Intraclub Practice Match - Friday 19th February, 2016

[Courtney_Fish 183]

I need Joe Boy's 3 word review!

[Vipercrunch 2,827]

Very mixed reports on Grimes.  A Bigfooty report made out he was terrible but he got a lot of praise here.  Case of same old, same old, with people viewing things with their minds already made up?

[Port Demons 131]

Jake Spencer was the name Roosy mentioned on SEN for the only one to come out with an injury in today's match.

Apparently it was a Plantar Fasciitis injury but no full medico report available yet. 

[Olgreybeard49 242]

I believe Roos said the small niggle was young Smith

[Olgreybeard49 242]

51 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Roos just interviewed now on SEN:

- no injuries today...one small niggle but I didn't catch who it was.

- Gawn terrific today.

- Salem in best 3 today (maybe BOG) along with VanD and Tyson.

- Kennedy and Bugg played well today and performance have spiked since Christmas.  They are both 'competitors'

- Oliver was fantastic around the ball.  Weidman was very smart in the forward line...(I think he meant he has good footy IQ).

- Casey players did well...Plapp doing a great job and they got our game plan really well.

- Need to temper Melb supporter fans' expectations of Hogan...it is only his second year and needs to be a team effort.

- Consistency of mids to improve for us to be more dangerous.

Niggle was Joel Smith I think.

[boydie 655]

Going based on some reports it sounds like we should be more attacking especially off half back with some changes in personnel. Could see the below 6 start off in defense in Round 1.

B: Jetta, Dunn, Salem
HB: Garland, T.Mac, Hunt

Also less pressure on Hogan and Garlett if we get Kennedy, Petracca and Kent all contributing a couple each game.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,754]

23 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Is anyone else having issues reading this thread?

It might be different for others, but the last four posts are stuck at the end. The rest of the thread now seems fine - but you have to manually find out where to re-start your conversation because the thread assumes there is nothing new because of those four posts.

[old dee 23,791]

32 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Is anyone else having issues reading this thread?

You are not alone CB terrible for me.

[Outside fifty 967]

16 minutes ago, Port Demons said:

Jake Spencer was the name Roosy mentioned on SEN for the only one to come out with an injury in today's match.

Apparently it was a Plantar Fasciitis injury but no full medico report available yet. 

I saw Spencer limping back to the change rooms at the end of the session and he looked very ginger. He wasn't putting any pressure on one foot, I can't remember which foot it was, so I think you might be right PD.

[Deespicable 2,726]

Made the 45minute trip down to Casey although was five minutes late because I was trying to figure out if exit 24 or 25 was Clyde Rd - what is wrong with having the road name as well as the No. Ditto it would have been nice to have the names of the Casey boys on their backs today. Name and number is the go.

Contest was a bit like Carlton v Hawthorn last night. Apart from Dunn, Kent and Watts playing for the magoos - it was almost our first team versus our second team, so it just took a little bit of time for the extra class to bear fruit (a la Hawthorn). In fact you could even say that once Watts and Kent moved to the seniors forward line at half time, the seniors got on top.

Up until then the greasy early conditions meant that there were plenty of skill errors. The two shining beacons in the first half were Dunny - who was absolutely brilliant caralling Hoges and at the same time instructing his young defence. His kicking was precise etc, etc. the fact that he played all game in the twos was clearly to make sure that Jesse was fair dinkum and anyone suggesting he is on the outer is a nuffer. The other clear talent was Salem, who, after quarter-time just dominated everything and his precise kicking was only matched by Watts (after half time) and T-Mac (yes, I kid you not). 

Harmes scored the first goal that I saw and teams up well with his buddy Hogan, but it was a bit of a point-fest until a brilliant evasive goal by Michie off a Kent outlay. 

Eventually once Spencer went off at half time and any sense of ruck equilibrium ended, the weight of ball told as Gawn was able to just palm it down to Viney, Tyson or VB. By then Bugg had been sent back up to the seniors, which also meant that poor old Neal-Bullen and Stretch were left to try and dismantle the seniors.

As a result Hoges got on the end of a few after half time - I had him down for four goals and Casey's No.8 did likewise on a couple of counters by the magoos.

