SANDY'S SWEET REVENGE by Barry from Beach Road

Sandringham made amends for its shock home loss to Box Hill in the wet earlier this season by recording a 46-point away against the Hawks on their own dung heap on Sunday. The victory was both sweet and emphatic. It preserved the club's two game lead at the top of the VFL table and all but ensured that the Zebras would finish the home and away series as minor premiers.

Mark Williams handed the coaching reins for the week to reserves coach Steve Grace who handled the job with great aplomb. His team jumped their hosts early in the game with the aid of the breeze and managed four goals to none in difficult conditions on a ground that was heavy under foot and against a team that dropped numbers back to crowd the Sandy forward line.

It was not a day for pretty football but Sandringham was always in control thanks to a sensational effort from a back line that was so stingy it hardly let the wind through. Simon Buckley, Peter Summers and David Gallagher were the early stars and they moved the ball forward with regularity to where Brad Miller and Stefan Martin were in fine marking form. Miller booted two early goals and was proving a handful for the Hawks' defenders with his strong attack on the ball.

Box Hill, which has a strong contingent of early round Hawthorn draft selections in its ranks, managed to regroup after quarter time and kicked the first two goals of the second term. However, Sandringham steadied and found its way forward enough times to finally record the first goal of the day against the wind just before half time. This allowed it to take a handy sixteen-point lead into the main break.

If the game was lacklustre in the first half, the Zebras livened it up considerably in the third term when the likes of Ezra Poyas and Guy Martin positively exploded to make a winning result beyond the reach of the Hawks. Aided by a dominant ruck and midfield group, Sandy cut a swathe through the ragged Box Hill back line to boot eight goals for the quarter.

Poyas was positively brilliant with some of his efforts and one goal in particular warmed the hearts of supporters when he evaded a group of Hawk defenders as if they were stationary witches' hats and capped off his play by threading the ball through the big sticks. At the end of the quarter, the match was dead and buried with Sandringham holding an unbeatable 53-point lead.

The game then lapsed back to mediocrity with both defences on top and plenty of mistakes being made as the ball see sawed from one end of the ground to the other. The Hawks kicked the only goal for the term but both teams seemed to be going through the motions although the Zebra defence headed by Chris Lamb, Colin Garland, Andy Biddlecombe and Matthew Warnock continued to thrive even when the steady as a rock Clint Bizzell left the field after a knock to the face.

Buckley and Daniel Ward were steady in linking the play while the younger brigade stood out once again. The likes of Sam Monaghan, Tom Paterakis, Tomi Johnston and Rennie Gilchrist continue to gain valuable experience while Stefan Martin with his sold marking and ruckwork up forward is something of a revelation. The VFL's leading goal kicker, Nick Sautner was held goalless in conditions which did not really suit his style of play.

Having beaten all comers bar North Ballarat this season, Sandringham has the opportunity to clear the ledger this Sunday when it plays host to the Roosters at Trevor Barker Oval. The game promises to provide some interesting football as North will be desperate to make the most of its final opportunity to secure a top four placing. The Zebras will have some interesting decisions to make at selection when skipper Chad Liddell and a possible future leader in Rod Crowe are ready to return to the side.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Clint Bizzell - played his usual steady and reliable game in defence and moved up the ground to score a goal when the team was really on song. A blow to the face during the final quarter left him with blurred vision and prematurely ended his game.

Simon Buckley - dropped from the Melbourne side after five games, Buckley produced a best on ground performance that underlined how much he had learned at the highest levels of the game suggesting he will be back in that company sooner rather than later. Was a ball magnet off half back and a wing.

Colin Garland - has been working hard and looking better with every passing week especially since being moved into defence where he is starting to show some real class. Expect him to kick on and show great improvement in 2008.

Chris Johnson - a lively player who started a little slowly but showed out with some excellent disposal skills and finished the day with a couple of nice goals.

Paul Johnson - although the leading ruckman on the ground, he did not dominate. At times however, he showed up around the ground with some good possessions.

Brad Miller - had a good day at centre half forward where he attacked the ball hard and beat off a couple of opponents including former team mate Nick Smith. Got the team going with a couple of early goals and was threatening all day. If he could display the same sort of attitude in his AFL games he would not be at the standstill he finds himself with his career at the present time.

