North Ballarat vs. Northern Blues Sunday, July 13 Eureka Stadium at 2:00pm
North Ballarat
B Hoy Cook Warren HB Tate Searl Lockyer C Horbury Anthony Rippon HF Schache Curnow Austin F Keeble Staley Couch R Wallace Dumont George Int Peters Wilkins Kiel Tsitas Boseley Scott Peel Conroy
Northern Blues
B:McInnes Watson Byrne HB:Sheehan Anthony Dirago C:Lucas Cripps Reynolds HF:Holman Walton Buckley F: Wilson Waite Garlett R:Wood Armfield Cattapan Int:Temay Bolger Posar Dufficy M. Gleeson* Totevski Bransgrove Wilkinson Coulson
Good to see Buckley back: I wonder if he'll play? The team doesn't look as impressive this week: more outs than ins.
SYDNEY B Dane Rampe, Ted Richards, Nick Smith HB Jeremy Laidler, Heath Grundy, Jarrad McVeigh C Nick Malceski, Josh Kennedy, Harry Cunningham HF Luke Parker, Sam Reid, Lewis Jetta F Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin, Ben McGlynn FOLL Mike Pyke, Kieren Jack, Craig Bird I/C Brandon Jack, Jake Lloyd, Gary Rohan, Dean Towers EMG Tom Derickx, George Hewett, Tim Membrey IN Dean Towers OUT Zak Jones (Achilles)
CARLTON B Simon White, Michael Jamison, Sam Rowe HB Andrejs Everitt, Andrew Walker, Kade Simpson C Tom Bell, Chris Judd, Chris Yarran HF Bryce Gibbs, Levi Casboult, Blaine Johnson F Brock McLean, Lachie Henderson, Dale Thomas FOLL Robert Warnock, Ed Curnow, Marc Murphy I/C Sam Docherty, David Ellard, Zach Tuohy, Nick Graham EMG Dennis Armfield, Jeff Garlett, Matthew Watson IN David Ellard, Nick Graham OUT Andrew Carrazzo (Quad), Troy Menzel (Shoulder)
Cachia got suspended for a week after the Collingwood game. He'll be back next week and must be a chance. I was a bit surprised that Ellard got in, as he was not one of those who stood out last week.
It is nice for us to on TV: we haven't had that much air time this year compared to the last couple and our 'draw' has not been conducive to making money. Even our new president has comments on that.
The weather for Sunday may put off people from attending this one. Certainly the crowd will be less than it was for the pre season game earlier in the year.
One of the things that irritates me most about Eureka Stadium is that there is no terracing. Only the front row can actually see the game, unless you are in the 'Member's Stand'.
Nobody seems to be thinking of this week's game at all as yet. Granted that things are not looking like the sort of victory we experienced last week, but are we that sure we will fail?
@ Crash.. I Agree no need to risk him, let him rest theres no point in playing him injured, give him several weeks to recover if he needs it. Also agree he wont be going anywhere. The club needs to address his re-signing as a matter of priority, as im sure its doing.
I hope so. The last thing I would want to do is gift a team like Geelong a player with the class of Menzel: they are on the decline (and about time), while we have only one direction to go.
Interesting. I am a little surprised that Murphy featured so highly, but quite glad that Riewoldt didn't. Good player though Riewoldt is, he was ineffective on Sunday. His team mates kicked the ball directly to our players instead, something that far too few of our opponents are willing to replicate.
change of tack watching the last quarter when Menzel got hit on shoulder - not clear if a stinger or break He then played on got hit again on shoulder after about 10 minutes what were our damn doctors and physios doing?
I saw on he TV tonight that Menzel is hoping to be right for Sydney. I am doubtful to be honest, but I am well known for not taking risks with half fit players. The club ignores me and does its own thing. I'm used to it. Apparently some rumours doing the rounds suggested that Menzel wanted to join his brother at Geelong. From what he said today, that seems unlikely. To be honest, if he wants to play with his brother he has as much chance by staying with us. Geelong are not going to keep a guy on their list forever who can't get on the park. I understand that they WANT to keep him, but list management suggests they would be crazy to keep him. On the other hand, us using a rookie pick on him would be a reasonable guess, if he looked like being able to play at some point. Then again, he may simply retire if his knees are gone.