Observations on players:

The surprise (to some) non-players today were the skipper, Mitch White (I never read what kept him out last week from training but clearly it's not minor - back-related from lifting too big a weight is my guess), Terlich (ankle didn't come up) and Hulett. Trenners, Vince, Dawes, Harry O did not play as expected. 

Clearly Roosy/Goody is unclear yet on which are the better forward link men to go with Hoges, Frost and Garlett. Harmes and Kennedy were lively in the first half but ultimately just one goal doesn't read well. I'm sure both will be in the 26-man squad to play Port though, but I though Watts and Kent clearly won on points when they got their chance in the second half.

You have to assume that both Stretch and Neal-B will have to work their way into this team and are down the queue. 

Hunt was given a really good go as the running defender in the seniors and you could tell he's in vogue with coaches at the moment as he chased hard Ben Kennedy and forced him to miss when a goal on the run was begging. Hunt's kicking still lack the quality of Salem, or even Jetta, but I suspect he'll get a really good go in the pre-season comp and you have to think he could be a Rd 1 prospect. The other blondie Wagner is a bit better in the air and could be a chance down the track if Harry O can't get his ankle right.

For once when I've attended Oliver was playing and his attack on the ball is superb (No Jimmy T here) and part of the reason why the magoos were competitive, but he still has a bit of work to do on his disposal. He might get a game off the bench in the pre-season comp, but barring injury to our main group, won't be playing AFL Rd 1 - IMO.

The Weed was quiet today which is not unexpected - he was playing in the magoos - as delivery was never going to be precise to him. Wanted a cheap kick on the wing a couple of times, so still very much a project player with learning to do.

Matt Jones got his chance ahead of Stretch today before being swapped back to twos in second half and was lively at times, but didn't do enough.

Bugg probably didn't get many disposals either but it seemed like every time there was a congestion and a tackle - he was involved. Will play v Port and probably Rd 1.

Grimes played wing early and then went forward so you can forget him being used in the Crossy type role. His smarts saw him involved quite a bit but I suspect Roosy wants him as back-up, as clearly VB and Brayshaw are ahead of him as the high half-forwards.

O-Mac got the gig as full-back in the seniors (because Dunny was required on Hoges) and his kicking is still a little suss - he has however improved massively from last year.

Col was more attacking this week, even almost kicked a supergoal from 70m out. Lock him in for Port and most likely Rd 1.

Dom T turned it over at times , but on other occasions was exceptional. He just reminds me so much of Hodgey. He has an amazing ability to win the ball from the scrums, it's just whether he can make the right choice to release. The same could be said of VB. He likes to go inboard and his kicking is just not always flat and hard enough - the case in point was when he sent a hospital pass to Salem, who was crushed but got up to set up a Hoges goal.

The only other comment is that I don't quite get what is going on with T_Macs shoulder. Sporting the No.5, he at times looked like a young Schwarter charging like a bull out of defence and his kicking was ultra impressive. But then he gets pinged, as he did by Harmesy in the second-half, and calls for the play to stop like a prima donna. I'm assuming he's got an Ablett-style stinger that is causing him a few issues, but only of a minor nature.

[Dees2014 2,377]

1 hour ago, dee-luded said:

yes,  which is more the role I hoped watts would play,  back when we recruited him.   2nd or 3rd tall.   mobile & not overly heavy.

his attack on the ball and contest has been disappointing.   I hope he turns the corner this season,  to earn his own footy.

I would have thought 3rd or 4th tall. With 4 now on the bench and reduced interchanges, it means I think we will be playing two ruckman, possibly Gawn and Frost  (although Gawn and Spencer worked very well in the best win of last season against Geelong). This means the forward talls will be 1. Jesse  2. Dawes/Weideman/Huelett  3. Resting Ruck.  4. Watts (roving half forward). 

This will be great for Jack when he can at last use his height and speed against smaller opponents. Also can't wait to see Max taking screamers in the square at regular intervals.

[Sir Why You Little 37,036]

Thanks for your post Nutz..

how did you remember all that!!!

and thanks Binman for making it readable

[Dee-licious 1,949]

Ok - hopefully this appears somewhere on this thread. 

