My player by player observations V The Boos

[joeboy 3,160]

Buckley - some nice touches ; certainly a positive

Jones - performed as expected

McLean - lacked customary assuredness , and tried the hard alternatives rather than the simple

Bate - injured before half time but was useful until then

Miller - tried , but probably failed

Frawley - on today's performance there is little to enthuse over

Neitz - has become an embarrassment and a liability , whilst probably still injured

P. Johnson - more impressive and less one dimensional than White

Sylvia - masterful at times ; not often enough

Yze - shocking disposal ; enthusiastic but not as a defender

Petterd - no doubting his application and courage ; will be a player

C . Johnson - probably on the field

Green - same old ,same old

Garland - skinny ,and a year away from being a contender

Bell - terrific 4 quarter effort

Moloney - terrific 4 quarter effort

McDonald - plenty of possessions ; few effective

Robertson - looks fat and performed few one percenters until the game was nearly over

Weetra - why do we get the only slow indigenous player in the league ?

Newton - needs the responsibility of full forward ; has the tricks but does he have the desire ?

White - totally one dimensional and destroyed in the ruck. Should not be our first ruck man selectec

Davey - brilliant early , but seemed to lose interest ( or hopefully told to )

Wonaeamirri - needs to lose heaps of weight , but could be a player .

Carroll - was useful , though overpowered because of an undersized backline

[True Believer 1]

My 3 words are..... practice matches suck !!!! :angry:

[Jaded No More 67,822]

Bate - injured before half time but was useful until then

What sort of injury did he sustain?

[jacey 333]

Yze - shocking disposal ; enthusiastic but not as a defender

White - totally one dimensional and destroyed in the ruck. Should not be our first ruck man selectec

How can someone's disposals rot away so bad. He's not the only one in the AFL. Shannon Grant was a beautiful kick once too.

If he can't get his kicks to be effective, he'll be more of a liability then Godfrey.

White. What to do with White? I just want someone to give a contest.

[joeboy 3,160]

What sort of injury did he sustain?

His calf and knee were bandaged , but it was probably his hamstring

[CarnTheDees 52]

My impressions from Casey Fields:

Buckley moves beautifully but struggles a little with his disposal/decision making.

Miller still doing silly things, although he improved late in the game.

McLean was hardly seen.

Jones was solid.

Weetra and Aussie did some nice things at times.

Petterd looks good again.

McDonald is a tremendous footballer.

Moloney's directness was sorely missed last year. Hopefully he stays on the park.

Green goes sideways far too often.

Newton has something special but can't really see him consistently dominating at AFL level.

Really lacked a decent forward pocket (Aussie, Weetra and Davey) tended to play further up the ground.

Our much vaunted game plan under Bailey looks distinctly similar to what we served up last year. Characterised by sideways ball movement and over-possession especially across half-forward.

The biggest disappointment - with a close to full strength side we did nothing to suggest we will compete at AFL level.

Biggest positive - Seeing Valenti and Rivers playing for Sandy. Rivers is the most important Demon at the moment and Valenti is very close to best-22 if promoted to our senior list.

[deestroy08 0]

Biggest positive - Seeing Valenti and Rivers playing for Sandy. Rivers is the most important Demon at the moment and Valenti is very close to best-22 if promoted to our senior list.

Just on Rivers, how did he go? Slowly easing back into it I'd imagine?

[CarnTheDees 52]

Only watched the first quarter of the Sandy game and was at the opposite end but he took a couple of typical Rivers marks and its just good to see him back out there.

[CarnTheDees 52]

Another couple of quick comments:

Who was the MFC genius to decide that we should wear a predominantly white/grey/silver jumper against Geelong and now the Kangaroos?? Made for a shocking spectacle all day as differentiating the sides was a difficult task at times.

AFL lawmakers should hang their heads in shame at what our game has become. Holding-the-ball has become a joke, and the hands-in-the-back "interpretation" needs re-considering, especially in the circumstances where the player in front is moving backwards toward the player who has read the flight the best. If the AFL wants to slow the game down they should try to encourage more stoppages, which would have the added bonus of ensuring the good in-and-under footballers to become important again.

[RickyBobby 0]

My observations from the game... i'll try to throw in a few positives.

