This bloke amazes me. For a Hawthorn supporter his knowledge of our mob is extraordinary. Anyways, no great insights here but I thought demonlanders would be interested in some of his observations from the match sim.

 

Kynan Brown – Well, what do we have here? Kicked a couple of goals, was busy around the packs and had a couple of really good front-and-centre gathers to keep the footy moving. The Dees have Pickett, but when he moves into the guts, that second smaller forward role is one that has let them down. They’ve had Charlie Spargo, or Kade Chandler… but they really haven’t done it for me. Thumbs up.

Brown kind of did it for me in this game.

Caleb Windsor – A mixed bag from him. Has an elite tank, and was still running the wings deep into the fourth quarter, which was great, but some of his disposals were… well, they were ****ty. I think that’ll be ironed out as he becomes more accustomed to the speed of the game, but he threw his body in, won the ball, and just let himself down with disposal, at times. It can be fixed, but you cannot teach someone to win the footy the way he was winning it. Thumbs up from me.

 

And on Kozzie - 

Geez, he looked dangerous in this one. Kysaiah… not Marlion, although Marlion had a few good moments, as well.

Whether forward or in the middle, Kysaiah looked dangerous every time he was near the footy. Whether it was his tackling pressure early in the game, his efforts to win back-to-back-to-back clearances in the third quarter, or leaping into the stratosphere to almost drag in the preseason mark of the year, Pickett gave the 3-4K at Casey Fields plenty to ooh and ahh about.

Did the Dees get the mix right with him running through the midfield?

It felt about right. He was effective while in there and pushed forward hard without hitting the scoreboard. I reckon a 50/50 split is the ideal for him. He adds so much irrespective of where he plays… I reckon Simon Goodwin wishes he had a couple of him.

And JvR - Really liked the early attack on the footy from Jacob Van Rooyen. He was hard at it and both presented on the lead and crashed packs several times in the first half. Looked like he ran out of puff a little in the second half, but seems to be the best marking target the Dees have inside fifty at the moment, and attacks the ball like he knows it.

May V Balta - And I touched on the work of Noah Balta above, but I need to give credit to Steven May for the way he worked back into the game after the main break. His tussle with Balta was a brilliant watch, with both guys matching up very well throughout the contest. May took the third quarter points after Balta got the first two. Balta hit the bench to start the fourth and didn’t return – a well earned rest.

And finally... 

As for the Dees, there is enough to work with that Simon Goodwin won’t be pressing the panic button just yet. He’s got Clayton Oliver to come back in, and he started the fifth period by grabbing two touches, including a clearance in the first 40 seconds. They’ll be fine.

 

My two bob's worth is that the match sim was disappointing because the old forward issues were still evident, but I did enjoy Brown's game and Verrall's leap was something to behold. He may offer us something special in a year or two. Viney was brilliant, Kozzie dynamic and Max has lost nothing, but our pressure was not there and it looked like it was just a hit out from our perspective.

With a few on this site tearing their hair out over a game for which no points were on offer I thought mongrel punt's closing three word sentence might offer some comfort.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, pitmaster said:

 They’ll be fine.

 

My two bob's worth is that the match sim was disappointing because the old forward issues were still evident, but I did enjoy Brown's game and Verrall's leap was something to behold. He may offer us something special in a year or two. Viney was brilliant, Kozzie dynamic and Max has lost nothing, but our pressure was not there and it looked like it was just a hit out from our perspective.

With a few on this site tearing their hair out over a game for which no points were on offer I thought mongrel punt's closing three word sentence might offer some comfort.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for this pitmaster. Realistic but agree with 3 word summary as you noted.

I think back to last seasons match sim where Brody was on fire forward etc. Media were in a lather.

Like this year's mainly meant nothing as a predictor.

Roll on Round zero

2 hours ago, pitmaster said:

This bloke amazes me. For a Hawthorn supporter his knowledge of our mob is extraordinary. Anyways, no great insights here but I thought demonlanders would be interested in some of his observations from the match sim.

 

Kynan Brown – Well, what do we have here? Kicked a couple of goals, was busy around the packs and had a couple of really good front-and-centre gathers to keep the footy moving. The Dees have Pickett, but when he moves into the guts, that second smaller forward role is one that has let them down. They’ve had Charlie Spargo, or Kade Chandler… but they really haven’t done it for me. Thumbs up.

Brown kind of did it for me in this game.

Caleb Windsor – A mixed bag from him. Has an elite tank, and was still running the wings deep into the fourth quarter, which was great, but some of his disposals were… well, they were ****ty. I think that’ll be ironed out as he becomes more accustomed to the speed of the game, but he threw his body in, won the ball, and just let himself down with disposal, at times. It can be fixed, but you cannot teach someone to win the footy the way he was winning it. Thumbs up from me.

 

And on Kozzie - 

Geez, he looked dangerous in this one. Kysaiah… not Marlion, although Marlion had a few good moments, as well.

Whether forward or in the middle, Kysaiah looked dangerous every time he was near the footy. Whether it was his tackling pressure early in the game, his efforts to win back-to-back-to-back clearances in the third quarter, or leaping into the stratosphere to almost drag in the preseason mark of the year, Pickett gave the 3-4K at Casey Fields plenty to ooh and ahh about.

Did the Dees get the mix right with him running through the midfield?

It felt about right. He was effective while in there and pushed forward hard without hitting the scoreboard. I reckon a 50/50 split is the ideal for him. He adds so much irrespective of where he plays… I reckon Simon Goodwin wishes he had a couple of him.

And JvR - Really liked the early attack on the footy from Jacob Van Rooyen. He was hard at it and both presented on the lead and crashed packs several times in the first half. Looked like he ran out of puff a little in the second half, but seems to be the best marking target the Dees have inside fifty at the moment, and attacks the ball like he knows it.

May V Balta - And I touched on the work of Noah Balta above, but I need to give credit to Steven May for the way he worked back into the game after the main break. His tussle with Balta was a brilliant watch, with both guys matching up very well throughout the contest. May took the third quarter points after Balta got the first two. Balta hit the bench to start the fourth and didn’t return – a well earned rest.

And finally... 

As for the Dees, there is enough to work with that Simon Goodwin won’t be pressing the panic button just yet. He’s got Clayton Oliver to come back in, and he started the fifth period by grabbing two touches, including a clearance in the first 40 seconds. They’ll be fine.

 

My two bob's worth is that the match sim was disappointing because the old forward issues were still evident, but I did enjoy Brown's game and Verrall's leap was something to behold. He may offer us something special in a year or two. Viney was brilliant, Kozzie dynamic and Max has lost nothing, but our pressure was not there and it looked like it was just a hit out from our perspective.

With a few on this site tearing their hair out over a game for which no points were on offer I thought mongrel punt's closing three word sentence might offer some comfort.

 

 

 

 

I smell a masquerader, (it takes one to know one 😁).

Seriously though, thank you for posting this. It may upset those who seemingly revel in eternal negativity, but it’s a welcome (and accurate) summation of our young kids’ forays on Sunday. And yes, we’ll be fine. 

2 hours ago, pitmaster said:

My two bob's worth is that the match sim was disappointing because the old forward issues were still evident,

They certainly were but at the same time we all would've taken a 14.10 score line (2 less scoring shots than the Carlton semi) in the finals last year and ran with it.

I thought our defence (the back line and overall defensive intent all over the field) was far more concerning. A Simon Goodwin team does not concede 120 points in a game of footy, much less against a middle of the road side.

Nice to hear K Brown cracked a positive mention here and on Cornes and Buckley's SEN show.

Agree on Verral, he looks a player. 

Was pretty much how I summed up the day. He is good.