Just now, WERRIDEE said:

Good win by the dees especially against an all full premiership side. Chandler a real surprise packet. Gawn, Lever and Petracca fantastic.

 

ROUND 1 TEAM

B: HUNT, MAY, LEVER

HB: SALEM, TOMLINSON, RIVERS

C: LANGDON, PETRACCA, BAKER

HF: PICKETT, MCDONALD, CHANDLER

F: FRITSCH, JACKSON, SPARGO

FOLL: GAWN, OLIVER, VINEY

IC: BRAYSHAW, HARMES, JONES, JETTA

EMERG: SPARROW, JORDON, NEAL-BULLEN, VANDENBERG

 

Get Harmes out of there.  

1 minute ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

Well, there was the mark to Baker that wasn't paid.  That was a bit of a shocker and Rivers was still having a go at the ump five minutes later.  Especially when the same ump paid a mark to Aarts shortly after where he never had control of the ball. 

Yes, but that decision had no impact on game - the Chol one did - he scored a goal from it.

More positives than negatives overall I think.

Line by line:

Forward: Tom McDonald started well, faded out, still has to compete better when stuck under high kicks (punch Tom), but he looks confident to find space on the lead and hold a mark. If he can dish handballs more he'll be serviceable. Jacko didn't get much of it but showed his movement forward, he combined with Tom well early. Fritsch was solid and engaged in the contests. Spargo decent. Chandler lively and has talent, he won't always get much of it as he lacks top end pace but he knows how to use it and where to go. 

Mids: Petracca had a rough second quarter but otherwise was good. Oliver looked much improved. Sparrow and Jordon give us options and guys who will play their roles. Jones and ANB had chances, nice to see some variety. Wings still a little concern but I think both Harmes and Baker did the right running even if there's a lot to do on disposal and contest respectively.

Defenders: Lever really came in to it after a horrific start. Tomlinson faded out of it, we have to keep him away from good forwards. Salem got more and more of the ball and was composed as ever. Hunt....up and down. His pure pace creates/shut downs problems but he can't tackle or read opponents well enough. Rivers looked a bit 2nd year bluesy, still can do some great work but can also be sloppy. Overall it was the area of the ground where I was most thinking we need to look at different options - Hibberd or Smith over Jetta, moving Sparrow back, Lockhart, Deakyn Smith even rather than Hunt? Petty or Big Majak at CHB if they can provide more than Tomlinson.

Gameplan:
We did well to stop and cut off chances were the Tigers overlapped which is where they cut teams to pieces. Probably would've liked to see us stem it earlier in the second but by and large we didn't get walked through and managed to keep our defenders in position.

We probably didn't use the switch and our kickers enough. The new man on the mark makes it even easier to pass the ball around and we have to do a bit more of that. Otherwise we did get it to the corridor pretty well and use some really clever overlap to create holes. The forwards were found on hit ups not just looking for the over the top easy ones.

It's our home ground that we've trained on for months now and we know the wind (and the travel, facilities etc). So shouldn't be a surprise that we got some advantage there and played it pretty solidly.

Just now, Pickett2Jackson said:

 

Get Harmes out of there.  

Sparrow or Jordon?

Is the GameDay thread closed for the second game?

Some of our transition with clean ball movement from the backline to score was great.

Made quick replies when Richmond scored. Acouple when they started coming at us.

Did the Tigers kick two goals in a row? 

They seemed to get that gell in the midfield, working well together. Hoping they can connect better with the forwards. A few too many bombs.

Backline held up well. Though need a player who can stop the oppositions cumbersome. 

Forwards need to be able to lock the ball in or at least slow the exit of the opposition down.

Overall very positive signs for mine. Richmond with most of their best 22, and decent effort from both teams.

-Small forwards worked well. Spargo and Chandler the standouts. Both should maintain their spots in the best 22.

-TMac moving well and clunking a few contested marks.

-Key position defenders did well, Lever and Gawn finding plenty of intercepts

-Won the clearances and managed to turn a lot of them into clean inside 50s. Nankervis doesn't provide much of a threat to Gawn though.

