Post Practice Match Discussion - Melbourne v Collingwood

[DEE fence 4,448]

2 hours ago, ProDee said:

I would have thought Preuss and Gawn playing together might happen 5 or 6 times.  I just can't see the structure working weekly if all talls are available.

If I'm wrong I'm wrong.

I agree, unless Preuss is some sort of amazing goal kicker which seems unlikely, not even North would be that stupid to let someone like that go. I still don't reconcile why and how he is with us. They have alot of eggs in the Goldstein and Brown basket.

[Demonland 64,762]

All 4 quarters of the Scratch Match

 

[Demonland 64,762]

If you're too busy to watch the whole game. Here are the highlights 

 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

11 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Wouldn't hate if he didn't keep making the same mistakes. 

He wasn't alone, Harmes didn't start well and Vanders was pretty fumbly at times, but I thought Corey Wagner and JKH probably used it better than ANB today.

Guess that's why they call them a scratch match and why you have them.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

13 hours ago, dieter said:

I haven't been able to watch all of it but I think we have a new Dom Tyson- Stretch. I've seen 3 passes direct to a Collingwood player. PLease!

Just started watching the replay and saw exactly that.

Again about the 7:10 min mark of the second quarter Stretch kicks inside 50 straight to Collingwood, comes back out, Stretch wins a hard ball and feeds it out to a play, to Harmes, then to Hibbo, who has a shot on goal ...and shanks it out on the full.

What I liked was Stretch made the mistake, but kept on trying, didn’t drop his head and made up for it.  Hibbo is one of the best kicks in the side, but also stuffs it up ocasionally.  I'm not sure that Stretch is as good as Clarry or Gus, but he puts in and would probably be welcome at most other AFL clubs.  It's also his first serious hitouts since halfway through last season.

I liked Dom, Iike Billy and I recon these second string/role players still have an important place in successful teams.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

[CHF 2,599]

From the reports and the vision I have watched it would seem that we have excellent depth in the list this season. Not only do we have that depth but it would also seem that we have a mature game plan that most of the list are familiar with. This means that the depth is very effective because when they have to step up, they know what is expected of them and what to expect.

Looking forward to a strong showing by the club this season.

[58er 5,607]

Surely this is good news that our second string inc. Billy JKH Corey W and others on display today are in sync with our game  plan and can fit in at half forward, or the pocket or even play a small portion in the midfield.

The challenge surly is for one or all of them to elevate their game (and importantly their skills under pressure) to grab the no. 20,21 or 22 spots in the team.

Same for our defenders where the skill level IMO is greater where Hore (not yet)  Hunty KK and Lewy plus Jonesy can go through defence and potentially star or play on a wing and hold their place but not displace Hibbo or Lord  Nev as medium backs.

This then elevates our depth with extreme pressure on all players to get in the AFL team.

Even  more so now with the rucks now that Pruessy has arrived. Mark my words he is no 5 game backup but a much more skilled and rounded contributor with the real side benefits being Maxie still No 1 but able to play in defence ( as per today) or up forward where Brayden did well today.

This means that depending upon team balance at any given time Weids will get the 3rd defence tall after Max and Tommy. Yes it will live and die by form but remember all are IMO good marks and not useless in general play ( refer Sam in Finals). Also our crumbers will have to play their part and Spargo (big year and rarely wastes a disposal) ANB AVB  Jeffy JKH Billy Corey W hopefully Fritschy (can play small or tall) etc come into their own with 20 plus goals or more for the season. In between is the gem of them all Jake Milkshake skilled Mark and ground player on both feet tough and a great mark for his size plus I hope a developing Sparrow and don't forget Trac who makes most possessions count in heavy traffic and if he gets confidence back his goal kicking to another level ie 35 plus goals this year.

The whole team is capable of going to another level by virtue of the skill and different assets of our choices at our disposal. Height Strength body and pressure will tell as well as speed and skill.

Our mids providing they balance an in/out game and don't all chase the ball "IN" will take care of their territory.

Also our key backs be they May Frosty Oscar (already acknowledged improvement on today's effort and still young Think Tommy's apprenticeship) Jake L will be rock solid if not spectacular at times.

All glass half full I reckon no doubt hiccups will occur but try and keep this set of players quiet for a whole game and good luck to you.

Lastly (and this prob won't happen) I would like to see some situation where Gary Lyon (forgive him for his coaching choices) is on tap for advice as he has by far the sharpest footy brain in the media box (think Warnie at cricket ) and this 1% would not allow Oscar to play on Hawkins for far too long at the Cattery and we win the game as Frosty or Maysie nullifies him.

