POSTGAME: Rd 07 vs North Melbourne

[FlashInThePan 1,893]

This is going to be a hard time for some people. We are in process of evolving, from very good to great. There are going to be really quite good players who get pushed out and this needs to happen if we are to get to that next level.

Spargo is a very good player, no question, he is smart and clean with the ball. Admittedly, with a smaller body of work, Chandler is next level, he is all that and he also has a higher impact on the scoreboard and the game in general. Unfortunately for Spargo, he’s not competing with JJ for a spot. His exposed form as wing rotation rule him out of that. He’s competing with Chandler and Kozzie.

 Like many of you, I love all our players that played a part in getting us that flag but the harsh reality of elite sport is that you are either improving or you are getting overtaken.

[DubDee 25,839]

Haven’t said this maybe ever but our accuracy is absolutely amazing at the moment. 

22 goals 3 behinds is ridiculously good 

definitely helped by changes in our game plan and not kicking to the pockets all the time too

[layzie 33,793]

6 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Haven’t said this maybe ever but our accuracy is absolutely amazing at the moment. 

22 goals 3 behinds is ridiculously good 

definitely helped by changes in our game plan and not kicking to the pockets all the time too

It is a thing of beauty right now. Our set shots are sheer art right now and Fritta never looks like missing.

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

1 hour ago, Macca said:

He also likes to fly from behind a little too often and the coach won't be happy with that ... thus, he very nearly got dragged last week.  Looks exciting to us but not a great percentage play

Weideman did the same nearly all the time and most forwards who ultimately don't make it usually have the same fault

But van Rooyen has enormous potential and he is learning on the job.  But he is far from the finished article

Running under the ball is just a rookie mistake and a timing issue.  And these days, playing as a key forward is infinitely harder than it was back in the day

My expectations aren't huge so he doesn't have to be a gun footballer anytime soon.  Just play his role and adhere to team rules

He's progressing well and will most likely stay in the team for the foreseeable future.  Schache is first out if Brown or T-Mac can regain form

JVR got a lot more attention this week. North defenders played him very close and rarely left one on one when the ball was near him deep forward.

[titan_uranus 25,000]

2 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Thought Jordon had just an ok game with little impact offensively or defensively, even tho he played 83% game time.

Not sure last night helped his cause to stay in the 22.  Not saying he should be dropped.  Just not showing what many on here hoped he would. 

Agree, @Lucifers Hero. I felt he fumbled his first touch a bit too much and missed some small handballs that we just have to be nailing all the time, let alone under minimal pressure from North. 

Dunstan has been lighting it up at Casey. If he does it again today, can we keep justifying Jordon’s ongoing selection over Dunstan? They aren’t precisely the same role but we have to be careful not to ignore strong form from our depth at Casey. 

[Jaded No More 68,903]

For mine Schache gets another week even though I thought he was average at best. You can’t bring someone new in for a week then drop him. It’s pointless. I didn’t like that they did it with Laurie either. 

Goody confirmed Petty is straight back in so that means we either play him back, give JVR a rest or drop Schache. 
If BB or Tmac have a sensational game today it complicates things even further. 
JVR might need a rest. Hibbo might be sore again. So we could tweak things to manage players. 

Another interstate trip in two weeks off another short break means we need to plan carefully. Port at home are no easy beats. We will need to be at our best to win. 
Next two games are the right time to rest anyone who needs it. It’s a long long season. 

[Macca 16,961]

1 minute ago, John Crow Batty said:

JVR got a lot more attention this week. North defenders played him very close and rarely left one on one when the ball was near him deep forward.

That's a good point ... earlier in this thread I made mention as to how our KPF's became, by default, decoys

Both created contests (a fair bit of the time) which brought the crumbers & medium sized players into the play.  2 goals out of 22 for the 3 key talls (when we include Gawn) is unusual.  Although Grundy kicked 2 goals

But it was North Melbourne and from an overall perspective, they didn't provide the pressure that the good sides will provide

The opposition also didn't provide intercept marks from their defence nor did they have many easy passages from our forward line

We had an easy time of it but the pleasing thing was how switched on we were from the first minute

[DubDee 25,839]

i don’t get the logic of - you can’t bring a new guy in just for one week and then drop him

of course you can. he is in his 8th season. this was big chance in a drubbing and he still didn’t show any presence. he should have been throwing his body around and getting into everything.

we can’t carry a kid like JVR and Schache in the same forward line. 

[Macca 16,961]

1 hour ago, Little Goffy said:

I really wanted to reply a 'smug satisfaction' emojj but we don't have one. I wonder what it would look like?

Trump

[IRW 1,387]

37 minutes ago, FlashInThePan said:

This is going to be a hard time for some people. We are in process of evolving, from very good to great. There are going to be really quite good players who get pushed out and this needs to happen if we are to get to that next level.

