One annoyance I did have at the game was the way, especially in the first half was the way Adelaide would chip chip chip the ball down the ground and then still had a man loose in the forward 50 to pass to again. Anyone else notice this?

I believe its called  MFC Zoned  Defence

Yes I did notice it particularly the first half!

On 2/22/2020 at 7:39 PM, Bitter but optimistic said:

Nice game from Jones. 

Hope those that have written the champ off take note.

I have taken note, Uncle, and still stand by my views regarding Jones.

Let's look at the team list from Saturday, we named 25 players.  When the season proper starts, we take 22 in to a game.  I look at our outs and believe Gawn, Brayshaw, Fritsch and May automatically come in.  That means we need to take 7 players out of that team list from Saturday.  I think that would be Spargo, Wagner, Jordan, Lockhart and Sparrow.  I'm still looking for 2 more - could be ANB, one of Brown or Jackson.

Jones had a very good game on Saturday, but he will need to consistently produce strong performances, otherwise he's an easy "out" for mine, especially when looking at the other players on the park.

6 hours ago, Skuit said:

I doubt you would have been impressed had you watched Old Dee. 

I'd probably be classified as one of themanjordan's happy-clappers but I wasn't particularly buoyed by yesterday's showing, bar Petracca's genuine break-out performance.

While the usual pre-season qualifications apply, so many of our recent limitations were still clearly on display, collectively and in regards to certain individuals. This was most apparent with our forward-half play, marked by inefficiency and bombing (the latter which can be a symptom of the forwards as much as the mids). While others would agree in their hearts, I doubt this will be a popular post.  

Weid to me showed no signs that he's ready to take strong, confident grabs or get himself into space. Tomald was completely absent for the most part and his usual galumphing self when finally involved. Brown's goals were junk against an inexperienced opponent. Melksham was off the pace and uninvolved. As that's at least half of our primary targets, I feel we that may have a problem. 

Meanwhile, Jackson isn't ready up forward, and if we need him to be, then I feel like we shouldn't be developing him in three positions at once. Pickett was busy in flashes, but still needs to develop his confidence and stamina. And while our renewed forward pressure was pleasing, Goody credited this to ANB and Spargo - who otherwise seem both completely pointless and unlikely to hit the scoreboard themselves. 

Alongside Gawn, I think we clearly missed Fritsch the most. This to me is a concern. Around half our goals came from Petracca, Jones, Langdon and Sparrow from the middle or half-back. I like their contribution, but not the balance. Our 2018 semi-final win over Hawthorn for example saw at least two thirds of our goals scored by full-time forwards. Let's see what happens in Marsh number 2. 

I think most of the objections you’ll receive is for employing the word “Tomald” as a nickname for Tom MacDonald. 

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

What is a "non-contested regionalisation"?

An extremely good question Mr. Shadow.

55 minutes ago, loges said:

One annoyance I did have at the game was the way, especially in the first half was the way Adelaide would chip chip chip the ball down the ground and then still had a man loose in the forward 50 to pass to again. Anyone else notice this?

Yep the zone had some big gaps. Wind might have been a factor making it harder to judge the spacing. And hey I guess we stopped teams going the big switch out to free runners that killed us last year, but we have to tighter those gaps up.

Without being at the ground it’s hard to know who was most to blame. 

42 minutes ago, The Chazz said:

I have taken note, Uncle, and still stand by my views regarding Jones.

Let's look at the team list from Saturday, we named 25 players.  When the season proper starts, we take 22 in to a game.  I look at our outs and believe Gawn, Brayshaw, Fritsch and May automatically come in.  That means we need to take 7 players out of that team list from Saturday.  I think that would be Spargo, Wagner, Jordan, Lockhart and Sparrow.  I'm still looking for 2 more - could be ANB, one of Brown or Jackson.

Jones had a very good game on Saturday, but he will need to consistently produce strong performances, otherwise he's an easy "out" for mine, especially when looking at the other players on the park.

He'll play every game in 2020 if fit.

 

28 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

If his foot becomes an issue again maybe we could just plant him in the midfield, doing this all day. 

32 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

He'll play every game in 2020 if fit.

We will see, won't we?  If all things are equal (ie no injury list), then for us to play deep finals, Jones just can't play every game.

Have said it numerous times, for Jones to play every game, it means that certain players haven't come on.  I'm talking players like Hore, Harmes (to not cement his place off that HBF, which could be the snowball effect of Trac playing more midfield minutes), Hibberd (would need a drop in form, rather than maintaining form), AvB (hopefully staying fit), ANB (Jones should have him covered), Baker/Sparrow/Dunkley/Rivers (most likely a bit early for these guys, but if they can come in and have an impact, again, it's putting pressure on Jones), and Hunt (if he doesn't overtake Jones this year then he never will).