1. Hogan - It was a toss up for BOG for me between Hogan, Salem, and Viney. He was so dominant. I thought Dunn was outstanding today and Hogan was just too strong, too smart. I really cannot express how lucky we are to have this boy. 

3. Salem - The contested marking was outstanding, but the highlight was breaking a number of tackles and weaving his way through traffic. Bold prediction - he will be top 3 B&F this year. The boys want the ball in his hands.

4. Watts - A really good game. Probably in the best dozen. Thought he played the lead up role well and when he was in the Blue team (the better one) he looked all class as the delivery to him was much better and then he was delivering it really well to Hogan et al. He will play round 1 in the forward line. 

7. Viney - His tackle on Wagner was amazing. He grabs him by the hips, lifts him above his head and then just holds him and squats. He was prolific and hard at it. Lock him in for the Bluey this year. 

10. Brayshaw - He just seemed a class above with Salem and Viney than anyone else in the midfield. Oliver was having his own way and then went on to Brayshaw in the last quarter and Brayshaw just killed him. It really felt like no one was on Brayshaw all day, just had time and space. 

11. Gawn - Dominant, and really didnt have any competition. I was impressed at how he took that and really looked to have an impact around the ground. The forward line work was quite good. 

12. Tyson - I know the reports had him as good, must have done most of his work in close as I didnt see a lot of him. When I did he was Tyson, strong at the contest but not as polished as others. Maybe as I'm not noticing him means he is in and under each time? 

13. Oliver - Cannot believe what I saw. After the first half I had him locked for round 1. Played a different role in the second half where he struggled to impact the game. Tackling machine (maybe 8-10 for the day?) and loved the hard ball. I really noticed in the first half the time he had on his hands. It really felt like people decided not to touch him when he had it in the first quarter. Could be something really special. He is seriously big. At one stage he was taking on a player in close and came off second (due to height) and I thought ah well, Vanders is strong, until who I thought was Vanders turned around and it was Frost. He looked similar size to Frost. He is a seriously big boy. 

14. Dunn - Is still the best one-on-one defender on our list. Great all day, just Hogan was better. 

15. Stretch - he was on the opposite wing to the fans so we didnt see a lot. When we did we saw pace and a really good boot. I dont know if I have him in the 22 after today but he is close. 

16. Kent - the hardness and the speed were great. Although he didn't do much, he was dangerous and will be a good weapon for us this year. 

17. Frost - Will be our second forward as he presented, rucked, went for the hard ball. Yes he was dropping some marks and his kicking was a little off at times, but the ingredients are there. He showed enough for me to be happy with him in there as the others develop. 

20.  Garland - Great roost for a rushed behind. Played a really good linkage game up back. Thought his skill level was up and comfortably beat whoever he was on. 

21. Pedersen - Had a good moment in the 4th but wasn't really in the game. He needed to impact this pre-season and I didn't see anything that would make me pick him in our best 25

22. Michie - Some really nice things but on the other side of the oval a lot of the time. Enough to show why we gave him a rookie spot. 

25. McDonald of the Tom Variety - Played as a midfielder/wing/half back at times. I cant remember him having a one-on-one in the second half. He was really working on being a bull at the gate and pushing through. Really interesting to see where he plays this year. 

26. Weiderman - still has a football sized hole in his chest from a bullet from Dunn. Not strong enough yet but he has the skills (marking, kicking, leading, IQ) to be a serious player in the forward line. I thought he was the 4th best forward today behind Hogan, Watts, Frost. 

28. McDonald O - this boy will play. His battles with Weiderman were outstanding. It was great seeing these two go at it. Oscar is really impacting contests and he seems as if he has good knowledge of where the ball is going and can peel off his man. Weiderman and McDonald will be better as they will grow together as serious competitors and players. 

29. Hunt - Blow me down and call me Betsy. Where did this come from. Seriously, when did this boy become a player? He was in the top 10 for the day and if today (and previous reports) are anything to go by, he will play round 1. He 'hunts' the ball and is just hard at it for an outside type. I dont even know if he is an outside type. He just saw ball, got ball, run away with ball. 

