Scoop Junior

While players betting on AFL matches is clearly wrong, surely there is another issue involving match-fixing that crops up every year. The AFL system rewards winning less than a certain amount of games. How many times do we see teams in the bottom few spots on the ladder play all their youngsters and send their best players in for early surgery with a few rounds to go in the season? There are incentives to drop such games to obtain a higher and/or priority draft pick and the incentives are there for top level management rather than one player as is the case with betting. I am not saying that the AFL shouldn't take this gambling issue seriously. But it is a little hypocritical to wholeheartedly promote "integrity" when there are things such as the draft system and fixture that compromise the game's integrity each year.

There is a misconception that playing a good player in the backline is defensive. Fair enough if they get dragged to the last line, but otherwise it can be an attacking move. You can generate a fair bit of run from behind the ball. Remember Bruce on Tarrant? Heath Black on Pickett? You can exploit the lazy forward and use your backman as an attacking weapon.

The issue is not whether Bizz can play. He can. Rather, it's where he fits into the side. I like Bizzell. Composed, clever, good kick, tough, gives his all and reads the play well. But we appear to be building a team with plenty of run from behind the ball. Bizz lacks pace and there appear to be better options for this type of a role. As Old says, he then must play on a tall/medium sized forward and given he is only 6"2, he may struggle if the opposition load talls in their forward line. Against a side with three big forwards, you'd look at Holland possibly to play and take one of the big guys. Against a side with a smaller forward line, you'd look at Bell who has the pace to match it with the smaller forwards. Bizzell at this stage is a better player than Bell and Holland, but it does come down to balance and because of his lack of height and pace, he may find it hard to squeeze into the back six. Good player? Yep. But does he fit into the balance of the back six?

I believe it is all based on the best teams at the relevant times. The focus of the 2000-2004 period was on strong bodies - Essendon and Brisbane leading the way with their strongly built midfielders and flankers. 2005-2006 has seen a shift to a more running game with WCE, Adelaide and Sydney covering plenty of ground as their midfielders and flankers run hard up and down the ground. The current trend is endurance but strong bodies cannot be ignored. It's easy to look at WCE and Sydney and see running machines, but you cannot ignore the impact of Judd, Kerr, Cousins, Bolton, Kirk and other strong-bodied players who perform a key role with their grunt inside the packs. It obviously helps when you have someone like Judd who is brilliant inside and outside, but there's no doubt that come finals, inside grunt cannot be completely sacrificed in favour of a running game. We have probably over-emphasised the strong-bodied type and are now trying to re-adjust to get a better balance.

Turning circle is one element of athleticism and PJ may not have the greatest turning circle, but there are other elements like ability to get down low, trap the ball below the knees and general co-ordination when moving around. PJ is very good at these aspects. His big man skills let him down and this may be the reason he won't make it.

Good report tigger. This quote caught my eye though. Neaves more athletic than PJ? I don't think there are many players the size of PJ who are more athletic.

Correct. Slip of the tongue (or should that be finger). I meant Daniel Hayes. Bell: Belly was ok, but still made one of those typical blues when he runs into trouble, hesitates, tries to get around and is then caught. I'm a big wrap for Bell but he definitely needs work on his awareness and decision making. Awareness is something that is usually natural and is difficult to teach, but hopefully in Bell's case he can focus on becoming more decisive when he has the ball.