If we don't get a top4 spot and hopefully home finals I will be surprised and our form and availability will determine our fate in the big games in September.

Oh and 40,00 fans on nonblockbuster games plus 80,000 or more in those clashes will no doubt help Make the G a fortress in for the  nearly the next decade!

 

 

 

 

 

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,089]

14 hours ago, daisycutter said:

1. determines the play-on boundary for kick outs

2. marks in the square can line up dead in front on top of goal square

And players will still be required to be inside the square until the goal umpire has signalled the behind. 

[chook fowler 18,213]

JKH is an interesting one - his form last year was pretty good and he looked alright yesterday. Apparently his preseason has been good. Maybe he is a late developer like Lord Nev.

[rjay 23,888]

3 hours ago, 58er said:

Lastly (and this prob won't happen) I would like to see some situation where Gary Lyon (forgive him for his coaching choices) is on tap for advice as he has by far the sharpest footy brain in the media box

Must be hiding it well...

[Demon trucker 1,743]

11 hours ago, ProDee said:

I would have thought Preuss and Gawn playing together might happen 5 or 6 times.  I just can't see the structure working weekly if all talls are available.

If I'm wrong I'm wrong.

Never hurt west coast they have always played 2 ruckmen plus 2 talls up forward

[beelzebub 22,225]

25 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

JKH is an interesting one - his form last year was pretty good and he looked alright yesterday. Apparently his preseason has been good. Maybe he is a late developer like Lord Nev.

Good at vfl...good at intra.   Good at JLT...ok against average teams...gets found out when tempo and intensity lifts.

He can play...but still have my doubts he has a place in a premiership quality team.

Not a knock.. just what is.

[dazzledavey36 48,708]

The story for me yesterday was Brayden Pruess and Aaron Vandenberg. Pruess is seriously one big scary unit. Gawn is right, he will get suspended this year if someone sits in the hole with him charging. There's definitely potential for him to be a dangerous option up forward if it can click with Weideman and McDonald as well. If he keeps playing well he'll have a bigger cukt status then Gawn.

Vanders is just a brute. Looked in ripping shape, and hes already like a new recruit for us this year. His crunching tackling on Beams was brutal. 

I also thought Corey Wagner, JKH, Tim Smith and Billy Stretch were impressive also. 

Edited February 22, 2019 by dazzledavey36

[Gator 16,891]

44 minutes ago, don't make me angry said:

Never hurt west coast they have always played 2 ruckmen plus 2 talls up forward

Two questions:

1. Do you know how their game-plan differs from ours ?

2. Do you think Preuss has the athletic attributes of Vardy ?

If I'm right and Preuss is used sparingly why do you think it'll be ?

[pitmaster 3,059]

8 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Just started watching the replay and saw exactly that.

Again about the 7:10 min mark of the second quarter Stretch kicks inside 50 straight to Collingwood, comes back out, Stretch wins a hard ball and feeds it out to a play, to Harmes, then to Hibbo, who has a shot on goal ...and shanks it out on the full.

What I liked was Stretch made the mistake, but kept on trying, didn’t drop his head and made up for it.  Hibbo is one of the best kicks in the side, but also stuffs it up ocasionally.  I'm not sure that Stretch is as good as Clarry or Gus, but he puts in and would probably be welcome at most other AFL clubs.  It's also his first serious hitouts since halfway through last season.

I liked Dom, Iike Billy and I recon these second string/role players still have an important place in successful teams.

The truth is because of the pressure applied by opponents, the shape of the ball etc, it is a game of mistakes. Otherwise we'd score 40 goals a game - each side.

Edited February 22, 2019 by pitmaster

[Demonland 64,762]

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[Deemania since 56 6,132]

20 hours ago, 640MD said:

Lovely walk in the park !

 

I did really love the tackle by OMac and then a short time later by Vanders in the last quarter.

Really hurt their opponents   but legally    OMacs took a few minutes to get away from the trainers  right in front of me   great to see..    Hell there were a lot of collingwood supporters there    GO DEES   on a roll !!

