Docherty is a cool head in the heat of battle and I think we saw Pendlebury provide that for Collingwood and the goal he kicked was massive under real pressure. JSOS gives you options and you know you will get a contest from him..
We badly miss Docherty. He is a steadying influence and he does the clutch things that win and save games.
We miss Jack Silvagni, because he can do all sorts of the jobs. Our 3 tall forwards are not the problem in themselves, although I was bitterly disappointed in Charlie tonight. He doesn't work hard enough when he doesn't have the ball. It was really obvious. And when he could have stood up, he was beaten in one on ones and the ball left our forward line too easily. The problem with our forward setup is that our smalls are not keeping the ball in and they're not being dangerous. H played a great game, but his last kick into the forward line probably lost us the game. Had he been able to get his kick to advantage of one of our players, we would have won the game than and there. Instead, he turned it over and the ball went up the other end. Hell, if he'd bombed it and he scored a point, it might have been enough. But just giving it away was lethal.
One of the things that was really obvious was our lack of leg speed. Another was that we didn't tag Nick Daicos. Smother Daicos and they lose that midfield drive.
Well we should give a 3rd pick + Williams + 30% of salary to whoever wants to take him.
Enough is enough.
Williams disappointed tonight. He hasn't got his form back yet. maybe he needs some time in the 2's to get confidence in attacking the ball. I'm not willing to throw the baby out just yet, but he needs to regain his touch.
Cincotta didn't provide much drive, but he controlled his opponent for all but about 2 seconds. Cowan wasn't that bad either. He did a job, but he's not providing much drive either. Weitering obliterated his opponents. he was the best defender on the ground by kilometres. Nic Newman got a lot of ball, but was always under pressure.
Pies' system of ball movement, defensive plan and set up is far superior to ours. They were the better team, quite clearly so I'm afraid
Our midfield is slow, our release and spread horrible and defence has broken down completely. Other than Weeters, our backs aren't winning or halving contests consistently. Our small forwards -2 of three anyway - were $$@ing useless. And they're slow and apply no pressure. Fantasia is a joke.
There system and their attack on the ball was incredible tonight. last year, we were the hunters and it made a difference. This year they were hunting us and they worked out ways of making our mids ineffective. All of our mids got plenty of the ball, but they didn't use it well. Collingwood got more out of their mids, especially when it mattered.
Free kicks: I wondered which game the Umpires were at. They ignored so many frees, and not just ours. And the ones they paid were quite often tiggy touchwood. Not pleased with his for the 2nd week in a row.
Our small forwards, Durdin did some nice things, just not enough of them. he was much better than he has been because he didn't stuff up. That said, he's there to kick goals and he didn't get any. Fantasia, I don't know how he gets a game. he has to go when Motlop is fit. We can't keep carrying a guy who gets less than 8 possessions each week and doesn't kick goals. His shot could have been the difference, and it wasn't that far out, but he failed. Matt Owies kicked 3 and didn't make any shockers either, but isn't getting the ball enough. Cottrell had his worst game for the season. He just couldn't get near the ball. It was the run their opponents got that really hurt us. David Cuningham didn't do enough, but the things he did do were pretty good.
With Fogarty and Motlop in, we'll keep the ball in better and have some x-factor, which we lack badly.
Lack of run - Pitto couldnt take a mark to save his life.
When Pitto was in the ruck, he had the better of the Collingwood talls and he provided most of our clearances. he didn't do a lot around the ground, but he didn't let the Collingwood rucks do much either. Pitto was our best ruck by far.
Tom had a shocker in the ruck. The few taps he got went straight to Collingwood players. Cameron, in particular, dominated him and got most of his taps against him. In the forward line, however, Tom had a great day. He was a dangerous target all night, kicking 2 and missing one. He got the ball around the ground quite a bit, but fumbled just so much. He couldn't take a mark around the ground to save his life, tonight, and marking is one of his strengths.
I wouldn't be discarding Pitto. He had 15 possessions and 6 clearances! Granted that he wasn't as effective as he has been: Collingwood worked out some tactics that minimized our mids' effectiveness. In particular, they made Cripps play to his weaknesses instead of his strengths.
