2 hours ago, Damo said:

So Hibberd gets a let off with "it is early doors", but ANB and Oscar cop unrelenting criticism?

Hibberd has WAY more runs on the board than those two. 

Anyone who thinks he's past his prime knows zilch about the game and deserves nothing short of ridicule

Not sure about those saying it was like a training session between 2 teams. I was surprised at how physical it was, there were a number of clashes that were very audible, Brayshaw in the 3rd probably the loudest.

Lions looked much quicker, not just because of leg speed but also they linked up much better. Obviously their extras on the bench and our injuries were factors in this.  Their quick movement out of the backline kept finding our backs poorly positioned or isolated. Our backs looked slow and we’d have to be considering Frost for OMac to help fix this. 

Inclusion of Jones, Viney and Melksham would surely have got us the win, so I’m not too stressed by the loss.  Selection for Rd 1 will be very interesting, didn’t see much to excite from Spargo or ANB, if they play then training form must be rated higher than practice game performance. 

18 minutes ago, The Chief said:

Not sure about those saying it was like a training session between 2 teams. I was surprised at how physical it was, there were a number of clashes that were very audible, Brayshaw in the 3rd probably the loudest.

Lions looked much quicker, not just because of leg speed but also they linked up much better. Obviously their extras on the bench and our injuries were factors in this.  Their quick movement out of the backline kept finding our backs poorly positioned or isolated. Our backs looked slow and we’d have to be considering Frost for OMac to help fix this. 

Inclusion of Jones, Viney and Melksham would surely have got us the win, so I’m not too stressed by the loss.  Selection for Rd 1 will be very interesting, didn’t see much to excite from Spargo or ANB, if they play then training form must be rated higher than practice game performance. 

There are some ripper clashes at training too.  Goody treated this like a practice game.  If he didn’t he would have picked his strongest lineup but he had more important things to try.  

The lions looked quick because our forward 50 is a bit of a shambles with no offensive or defensive structure and the ball comes out too easily.  We’ve had 3 practice matches and the forward 50 has been different every time.  You would expect to see far more intensity from us in week 1, and as long as our forward structure is perfect by finals I don’t care too much about JLT, and will even forget about a few frustrating days during the season proper. 

Hibberd is the least of our worries. He was rusty early but worked his way back very well. Still a key to our backline. Can’t wait to see Lever, May, Lord Nev, Salem and Hibberd play together. As good good a backline as there is in the competition.

I still have reservations about our forward line without Hogan. It remains to be seen whether TMac can maintain his form without him.

Its not the loss of Hogan that concerns me... we (and the coaches) knew this was coming! Its the loss of Hannon that hurts... a vital cog in our forward wheel... he just gets better and better. Come back soon Mitch!

 

4 hours ago, rjay said:

Not buying in with the Hibberd knockers but he had an average season last year, particularly compared with a stellar previous season.

...by the way I thought Oliver was really poor yesterday (and I'm one of his biggest fans) despite reasonable possession numbers, his ball handling was way off the mark.

I expect him to fire up in the season proper, hope he doesn't buy into the Gary hype.

Agreed.  For me, it wasn't just Clarry either.  I also thought that Gus, Max and our whole on ball system was down yesterday.  Max was winning the ruck hitouts most of the time, but most of the time they were going to no one in particular and we struggled to get a clean center clearance.  Losing Harmes just before half time couldn't have helped, but it's not like I felt we were actually much better with him out there though.

I did think Gus did some good things I'm patches, one of them being a good goal on the run and if I recall correctly, another not long after from a set shot.  In general I really do like Gus's proven ability to break lines through the half forward line and kick goals, because it makes it that bit harder to setup against us defensively when you have players that can do that.

It's by no means panic stations and in many ways I'd rather we had a game like this as a bit of a wake-up call and learnt a few things from this game than having cruised through preseason unchallenged and get a rude awakening in round 1.

Edited March 10, 20196 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

One thing that Jessy Hogan does really well is get up the ground and link up coming out of half back when the situation requires it.  I think there are several really good reasons for doing this:

1.  Providing the team with an easy get out kick;

2.  Getting some confidence as a forward getting your hands on the pill; and

3.  Working over the backman aerobicaly - something which T Mac in particular should be able to exploit.

 

Perhaps it's just that T Mac has has an interupted preseason and isn't in peak fitness just yet, but I didn't notice him doing much of this yesterday.  The realitive lack of form of both T Mac and Weid has been well commented on, but really hoping they can turn things around quickly and I think getting Milkshake  (really needs a better nickname) back into the team will help this as I think he is such a key cog in our scoring machine with his precision passing, line breaking ball movement and aerial contested work.