30. ANB - On the wing on Grimes most of the day. Ran all day, disposed of the football ok, tackled well, competed well. He is just a footballer's footballer and if I said to you, he was ANB, you can imagine his game. I really like him and think that we are a better team with him here, but he is just going to be a Brad Sewell, not a Luke Hodge. 

31. Grimes - Slow first quarter where he struggled with the pace (ANB wore him like a glove). Second quarter he was probably BOG for the quarter. Second half again some really great things and then some times where you just want him to do something special. I think again like ANB, he does his job and he is good at it. He is a good AFL player and will be in the round 1 team as he is in our best 22. A star, no, but a really honest footballer that we all want to do well. 

32. Bugg - In it a fair bit, on the wing as well. We saw what weve been told, scrappy and up for a fight. There were some nice passages from him, but these were more tackles and handballs in close rather than game breaking plays.

33. Spencer - was hurt but mostly hurt by the gap between him and Gawn. Was good in drills but in the game just seemed small. 

34. Mitchell King - I really liked his game. He presented well, competed well against Gawn and Frost. Project player and am looking forward to see how he goes in the future. 

35. Ben Kennedy - Locked in the dreamteam now. He should have had a beautiful running goal but shanked it. Really loved the way he went about extracting the ball today. Was one of the best in the first half, petered off as the game went on. 

36. Garlett - Good forward pressure and dangerous. Lock him in for another 30-40 goals this year. 

37. Vanders - this boy is special. He just seems to be in everything and is just so strong. There are so many like Vanders on our list now and we are better for it. There was a great bit of play that went Salem - Brayshaw - Watts - Vanders - Hogan and it felt like 5 first rounders marking and disposing of the ball. I'm very happy with his development. 

39. Jetta - I am sorry that I ever doubted that you would line up in Round 1. Enjoy another season of killing small forwards across the league. Tenacious and great rebounding. 

42. Wagner - Much better than I thought he would be. Was busy early and was in the play a lot. Can run with the maul and got into good positions. Interesting to see how he goes this year. 

43. Harmes - thought was good but wasn't blow away with him. He did what he could do and you can see the talent difference between him and our 'top' rounders. He competes hard and hope he has another good season. 

44. Smith - not much to say. Really don't remember him in the game other than Dunn coaching him into position. Good skills early on in the drills, but project player. 

45. Matt Jones - Listen, I know that people were saying he was having a great pre-season but I didn't see it in the game. He was in and out of the game at the best of times and doesnt look like he belongs. Thank you for your service, I appreciate it. All the best with your future career.

[dieter 3,325]

I don't think Kennedy Harris played either. I went along, the first game of footy I've been to since the Swans Demons Final in '87.

There were too many turnovers for my liking. The skill levels improved after half time.

I saw Petracca after the game: he is a beast of a lad. Hope he can make it, we need some beastliness in the side.

I was very impressed with Hunt, Jetta, Vandenberg, Kent, Salem, Gartlett, Dunn and Hogan after half Time.

Tommy Mac got caught way too often, Gawn didn't hold one mark and I liked Grimes's game.

Viney is an absolute gun.

I also liked the vibe of the players. They're committed to each other. 

So good signs, a fair way to go but the addition of Heritier, Dawes, N Jones, Petracca, Trengrove and Vince they should make us more competitive this year.

[Sir Why You Little 37,036]

Thanks for all the reports guys

that type of effort today says we have some real competive young beasts on the list. 

My only real worry is that if Gawn gets injured who plays ruck??

[Longsufferingnomore 1,631]

3 hours ago, trenners_09 said:

Again from Striker475 on bigfooty. Best so far

BLUE:
Jetta - has been everywhere
Harmes - linking up well with Hogan up forward
Gawn - huge in the literal sense
Kennedy - getting a fair bit of it

WHITE: 
Dunn - kept Hogan quiet
Oliver - doing well from the contest
#6 Casey - keeps popping up
ANB - doing well out wide

#Grimeswingwatch - has torn his jumper. Was moved back to defence in Q2. I call it a resounding moment of dumb that we should never see again.

No.6 White was Jordan Moncreiff 

[Bonkers 994]

1 hour ago, S_T said:

Very mixed reports on Grimes.  A Bigfooty report made out he was terrible but he got a lot of praise here.  Case of same old, same old, with people viewing things with their minds already made up?