Shane Neaves - didn't have a big job on the day and just went as the second ruckman.

Daniel Ward - was in a lot of the play and linked up well driving the ball forward from half back but his major flaw was his disposal which let him down more than a few times.

Matthew Warnock - went about his job in a workmanlike manner and was one of many cogs in a very strong defence.

Sandringham 4.2.26 5.4.34 13.7.85 13.10.88

Box Hill Hawks 0.2.2 2.6.18 4.8.32 5.12 .42

Goals

Sandringham Miller 3 C Johnson S Martin Martyn Poyas 2 Bizzell Valenti

Box Hill Hawks Bull Dowler Ellis Kennedy Thorp

Best

Sandringham Summers Poyas Buckley Lamb Garland Miller

Box Hill Hawks Markovic Thurgood Renouf Bull Tuck Thorp

The Reserves blew away their chances of a win and relinquished fifth place on the ladder with some shocking inaccuracy when they kicked with the aid of the breeze in the first quarter against the Hawks. Despite having most of the play, they led by six points at the first break after booting 3.9 to 3.3. Box Hill took advantage of the situation when it kicked with the wind in the second term and was well in control by half time ultimately winning comfortably by 37 points.

Mark Johnston and big Ewan McKenzie were the standouts while Isaac Weetra booted three goals up forward. Daniel Hughes, on the comeback trail kicked a brilliant goal in an otherwise disappointing display by the young Zebras who must now win both remaining games and rely on the results of other games to enable them to see some action in September.

Reserves

Sandringham 3.9.27 5.11.41 5.14.44 9.18.72

Box Hill Hawks 3.3.21 9.6.60 12.9.81 16.13.109

Goals

Sandringham Weetra 3 Curcio Gileno 2 Goold Hughes

Box Hill Hawks Cook Marguccio 3 Batt Conyers King 2 Barker Buchanan Pedersen Robinson

Best

Sandringham Johnston Gileno McKenzie A Martin Neville Dean

Box Hill Hawks Buchanan Batt Marguccio Pedersen King Holmes

Thanks Barry. As usual a good little read and it's nice to know that young players like Simon Buckley and Colin Garland are continuing to progress.

Simon Buckley proves my point that when youngsters are given time at senior level it fast tracks their development.

He should be playing seniors every game, as should Dunn, Garland, and CJ if we were really serious abut developing our list for 2008

SANDY'S SWEET REVENGE by Barry from Beach Road

Mark Williams handed the coaching reins for the week to reserves coach Steve Grace who handled the job with great aplomb. His team jumped their hosts early in the game with the aid of the breeze and managed four goals to none in difficult conditions on a ground that was heavy under foot and against a team that dropped numbers back to crowd the Sandy forward line.

A question for Barry, is Mark Williams out of contract next year? Could there be any ulterior motive with this decision?

Simon Buckley proves my point that when youngsters are given time at senior level it fast tracks their development.

He should be playing seniors every game, as should Dunn, Garland, and CJ if we were really serious abut developing our list for 2008

interesting take. the other side of the coin is that after a few weeks in the mfc side he was able to go back and hone his craft. it turns out he managed to apply what he learnt to great affect, and that he had learnt so much about the pace of play at afl that he seemed to be right on top of afl level.

with just average games at afl level the last few weeks, the opportunity to go back a step and have such a dominate game would really give buckley a confidence boost, it would help his development as he now knows the standards he must attain and would see more clearly than before the differences between the two levels. will this help buckley put in that extra 5% over summer? will this help him know he is capable and spur him on that bit more? or would it have slowed his development as you suggest? good discussion point, but I dont think it proves anything.

and regarding CJ i think we have a different issue. he has failed to go at afl a number of times (for various reasons) but unfortunately fails to dominate at vfl level also. for those who watch sandy regularly, how would you compare CJ's development to buckleys thus far, and how would you compare the game buckley played this week to the best games that CJ has played?

Simon Buckley proves my point that when youngsters are given time at senior level it fast tracks their development.

He should be playing seniors every game, as should Dunn, Garland, and CJ if we were really serious abut developing our list for 2008

Actually it doesn't.