11 hours ago, Watson11 said:

There are some ripper clashes at training too.  Goody treated this like a practice game.  If he didn’t he would have picked his strongest lineup but he had more important things to try.  

The lions looked quick because our forward 50 is a bit of a shambles with no offensive or defensive structure and the ball comes out too easily.  We’ve had 3 practice matches and the forward 50 has been different every time.  You would expect to see far more intensity from us in week 1, and as long as our forward structure is perfect by finals I don’t care too much about JLT, and will even forget about a few frustrating days during the season proper. 

Thankyou...sanity shines through 

On 3/10/2019 at 12:33 AM, Demon Disciple said:

We aren't as good enough team to coast through periods of a game and flick the switch when we feel like it (i.e. Richmond against the Hawks tonight).

We are good when we want to be, we just didn't seem to want it enough for long enough today. That and our injuries and the Lions ample fresh legs.

Our game plan doesn’t allow has to change gears. It’s all or nothing. The plan is to win contested possession and for that you need to be at 100%. It’s a glaring issue with our style. 

The reason hawthorn are so good is that if they want to slow things down they play keepings off by foot. This tires the opposition at which point they turn it on for a 5-10 minute period.

 

13 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

break lines through the half forward line and kick goals

the key difference between (other than clearances of many types/shapes) very good midfielders and elite midfielders. Brayshaw has it ... Clarrie seems to have let it pass for a while ... 

13 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

back into the team will help this as I think he is such a key cog in our scoring machine

Correct, yet I feel also that Hannan has become/ is becoming a key cog in that scoring machine, as well ... perhaps moreso as a case who can break the lines a move closer forward to space (rather than move from deep fwd to space outside his range. There were also hints that Hunt, as a deep forward, can lead to the space chase very capably to receive.

Did  anyone  notice  the  scoring  and  time  keeping  shambles at  half  time  on  Saturday?  Well  at  half  time  the  two  goal  umpires  as  per  every  game,  went  to  the  center  of  the  ground  and  consultered   each  other.  They  checked  their  little  books   and  agreed   the  score  was  correct.  They  waved  their  flags  toward  the  scorers  and  walked  off  of  the  ground.

The  score  on  the  scoreboard  was  Brisbane  9.6  to  Melbourne  9.4  2  points  difference,  this  score  was  in  the  Sunday  papers.

Sometime  in  the  next  15  minutes  a  goal  was  awarded  to  Brisbane  giving  them  10.6  a  difference  of  8  points.  This  was  even  after  the  goal  umpires  declared  scores  correct  at  the  end  of  the  second  quarter.

To  help  Brisbane  even  more  at  the  start  of  the  third  quarter  the  umpire  bounced  the  ball  and  play  resumed,  the  ball  was  in  play  for  approx.  1  minute  when  Brisbane  scored  a  goal.  But  guess  what?  The  time  keepers  hadn't  started  the  clock  and  with  Brisbane  kicking  with  a  fair  wind  they  had  another  goal  on  the  board  with  no  time  off  the  clock .

The  ball  went  back  to  the  center  and  was  bounced  down, and  the  clock  started  from 0.00.

So  between  the  score  correct  end  of  second  qtr  9.6  and  time  restarting  in  the  third  qtr  Brisbane  were  awarded  2  goals.

Maybe  that's  why  they call  it  a  practice  match! 

29 minutes ago, ex52k2 said:

Did  anyone  notice  the  scoring  and  time  keeping  shambles at  half  time  on  Saturday?  Well  at  half  time  the  two  goal  umpires  as  per  every  game,  went  to  the  center  of  the  ground  and  consultered   each  other.  They  checked  their  little  books   and  agreed   the  score  was  correct.  They  waved  their  flags  toward  the  scorers  and  walked  off  of  the  ground.

The  score  on  the  scoreboard  was  Brisbane  9.6  to  Melbourne  9.4  2  points  difference,  this  score  was  in  the  Sunday  papers.

Sometime  in  the  next  15  minutes  a  goal  was  awarded  to  Brisbane  giving  them  10.6  a  difference  of  8  points.  This  was  even  after  the  goal  umpires  declared  scores  correct  at  the  end  of  the  second  quarter.

