NAB Challenge 1 - Richmond v Melbourne

[DeeSpencer 25,695]

Yes, still elbowed a bloke and should have had the ball taken from him but he had a solid night.

Oh please. Deledio held him after the mark. Dunn gave him a little nudge to let go. Cry baby Deledio had a whinge to the umpire who wanted nothing of it. Let's not make the game any softer.

Dunn's dumbest piece of play was a silly evasive move and chip kick to Nicholson attempting to go over Martin that led to a bad turnover. The rest of the time he avoid Dunn-isms.

[Macca 16,967]

I agree with this Macca, for two years I have been saying he is primarily a half forward.

If we remember some of his games last year he was poor, I remember one game where it did not make the 30 metres distance to goal from directly in front. He was Definately carrying injuries IMO.

Play him as primarily as a half forward and he will be a good player.

There was something wrong - we may never find out but there were rumours it was OP or was it his foot (?)

Trengove showed enough in his first 2 seasons to indicate that he'll be a good player for us. How good? That's up to Jack. I agree with you on his positioning within the team. He's like a whole new prospect all over again. Other players are also in that category if Friday's game is taken into account. Bail was good and so was Dunn. All of our new players showed a bit (think there was 8 new players if Barry is included)

It wasn't a game for 4 points but I'm reasonably confident that we'll be replicating what we saw on Friday night in the season proper. It's more a matter of how good we can get at it (the new game plan)

Sydney played "'tempo" footy under Roos and there were glimpses of that style the other night. We held the ball up well - often getting a man free in the process and also, we were quite direct on many occasions and attacked the goals hard.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Macca

[sue 9,104]

Oh please. Deledio held him after the mark. Dunn gave him a little nudge to let go. Cry baby Deledio had a whinge to the umpire who wanted nothing of it. Let's not make the game any softer.

Dunn's dumbest piece of play was a silly evasive move and chip kick to Nicholson attempting to go over Martin that led to a bad turnover. The rest of the time he avoid Dunn-isms.

I'm very critical of elbowing and tough-man acts outside of the actual play(in which Dunn engaged in in the past), but you are right. He was just trying to make Deledio let go. Let's hope we see a new Dunn - signs so far are good.

[Young Dee 1,303]

Someone who surprised me from that game was Dunn, I thought he played with a lot of maturity which is something I'd never expect from him.

Probably doesnt get the credit he deserves on here. He is easily in our best 22 and very important with Garland being down. He is no longer the Dunn of 2010 that many still associate him with.

[Slartibartfast 17,273]

Good point also about their capacity to implement the style of footy. Impressive really and speaks to some good training.

I think what is being overlooked about the list is their footy skills. Yes, training has been significantly more sophisticated this season and we have very competent people in charge but the best teachers in the world can't train donkeys. We have a much better list than many think who will adapt quickly to Roos style.

What we are witnessing now is a coach who has looked at the list and is coaching to its strengths and particularly the individual player strengths. He is putting players in their best positions and getting the most out of them rather than the last couple of years where players strengths have been somewhat ignored and they have been asked to play roles that they have been unsuited to. Rohan Bail's game might be a flash in the pan but I'd suggest it's the best he's played for the club. He was allowed to use his main strength which is his gut running at pace and make the play. Last year he was purely a defensive forward and was unable to use this strength.

It's this aspect that will be our greatest improvement this year and why I believe we will surprise many. For a couple of years now we have been using about 50% of the players talents.

The secret to Trengove's success will be elite endurance and confidence.

Important factors indeed but it's the Roos game style that will most benefit Trengove as he can now play to his strengths. TBH we need to recognize we played a brand of keepings off on Friday and had more possessions than we've had in a while. Trengove got 50% more of the ball than usual but so did the team. I really liked his game and he played as I remembered him under Bailey.

I liked what I saw but it did worry me a bit that we had so many more possessions than Richmond but only managed to fall over the line when it clearly meant more to us than them. Having said that I think we'll enjoy this year for the first time in a while.

[Akum 2,660]

I thought the midfield's performance on Friday was even better than it looked, because:

* They were playing to a losing ruck - the Tiges' mids got a lot of help from their rucks, but ours didn't.

* We didn't seem to bother to tag their playmakers (especially Cotchin & Martin) who were often able to get into the open, while Jones always seemed to have a hard tag.

[Hannibal 5,814]

I liked what I saw but it did worry me a bit that we had so many more possessions than Richmond but only managed to fall over the line when it clearly meant more to us than them.

I'd put that down to them learning the style and wanting to run it it due to the pygmies down there. Having two of our three power forwards would have seen more inside 50 entries and a bigger win.

[Akum 2,660]

I think what is being overlooked about the list is their footy skills. Yes, training has been significantly more sophisticated this season and we have very competent people in charge but the best teachers in the world can't train donkeys. We have a much better list than many think who will adapt quickly to Roos style.