Grimes was quite good. He accumulated quite a few possessions & in general his ball use was good. From my observations he played on the wing predominantly but may have been setting up behind the stoppage later in the game for some reason.

[Jaded No More 68,915]

Sounds like it's Gawn or bust in the ruck.

Fingers crossed he stays fit! 

[dieter 3,325]

31 minutes ago, dieter said:

I don't think Kennedy Harris played either. I went along, the first game of footy I've been to since the Swans Demons Final in '87.

There were too many turnovers for my liking. The skill levels improved after half time.

I saw Petracca after the game: he is a beast of a lad. Hope he can make it, we need some beastliness in the side.

I was very impressed with Hunt, Jetta, Vandenberg, Kent, Salem, Gartlett, Dunn and Hogan after half Time.

Tommy Mac got caught way too often, Gawn didn't hold one mark and I liked Grimes's game.

Viney is an absolute gun.

I also liked the vibe of the players. They're committed to each other. 

So good signs, a fair way to go but the addition of Heretier, Dawes, Jones, Petracca,Trengrove and Vince they should make us more competitive this year.

And Watts was very good as well.

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

3 hours ago, Emerald said:

I was lucky enough to have the day off and get down to Casey this morning.A few thoughts on what I saw:

• Hogan was slow in the first quarter,he was dominated by Dunn in the first half.In the second quarter Hogan started getting frustrated and his curses could easily be heard from the sidelines.In the second half Hogan got out of first gear and and played great kicking a couple of goals each quarter
• Viney;best on ground
• The new guys;a lot to look forward to in the future
• Watts played okay but still needs to back himself with his set shots
• vanders is looking like a souped up version of his 2015 self
• The best I've ever seen Jetta play
• Dunn had an intimidating presence commanding his defenders into position,telling them to man up and giving them feedback

Despite the positives there were still the usual skill errors and bad decisions.We are better than last year but there is still work to do.After today I still have a question mark about this years season but if we are competitive and consistent,then we should continue to climb the ladder.

He must be one scary man.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

15 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

Do we know who the other helpful mofo's are?

According to KC, they are Conner Ambler, Aaron Cottee, James Freeman, Jake Lovett, Jordan Moncrieff, James Munro, Angus Scott and Kody Wilson

[hardtack 10,537]

1 hour ago, Port Demons said:

Jake Spencer was the name Roosy mentioned on SEN for the only one to come out with an injury in today's match.

Apparently it was a Plantar Fasciitis injury but no full medico report available yet. 

I read an AFL.com report that said Spencil had rolled his ankle and that it didn't appear to be serious as he was walking with barely a limp after the game.

[Bonkers 994]

My general observations of the game were that link play & movement of the ball forward seemed a lot more free flowing especially from the blue team in patches. There wasn't as much of the stop & start to kick down the line we are used to seeing. Players did seem to be running hard to get into space to receive a handpass from behind or ahead of the player with the ball. There seemed to be a deliberate attempt at kicking flatter or lower/harder to leading players.

Areas of weakness that could be improved were skill errors such as short handballs going to ground as well as short kicks going to ground instead of hitting targets. This should be an area of the game the coaches really crack down upon as it can be the difference between a goal or a turnover/stoppage at times. Kicking at goal from set shots wasn't great, I think there were definitely more points scored than Goals. Forward 50 entries at times were a lot better than I have seen in the past, however I thought the leading patterns of the forwards could be a lot better. Again kicking into leading forwards could improve as well.

Overall I think there has been improvement especially in the speed of ball movement, some of the passages of play were quite free flowing. Some of the link up play through the middle of the ground & wings was good to watch. There needs to be a bit more attention to detail on execution of skills & making sure the ball gets to where it is intended. Simple skill errors will be costly when it comes to the real stuff. It's good to see that the style of play has switched to be more attacking & I found the hit out positive/encouraging. 

[Demon Jack 6,909]

Cheers for the reports. It's great to have footy back again. Love the talk about Jayden Hunt at the moment. Looked like he's really put on some muscle this pre season based on what I've seen at training. 

[ILLDieADemon 804]

So are we going to play finals this year of not?