Re: Northern Blues vs. Frankston at Visy on Sat 12th April
Reply #12 –
NBs win by 3 pts with a kick after the siren by Luke Reynolds. 35 out, 45 degree angle, right side for a left footer - never in doubt. Confident and strong shot which was pretty good for a kid surrounded by Frankston players shouting all kinds of rubbish at him. Whole side gathered around him after the goal. Good spirit.
The NBs were 2 kicks up at 3/4 time and held sway for most of the day but Frangertown (Goos got them super pumped for the last qtr) gave it their all and it made for a highly entertaining and exciting final qtr.
Only decided to go to this game at the last minute instead of going to the MCG... call it a gut feel. Glad I did.
Brief run down:
Blaine Johnson - did some heavy and strong work at important times. Still rough around the edges but has a good work ethic and attitude.
Brock McLean - improved on last week. Still not back to his dominant best but would have been his best effort this year. 50/50 for a recall.
Matthew Watson - beaten by Khan Hartuku (how didn't this bloke get an AFL gig?). Usual stuff. Slow but when he has the aggott his kicking is good. Nothing to get excited about.
Nick Holman - a shining light. Did some really good things and seems to be getting the tempo. Thinks like a footballer. Stood up when serious heat was on in the final qtr.
Andrew McInnes - usual good negating stuff but little else.
Cameron Wood - solid game. Seemed to tire a little. Kicked a ripper out of the pack early in the game. Good work around the ground. Fair ruck work.
Luke Reynolds - like this kid. Great left foot kick (but aint they all, those left footers?). Looks like a footballer. Bit green but gee, if he develops as he should - good stuff.
Tom Bell - absolutely tried his heart out. Tried too hard at times and tried to do it on his own when things got tough. Delivered one of those bursts out of the pack but with little awareness got caught and dropped the ball - crowd groan. Kicked a ripper goal also from about 55 out on an angle. Really worked hard. Great attitude.
Josh Bootsma - actually thought this was better from him. Some of his defensive / spoiling work was really good. Slight improvement. Gave his all.
Simon White - one of the best on the ground. Until moved into defence in the last qtr (strange decision) was our best forward.
Ciaran Sheehan - improved again on last week - only his 2nd proper game of AFL and, mostly, you wouldn't know it. Strong at the contest. Got that Irish really go for it thing we expect. Disposal pretty good. Like him.
Dennis Armfield - what is wrong with Den Den? He should be tearing this comp a new one. Just playing to get fitness? For what he can do and is capable of, he was okay. Very little dash. Coached asked him for dash in the last qtr and he really didn't deliver.
Cameron Giles - not as conspicuous as last week, but what he does (somewhat like Reynolds) he does well.
Sam Docherty - tired a bit again but gee, when this bloke gets the aggott in his hands his disposal and footy smarts come to the fore. Made less mistakes than last week when tiring. Is going to be a beaut.
Tom Temay - not as influential as last week but did suffer a little from poor delivery into the forward line when he was there. Nothing special.
Jaryd Waite - kicked a couple of dead easy ones and missed some even easier ones. Didn't dominate as you would have expected but did work hard though I wonder if he's nearing the end of the road - got eased out of position by a younger opponent too many times.
Jeff Garlett - I expected Jeffy to tear it up. He didn't. Was hardly noticed until the tempo picked up then he did go in harder. Shouldn't get a recall on what he dished up today.
If I think of anything more I'll post it. I'm hungry!