To  help  Brisbane  even  more  at  the  start  of  the  third  quarter  the  umpire  bounced  the  ball  and  play  resumed,  the  ball  was  in  play  for  approx.  1  minute  when  Brisbane  scored  a  goal.  But  guess  what?  The  time  keepers  hadn't  started  the  clock  and  with  Brisbane  kicking  with  a  fair  wind  they  had  another  goal  on  the  board  with  no  time  off  the  clock .

The  ball  went  back  to  the  center  and  was  bounced  down, and  the  clock  started  from 0.00.

So  between  the  score  correct  end  of  second  qtr  9.6  and  time  restarting  in  the  third  qtr  Brisbane  were  awarded  2  goals.

Maybe  that's  why  they call  it  a  practice  match! 

is that for real?!??

quite the stuff up if so!

May copped a week. Bugger.

5 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

May copped a week. Bugger.

I'd challenge it to be honest. Absolutely nothing in it. 

6 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

May copped a week. Bugger.

Surely they challenge that. 

not surprising

late, high, low force, unnecessary - given his recidivist nature, lucky to not be more than a week

3 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I'd challenge it to be honest. Absolutely nothing in it. 

 

2 minutes ago, Good Lord George said:

Surely they challenge that. 

Intentional and low was the grading I heard on 360. 

Has the rule changed where you don’t risk more weeks if you lose a challenge? If so, off we go tomorrow night.

15 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

 

Intentional and low was the grading I heard on 360. 

Has the rule changed where you don’t risk more weeks if you lose a challenge? If so, off we go tomorrow night.

Should challenge, but they are pretty tough when you have an alternative.  May could have easily just pushed him over with his little finger.

1 hour ago, ex52k2 said:

Did  anyone  notice  the  scoring  and  time  keeping  shambles at  half  time  on  Saturday?  Well  at  half  time  the  two  goal  umpires  as  per  every  game,  went  to  the  center  of  the  ground  and  consultered   each  other.  They  checked  their  little  books   and  agreed   the  score  was  correct.  They  waved  their  flags  toward  the  scorers  and  walked  off  of  the  ground.

The  score  on  the  scoreboard  was  Brisbane  9.6  to  Melbourne  9.4  2  points  difference,  this  score  was  in  the  Sunday  papers.

Sometime  in  the  next  15  minutes  a  goal  was  awarded  to  Brisbane  giving  them  10.6  a  difference  of  8  points.  This  was  even  after  the  goal  umpires  declared  scores  correct  at  the  end  of  the  second  quarter.

To  help  Brisbane  even  more  at  the  start  of  the  third  quarter  the  umpire  bounced  the  ball  and  play  resumed,  the  ball  was  in  play  for  approx.  1  minute  when  Brisbane  scored  a  goal.  But  guess  what?  The  time  keepers  hadn't  started  the  clock  and  with  Brisbane  kicking  with  a  fair  wind  they  had  another  goal  on  the  board  with  no  time  off  the  clock .

The  ball  went  back  to  the  center  and  was  bounced  down, and  the  clock  started  from 0.00.

So  between  the  score  correct  end  of  second  qtr  9.6  and  time  restarting  in  the  third  qtr  Brisbane  were  awarded  2  goals.

Maybe  that's  why  they call  it  a  practice  match! 

Extremely observant to notice this amongst the hullabaloo of a practice match in the dying pre-season environment. Thanks for the info ... it's just like playing the Filth and Essendrug. 

39 minutes ago, Good Lord George said:

Surely they challenge that. 

Garbage decision - May did it well without malice and the 'acting' and head flop was fake, fake, fake.

22 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

One thing that Jessy Hogan does really well is get up the ground and link up coming out of half back when the situation requires it.  I think there are several really good reasons for doing this:

1.  Providing the team with an easy get out kick;

2.  Getting some confidence as a forward getting your hands on the pill; and

3.  Working over the backman aerobicaly - something which T Mac in particular should be able to exploit.

 

Perhaps it's just that T Mac has has an interupted preseason and isn't in peak fitness just yet, but I didn't notice him doing much of this yesterday.  The realitive lack of form of both T Mac and Weid has been well commented on, but really hoping they can turn things around quickly and I think getting Milkshake  (really needs a better nickname) back into the team will help this as I think he is such a key cog in our scoring machine with his precision passing, line breaking ball movement and aerial contested work.

Quite a functional, special analysis, 'Balls. Like your 3 points - these are missing from most of our games, now; these should not be missing at all - it ain't rocket science.