HIT OUT by Paddy Gosch

As far as preseason hit outs go, the Demons’ first JLT Community Series fixture against the Tigers in the blistering heat at Shepparton, was instructive of a number of things but not really conclusive as to how each team will fare in the regular season against the competition's big guns (which includes against each other).

That’s the way these practice match hit outs go. Neither of the teams was at full strength, particularly Melbourne but if you were looking for the reason for the 12 point loss (a meaningless exercise in such games anyway), then you need look no further than the decision made to rest Max Gawn (which I am not criticising). Throughout the preseason, the emphasis at preseason training has been on how the club will combine its two big men - Gawn and Braydon Preuss - competing for hit outs and also their roles within the forward structures. In this game however, the club went with only one of them, leaving the latter to battle in the searing heat against three Richmond ruckman including the young athletic Noah Balta who kicked a couple of goals to go along with Nankervis’ three - stats that were as decisive to the result as the fact that the hit out numbers were about equal for the day instead of a huge deficit for the yellow and black as we would be entitled to expect if Max was out there.

The other important indicator was the strength of the Demons’ midfield - particularly with  Angus Brayshaw and Clayton Oliver dominating around the stoppages, even in the absence of the two skippers et al and in the extreme conditions. Brayshaw and Oliver amassed big numbers and looked great while also receiving good assistance from Christian Salem, James Harmes and Bayley Fritsch.

The team ran strongly in the early stages but the brakes were put on just before quarter time when they led at one stage by 28 points. After that, the Tigers got on top and their greater experience stood out, along with their more mobile ruck brigade. In spite of that, Melbourne was still in with a chance at the commencement of time on in the last - thanks mainly to their greater accuracy in front of goal.

Not much else can be made from the game apart from the loss of Jeff Garlett through a shoulder injury, some quality efforts from Marty Hore in the back half and flashes of promise from former Kangaroo Corey Wagner, Declan Keilty and newcomers James Jordon and Tom Sparrow who will all no doubt have to bide their time with so many of the big guns to come back into the line up in the coming weeks.

Melbourne 7.2.44 9.2.54 11.3.69 16.5.101

Richmond 3.4.22 8.8.56 13.15.93 16.17.114

Goals

Melbourne: T.McDonald 2, Weideman 2, Smith 2, Stretch, Petracca, Garlett, Fritsch, Harmes, Maynard, Wagner, Kennedy-Harris, Oliver, Neal-Bullen

Richmond: Nankervis 3, Riewoldt 2, Martin 2, Balta 2, Baker 2, Higgins, Short, Ellis, Rioli, Weller

Best

Melbourne: Brayshaw, Oliver, Salem, Fritsch, Harmes, Petracca

Richmond: Houli, Balta, Martin, Short, Lambert, Higgins, Rioli

Nev was a champ and let me take a couple of photos with him and my daughter.

I loved him already, but now I want a statue of the great man on my front lawn.

More photos and a bit of a report to come... just downloading all my memory cards.

Disappointed with the lack of chase at times, tigers repeatedly ran it out of defence into attack with very little pressure. a flattering scoreline without a doubt, but not that bad result considering we are missing a lot of players.

Thats pretty much a full sided side from the Tigs.. yet they just pipped our inexperienced side.. dont rate them at all.

A lot of positives to take from today!

Just have a look at these names and smile.. Jones, Viney, Gawn, Hibberd, Melksham, May, Lever, KK, Vandenberg, Jetta and Hannan!

Not a bad effort overall, considering the players we were missing and the side Richmond picked to play.  

Our top six players - Gus, Oliver, Trac, Harmes, Fritsch and Salem - shouldn't come as a surprise, while I thought Petty competed well and Keilty was good in the second half in the ruck.  I also thought young Jordon got better as the game went on.

Big Preuss will cop it a bit for his performance, and there is some justification in that, but he'll be better for the run.  Other like JKH, Stretch, Josh Wagner etc didn't do much to enhance there chances. 

We will be a much, much better side with more inclusions going forward.  Overall nothing had changed about the positivity I feel about 2019 as a season.

Looked a bit slow. Backline was horrible but we were without most of it. Preuss was unconvincing. ANB has had 2 shockers in a row. Liked the look of Petty and a Fritsch is a class above. Good first outings from Clarrie and Gus. Harmes lively as well.

Pleased by our pinpoint kicking accuracy. To Richmond players.

Keilty was more impressive than Preuss... now I know why we didn't play Max... Preuss was exposed. Thought Corey Wagner showed something... Jordan showed a little. ...  Petty showed something in first Qtr

not stepping up list

Hunt

Spargo

Stretch

Frost

Pruess

Maynard

 

Will have a look at the game when I get home.

Richmond had more clean possession and spread well after 1/4 time. Hunt must have a death wish. Goes for everything.

Richmond clogged our space after 1/4 time. Thank God they didnt kick straight!

Two things I saw were RAnce sticking a knee in the back of a Melbourne player when getting up and stretch throwing a errant foot out at a richmond player when he broke the tackle.