What we are witnessing now is a coach who has looked at the list and is coaching to its strengths and particularly the individual player strengths. He is putting players in their best positions and getting the most out of them rather than the last couple of years where players strengths have been somewhat ignored and they have been asked to play roles that they have been unsuited to. Rohan Bail's game might be a flash in the pan but I'd suggest it's the best he's played for the club. He was allowed to use his main strength which is his gut running at pace and make the play. Last year he was purely a defensive forward and was unable to use this strength.

It's this aspect that will be our greatest improvement this year and why I believe we will surprise many. For a couple of years now we have been using about 50% of the players talents.

Important factors indeed but it's the Roos game style that will most benefit Trengove as he can now play to his strengths. TBH we need to recognize we played a brand of keepings off on Friday and had more possessions than we've had in a while. Trengove got 50% more of the ball than usual but so did the team. I really liked his game and he played as I remembered him under Bailey.

I liked what I saw but it did worry me a bit that we had so many more possessions than Richmond but only managed to fall over the line when it clearly meant more to us than them. Having said that I think we'll enjoy this year for the first time in a while.

Really like this post.

Roos' game style is based by players without the ball running hard, long & often to make good position. It doesn't rely on everybody to be an elite kick, but it does require everybody to run & make position. It's only when this fails to happen that there is lots more pressure on the kicker and things start to get a little shaky. A number of turnovers happened because nobody made good position so the kicker had to take a much more risky option.

A number of times, Bail was able to lose his opponent simply by running long and hard and smart. Bail's value is that he possesses the unusual combination of endurance with speed; the others are Jones & Nicho. We also have a few with excellent endurance: Trengove, Cross and McDonald. Cross usually won the Bulldogs' 3km trials, at a club who I would have thought had a reputation for hard running; he only finished 3rd or 4th in ours.

So it plays to our strengths.

It will take a lot of fine tuning for us to be a really dangerous team - I too am worried about how many extra possessions we had to get to manage a close win. But it's frankly amazing how quickly they've got the basic building blocks into place.

[P-man 13,366]

BB - Totally agree, however the falling over the line despite the huge possession differential had something to do with the lack of quality tall timber. Throw Clark, Dawes and Hogan down there and I'm confident we win that match by at least 6 goals.

[Bossdog 2,002]

Sorry.....Just to go back to the commentary.....

How come now we have one calling the footy and THREE providing special comments.....I just want to know who has the ball and who it is passed to......I don't need to know the ins and out of what players SHOULD have done and what would have happened had they done it. Dermie the dill, criticised a Melbourne player for not getting the ball to a team mate 3 sec sooner......It resulted in a goal anyway

And while I am at it.....What with the interviews DURING the play?????Surely there is time at quarter and half time for that crap......

[McQueen 17,864]

Someone who surprised me from that game was Dunn, I thought he played with a lot of maturity which is something I'd never expect from him.

It was clearly evident with not only Dunn, but the rest of the team, what the plan was when they had the ball. Neelds game plan confused the absolute sh!t out of everyone and therefore made them appear as (and frequently labelled on DL) stupid footballers.

The ability of the playing group has been questioned over the years as has the development of them in relation to playing the modern game. After that one showing it should no longer be debated that the majority of the players have been poorly developed at the club.

I'm expecting a quantum leap in improvement this year and I'm pretty confident I won't be disappointed.

[sue 9,104]

Sorry.....Just to go back to the commentary.....

How come now we have one calling the footy and THREE providing special comments.....I just want to know who has the ball and who it is passed to......I don't need to know the ins and out of what players SHOULD have done and what would have happened had they done it. Dermie the dill, criticised a Melbourne player for not getting the ball to a team mate 3 sec sooner......It resulted in a goal anyway

And while I am at it.....What with the interviews DURING the play?????Surely there is time at quarter and half time for that crap......

Spot on. Also, as I said elsewhere, with teams having new players in the pre-season there should be a focus on naming the players, not showing how knowledgeable the commentator is or thinks he is.

[Deez 298]

It has only been one game and you have Bernie Vince in our top two midfielders...lol... Funny that... Suppose people only really see, what they want to see...

Ask yourself this.... If Cross or Viney or Toumpas pulled out the numbers that Trengove did? What would you be saying? Would you be excited?

Trengove has been far better for us, then he gets credit for....

His on field performances slip due to the pressure of captaincy, bad instructions, poor game plan, injuries and no support on or off field... Yet on here, the boots keep kicking into him....

When Scully left us for millions, it was Trengove who committed for four years... Then some [censored] almost ruins his career, by the placing the whole club on his shoulders and making him the youngest captain ever!!! WTF!!! He's hardly worked out his own game and he's given the captaincy... the club used him as there show piece, just like they did with Watts... The club built up unreasonable expectation and almost destroyed him... Then on top of that, he stands accused of using bloody AOD cream!!! Are you kidding me!! Farout!!