Both Dunn and CJ have spent time in the VFL to address shortcomings in their game at AFL which was negating their performance and actually plateauing their development. Hopefully Dunn kicks off and CJ gets the message.

Garlands time will come more so in 2008.

Actually it doesn't.

Both Dunn and CJ have spent time in the VFL to address shortcomings in their game at AFL which was negating their performance and actually plateauing their development. Hopefully Dunn kicks off and CJ gets the message.

Garlands time will come more so in 2008.

actually it does.

Dunn has not been given a proper go at senior level this year. Every game he plays he ussually plays reasonably, yet he gets put straight down to sandy. the afl is so much faster and better than vfl level that it ussually takes 2-3 weeks after stepping up the level to get used to it fully. The fact that he hasnt had that opportunity has slowed his development. i have no doubt that if he played 9 afl games straight, by the 10th game he would be right at home at afl level.

That is fast-tracking his development. it is taking 8 weeks to become a quality afl player, compared to if he is in and out of the seniors it will probably take a year and a half.

I honestly dont understand why people would actually prefer to have players like Dunn and Buckley play ressies when they could be learning the game of afl at senior level.

Make no mistake, sandy is a huge level below afl. huge!

if we were vying for the 8 this season then most would agree that buckley would hardly get a game and probably spend the entire season in the ressies. he has gotten the opportunity to play 6-7 afl games, and noone can tell me he isnt a better player for it.

honestly how can some supporters not desire Buckley, Dunn, Garland and CJ to play every one of the last 8 games and prefer to see Ward,Bizzel,Brown,Pickett etc. we know what those old guyz can do and they dont need to develop their game once the finals are gone. our young players do!

it annoys me every week when brown and pickett are selected ahead of those young boys once finals is out of reach.

to me it just makes no sense.

Dunn has struggled to make an impact at AFL and his commitment at the ball has been in question. His demotion was in recognition of this. The VFL is a good place to put the lessons taught into practice. Hopefully he kicks on from here. However I would have selected him earlier

Garland is tall and raw with good potential. He has had a taste of AFL and needs to build his game in the VFL before he takes it to the next level.

CJ- He has been tried and come up chumps each time at AFL. Has the ability. Does he have the attitude to make it? VFL would be a good place to show. He struggles at the top level and I dont see how it would develop him.

BTW, if we were vying for the eight, I would hope we would be playing our best team. If Buckley showed the form there is no reason why he would not be selected. See Bartram and Bate.

I agree with you that Pickett, Ward and Bizz offer us little and should not be picked. Brown is undervalued in the side. He was close to BOG on Saturday night. He does alot of the work especially on the defensive side that our so called stars refuse to do.

Dunn has struggled to make an impact at AFL and his commitment at the ball has been in question. His demotion was in recognition of this. The VFL is a good place to put the lessons taught into practice. Hopefully he kicks on from here. However I would have selected him earlier

Garland is tall and raw with good potential. He has had a taste of AFL and needs to build his game in the VFL before he takes it to the next level.

CJ- He has been tried and come up chumps each time at AFL. Has the ability. Does he have the attitude to make it? VFL would be a good place to show. He struggles at the top level and I dont see how it would develop him.

BTW, if we were vying for the eight, I would hope we would be playing our best team. If Buckley showed the form there is no reason why he would not be selected. See Bartram and Bate.

I agree with you that Pickett, Ward and Bizz offer us little and should not be picked. Brown is undervalued in the side. He was close to BOG on Saturday night. He does alot of the work especially on the defensive side that our so called stars refuse to do.

RR i agree with you in certain cases, such as in Garland. Garland is very raw, and he definitely needs to hone his skills at a lower level before making a big impact at senior level. there is certainly merit in that.

However the same does not apply in the case of Dunn and Buckley imo. both are in their 2nd-3rd year on the list and are past the stage of honing their skills. they need to play at senior level and they need to be playing 70% game time. it is too often that MFC has taken too long before their youngsters get such opportunities.

i strongly believe that with Dunn and Buckley especially, the more gametime they get at senior level, the better they will get, QUICKER!

this season has provided a unique opportunity to give youngsters game-time before they are fully 100% ready for it. this will put them in better position for the future.

i strongly feel we have a little bit missed out on this opportunity by continuing to select brown, ward, bizzel and pickett ever when the finals are gone. Buckley, PJ and Dunn have been repeatedly dropped.

