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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: By 8 o'clock tonight who will we all be talking about and why?
Luke Reynolds
....cos he didnt play!
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Messages - Pratty
....cos he didnt play!
392
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Carlton vs North Melbourne
Thought Wood was more impressive than Warnock.
Casboult terrible as was Waite but itds the fringe players that I was lookig at.
Graham needs to do more and stop playing 'nice' footy. Top AFL footballers do more so hopefully he improves cos the kid has talent and Ive been a fan since day 1.
Liked Cripps - went and got the footy which is important. His vision and nous were already on show. Very Mick Barlow/Jobe Watson like.
McInnes, cant jump and looks slow. Hopefully improves as he's yoing and a real goer. Bootsma the pick out of those two for mine. Likes Boots last qtr when he took McInnes's role down back. Better mover by far.
Lucas - didnt even know he was playingfor a while. Terrible output. Im expecting more from him. Only game 1 though.
Cachia, Buckley and Bell had rippers. Just impressed which is what they need to do again next week/game.
If we could only get Robinson to handball more that would be good for the team IMHO, his kicking is still far too much hit and miss. His tenacity and hardness, tackling pressure, etc is great but that needs to be tempered with better nous, a cooler head and better kicking IMO.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: By 8 o'clock tonight who will we all be talking about and why?
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Carlton vs North Melbourne
Guys Im talking about include, but are not limited to - Lucas, Buckley, Ellard, Watson, Rowe, Casboult, McInnes, Bootsma, White. Temay can be adde to that group also. Big, big year for these blokes and tonight is as good a time as any to show what they are made of. Are they good enough? Are they hungry enough?
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Which of our new players should play in the NAB Challenge?
If Everitt can play body on body with his man it will get Walker the defensive liability out of our defensive 50m and allow him to play to his strengths up forward.
True. Or Everitt and Walker will play the HBF/HFF/wing roles with the help of (hopefully) guys like White and McInnes for example who might be more favoured to play deep in defence (ala Rampe at the Swans allowing Everitt to move across half-back more often and not be dragged too deep). Dunno but might happen.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Best 22 for 2014
Maybe although PCL injuries may have caused him some grief. He is more centre half forward than anything else.
MK? I'm not so sure. Once teams worked out his issues with body contact in marking contests, it was over.
Na we were talking about Casboult.
At the end of the day, both of them are what they are, and were hurt more by the lack of other forward targets than their abilities to play forward.
Matty Kreuzer was going well when Fev was down there, and his drop in ability to play forward just happened to coincide with Fev's departure. You get Waite and Hendo down there, and I reckon Kreuzer will come to the fore with his ability to play forward.
Ditto Casboult. He is a big lug of a bloke who struggles by himself, and the answer is, opposing defences are able to cope better. The best talls in the game today always seem to have other targets sharing forward fifty with them to make them play one out. That is the key to making a key forward shine.
Nail.hit.head re our tall blokes playing forward IMO Thry.
I have said that we need probably two other marking taller types to play forward with someone like MK, Rowe or Cas. Just Waite and Casboult for example with 4 smalls around them is not the answer and does not work IMO. We now have mult-positional players that we can use back and forward as marking targets such as - Walker, Everitt, Henderson, Waite, Watson, White, Giles). They are taller types that with say a Waite and a MK or Casboult can help out. Replying on Garlett or Yarran (used to be Betts) to play the marking forward is not on.
The other thing for me is the MK, Cas and Rowe need to play deeper forward as they just don't seem to be the CHF type of guys. Maybe if we don't want both Waite and Hendo forward with say a MK, Rowe or Cas then we should look at one of Waite/Hendo and one of MK/Rowe/Cas and 1-2 of Walker, Everitt, Watson, White or Giles.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Which of our new players should play in the NAB Challenge?
Everitt hands down, this guy has gears people have not seen yet!
Settle ..... !!
Let's hope he is a serviceable player for us first of, not an instant superstar.
With Eddie gone we may struggle to kick goals, if Reynolds or Johnson could show something in the NAB cup they might get promoted ahead of Wood into Duigans now vacant spot.