Interestingly, the commentators picked up a slight change to our centre bounce setup.  We had one of our wings coming off the back corner of the square.  High risk/high reward - if they opposition win the clearance, they have someone on true centre wing that will be unmanned.  Two or three times on Saturday this happened, and because we missed the tackle on the way out, the ball got pushed deep forward for Adelaide.  The missed tackles were by Jones.

The Good

• Petracca was fantastic and dominant.
• Jones was excellent as well. I really like Jones as a high half back alongside Salem.
• Tomlinson was solid and composed.
• Langdon was ok and will be a good recruit.
• Pickett was quiet but looks quick, hard and balanced
• Vandenberg got through unscathed.
• Brown kicked 3 goals but looked nonthreatening.
• Lever was ok but his kicking is still a bit of a worry.

The Bad

• The Crows were very poor and this win was actually pretty ordinary when you consider the opposition.
• Our forward line was dysfunctional and lacked a focal point. Hopefully it gets better with Fritsch.
• Weideman was just ordinary and dropped 6 or so marks he needed to hold.
• Sparrow got involved and lacked composure
• Hibberd was more 2019 than 2018.
• Spargo was hopeless.
• OMac was not improved.
• Jackson didn’t do much and I expect he will mostly play VFL this season.
• Harmes at half back didn’t really work. Harmes isn’t that quick or a great kick, so I don’t really understand the thinking on this move other than the coaches needing to shift someone out of the midfield to fit Petracca in. I would prefer we play Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Viney and Brayshaw through midfield and have them share some time in the forward line.

1 hour ago, The Chazz said:

I have taken note, Uncle, and still stand by my views regarding Jones.

Let's look at the team list from Saturday, we named 25 players.  When the season proper starts, we take 22 in to a game.  I look at our outs and believe Gawn, Brayshaw, Fritsch and May automatically come in.  That means we need to take 7 players out of that team list from Saturday.  I think that would be Spargo, Wagner, Jordan, Lockhart and Sparrow.  I'm still looking for 2 more - could be ANB, one of Brown or Jackson.

Jones had a very good game on Saturday, but he will need to consistently produce strong performances, otherwise he's an easy "out" for mine, especially when looking at the other players on the park.

Fair enough Chazz. This is yet another of those discussions that will only become clearer with the passage of time. 

3 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

What is a "non-contested regionalisation"?

Many observable things, such as:

• getting to where the ball is - consistently late;
• being behind the play and respective play-makers, missing tackles and positive ball possession opportunities; 
• slow motion sightseeing tours around opponents who are clearing the ball with relative ease and/or disposal 
• being '...where the ball ain't...'  for most of the game; and very possibly
• missing marks in contests and/or trailing a leading opposition forward so badly that all that one could do is to watch that opponent take an easy mark with the usual conversion to a six-pointer.

The latter point does produce some interesting facial expressions (poor thing) suggesting a role could be played in a far-away Under 12s competition.

There are other examples but these are the common ones. 

Regarding this player, who shall remain nameless, I wonder if you could guess who I am talking about for the very last time this coming season? (I am intolerant of constant onfield error that does not require further elaboration or experiential latitude.)

Have a nice day.

 

Vanders just brings something extra to the mix. The players walk a little bit taller when he is out there and the opposition is always under pressure.

Some things to like:

We did well in the clearances, without a dominant ruckman.  Weids and Jackson battled well and it will be a good learning exercise for the two of them to carry the ruck for the day.  Jackson’s athleticism and follow up were on display, and although Weids dropped some marks, he stayed involved and executed some really valuable clearance handballs etc.

I liked the fact that we seemed to keep a few bodies on the outsides of contests this game, instead of every man piling in.  some of the moves past the contest were excellent (most to used, but still there).

The high zone to keep the ball inside 50 and the high pressure defence was a treat to watch.  

We had a couple of brain fades right down back, where the ‘zone’ didnt go as planned.  May will make a big difference here.  Lockhart was an excellent addition to the back 6.

The width held by Tomlinson and Langdon gave us additional options, and they both played valuable wing roles that were sorely missed last year.

Petracca. Enough said. Wow.

Spargo:  lots of negative comments here, but he was involved in many scoring chains, and his efforts to get the ball out the contest to a player were significant contributors to several scores. 

Pickett:  Always moving, always dangerous.  Certainly has the x-factor, and if we can bring him into the game more, I dont think we will regret it for a minute.

Sparrow - looked completely at home at this level.

Burgo: We seemed to play out the match without dropping off in intensity as we did in previous seasons.