Spargo is a very good player, no question, he is smart and clean with the ball. Admittedly, with a smaller body of work, Chandler is next level, he is all that and he also has a higher impact on the scoreboard and the game in general. Unfortunately for Spargo, he’s not competing with JJ for a spot. His exposed form as wing rotation rule him out of that. He’s competing with Chandler and Kozzie.

 Like many of you, I love all our players that played a part in getting us that flag but the harsh reality of elite sport is that you are either improving or you are getting overtaken.

Spargs has added " screamers" to his repertoire. Something Kossie hasnt got yet....on game day at least( smile)

Edited April 30, 2023 by IRW

[Willmoy1947 4,085]

Just a big shout out to Razor for his even handed effort yesterday in our game along with the whole compliment of Umpire folk who stood our game. They were barely noticed.......great.

Kossie is being groomed for a special job, coming up for a special day against a good player. The amazing thing is he doesn't have to change position.,,,

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

56 minutes ago, Macca said:

How about Brayshaw?

You've usually got lots to say about Gus

Even faint praise or a back-handed compliment will do DS haha

Played half back flank in a 100 point win against the worst collection of forward flankers you’ll ever see. You’d get 30 touches just for turning up. Probably shook hands with Turner and Tucker at the start of the game and sat back and waited for them to kick it to him.

3 score involvements, 4 pressure acts and 320m gained from 14 kicks. Not a high intensity or damaging performance.

That said, he won his share of excellent contests and used the ball well, if most safely, just as he did last week when I gave him praise for a good game against a pretty decent side.

But his challenge will come when he’s matched up against speedy or strong half forwards that good sides have.

I’m still predicting he’ll move back to the wing if Salem can get up and going because there’s a wing spot that’s looking more open by the week. 

[loges 6,767]

11 minutes ago, Willmoy1947 said:

Just a big shout out to Razor for his even handed effort yesterday in our game along with the whole compliment of Umpire folk who stood our game. They were barely noticed.......great.

Kossie is being groomed for a special job, coming up for a special day against a good player. The amazing thing is he doesn't have to change position.,,,

Pleasant surprise after the week before 

[layzie 33,793]

Some night hey? Somehow this game ended up in a primetime slot on Sat night at the G, for some reason there were no guidewires across the top of the G and it was seagull city. But the footy was pretty good.

First quarter was one of our best this season, our defensive structure was setup brilliantly and pressure was high forcing North to kick long. I was surprised that North didn't take more of a Richmond approach and keep moving it on to catch us wrong-footed. 

We executed 1%ers really well in this half, sometimes too well going for an extra tap on but I liked the idea. We sort of went into auto-pilot which is to be expected when you kill off a team early. 

To be fair, North were just garbage. They served up an unmitigated pile of dog excrement. It's horrible to watch any club put forward that tripe and expect people to swallow it. In a re-building club you may not have the talent yet, you may not have the staying power but you absolutely must have the effort. Guys like Stephenson were lazy and hardly moved up the ground. The only North guy worth a pinch of poop was Cunnington, good player.

But that's enough of the North stuff, let's talk about the positives for us!

Our wingers held width really well despite Langdon not having his best game, this two pronged approach is going to be so hard for teams to go up against and the acquisition of Lachie Hunter is so far looking like the bargain of the season.

Kade Chandler, I'm not going to stand here and say I was one of the doubters because I wasn't. I've wanted him in for a long time now and he's showing just what he's capable of. Work rate, skill, goal sense. That first goal was way harder than it looks, to gather it on the hop and take the tight angle shot with a split second to react was brilliant. Like Monday night his 3 goals were all quality and he's dialed in his set shooting now. 

Thought it was one of Bowey's better games for the season, Brayshaw was a master interceptor and the people who freak out whenever he has the ball just know that he ran at 91% eff, happy 150 boyo! In the first is was a case of Clarry by how far, I thought he might have been on his way to a 40 possession game at very least.

That Christian Petracca is a pretty good player hey? And after all of you doubted him (Not really just jazzing up the post a bit) he came out and went bang! 37 touches, 15 contested, 552 metres gained and 3 brilliant goals. I'd love him to win a Brownlow one day but in a lot of ways his Norm meant more, performing on the big stage is what it's about. The master of the score involvement.

Disposal efficiency was very good, as a matter of fact guys and gals, we only had 5 players under 70% disposal efficiency. What do you think about that!

Thought Brody Grundy was average in the first half but exceptional in the second. He's still finding that fitness and lumbers occasionally but I think he's getting close. Hoping for a big, big performance in a month's time for a certain game at the G.

Fritta was marvelous and didn't look like missing, everyone's set shots are brilliant I couldn't be happier with how that is going and long may it continue. I'm not sure if I subscribe to the theory that it's because we aren't kicking to pockets as much, it's definitely helping getting better looks at goal but we were also dobbing ones from angles that we missed last year. 