-Use of the corridor was pleasing. The speed of ball movement was impressive in general. The new manning the mark rule will benefit players with speed, such as Hunt, Baker and Rivers.

-No injuries, fitness appeared up to scratch

How good was it to watch full-length quarters of footy again!

Thanks to the club for streaming the game live. 

It was great and the best part about it you don’t have to listen to the commentators on the commercial channels. 

Win all round. 

Pretty positive performance overall. Oliver was clear BOG and Gawn had some dominant moments. Petracca faded in and out of the game but did some nice things. 

Lever was outstanding and took a bunch of marks today. We'll just have to live with his 1 or 2 errors a game. May had a great duel with Lynch and kept him to either 0 or 1 goal.

T Mac had a very lively first quarter and took some contested marks high up the ground. Went quiet after quarter time but did a nail a nice set shot in the last qtr.

Fritsch kicked 3, 2 from close range. He's a chance to nail 40 this year if he plays all games. He'd be a hard match up to keep quiet all day.

Chandler was my surprise of the day and he and Spargo provided excellent forward pressure which is one of the keys to success in this league. Will both play round 1 if Kozzie isn't ready.

We dominated the clearances in the midfield late in the game as Richmond played their kids in the centre. Won't have that luxury in the real stuff.

Other than that, most players today showed some positive signs in a pleasing first hit out. Hopefully we can put in a solid performance next week against the Dogs and then head into round 1 in good shape.

 

I really thought the return to longer quarters did us a great service. We looked fit and full of running at the back end of each quarter, which ultimately proved vital for the win. 

We were missing plenty of players who would be walk up 22 players, and would make a big difference to us structurally. So overall a very good win.

Edited February 26, 20214 yr by Jaded

Melb FC have just posted that up to 50,000 fans will be allowed into the G for Round 1.

Might need to prioritise tickets.

Trac looks better then he did last season

Some promising signs today even if the tigs were coasting a bit

Bring on round 1

DL administrators obviously using the opportunity for some 'practice' too! Game day thread closed just like Joseph-Ignace Guillotin designed.

Second half was encouraging, especially the forward fifty entries which were much more cohesive and better executed. Midfield and defence also appeared to 'click'.

36 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

The truth is out there Scully. 

Heading to GWS

36 minutes ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

 

Get Harmes out of there.  

Yeah I'll change it Jordon in Harmes out. Replace vandenBerg with Bowey as emergency.

2021

Priority 1 - win games

Priority 2 - re-sign Oliver asap 

 

Very encouraging. Our ability and willingness to stay in the game, kick away and then maintain the lead in the last 10m was good to watch. High energy levels and team spirit was evident. Also encouraging to see young players step up and show good application. Jordan, Sparrow and Spargo seemed composed with footy smarts. I love Spargo’s tackling pressure, energy and creativity. But gee whiz we better hope that Gawn stays injury free. Such a dominant force and leader. 

Nevertheless, a time to be positive. 

As usual the big 4 were very good in trac, oliver, Max and may.

Others who impressed me 

J Lever, close to bog, he will have a big year

Chandler, surprised me just how well he did play, very smart, clean with the pill and can crumb 

Sparrow, big 3rd quarter, this kid has upside

Hunt, love his dash, his short kicks have improved 

Bowey,  doing as he pleases right now, like him alot already   

 

 

Only got to see 10 mins in the 3rd with a petracca snap the highlight, promising signs but let's just keep in mind it was a practice game.

Sounds like a solid hit out but in most of these games there tends to be less defensive pressure applied than a season AFL game.

Nice passage of play here - from Melbfc twitter page

 

Chandler the 'big' story for mine. If today is a sign of things to come it really adds a lot to our small forward mix from a potency point of view.

Also thought Sparrow (who I'll admit I'm a fan of) showed he's a few steps ahead of Harmes if it comes down to choosing between the two at team selection.

Lever fantastic as well. As mentioned on the broadcast, we forget sometimes how young he is. About to start hitting his peak.

 

Nice snap from Kade Chandler

 

Maxy channelling Darren Bennett

 

oops!

Edited February 26, 20214 yr by Tarax Club
wrong thread!