It (the game) was going to be a slog, no matter who was included in which team. Our strengths, whilst rusty, sailed the game away and there looked to be a few set plays and decoys working already. D'arcy Moore played well for the Filth, and Beams was active. Scale that up a little, with Lever and May at the ready and we have the Filth covered - and our 2-ruck combo will talls like TMac, Weed, Vanders and JSmith seem to be rather formidable. Gawn is an absolute marvel - he has been doing it for three years now, leading from the front, getting to position, taking the grabs, feeding the ball forward. At a squeeze, OMac might be better utilised centre and fwd to play as another ruck/tall/offensive pressure agent. We'd need that aptitude if Viney might not get up as regularly as we would prefer. MIssed Clarrie - his ball movement and direct thoughts were not there - the linkage seemed to be missing. Many forward moves lacked his controlling influence and canny avenues. Great win, proud of the team efforts. 

 

[CatFishPig 434]

Has there been any stats posted from the praccy? 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

1 hour ago, pitmaster said:

The truth is because of the pressure applied by opponents, the shape of the ball etc, it is a game of mistakes. Otherwise we'd score 40 goals a game - each side.

Your dead right.

Pressure be that real or perceived.

In the aforementioned instances, Stretch probably wasn't under much real pressure, Hibbo was, but probably didn't really move in the right direction to create space for himself and thus somewhat put himself under the pressure.  Probably both mistakes that wouldn't happen so much after a few more real match practice situations.

I'd actually like to see Hibbo sneak forward and kick a few more goals at times - the guy is a weapon with his boot.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

[Tom Dyson 1,492]

Vanders is going to demolish some people this year. I would call him the skull crusher but I have already reserved that for Stevey May. 

thought the Preuss/Gawny combo looked good. 

[dieter 3,325]

10 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Just started watching the replay and saw exactly that.

Again about the 7:10 min mark of the second quarter Stretch kicks inside 50 straight to Collingwood, comes back out, Stretch wins a hard ball and feeds it out to a play, to Harmes, then to Hibbo, who has a shot on goal ...and shanks it out on the full.

What I liked was Stretch made the mistake, but kept on trying, didn’t drop his head and made up for it.  Hibbo is one of the best kicks in the side, but also stuffs it up ocasionally.  I'm not sure that Stretch is as good as Clarry or Gus, but he puts in and would probably be welcome at most other AFL clubs.  It's also his first serious hitouts since halfway through last season.

I liked Dom, Iike Billy and I recon these second string/role players still have an important place in successful teams.

I like the lad as well and also noted how he 'put in'. More than anything, I was glad to see him back playing.

[dieter 3,325]

37 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Your dead right.

Pressure be that real or perceived.

In the aforementioned instances, Stretch probably wasn't under much real pressure, Hibbo was, but probably didn't really move in the right direction to create space for himself and thus somewhat put himself under the pressure.  Probably both mistakes that wouldn't happen so much after a few more real match practice situations.

I'd actually like to see Hibbo sneak forward and kick a few more goals at times - the guy is a weapon with his boot.

( Apart from the dreadful shot at goal with his right foot yesterday. )

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

24 minutes ago, dieter said:

( Apart from the dreadful shot at goal with his right foot yesterday. )

True

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,579]

To me, what I have seen from the limited match time of Pruess as a MFC player is that he's perhaps a slightly better, more skillful version of Jake Spencer.  A bit of a lumberer who has a presence, but not as mobile or sublime wit his ruck tap work as Max - yet.  Hopefully his tap work is something which improves further with mentoring from Max/Greg and more time around our onballers to improve their connection.

I'm not making the comparison with Jake in a bad way either, as I actually think he was pretty close to being a good second string ruckman for us and loved his hardness and attack on the contest/man.

Also shows how good Max is - the guy is a freak ...but he's not superman and I think having big Preuss around to share the load and help Max sustain his output over the whole season and ready to fire at the times we need him most makes Preuss an important asset to our side. 

I also agree with what Garry Pert was saying during the webcast match comentary that Tommy and Weid are too valuable for us to use in the ruck for the most part, although it might not hurt for either of them to end up there for the odd centre bounce to help throw the opposition backline around a bit at times.

[Deemania since 56 6,132]

47 minutes ago, dieter said:

I like the lad as well and also noted how he 'put in'. More than anything, I was glad to see him back playing.

Stretch does go in for the ball and often wins it, clearly. His disposal is suspect and he drops the ball high. Some coaching is needed and once this is ameliorated, he'd be a bona fide gun. He is also often left in the midline without support/protection/screens, and with incoming opponents or a player crush,  he must dispose as a last resort, again often. His hands need to be operative with teammates nearby, more often. He would benefit from stitching up a play or two with the likes of Harmes, Oliver, Hunt or Spargo/Jones, for example, to concentrate on nearby feeds at this point.