I really like the look of Reynolds.....raking left foot kick and kicks them from a long way, we need his type of player for variety and accuracy in front of goal.
Menzel is similar and I have high hopes he can stand up and cement a place this year but I reckon Reynolds could be a weapon along the lines of Brad Pearce..
I agree. Like Reynolds and Johnson. Reynolds could go far.
I reckon with Eddie leaving this opens up a spot for more of a multi-position type of small/medium, or a group of, with guys squarely in the frame to partner Garlett including - Graham, Yarran, Murphy, Gibbs, Judd and Lucas. Buckley might get a go and also Reynolds and/or Johnson but like Menzel they are forwards only at this stage. The man I think that might get a gig as a forward is Kane Lucas. Nick Graham will push hard and even Pat Cripps might spend some time forward. Sam Docherty I wouldn't be surprised to see there at some point with his nice skills and good kicking.
I think as good as Eddie is both he and Garlett were small forwards only. I really think we missed an opportunity a few years back to make Eddie a forward/mid and not just a permanent forward. Nevertheless, more flexibility is MM's mantra. Yarran can go back, forward and even into the middle or a wing with good effect. Multi-positional players are the go and the likes of permanent small forwards, or too many together, might not be by the sounds of it.
Resting rucks up forward (MK, Rowe, Cas) and mids (Murphy, Judd, Gibbs, Graham, Cripps, Thomas, McLean, etc) along with 'switch-hitters' or impact types (Walker, Everitt, Henderson, Yarran, White, Watson, Rowe, Waite, Giles) up forward will be our go.
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The Sports Desk / Re: South Africa v Australia - touring squad
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Which of our new players should play in the NAB Challenge?
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: 2014 - Strugglers
It's is absolutely the case that a Crowley tagger type will give Judd the odd "accidental" kick in the achilles at times during the coming season.
If you think that stuff doesn't happen, watch footage of blokes like Brown and Baker.
If a bloke has a perceived weakness, they will test it, that is how the achilles got it's name!
Robinson has his uses and needs to be one to take a Crowley out if it need be. Robinson and Bell need to be used well and their body strength and sizes need to be taken advantage of. In the case of Robinson, his courage and will to hurt a player.
I think clubs are now well aware of how Crowley plays and I expect him and his ilk to get a lot more physical treatment this season, I fully expect to hear and read Ross Lyon complaining about how Crowley is being attacked off the ball and manhandled by opposition players at ball ups etc.
I can see the Mark Yeates/Dermott Brereton scenerio happening with Crowley, Hocking etc and being lined up at ball ups and meeting with some physical players like Robinson, Bell and even Kruezer/Casboult etc...good coaches wont allow star players to be kept out of games by this type of negating and I can see the tactics changing this season.
Gee I hope so.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer says the Blues must stand up - the Age
Like Gibbs...Kruezer fails to impact games, I can remember about three games in his career where he actually dominated games took them by the scruff of the neck and imposed himself.
He doesnt take enough marks and his kicking is ordinary even though he got of to a good start in his career and was a straight kick initially.
He is also one of those players when he does get a good run of fitness going and his game starts to improve he gets injured and its back to square one again.
You can forget making a KP player out of him as well....wont happen, his only spot is No 1 ruck IMO, thats where he plays his best footy and where he should play every week...problem is that Warnocks only position is NO 1 ruck so IMO those two will never work as a ruck combo and that the secon ruck spot has to be filled by Casboult who has more variety to his game and can play forward(if he can only learn to kick the ball straight).
Unfortunately I agree re Gibbs and Kreuzer. Early on you can forgive young blokes making their way but they are now old enough and experienced enough to make an impact. Hopefully it comes this year but Im not holding my breath.
Agree also elwood re MK and playing as a key forward. His agility and speed (due to injurues Im sure) has diminished quite a bit and he cannot reply on his pack marking (or marking in general) to be a key forward. His leap has dimished a bit also but gee I hope he gets going as love this bloke.
