NAB Challenge 2 - Melbourne v Geelong

[FC Melbourne 108]

Can get ball + can't keep it > Can't get the ball + can't keep it

Roosie will apply the finishing touches. #inrooswetrust

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Do people still see Terlich and M Jones as best 22? All off-season I was the opinion of no, from what I saw tonight, it's now an even firmer NO. Clisby is clearly a better prospect than Terlich while the new midfield recruits suddenly make M Jones look superfluous and sub-par.

It's a harsh call given their backgrounds but if these two play 20+ games again we're in trouble.

Terlich is easily in our best 22 for me, but M.Jones is borderline at best.

[the fork 357]

A few observations:

A solid effort tonight and just to put things in perspective we had a rookie listed teenager rucking toward the end of the night!

Dom Barry just had no idea where to be tonight. I was at the game and watched him closely and he just floated into spaces where no-one wanted or dared kick it. Give him time to learn the structures and he'll be a better player. He also looked very nervous in front of an expectant home crowd.

I also watched Jimmy Toumpas very closely and while he made mistakes and lacked intensity on occasion this bloke knows where to be to receive the ball. A natural footballer who will take time.

The Matt Jones turnover really put us out of the game.

Cross was pure class tonight. I must admit to wanting to shove his two classy performances right up Damien Barrett.

Wasn't sure about Vince, but gee whizz he is responsible for a good portion of the group confidence going on at the club.

Love Hogans argy bargy, he intimidated a few this evening.

It amazing how our new midfield has highlighted the deficiencies of a few of the players on our list. They who shall not be named will not have a place on our list at the end of their current contacts.

There were some passionate Dees supporters there tonight, we hope a few more of you make the trip during the season proper.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Let's not forget this is only a practice game, one of 18 in a row.

& its still February

next week will be our first serious hitout, 2 weeks before Rnd -1... that will be a full dress re-hearsal, for our run to the season.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Exactly will never realise his no 1 selection

Accept him for what he is. Won't be a #1 player for us, but will still be a good/important player for us.

Geeze your detective deducing skills are wasted on here.

[SaberFang 7,151]

I hope with the player rotation Roosy is doing outside the midfield, is basically to start weeding out who the spuds are and who the best players are. See who is adapting to his gameplan and who is giving the ball away. Can't do it in the H&A season so may as well do it now.

Very safe to say M Jones is NOT best 22, but I felt Nicholson did okay today. He went hard at the ball and fumbled a bit, but at least nothing he did was costly on the scoreboard. Can't say the same for a few others.

Factoring in Jamar, Gawn, Garland, Viney, Kent, Clark, Dawes, Frawley, JKH and a few others weren't even playing tonight, it's not hard to see how Roos will slowly mould our best 22. Evans will probably be in there, maybe Pederson?? Might even find a worthwhile player in Tapscott.

Nobody could be worst than BYRNES.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Lamashtu

[Redleg 40,926]

I agree with your first point - Lynden Dunn has developed into one of our most reliable defenders and his kick is huge weapon.

He also has a booming deep man's man voice - the type that makes all the other guys know they are going to be backed up and supported - reminds me of a really reliable Old Collegian defender Stuart Hinchen.

He's taken a while to find his spot but I agree with you he's finally arrived and he's totally suited to Roosy's possession style of game.

Your other point however is a surprise - Clisby is totally unsuited to Roosy's gameplan because he's a short kick and can't get himself out of trouble once he turns the wrong way as he did on numerous occasions tonight.

Have a look at first-half replay and see his [censored]-ups.

Agree.

[SaberFang 7,151]

Also, the fact that 3 recruits were our 3 highest possession counts, is an indictment on our list management and how accepting of mediocrity we've been for far too long.

It also shows that Roos knows exactly what he's doing with our list and knows exactly who to recruit to fix our shortcomings. Don't forget there's still Aiden Riley to come mid-season! So exciting times ahead I reckon.

Michie was brilliant tonight too.

[Redleg 40,926]

Did the umpires ever pay holding it against Cats?

No they didn't.

[mauriesy 7,298]

Terlich is easily in our best 22 for me, but M.Jones is borderline at best.

Despite their different positions, they are similar players for mine. They both go hard and win the ball, but I'm worried about their decision-making and disposal under pressure.

I don't think we can afford as many errors as players like Terlich, Matt Jones, Bail, Nicholson, Byrnes and Clisby bring at once.

Clisby is the best of that bunch IMHO.

[3Dee 1,153]

my observations

- toumpas has shown vast improvement, love

- vince easily surpasses sylvia

- watts on the wing is perfect, he is the best outside player we have, #1

- tyson is quickly becoming my fave player

- no garland & frawley, two massive outs.... derrrr

- hoges

- the wind seemed fairly brutal

- howe has gone next level

- quite a few outside 22 players on the field tonight, so what!

bring on rnd 1

[SaberFang 7,151]

Howe is a massively important player. That whole match would've been a blowout if he wasn't there.

Runs like hell and always finds himself in the right places at the right time.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

Who'd have thought we'd have three of the top five against Geelong?

[DeeSpencer 25,713]

Howe is a massively important player. That whole match would've been a blowout if he wasn't there.

Runs like hell and always finds himself in the right places at the right time.

The Howe's paddock game plan out of necessity has worked pretty well. But considering he's one of our fittest players and a dangerous player in space I hope we can get him up the field against the Hawks.

[Guest]

I watched until three quarter time at the Matthew Flinders Hotel in Chadstone until the missus got tired and we went home. She is a non drinker and me downing pots while watching a game that is foreign to her probably tested her patience enough so I took one for the team (or our relationship).