We didnt lose the game because of Young I can assure you of that he cleaned up both Cox and Cameron.
Young had some good patches, especially early. In the last quarter he made some crucial mistakes and let Collingwood in. He doesn't seem to have a very cool head: he panics. There were times, especially in the 3rd and 1st quarters where he looked damned good. Next round he'll have an interesting matchup, as Melbourne are still experimenting with forwards.
We've seen what Young can do. I'd be tempted to play Sam Durdin, if he can get through tomorrow unscathed. We need to see what he can do under pressure.
McGovern will be a good in: he provides run, he kicks the ball a long way and he can take a mark.
Team for tomorrow looks better than it has for a while, but it is still short of class:
B: Lachie Young Sam Durdin Harry Lemmey HB: Billy Wilson Dom Akuei Brodie Kemp C: Ollie Hollands Jaxon Binns Tom Phillips HF: Ned Cahill Rob Monahan Ashton Moir F: Liam McMahon Luke Nelson Alex Mirkov R: Hudson O'Keefe Jack Carroll Zavier Maher Int: Darcy Hogg Wil White Michael Lewis B Lambert Heath Ramshaw
Em: Archie Stevens Kristian Ferranato Jess Gedi Hayden Gill C Verrel L Prout Blake Kuipers Jack Lefroy
Alex Mirkov has really struggled since his return and is obviously a long way off the pace at the moment. On the other hand, he needs time on ground to get some form and fitness back. Dom Akuei looks a long way off the pace. he has gone backwards and won't be on the list next year. Spots will be wanted, and he doesn't have the intensity to make it. I'd be tempted to play Durdin next week for Young, if he gets through this game. he knows how to use his body, which Young doesn't. Kemp also has a chance to impress: there is a spot there if he does the right thing. I like what I see from Rob Monahan, but he is a long way off at the moment, especially in the key forward spot. He does have the pace and the intensity to make it.
AFL 2024 Rd 7: Carlton vs Geelong Rating: C+ Another game we should have won, but threw away. Granted that the Umpiring really hurt us, but we still had easy chances and screwed them up.
Votes: [3] Sam Walsh [3] Patrick Cripps [2] Blake Acres [2] Jacob Weitering [1] George Hewett [1] Marc Pittonet [1] Harry McKay [0.5] Matthew Kennedy [0.5] Charlie Curnow [0.5] Jordan Boyd [0.5] Elijah Hollands
Explanations: [3] Sam Walsh: Brilliant. 31 possessions, 7 tackles and 4 clearances. [3] Patrick Cripps: 29 possessions, 8 clearances and 6 tackles, to go with 2 Captain’s goals. [2] Blake Acres: Quiet early, but came home like a train. 28 possessions, 3 tackles and 3 clearances, with 2 brilliant goals. [2] Jacob Weitering: A dominant game against Hawkins. Obliterated him. Pity about that miss: that was crucial. [1] George Hewett: Another excellent effort from George: 23 possessions, 6 tackles and 5 clearances. [1] Marc Pittonet: A top effort in the ruck. 11 clearances on his own! [1] Harry McKay: Marked everything that came his way. [0.5] Matthew Kennedy: A really solid game: 21 possessions, 9 tackles and 4 clearances. [0.5] Charlie Curnow: Could have won the game, but missed goals at crucial times. [0.5] Jordan Boyd: Very solid in defence. [0.5] Elijah Hollands: Not quite the numbers I’d hoped for, but he converted his chances.
Honourable Mentions: Matt Cottrell: Tried hard, and did provide scoring chances with every possession. Nic Newman:
AFL 2024 Rd 6: Carlton vs GWS I big effort against one of the best teams in the comp.
Trends: [1] There were 17 voters this round, which is excellent for this year. It is the best so far.
[2] The rating was a 10, which is an A. This is the first time I've seen a perfect, whole number score. For it to be a 10 tells you much better this one than last week,
[3]14 players managed a mention this week, which is the same as last week. Again, it suggests that a lot of players made a decent contribution.