Newton is not the answer doesn't present at all at full forward needs to develop... and quickly. Our forward line is going to struggle big time this year I don't know what the answer is maybe Green up forward I just can't seeing us kicking a winning score unless something changes.

Our movement of the ball was frustrating to watch to many handballs and playing sideways maybe it's cause we have no one presenting in the forward line but why not just kick the footy. Sylvia tried hard all day and showed some real glimpses of brilliance not being a big Sylvia fan I was really impressed with his game today, good to see Beamer out there getting a bit of the footy. Thought Carroll was quite good down back but didn't have much support, Bell was probably our best down back.

P.Johnson was crashing packs and playing like he wanted to be out there, cemented his spot for round 1 i'd say. Robbo's soft, chipped in for a few cheap goals at the end but generally looked disinterested. Saw the first quarter of the sandy game fantstic to see Wheels and Rivers out there and dutchy was looking dangerous up forward not sure how he finished up?

Some dude hanging over the fence giving Neitz a serve after the game would have to get the award for being the biggest toss of the day the worst part was he was a dees fan - it was a practice match ffs.

[Redleg 40,228]

Bell - terrific 4 quarter effort

Thats interesting, I thought he was killed today. Aaron Edwards would find your comment pretty interesting as well.

[Guest unstable punt]

What sort of injury did he sustain?

http://news.theage.com.au/kangaroos-beat-d...80308-1y3b.html

[joeboy 3,160]

Thats interesting, I thought he was killed today. Aaron Edwards would find your comment pretty interesting as well.

I think you'll find that Edwards can't read .

[Vipercrunch 2,820]

My observations:-

OPPOSITION:- The Roos will again be a good team for the simple reason that they put enourmous pressure on the oppisition and make them pay for turnovers. Top 6 again for them - no reason at all why they will drop too far from where they finished last year.

BIGGEST PROBLEM:- The Demons disposal, especially by hand, needs improvement. I am all for moving the ball by hand and run as long as the execution of the handpass is up too scratch. Far too many handballs yesterday caused the players receiving to break stride or even change direction allowing the Roos players to apply immediate pressure. The were several Melbourne players in particular who panic when confronted by a opposition tackle and basically give the ball up.

Unless the turnovers can be greatly reduced we must find a way to remain defensive through the midfield even while we are in posession. Once we lost possession yesterday, the rebound though the centre of the ground was like a training drill for the Roos.

FORWARDLINE:- Our forward line seemed overcrowded. Maybe the ground is smalled than most AFL grounds. Maybe we took too long to get the ball there. Maybe the forwards weren't working for each other enough to make space. I don't know but down the other end, the Roos seem to have far more room and worked with each other to get away from their defenders.

MILLER:- I would far prefer to see Miller to be leading out from half forward than chasing a man down back. He made a name for himself in that role and showed some very promising signs late last season playing CHF.

THE ZEBRAS:- I stayed for the first half of the Zebra game and liked what I saw. Rivers seemd to go straight back to his best form, taking strong marks after zoning off his man within the first 10 minutes of the game. Hard to belive he was returning afte a long break from footy. Dunn looked super keen and I would have him in Rd1 ahead of several guys that played in the seniors yesterday. Holland moved very nicely and was dangerous. Wheels looked perhaps a little proppy but played well regardless. Number 36, (who I think was Zomer) played well up forward. I didn't know what number Bartam was so I cant't comment on him.

SUMMARY:- I am actually not distressed about where the team is at. I look forward to seeing our best 22 on display at our home ground in a fortnights time. Perhaps the first half of the year will be a real slog, but as the players adapt to all the changes and improve on dealing with pressure, I expect a much stronger showing in the second half of the year.

[MO FINE 160]

What sort of injury did he sustain?

hammy

[45HG 1,539]

rivers - good early spoils, read every contest as usual, looks on again i think.

whelan - on as a loose defender for how much of the game i saw. read the play well early, basically looked to be just getting some run into the legs

bartram - threw himself around

meesen - big boy!

dunn - shaved head

valenti - doing his vfl thing again. great courage, will be an interesting story to watch

(only watched first half, and was hell tired so i apologise if i'm flat out wrong)