Not a huge amount of game time...roughly three 10-12 minute periods. Bartram, Bate, Davey, Godfrey, TJ, Pickett (save for 10 minutes), Sylvia, Wheatley, Bode and Hayes did not play. I thought Nathan Jones was the stand-out. He was opposed to Brock. Won a lot of footy and was ferocious at the ball. Ran hard up and down the ground. Liked the look of Frawley. Showed a heap of confidence in carrying the footy and a good turn of speed. Ran past to get the handball back, something you don't often see of a 192cm defender. Excellent mover. Kicking is awkward but whether that affects the delivery is another thing. He was practising his kicking after training with the video cameras. Also liked the look of Petterd. He stands his ground and took a couple nice overhead grabs. Like Frawley, moves well. Junior got quite a bit of footy, while CJ found a bit of it and used it well. He could be important off HB/wing with his precise delivery. Rivers was very good and was composed as usual. White was forward for most (all?) of the session. Good to see Moloney back out there and in amongst it. He'll get confidence from each competitive run. Neaves looked quite slow and was lapped by PJ when chasing after a loose ball. Bruce cruised through and Dunn took a few marks out on the lead. It was a pretty sloppy hit-out. Skills weren't great but that's usual for this time of year. It was pretty competitive and the boys were throwing themselves in, especially early in the game. But you can't read too much into these types of "match simulation" sessions. I noticed a fair few players dropping back into defence to fill the hole. Running teams like Freo and WCE run from behind the ball and that looked like a bit of a focus with some specialised drills focusing on moving the ball out of defensive 50m from a throw-in. It was probably also used to test the ability to spot up targets in a crowded forward line. I'm sure Bob, Kev and Redleg will add their thoughts.

Powerhouse may be in the sense that those four teams have won the most flags. While Richmond may have a bigger fan base than us, we are in the top four in terms of the most successful on-field clubs. Just a pity it's been a while between drinks!

Disagree that Bell lacks skills. His skills are very good. I agree that his awareness is not great and he definitely needs to work on his decision making. But if he does make the right decision, the skill execution is usually spot on. Dunn has more tools to be a better footballer than Miller. He needs to get more aggressive and I'd like to see him charge through more often. But he has that natural forward's instinct to be in the right place at the right time and bob up for a few goals. Miller doesn't possess this attribute and has to work bloody hard for his goals. Admittedly he pushes up the ground, but he hasn't really displayed that nous around goals that Dunn has. As Fan says, Miller still has much to offer and they may well play different roles. I just feel that Miller is more predictable and easier to shut down while Dunn has the tools to add a few strings to his bow. NAB Cup form will be important but ATM Miller is ahead for the CHF spot.

HBK and BBP: Those teams are way too tall and immobile. Even with 6 on the bench, you'd want a fair few runners in what will presumably be hot conditions.

Thanks Decoy. Anything on Wheatley?

I don't know if Sylvia has the smarts for that role. It requires quite a bit of thinking and knowing where to run, when to push hard up the ground into defence, when to break and run into space forward of the ball, etc. At this stage I think Sylvia will best serve us as a ferocious animal in the middle of the park or very deep in the forward line where he can use his power and vertical leap. He was recruited as a "competitive beast" (I remember that quote from his former coach) and that's what he needs to bring to the side; rather than intelligent movement up and down the ground.

Too many variables. He may be fast and agile for a big ruckman, but it is a different story for KD's. Recovery is also important for KD's and I'm not sure of PJ's ability in this regard. Considering the trend is towards a power forward close to goals and more agile marking targets across HF who push high up the ground, I can't see who his typical opponent would be. Maybe if the opposition stacked their forward line with talls (including a ruckman), he could be used on the big, slow ruckman. But the resting ruckman in the forward pocket is something of the past. Don't think the move would work.

I like it, but it defeats the purpose of a clash jumper. The whole point is to make a jumper that does not clash with the teams our home jumper clashes with (Essendon, Carlton, Freo). It is fine against Carlton and Freo as they don't have much red, but I think it will still clash with Essendon (like our current one does). The clash is based on colour so it doesn't seem to make much sense to create an alternate design but with the same colours. Richmond's is a joke and I'm sure Essendon's will be one too.

Cook was a PSD pick, Powell was traded. I don't think Moorcroft even lasted 5 minutes. Craig Smoker - great start to 98, booted 4 at the Gabba in about Rd 3 and didn't do much after mid-98.