Trengove has given us and the club far more then we have given him... When he is out of contract, the other clubs will come knocking and I wont blame him if he leaves..... after what he has been through, i wouldn't blame him if he left the game all together...

re trengove, agree, he wasn't treated properly.

everybody knows that, we are still lucky to have him.

re vince top two, dude of course vince was going to be a fine mid fielder in our list, who's there to be ahead of him? he has years of experience on our guys.

also, vince would be a good mid in most teams.

his last year with adelaide wasn't great - but prior to that he was very handy.

When we picked him up, i thought we had done well.

I still think we have done well.

[Damo 3,356]

The only surprise in the commentary team for mine was that Alastair Lynch had some interesting comments.

But that may have been because of the inability of Brereton to quickly inform and the lazy arrogance of Dwayne.

Brereton also has the unlikable habit of repeating himself if some-one agrees with his long winded observations.

[Crompton's the man 659]

WYL is to be commended for the correct and appropriate use of the doing word "practise".

Keep up the good work honing our skills in the language as she used to be spoke, WYL, please

[Guest]

I liked what I saw on Friday. I was there to witness it first hand but...

Captain Bringdown should mention that we do play Geelong up in Darwin (?) next week. Let's reserve our judgments on who will be what for a little later on.
I know the comparison isn't a great one but we did beat Collingwood in the NAB cup in 2012 (though the ways in which we won were different: we ran over the top of the Tiges, Collingwood subbed off Swanny and Pendles and sleepwalked until the final siren) and then embarrassed the game of football for the next 2 years. Let's wait a little longer. The teamwork and game plan was much more evident on Friday but let's wait a little while before we get too excited.

[DeeSpencer 25,695]

Sorry.....Just to go back to the commentary.....

How come now we have one calling the footy and THREE providing special comments.....I just want to know who has the ball and who it is passed to......I don't need to know the ins and out of what players SHOULD have done and what would have happened had they done it. Dermie the dill, criticised a Melbourne player for not getting the ball to a team mate 3 sec sooner......It resulted in a goal anyway

And while I am at it.....What with the interviews DURING the play?????Surely there is time at quarter and half time for that crap......

Agree on the first point, but interviews are for AFL fans watching who aren't following either side I guess. I was watching Carl v North and the interviews were of more interest than the game until the last quarter.

[Hannibal 5,814]

I know the comparison isn't a great one but we did beat Collingwood in the NAB cup in 2012...

People have tried to make the point that it wasn't the "win" that excited them, more-so, the way we played as a team and used the footy. Something we haven't done for years.

Alas, the point seems to have been made in vain.

[Elusive Tunbridge 795]

WYL is to be commended for the correct and appropriate use of the doing word "practise".

Keep up the good work honing our skills in the language as she used to be spoke, WYL, please

as she used to be wrote, surely?

[demon3165 2,718]

Enjoyed Friday night, good to see them run all night and help each other but we still lack the smarts in certain areas, Dunn still has to learn to look quicker at other areas of the ground when kicking out instead of looking at one spot, they have to stop short passing the ball higher than it goes instead of passing at eye hight, but hell if this is what is to come 2014 will be more enjoyable.

[Maldonboy38 6,402]

Have a look at Trengove's game and he was doing a lot of his hard work in the 2nd half and even more so in the last quarter when everyone was getting tired. He is perfect for midfield/half-forward due to strong marking and a very good kick for goal, and then late in the game he still has a lot of miles left in his legs.

[Crompton's the man 659]

as she used to be wrote, surely?

inscribed?

[Deez 298]

Of any Melbourne player, in the last TEN years.... Are you sure about that?

Also the crow didn't seem to worried about trading him?

I'm not bagging Vince.... He's a good player and if he keeps playing that way through the season... He wont only be our best, he'll be in the comps top twenty.... he has added a lot to our midfield... Who knows, he might go on and have the greatest season he has ever had(i hope he does)..... for me it takes more than 1 game though...

I just think Trengove has been judged to harshly by some on here... If people are gonna whack players, after a bad game... Its only fair that they praise them after a good one... Credit where its due...

vince 2013 stats

player ratings

nathan jones 87-

bernie vince 120

jones 2013 average disposals 23.1, 76 tackles, 46 marks, inside 50s 60,

vince 2013 average disposals 20.6, 68 tackles, 86 marks, inside 50s 74,

pretty good really, if he improves on that then thats good

Edited February 16, 2014 by Deez

[wretched.sylph 164]

The only surprise in the commentary team for mine was that Alastair Lynch had some interesting comments.

agreed. i thought Lynch was great; loved his willingness to criticise the umpires ("what is it over 5 metres now?"). i also found it interesting that several times he started to comment but cut himself short (i wonder why?).

[rjay 24,923]

agreed. i thought Lynch was great; loved his willingness to criticise the umpires ("what is it over 5 metres now?"). i also found it interesting that several times he started to comment but cut himself short (i wonder why?).

Lynch and Roos are mates, I'm sure he has a bit of inside info.