...probably won the hitouts but it was a nil all draw with Simpson who didnt do much...Blicavs is more the old follower style who gets around the ground and gets the footy rather than worrying too much about hitouts...was useless in the ruck but a nuisance around the ground and got involved some of Geelongs forward thrusts.
Dick....didnt get much off it and will be playing for the NB's most of the season...
Tutt...came on very late so not really any data to judge him on...
Smith...attacked the footy well but turns it over by foot and his kicking isnt flash..
Everitt......did some ok stuff but wasnt a factor this week...just went...
Carrazzo...like Cripps won the footy well and was one of our best, in fair form and will play rnd 1
Daisy..like Murphy needs the work, more composed than some of his teammates but needs to do more to earn that big dough he is being paid...
I know we had a few out but the same players made the same mistakes as in the past and the better teams like Geelong really punish you on the turnover... Forward line with three big talls will fail in most games vs the better teams ...