And RR, my point is, that i agree N.Brown is a valuable member of the side and will contribute more than say, Buckley or Dunn. But i dont care about that. results no longer matter. Brown is 31 and is close to retirement. he has nothing to prove and no development left in him. Riley clearly stated he wanted to develop for season 2008. if he was serious about that then he would be playing the players that will actually be on our list in 2008. Can you honestly tell me you think Ward, Brown, Bizzel or Pickett will be on our list next season. i personally doubt any of them will be (Brown bc of retirement; the rest delisted). if they are not going to be on our list in 2008 and particularly if they are depth players, then they should not be playing in the seniors once finals are gone. full stop.

if they are not going to be on our list in 2008 and particularly if they are depth players, then they should not be playing in the seniors once finals are gone. full stop.

Because, aside from proposing the current Niddrie Under 12s team, the football department still need to present a competitive and balanced team. Do you really think that they would allow Buckley, Bode, Frawley in the same back half, given their levels of experience? When you consider you’ve got Carroll/Ferguson/Bell as the bystanders, only a coach with no alternative would do that. Riley does have options and he is using them.

Dunn has been in and out for reasons already stated but its fairly obvious he’s a keeper and if they have issues with his application then I’m willing to accept it.

CJ has had enough opportunities to prove his worth.

Bizzell may come in to replace Frawley. Ward is no chance unless the selectors go sentimental for Neitz. I doubt both will happen.

Following your arguments, Holland wouldn’t have played but he was close to being the difference between the two sides on Saturday night. Brown was invaluable as was Pickett.

I’m all for playing the kids at this stage in the season but you can’t crucify them. There’s no value in playing them in teams that are getting crunched. If they’re competitive then the rewards might follow.

Riley, in my opinion, is doing the right thing for the future of the team and the current list. Paul Roos’ comments were uninformed.

(please note that no offence is intended to the Niddrie Under 12s in the above post. I'm sure they're a great team)

against sydney we had:

Buckley, Dunn, P.Johnson, C.Johnson, Garland and Bode playing reserves!

we had just lost our last 3 games by an average of about 60 points. He had 6 youngsters who could easily have come in and continued their development at senior level, yet Riley chose to play this likes of Ward, Bizzel, Brown and Pickett ahead of him.

Paul Roos was spot on the money. riley can say what he likes about injuries, and we do have them. however we had 6 young players who he consciously decided to keep at sandy and play our old/medicocre depth players ahead of them.

Now dont think i dont realize that we need team balance. i am aware that if a team has 3 tall forwards, then holland or Bizzel need to played so that we can cover them. that is obvious.

What is not obvious is why riley made these choices:

Ward vs C.Johnson

Pickett vs Buckley

Brown vs Bode

Bizzel vs Dunn

Jamar vs PJ

These players could be put in the team without distrupting team balance. Riley has simply missed out on an opportunity to give these young players development time in the seniors.

We lost for 4 weeks in a row by 50 points each time. are people telling me that during that 4 weeks they prefered to be smashed with 8 players above 30 yrs old or have a few youngsters in the team gaining valuable senior gametime. who knows, with the youngsters in the team we may have only lost by 30 points, instead of 93 against P.A.

honestly, can people not see any merit in my point?

The last 8 weeks were supposed to be about developing players for 2008. not playing the +30s who arent even gonna be on our list next year so that riley can have a better chance of getting the coaching job.

his selections until last round were dispicable.

against sydney we had:

Buckley, Dunn, P.Johnson, C.Johnson, Garland and Bode playing reserves!

Buckley played against Sydney as a late replacement for Frawley.

...and regarding CJ i think we have a different issue. he has failed to go at afl a number of times (for various reasons) but unfortunately fails to dominate at vfl level also. for those who watch sandy regularly, how would you compare CJ's development to buckleys thus far, and how would you compare the game buckley played this week to the best games that CJ has played?

sorry for repeating myself and replying to my own post, but i thought perhaps these questions got lost in the thread. any thoughts from anyone?