Schache was ok, did nice things but loses his man from a forward defensive point of view too easily. In other words, gets too much separation at the time when you don't want to. Will give him another week.

And that'll do it, so many other good performances, ANB's chase down and tackle was precisely why we signed him for 3 years. Anyone who hates him can go directly to jail and not collect $200.

This year, a day watching footy is always good when Freo lose and Melbourne win.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by layzie

[titan_uranus 25,000]

A few interesting stats (at least to me):

• No one played 100% TOG. May was at 98% and Lever 96%, but all our runners were 90% or less and notably, Gawn was 82%, Oliver was 79% and Petracca was 75% - when was the last time Petracca spent 25% of a game on the bench?). Surely a sign of our approach to the short break
• Sparrow and Chandler our pressure act leaders with 25, interestingly 13 of Sparrow's were in the defensive half
• Sparrow also had our 2nd most centre bounce attendances with 17 (Oliver had 24). Gawn and Grundy split them 50/50% precisely (16 each). After 0 last week, Pickett had 11 this week. And we continue to try new things in there, with Brayshaw getting 3 CBAs, Jordon 7, Rivers 1 and even Harmes had 5 in his limited game time

[Deemania since 56 6,634]

1 hour ago, Little Goffy said:

I really wanted to reply a 'smug satisfaction' emojj but we don't have one. I wonder what it would look like?

Also, more seriously, I think it is time for Spargo to be given a run for Casey with an emphasis on getting him more actively involved and seeing how that excellent brain of his adjusts to tighter traffic in the middle or even as a small defender. He needs to add proverbial strings to his proverbial bow.

Angus Brayshaw's provided some very, very easy lip-reading as that siren goal sailed through, and it would definitely not make it through the Demonland censorship. The defenders all looking annoying and having a cranky chat right after was possibly the most exciting part of the game - it had the same tone as if they'd just let an easy one get through right at the start of an anticipated close game.

Pride in performance outcomes. Let a few 'easies' through and shame creeps in. I thought that it was rather good sportsmanship to allow the struggling Kangas to grasp some dignity from the last three or four minutes of the game; it didn't matter, the game had already been cross-stitched up, ironed out and folded for the cupboard. 

[Macca 16,961]

3 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Played half back flank in a 100 point win against the worst collection of forward flankers you’ll ever see. You’d get 30 touches just for turning up. Probably shook hands with Turner and Tucker at the start of the game and sat back and waited for them to kick it to him.

3 score involvements, 4 pressure acts and 320m gained from 14 kicks. Not a high intensity or damaging performance.

That said, he won his share of excellent contests and used the ball well, if most safely, just as he did last week when I gave him praise for a good game against a pretty decent side.

But his challenge will come when he’s matched up against speedy or strong half forwards that good sides have.

I’m still predicting he’ll move back to the wing if Salem can get up and going because there’s a wing spot that’s looking more open by the week. 

Don't forget his DE rating which you've been highly critical of in the past.  2nd in the club behind only May and ahead of every other regular

But of course any timy error gets magnified 10-fold by many here.  Exaggeration comes to the fore

And he doesn't play entire games as a backman minding a flanker.  Often he plays as part of the zone or in the hole or often as a kick behind play

You're blinkered and triggered on Gus as you often are with certain players.  Lewis was another where you couldn't see his value and it took ages for you to see the value of T-Mac up forward

It doesn't pay to individualise too much in a team sport.  For instance, many of our backmen copped undue criticism back in the day when the real fault was further afield

The end result has a cause & effect factor

[Adam The God 30,220]

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

I'm glad we're playing the Suns next week, because you wouldn't want to be playing a top 4 opponent after playing last night.

IMV we never really got out of first gear (good for us, telling for North). We were allowed to waltz off half back and move it through the corridor at will, all night. 

Playing a genuinely competitive team off the back of that would be tough mentally I reckon.

We then have the Hawks, just before Port, so I'm hoping Hawthorn put up a better effort than North.

Alternatively, it's a good percentage builder.

Another way of looking at this is, Geelong had that very soft run at the back end of last year, which enabled them to manage players. These games do allow us to throw the magnets around in the middle and reward guys like Schache and JJ who are banging the door down at VFL level.

The second half of our year is definitely softer too, so getting most of our interstate travel out of the way early is actually preferable I think.

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

49 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

 

For mine Schache gets another week even though I thought he was average at best. You can’t bring someone new in for a week then drop him. It’s pointless. I didn’t like that they did it with Laurie either. 

 

I disagree. If you think a guy has a genuine chance of being best 22 then you have to stick by them. But if you think you’re bringing someone in just for a look then it’s ok to send them back down.