What I observed:
Can I give the effort a pass mark? Definitely. Am I happy with the result? Definitely not. I'm guessing Roosy will be pushing the positive (and rightly so) but I hope he is making sure these blokes don't get self satisfied. In years gone by, if we pushed a team like Geelong, Beamer would take the boys to the nearest liquor barn to celebrate and we would turn up the next week, acting like complete head wobblers and proceed to get blown off the park. (see: round 18 2013 vs. North Melbourne though to be fair Beamer had left by then). At the end of the day, they tried but they still lost.

What I liked (this list I am guessing will be longer than the ones I wrote last year):
*Poise, balance and pressure: we are more likely now to look for the best option rather than the first option. Kick ins are much improved. No more bomb it down the right wing to a ruckman who will create a contest. While Geelong got double our inside 50's, at least it wasn't the usual coast to coast stuff they have always been able to do against us.

* The midfield: Finally, it's not just Nate Jones, a hobbled Jack Trengrove, an 18 year old Jack Viney and a moonlighting, hungover Colin Sylvia in our midfield. Jonesy can get 26 possies and not carry the entire load cos Tyson, Cross (though he clearly isn't a long term proposition bt he is invaluable in the side's development), Vince and Michie can pick up the slack. Hell, Jack Watts showed a bit tonight. As was stated earlier, he needs to keep his feet and he needs to attack the uncontested ball harder but tonight showed some potential.

*Intelligent delivery into the forward fifty: No longer do we just bomb the ball onto the head of our first available tall. If there is a short option available who can realistically take the mark and kick the goal they are chosen. Imagine what might happen with Dawes or Clark in there.

* Confidence: Look. We lost. However (as I was saying to the missus) when any team started to get a run on against us pre 2014, that usually meant it was time to bite for the boys to bite their lower lips, grab their ankles and think of a better place. However, that never eventuated. They fought to the end. If they can take something out of the game, they can take that.

What I didn't like (this list will most likely be shorter compared to years past):
* Shagger Byrnes is in his last year. I have said before that there is a difference between being experienced and being finished. He might provide some leadership in the locker room but he isn't offering much in the way of performance on the field.

* Clangers: What Richmond failed to take advantage of last week came to the fore against the Puddies. Tom McDonald and Roh Bail will definitely need to polish up their disposal if they want to be first 22. Tommy has other talents but I know that if he can't dispose of the ball cleanly, others may move past him.

*Inside fifties: This was something we need to work on but any one who saw the game would realize that is like saying the sky is blue. The Richmond game was no different either.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Colin B. Flaubert

[DeeSpencer 25,713]

Who'd have thought we'd have three of the top five against Geelong?

Ask me a few weeks ago and now way. But after the Richmond game it became pretty apparent we are playing a fantasy friendly game plan as well as giving our starting midfield a fair work out in the preseason.

[Pirlo 813]

What we're doing, IMO, is trying to overhaul the possession game we have struggled with. Right now, we're getting so much of it we don't know what to do. Having the ball in your hands breeds confidence for most players, especially mids, so I'm sure we're just getting them used to it. Roos will teach them to use it better when they know how to get it in the first place. NAB Challenge is a great platform to trial these things.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

Ask me a few weeks ago and now way. But after the Richmond game it became pretty apparent we are playing a fantasy friendly game plan as well as giving our starting midfield a fair work out in the preseason.

OK, but would you have had Dunn in there?

[Adam The God 30,260]

Grimes continues getting games. His disposal is still horrid and despite many hailing him as a good reader of the game, I just don't see it. Is it just me?

There were a few games towards the end of last season, where if we'd taken out all our turnovers that led directly to goals, the scores'd be practically level. It seemed to be the same thing again tonight, yet this tonight we clearly had a plan.

It's great to see a Melbourne midfield where we have three or four players getting high 20s and early 30s in the disposal count. The last time that happened, we were playing finals. We still need to weed out players like Nicholson, Bail, M Jones and Dunn, but that will come as the season progresses. Give us Clark & Dawes (if they ever get on the park) + Frawley & Garland and we're a competitive outfit. Oh, and throw Viney into that midfield mix too.

It's always tough to take anything from the NAB pre season, but at least our guys are getting their hands on the ball, which will in turn breed confidence individually and jointly. As the season progresses, our midfield will begin to accustom themselves to playing with each other and I reckon we'll see some real improvement across 2014 and 2015. About bloody time!

Edited February 28, 2014 by AdamFarr

[P-man 13,366]

Was with you Adam til you said we need to weed out Dunn. Seriously need to get over the hatred of this bloke. He was one of the standouts, following up on his performance against Richmond.

Needs to do it in the real stuff but the signs are, get used to Dunn playing every week.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

* Shagger Byrnes is in his last year. I have said before that there is a difference between being experienced and being finished. He might provide some leadership in the locker room but he isn't offering much in the way of performance on the field.

I was all for young guys like JKH being kept back early in the season, but he is so far in front of Boo-urns it isn't funny

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Was with you Adam til you said we need to weed out Dunn. Seriously need to get over the hatred of this bloke. He was one of the standouts, following up on his performance against Richmond.

Needs to do it in the real stuff but the signs are, get used to Dunn playing every week.

Dunn is easily entrenched in the 22. As you say, people need to get over their hatred and get used to him playing. He can actually be pretty damaging bringing it out of defence with his long and usually accurate kick.

[DemonOX 8,791]

Considering the amount of turnovers we had which led to cats goals we did well to get that close in the end.

Last season if we were 31 points down we would have lost by 80.

There is a big difference in this team.

It was also pleasing to c how well we ran out the game.

We r improving but still need to improve.

[DemonOX 8,791]

Dunn is easily entrenched in the 22. As you say, people need to get over their hatred and get used to him playing. He can actually be pretty damaging bringing it out of defence with his long and usually accurate kick.

+1

Totally agree

[What 18,810]

Dom Tyson I love you