Missed seeing the game live (listened & watched a bit on tv), so what are folks thoughts on Valenti, Martin & Bode.

It seemed to me:

1. Valenti got a fair bit of it, but didn't use it great

2. Martin got a lot of touches early

3. Bode - out of his league

Happy to be corrected.

Valenti seemed at sea with disposal, tho seems to hold his feet not too badly.

Martin is definitely going to be a player.

I never seem to notice bode.

  Mono said:

Missed seeing the game live (listened & watched a bit on tv), so what are folks thoughts on Valenti, Martin & Bode.

It seemed to me:

1. Valenti got a fair bit of it, but didn't use it great

2. Martin got a lot of touches early

3. Bode - out of his league

Happy to be corrected.

1. Valenti gets the footy. I agree that on many occasions he didnt use it well, though I thought it was an execution issue and not the decision making. He need to be given the grace of a few consecutive weeks to see if he can settle down. He is strong over the footy and stands up well in the tackle.

2. I like the look of him. Athletic and looks fairly strong. Took a nice contested mark where he ran back turned and leapt at the footy showing some of his atheticism. Too early to call but he looks like an exciting prospect.

3. I think that he has had plenty of games to show what he has and hasn't produced at senior level. Bailey has given him every opportunity.

  Mono said:

Missed seeing the game live (listened & watched a bit on tv), so what are folks thoughts on Valenti, Martin & Bode.

It seemed to me:

1. Valenti got a fair bit of it, but didn't use it great

2. Martin got a lot of touches early

3. Bode - out of his league

Happy to be corrected.

Spot on.

Valenti got quite a lot of the footy, and lots of hard possesions in traffic. Due to the nature of most of his possesions being contested, this affected his disposal as he was often being tackled when getting rid of the footy. Tackled really well, and is great in close both offensively and defensively. Not as good off the ball or in space, as he got burnt off for pace on a few occasions. Should definitely stay in the 22 on that performance though.

Martin's 1st qtr was very impressive. Took a nice strong mark and had a neat looking kicking action. He moves really well... I think in a year or so's time, people will be talking about how we've got two of the more agile, versatile big men in the league in Martin and PJ. Martin's body also looks a fair bit bigger than in pre-season.

Bode... i hate to write any player off completely, but he just doesn't look like he'll make it. Works really hard off the footy, but is overly concious of his man and doesn't have the smarts or the confidence in his own kicking ability to consistently attack the game on the rebound. In the role he plays, he needs to improve on his rebound footy, that means, at the very least, kicking at an AFL standard. IMO, he's like a poor-man's version of Clint Bartram (i think Bartram as been much improved over the last month, but his rebounding, like Bode's, leaves a lot to be desired)... I don't think we need both Bode and Bartram in the same team- two exclusively small players with poor skills and decision making. I prefer Bell to Bode, as he's a stronger mark overhead and has the ability to play taller than he is if he needs to. And has better skills.

  Pipefitter said:

Valenti seemed at sea with disposal, tho seems to hold his feet not too badly.

Not too sure about the latter - was on the deck more than many. I agree with you regarding his disposal today, though.

Bode was the invisible man today, to me at least.

Martin looked pretty mobile, which was good.

Thought Martin played a solid first game, went missing a fair bit but took a couple of marks at critical stages that had an impact. Pushed further up the ground a couple of times which is pretty unorthodox for a first game defender but impressive at the same time, seems to understand the modern game, even if he is still learning to play it.

Valenti had a [censored] of a game. Missed most of the 1st quarter were he apparently had a fair bit of it. He made some costly errors in the 3rd quarter which were bloody awful, his ball use for that quarter must have been around 0% effeciency. Id like to see him given time to adapt to AFL though, it looked as though his lack of pace let him down at times but I'd like to see him given time to adjust, he did have moments were he stood up in tackles and worked around that. I think his work at stoppages can be underrated, at stages deep in the game he was the difference between the ball being held up and the Lions running away with it, disposals arent everything.

Whose Bode?

  Mono said:

Missed seeing the game live (listened & watched a bit on tv), so what are folks thoughts on Valenti, Martin & Bode.

It seemed to me:

1. Valenti got a fair bit of it, but didn't use it great

2. Martin got a lot of touches early

3. Bode - out of his league

Happy to be corrected.

pretty much sums it up...

Valents has shown in his other 2 games that he has the ability to use the ball well at AFL level... seemed composed and made good decisions... unfortunately he didn't today... was a pretty intense game and he seemed quite rushed, but he will improve in this area...

Martin has a heap of potential and will be a good MFC player.

Jace just doesn't seem to be up to it unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong, but I've felt the same way pretty much since i've seen him play.

The only reasonable game he did play was the tank match last year, and we saw how low intensity that match was, wasn't a true indication of AFL footy, more like a practice match.

I rate Valenti's game. When McLean went down, he was given the task of covering the spot of our best clearance player and playing against Power and Black no less!

His disposal was hit and miss, but he got a lot of the footy and that's a great sign that he can cut it at this level. What I like most about him, is that he is smart. He uses his body beautifully and he understands the play, and that's something you really can't teach.

Overall a good display for a THIRD gamer. His disposal will settle IMO once he adjusts to the tempo.

Martin showed some promise and looks like he'll be a player but in all honesty he's not ready. Had a few balls that he totally misjudged when he could have come into aerial contests.

Valenti: Had me concerned. From my angle he seemed a little flat footed at times. When he has it, and has enough space I reckon he uses it ok... but at that size he won't take too many clean marks, and won't get a lot of space because he's not searingly quick... He had to rely on free kicks, of which he'll get a few but probably not enough to be meaningful. What I LOVE is his decision-making... The execution is there, but it's more his choices that make me smile. I'm prepared to give him more time but I think he needs to find a yard or two... I wish I could put his head in CJ or Buckley's bodies... Though those guys go ok looking at today.

Martin: Started strongly. Inspiring mark. Looked a LITTLE bit lost, but we all expected him to be. I thought he didn't let us down. Works hard, and at this stage that's all you could ask. May get a game next week... But I was thrilled that he's gotten that taste even if he does get dropped.

Bode: I actually saw some things I liked. Seemed to play accountably. He's not brilliant, and not a possession winner that'll hurt other sides... but he was, at least, hard at it. Don't know who he played on...