People may point to someone like Chandler last year but I don’t think his VFL performances really showed a guy who was 100% ready. Not until the VFL finals which where a strong statement for him. His contested work and ball use improved in the finals and he’s bought that to the top level this year.

Laurie isn’t physically ready, any taste of AFL he gets this year is a bonus. Schache, he’s been improving at Casey and he’s physically mature but I still don’t see a guy at Casey who’s completely stamping himself as an AFL player. That was franked last night, now he knows he has to do even more at Casey. 

Lever said post game how much Schache has improved his contested work. He’s on a journey to where it needs to be, it’s not going to improve by more AFL games until he’s really earning them.

[binman 42,896]

4 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Yes KC now one of the first names picked.  Has had a very good 2023 so far and do deserved.  Works hard at the pressure and at the contest.  Love his goalkicking.  
 

Spargo will be back at Casey next week. It might help him to get some midfield time and work on his front of pack crumbing.  It’s tough but the standard is high and there’s competition for spots. 

Spargo will not be at Casey next week

This is a general comment - - and im not having a go at you - but i contiued to be amazed that so many posters don't seem to get how important spargo, and Nibbler for that matter, is to our team and our system, as evidenced by the regular suggestion he is going to be, or should be, dropped.

Which is flat out bizzare, because as is the case with Nibbler such calls never get answered.

I mean, surely the fact there is NO evidence his place as a regular best 22 is under threat would give people pause before suggesting Spargo is in the gun.

Spargs played EVERY game in 2022 and in 2021, a premiership year.

Played every game this year too until injured. 

There is zero chance he is not selected in the ones next week if fit. 

And if you want further evidence, have a listen to Goody's post match presser. Right at the end he is talking about who we will 'get back next week'. Spargs is the only player he mentions.

And by the by, he plays different role to Chandler so it's not one or the other. 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by binman

[Bang Bang Bang 5,825]

I remember Grundy on Demonland’s very own podcast mentioning one of the key differences between Melbourne and Collingwood was how much practise Melbourne did on their set shot goal kicking over summer. He said Collingwood didn’t really ever do that. I thought it was a bit of an interesting comment at the time because goal kicking has been one of our weaknesses in recent years. But all of a sudden we can’t miss them. Choco is a genius. 

[In Harmes Way 7,766]

Goody confirmed in the post match presser that Petty was a confirmed inclusion next week should he pass concussion protocols, which looked highly likely; and that Spargo is available for selection. So I see two changes to a team that won by 15 goals, which is a bit tough, but we’ll be better for them.

I agree with the sentiment Schache will make way for Petts, as Schache came in for Petty in the first place. I reckon Harmes will be dropped, JJ to sub to make way for Spargo.

[BDA 22,743]

15 minutes ago, Macca said:

You're blinkered and triggered on Gus as you often are with certain players.

He's not the only one. Some of the comments about Gus on this site are embarrassing.

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

4 minutes ago, Macca said:

You're blinkered and triggered on Gus as you often are with certain players.  Lewis was another where you couldn't see his value and it took ages for you to see the value of T-Mac up forward

Pretty sure I was almost immediately on board with T Mc as a forward in 17 and 18. Was more than happy trading Hogan because Tom was an excellent CHF for a while there. Not a fan of anything he’s done since outside a brief patch of form to start 2021.

Lewis, best thing he did was retire. Set our standards of accountability, attack on the contest and leadership back 3 years.

I’m aware of Gus’ role and I’ve said he’s a very decent interceptor. But he’s not a good back flanker and I’ve said Lever and Gus were playing the same role last year for disastrous results. Interestingly they’ve made Lever the second tall and used Hibbo to recalibrate the skill, run/carry and defensive manning balance down back. 

I just don’t value playing spare across half back unless you’re winning a lot of intercepts (peak Lever) against quality opposition and/or using the ball with speed and precision. And I think it’s a role that requires leg speed and change of direction to drive up at the contest too, rather than always being over the back.

[Macca 16,961]

19 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

I’m still predicting he’ll move back to the wing if Salem can get up and going because there’s a wing spot that’s looking more open by the week. 

The wings could be crowded with Langdon & Hunter both playing as wingmen

When Salem returns we'll find a role for Gus ... he's the Mr.Fixit in this team.  Can play tall too

Brayshaw is a link player when he has the ball in hand ... sets up players heading goalwards so his disposals aren't necessarily going to be gaining a lot of distance

But the next disposal or 2 will gain distance and ultimately, scoring opportunities.  Oliver uses the ball the same way but they go about it differently

Oliver's fortè is the release handball where as Gus's go is the short kick to a player (who is often not under pressure)

As stated earlier, Gus is a coaches dream and he is severely underapprecuated here

Rarely attracts votes as he is unobtrusive