Another pleasing thing about the Aints fall from grace, is the chance, it's to early to speculate, that some of their kids may not develop the way they would like and PELCHEN will hopefully be remembered as the list manager who reinstated them at the ass end of the ladder where they belong.
They've one 1 flag. I'd rather have inflicted a loss of substance to many more teams such as The hand baggers, Scum and Filth.
I quite enjoy belting this mob tbh
I do too. They really irritated me when they had their few moments of glory: I guess they didn't know how to handle victory with grace having experienced so little of it. Now they are getting a good dose of karma. I hope they enjoy it. I did.
Team: B+ I couldn't give an 'A': the 2nd quarter was just inadequate after the 10 minute mark. But the rest? Excellent. Every single player made a useful contribution. However, the pressure on us this week was much less than we've been dealing with in recent times.
Votes: I found it really hard as so many players did something. However, after recent weeks I was glad to have it as a problem!
Explanations: [3] Everitt: An excellent effort in an attacking role early and in a defensive role against Montagna. 13 marks says a lot in itself. [2.5] Curnow: Took out not 1, but 2 players in a display that warmed the heart. [2] Walker: Andrew has stagnated recently, but he was back to his hard running best this week. Much better. [1.5] Yarran: had both positive and negative jobs and did them well. He was dangerous up forward and provided a lot of run. [1] White: With no tall forward to match up on. Simon had to find another role. he did and managed 4 goals in the process. He marked strongly and kicked well. [1] Jamison: Riewoldt may have had the ball 19 times, but he had absolutely no influence at all. On the other hand, Jamo had plenty of influence, both as a spae down back and as Riewoldt's direct opponent. [1] Rowe: Like Jamo, Rowe did very well down back against the taller St. Kilda forwards. he did a decent job when against Riewoldt and against Stanley and took some nice marks. [1] Henderson: Best game for ages! Hendo started moving better and holding his marks. Still a long way from his best, but it was definitely a move towards it. [0.5] Docherty: Good effort. [0.5] Warnock: Did a very good job against the St. Kilda ruckmen and aims his taps better than he has an any other time this year. Even managed a few bashes, which lead to Carlton scores. [0.5] Carrazzo: Did an excellent defensive job until he was injured. He also managed a number of centre clearances. [0.5] Casboult: Took a while to warm up, but when he did he managed to clunk some excellent marks and kick straight.
Honourable Mentions: Murphy: Did not appear dominant, but probably deserved a vote. He managed to get a lot of the ball after a quiet start and made the most of every disposal. Judd: Like Murphy, Judd started quietly, but came into the game when we needed some leadership. His work was telling. McLean: Deserved a vote, like Murphy, as he made a very useful contribution and made good use of the ball. Tuohy: One of his best games for the year, he managed to keep his opponents quiet and provide a lot of drive. Johnson: The lad played pretty well and showed he has a boot on him. His kicking need to get more reliable, but he showed a lot of desire. Thomas: Like many of our senior players, he did what he had to. He was always dangerous and really put his body in. Menzel: Totally dominant early, but a shoulder injury slowed him down.
I think we underestimate the loss of Curnow for so many weeks. Our most improved player this year, I believe.
Carrots as well. For a considerable period we were unable to shut down opponents' best mids, among other things. With Carrots coming back to fitness and form and Curnow coming back like he hadn't missed at all, we now have weapons to silence good players. It is very nice, especially after some of the tactics used on Murphy this year.
This is going to be a LOT more pleasant that it has been for quite a while. Hopefully a few more voters will come out of the woodwork to celebrate. With only 29000 people there, and no free to air TV, it may not be that easy, but I can hope. Thank you to everyone who voted during the last few weeks: it hasn't been easy. This week should be a different kettle of fish.
Remember: [1] At least 3 players need to get a mention. [2] No more than 10 votes for any one player. [3] Give a rating of team performance [4] Votes must add up to 15.
BEST: Northern Blues: Wood Anthony Waite Wilson Armfield Graham Collingwood: Moloney Broomhead Williams Maxwell Gault White
This is just the things we all needed to see. Pity Reynolds continues to show so little, but he did kick a goal. 21 disposals to Waite was excellent. DISPOSALS: Cachia 26, Graham 22, Wilson 21, Cattapan 20, Cripps 20, Garlett 20
Hopefully someone was there to shed some light on the effort, but it looks good to me from here.