Looking at past replays from games last year just recently and Casboult would be the man to play 3rd forward. I do not think he can hold down a 2nd key forward post himself (say next to Waite) which is a concern also. I think he needs 2 other decent talls around him or other marking type options (eg. Walker, Everitt, White - maybe a combo of them). Those blokes offer a point of difference which we have lacked. Thats partly why Reynolds and Johnson have been drafted also IMO. We need Casboult clunking marks and splitting packs inside the forward 50 more times than not.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Where Will The Goals Come From in 2014 ??
Of the medium/smaller types - we ofcourse have Garlett, Yarran, Murphy, Thomas and co but I am optimistic about the year for someone I have not been a big fan of (particularly playing as a winger/mid which he's been poor at at AFL level IMO) and that is Kane Lucas. Is 188cm tall but to me can find the ball well and could easily (in Betts' absence) become a mid-size forward for us along with Menzel, Garlett and Murphy. I think Judd would be great forward but seems to strugle to hit the scoreboard there. As an impacting mid and/or winger will be his go in 2014 for mine. Murphy I recon will kick 25-30+ goals this year and be a dominating force. lucas could get the 25 goal mark which is a massive leap for him but i reckon his role at AFL level is not as a specialt mid/winger but could become as a small/medium forward type.
I think the small/medium types to do well might in fact be Garlett, Murphy, Menzel, Lucas, Walker and Everitt.
Watson as a tall forward along with Henderson and a big unit such as Kreuzer or Casboult to play predominately deep gets us going adding in a mid/taller roaming type in Walker and/or Everitt. That's a hard match-up unit and we need them to come on together as a forward unit and become something for us. A thing to remember for mine with the big units such as MK and Levi playing deep is that they may in fact work better with a Walker or Everitt with pace and height leading up from the square at times also. ot so much Garlett but the harder matchup in Walks and Spider Junior.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Best 22 for 2014
Hendo certainly has all the skills to be very effective tall fwd. Ok, he may not be a raving extrovert but he does stay calm and composed under pressure so I want to see him play forward if we can sort out our defence without him.
Exactly. Hendo proved his worth at CHF last year in the limited time he got there. He's been really good down back also. Waite I reckon could be a decent CHB until Cam Giles comes on. He's too lazy, unpredicatble and unreliable up forward...but he can also be a ripper up forward. Quandary! Hoping for Waite to play a full season or Rowe or Casboult or Kreuzer or Watson to hold down CHF aint going to happen. We need a mix of blokes IMHO, with an eye to the future but also with more versatility. Those guys mentioned above will absolutely need someone like Henderson holding down CHF for them to have an impact. I believe Andrejs Everitt and Andy Walker up forward will be really handy for us. Matty Watson also showed something in his limited time forward. More of a roaming taller type than a genuine key forward at this stage but could be handy. Id be seriously looking to build my forward structure around Lachie Henderson in 2014. Doesn't mean he cant switch back from time to time but for the majority of time I think he's gotta be forward in a key post.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Best 22 for 2014
B: Tuohy, Jamison, White
Hb: Walker, Waite, Simpson
C: Thomas, Gibbs, Judd
Hf: Watson, Henderson, Menzel
F: Garlett, Casboult, Everitt
Foll: Kreuzer, Murphy
Rov: Carrazzo
I/c: Curnow, McLean, Scotland, Yarran
Emerg: Docherty, Graham, Lucas, Warnock
Hendo is no CHF, he is too slow and not agile enough as a CHF. Once teams dragged him up the ground he lost all effectiveness.
Hendo did his best work at FF or FP.
If fit Waite is our best CHF by some margin to the nearest alternative, if Waite is not there I suspect Everitt off a HFF or maybe even a wing will become a mobile target in combination with some smaller players like Walker or Yarran.
Disagree. Hendo is a decent CHF IMO. My view is that a broken down injured or suspended Waite is far too often in and out of our forward structure and it just breakd down. A fit Waite, Heno and MK all playing forward I'd like to see for games on end.
I think Hendo did a great job inside our forward 50 last year when there playing as a key forward. At times your CHF simply has to move up the ground.
Do we have a big J.Brown or T.Cloke - no so we go with what we have.
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