[4] The average vote this week was 31. Considering last week it was 24, 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 429 votes to be BOG this week. Sam Walsh managed 324 votes. Batman and Robin? De Koning and Pittonet rounded out the top 4.
[7]Three player managed votes from everyone this week. Pittonet missed from one voter.
[8] Not a lot from our younger players, as far as votes so anyway. Matthew Cottrell was the standout.
[9] Our midfield totally dominated.
Votes: Cripps, Patrick 429 Walsh, Sam 324 de Koning, Tom 203 Pittonet, Marc 156 Kennedy, Matthew 82 Cottrell, Matthew 79 Hewett, George 65 McKay, Harrison 62 Curnow, Charles 38 Boyd, Jordan 29 Hollands, Oliver 15 Kemp, Brodie 9 Acres, Blake 6 Newman, Nicholas 3
Progressive Voting: Patrick Cripps 1503 Harry McKay 952 Sam Walsh 784 Tom de Koning 784 George Hewett 640 Charlie Curnow 514 Mitch McGovern 434 Jacob Weitering 414 Adam Saad 310 Blake Acres 250 Adam Cerra 231 Brodie Kemp 206 Matthew Kennedy 171 Marc Pittonet 162 Matthew Cottrell 144 Jordan Boyd 118 Nic Newman 108 Zac Williams 85 Lachlan Fogarty 68 Jack Carroll 64 Elijah Hollands 59 Lewis Young 55 Ollie Hollands 22 Matthew Owies 16 David Cuningham 13 Orazio Fantasia 13
Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos: [1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less. [2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Sam Walsh or Patrick Cripps) [3] Three players at least must get a mention. [4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.
B: [6] Zac Williams, [33] Lewis Young, [2] Lachlan Cowan HB: [39] Alex Cincotta, [23] Jacob Weitering, [24] Nic Newman C: [28] David Cuningham, [9] Patrick Cripps, [13] Blake Acres HF: [46] Matthew Cottrell, [10] Harry McKay, [20] Elijah Hollands F: [44] Matthew Owies, [30] Charlie Curnow, [12] Tom De Koning R: [27] Marc Pittonet, [18] Sam Walsh, [29] George Hewett Int: [37] Jordan Boyd, [7] Matthew Kennedy, [14] Orazio Fantasia, [19] Corey Durdin, [5] Adam Cerra
Em: [17] Brodie Kemp, [4] Oliver Hollands, [16] Jack Carroll
Considering our injury problems, this isn't bad line-up. It is a pity that a number of our players are not in great touch.
[1] I was a bit surprised by Kemp's demotion, but he didn't have a good one last week. He has been very up and down this year.
[2] Orazio is very lucky. I hope he can produce this week, as he's only kicked 1 goal for us as yet.
[3] I can understand why Ollie Hollands and Jack Carroll come out. Cerra is a better option. Ollie's form hasn't been great for all the work he has been doing. With a little luck, he might pick up some form. Jack Carroll I'm yet to be convinced about. But a good 20 - 30 possessions game in the 2's will help him no end.
[4] Mattie Owies is a little lucky to remain. He has made some terrible errors in the last few weeks. Corey Durdin is probably ever luckier. I was surprised to see us give him an extra 2 years. Both guys need to produce this week.
[5] Young I hope he can have a good one. Cox isn't the best forward if you body him. Give him the run at the ball, and he can be a real pain in the posterior.
We play Werribee, who are presently 9th, at Weribee this Saturday at 14:05. We should have a few more listed players for thus game, especially as the emergencies will be able to play. Last week we lost Binns, Sam Durdin and Cincotta, which was almost all of the experience we had.
Some of our guys need to respond after last week.
Mirkov is really struggling at the moment: not getting his hand on the ball, not getting to contests, etc. You can tell he missed a year of football. A real disappointment, and I'm not sure we'll give him another year.
I hope he can have a good one. Cox isn't the best forward if you body him. Give him the run at the ball, and he can be a real pain in the posterior.