Clarry is a star

The deal is always:

Win - and we’re on track to win the premiership

Lose: it’s just pre-season

Satisfying hit out nonetheless against one of the best sides that was also far closer to full strength than us. There’ll be a minimum 6 inclusions into our Rd 1 side including 2 all Australians and our co-captains. 

they did have 12 more scoring shots....

the final score flattered us

Petty was very impressive with some of his intercept marking and neat ball use. Gkt the ball in his hands instead of Frost and Oscar who just butchered it today.

Keilty was the surprise for me. Was jumping over Soldo and Nankervis at time and was impressed with his marking. 

Jordan started slow but started to pick up the tempo in the 2nd half. Good signs to come.

I thought JKH actually played quite well?

I like Pruess as a deep forward.

7 minutes ago, Deecisive said:

Disappointed with the lack of chase at times, tigers repeatedly ran it out of defence into attack with very little pressure. a flattering scoreline without a doubt, but not that bad result considering we are missing a lot of players.

A lack of experience abounded today but still, it was a hit-out in which we could see many of the newbies. Our absent players may well have instilled more control and containment  over the Toiges' runners and spreaders - but these players were not there on the day. We fought it out with apprentices and that is a good sign. Keilty was good - he's the ruck back-up and Preuss ought to be at FFwd - with the Weed in dee pocket. TMac can handle CHFwd but was off today, just a little. Good game to watch and augers well for the coming season - with our replacements returning across the next few weeks.

Didn't see the game, Joel Smith's 2nd half?

Pleasing effort by a young undermanned side against the more experienced Richmond. Great to see Clarrie get his hands on the ball after the two shoulder operations. Looking forward to seeing more of the boys this year.

if we are going to use both rucks throughout the season i think it will feature Preuss largely in the forward line and Maxy in the ruck, with Preuss able to give a chop out if needed.

lost of positives to take away from the game.

does not even begin to dampen the enthusiasm i have for the 2019 season. 

Go Dees!

They looked superior after 1/4 time and our poor disposal assisted the Tiges far to often, however they hung in there and our kicking for goal was as good as theirs was poor. Not a bad hit out but we lack leg speed and that has to be made up for by accurate passing down the line..

10 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Other like JKH, Stretch, Josh Wagner etc didn't do much to enhance there chances. 

(and you could add a few others to that list ...)

The thing about those types for me is that they just don't seem to be switched on enough - not aware enough of what's happening or crucially, what's about to happen. Which is one of the reasons they can shine in lower comps, where they have more time.

 

Didn't see the game. Jeffy?

1 minute ago, bing181 said:

(and you could add a few others to that list ...)

The thing about those types for me is that they just don't seem to be switched on enough - not aware enough of what's happening or crucially, what's about to happen. Which is one of the reasons they can shine in lower comps, where they have more time.

 

Fair point, bing.

I also think they are better players when they have better players around them, if that makes sense.  They are only relied upon to play their role and they can do that with minimal fuss when asked.  Today they were required to play more game time in prominent positions and it showed.  They had a dip, but ultimately lacked the class to keep it going for more than brief patches of the game.

Jeffy kicked a nice goal but popped his shoulder trying to spoil a mark.

1 minute ago, Moonshadow said:

Didn't see the game. Jeffy?

A couple of nice tackles and kicked a goal was the positives but some moments of poor ball use and hesitant efforts then attempting to spoil Rance and popped his shoulder out. Hopefully (for him) is fine with rest and rehab and not an op.

Only saw the first half, so can only comment on that.

Midfield nucleus of Oliver, Brayshaw and Harmes looks to be picking up where it left off. Pleasing. Happy with the half of Salem and Petracca also.

Hore and Petty can play key defender roles if need be. Looking forward to May being in the mix though.

Forward line looks to be functional. Probably the biggest question mark going in.

Preuss for me was a stark reminder of how much we rely on Max. He was decent but we’re accustomed to far more than decent. I’d be interested to see what Preuss was up to when Balta got off the chain in the second quarter. One of the things you can’t work out from TV. 

I assume from the scores that the second half was more of the same. If so, a good enough first hit out.

While waiting to go through my photos i have time for just a couple of observations about the crowd.

I spent the first quarter between both interchange benches, then made the foolish decision to stand behind the goals... first at the Richmond supporters end, and then switched to the MFC end. Both times I was at the end we were kicking to which meant I didn't actually get to see much of the action for a full half of footy. What most stood out was how bloody pathetic the boofhead Tigers cheerleaders were. Constantly throwing cringey insults at the umpires, and moaning about how we could do anything and get away with it and they got pinged for everything. Plenty of "go to Specsavers", and  "See Centrelink for a new job tomorrow maggot"... etc etc. They were really yelling. At a practice match ffs. It was constant whining by a bunch of pot-bellied, middle age bogans who were covered in tatts. At our end, I was impressed by how much younger our supporter group was. It's great to see so many younger people in MFC jumpers. (Having said that, we were outnumbered 10:1 based on club merch being worn) We also didn't yell abuse when a free went the other way.

Also, our female supporters are INFINITELY better looking. 

Our ladies have 10% as many gaudy tatts, half as many chins, twice the IQ, four times the teeth and less than 1/4 of the stomach rolls.

It was 2 different worlds separated by only the length of a footy field.

A real eye-opener.

Edited March 3, 20196 yr by ding
Typos

Nankervis kicking 3 goals was a poor result for the backline - Frost and Oscar mainly