I would say the day was a big success - got to enforce some new structures and play an updated style, got to get some match kms into many legs, got to give a few new kids a sniff, and walked away without too many injuries.  And (for us poor suffering supporters) we got the chocolates.

1 hour ago, old dee said:

An extremely good question Mr. Shadow.

Time to put the glasses on when replying, od. That was La Dee-vina you quoted!

5 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Time to put the glasses on when replying, od. That was La Dee-vina you quoted!

My excuse is i was in a rush. However do you understand that comment?

7 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Time to put the glasses on when replying, od. That was La Dee-vina you quoted!

For me, it was a badge of honour to be considered to be your esteemed self.

19 hours ago, picket fence said:

Add Max Fritta and May to the side and you almost have.........

Premiership material!!!!!!!

1 hour ago, The Chazz said:

We will see, won't we?  If all things are equal (ie no injury list), then for us to play deep finals, Jones just can't play every game.

Have said it numerous times, for Jones to play every game, it means that certain players haven't come on.  I'm talking players like Hore, Harmes (to not cement his place off that HBF, which could be the snowball effect of Trac playing more midfield minutes), Hibberd (would need a drop in form, rather than maintaining form), AvB (hopefully staying fit), ANB (Jones should have him covered), Baker/Sparrow/Dunkley/Rivers (most likely a bit early for these guys, but if they can come in and have an impact, again, it's putting pressure on Jones), and Hunt (if he doesn't overtake Jones this year then he never will).

Interestingly, the commentators picked up a slight change to our centre bounce setup.  We had one of our wings coming off the back corner of the square.  High risk/high reward - if they opposition win the clearance, they have someone on true centre wing that will be unmanned.  Two or three times on Saturday this happened, and because we missed the tackle on the way out, the ball got pushed deep forward for Adelaide.  The missed tackles were by Jones.

Just on the centre bounce set up - when we had our big winning streak in 2018, it was off the back of this style of play.  While we can't do two off the back of the square, it's clear that Goody still believes in this way of playing and getting one there is better than none.  Often times it worked but, as you say, it didn't work every time.  It never will.  I'd like to go back to the vision to see if it was Jones who missed tackles every time, however I do recall one instance where the commentators mentioned that he missed a tackle that resulted in a Crows goal.  That's not good enough for a senior member of the squad, but others made mistakes during the game as well.

I've been a big believer that, by years end, one of the kids has hopefully pushed Jones out of the side.  However, if he plays like he did on the weekend then it will be hard to get him out of the side.  That won't be on the other players trying to get into the side, that will be because Jones is in good form.  You don't drop players when they're up and about.

Time will tell, as you say, but if we see the Jones from the weekend more often than not, then you would expect him to play close to every game this year.

2 hours ago, The Chazz said:

.  Two or three times on Saturday this happened, and because we missed the tackle on the way out, the ball got pushed deep forward for Adelaide.  The missed tackles were by Jones.

One missed tackle by Jones in that scenario as far as i can recall.

Plenty of missed tackles across the whole game by other players.

52 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Just on the centre bounce set up - when we had our big winning streak in 2018, it was off the back of this style of play. 

 We had stopped doing it by about round 13 as it was factor in us getting opened up. From that point to the end of the season we had the least points scored against us IIRC.

Great goody is experimenting again with it but i suspect he might be a bit more circumspect with such a tactic this season. 

On 2/22/2020 at 7:15 PM, JakovichScissorKick said:

Petracca....  holy smokes

Has anyone jumped on him for the brownlow

ladbrokes paying $51 when I jumped on Saturday arvo

I think I read he started at 500s!?!

33 minutes ago, binman said:

 We had stopped doing it by about round 13 as it was factor in us getting opened up. From that point to the end of the season we had the least points scored against us IIRC.

Great goody is experimenting again with it but i suspect he might be a bit more circumspect with such a tactic this season. 

That's true, so it probably helps that we are just going with the one off the back of the square.

When it works, it works super well, but I do agree that it does leave us open a little bit on the offensive end.  I like that we're backing ourselves in though.

1 hour ago, binman said:

One missed tackle by Jones in that scenario as far as i can recall.

Plenty of missed tackles across the whole game by other players.

That is so far away from the point.  Clean, fast clearances from a centre bounce almost always end up in a scoring opportunity.  If we are setting up so that there is potentially one free opposition player coming in off the wing, and they get the clearance, it's vital that we stick that one tackle if the opportunity is there.

I can remember that there was at least twice that the commentators mentioned that Jones missed that specific tackle.  If the opposition breaks that tackle, we will be outnumbered, and they will score.  It's that simple.

This play is clearly backing our rucks/inside mids to dominate the centre bounce.  Will happen often, but when it doesn't, we need to make sure we limit the damage that could occur.