stevethemanjordan

Remind me of how valuable he was in the second half when Adelaide were playing without Sloane?

Our first four inside 50's for the match went as follows and are indicative of the way we enter our forward-line in many games: - Frost had the first entry and kicked to a two on one situation, Lever takes the mark. He had short options including an obvious ANB lead in space. - Second one was Kent kick inside 50 which showed zero composure, tried to kick the leather off the ball. Crows immediately turn it into a counter-attack which results in a point scored. Lucky. - Third attempt comes from Lewis. Beautiful tap from Gawn to Lewis in space. Kicks to the a one-on-one which favours Talia. Ball spills and T-Mac fumbles what is an easy ground ball. Interestingly, Walker picks up a beautiful half-volley from a miss-kick in the middle of the ground when Crows counter. Only highlights T-Mac's mistake. They eventually score. - Hogan nice drifting mark about 60 out. Kicks to a one-on-one with Garlett. Didn't wait for a better option. Ball spills, Garlett has a chance and misses. These are the first four of countless examples of how hard we make it for ourselves. Whether it be a missed kick, handball, a wasted inside 50, a fumble, a non-effective spoil or a dropped mark. We were committing these things far more often than Adelaide for the entire game. I don't buy even for one second that they smashed us around the contest physically. We had more entries inside 50. They were cleaner. We have less-skilled defenders. They have far stronger and better skilled ones. The list is endless. And regardless of the personnel we have in against Port, I want to see a much higher level of football being played from our players. Aside from our competitiveness which can't be questioned, we were so poor in all other aspects of the game.

Becoming a version of Dunn circa 2009-12. Last night's two acts were putrid and [censored] pathetic. Then he goes on to have little to no impact on the game. Bugg was identical in the Sydney game. I'd bring Bernie back through the VFL after his vacation. I've had a enough of his [censored].

I still find it weird that few supporters see that Frost is completely erratic in the way that he plays. People call him a star. WTF. It's basically a 50/50 whether or not he is going to do something positive with the ball or something diabolical. Last night he made more errors than most key defenders do over the course of a month of playing. He plays with no system which just doesn't marry up with our zone defence. Oscar's lack of pace is also problematic in playing zone defence. The amount of times he was caught out because of slow reaction time and heavy feet was crazy. Last night was Just further evidence that we lack smart, composed and skilled top-tier key defenders. Sure we butchered the ball further up the ground, but much of the damage could have easily been salvaged had we had quality key defenders.

Stretch has been poor for two weeks, as others have stated. Kent was pretty average last week but has clearly been given one more week like Stretch was given. Goody won't unsettle the team too much by taking out a player that performs poorly after only one week. White was an exception perhaps because positionally, he's not very versatile and Wagner is virtually the same player. Smith on the other hand has a different mix of attributes. I like that JKH has come in for Stretch, I certainly rate him higher than Billy. I reckon supporters have jumped off the JKH-train far too early given the fact he has been playing VFL and has been injury-savaged prior but his form has been super solid and he's a very smart player who offers more than Stretch does imo For an outside player, Billy is fairly average. His disposal isn't damaging but rather neat and he's not a line breaker in terms of pace. I don't really know what the future holds for him.

It's a new thing. And I'm a changed man now.

He is a gun ps. I worry about size, but he is a super player and he has the attitude to match.

But mainly, being too predictable with Hogan playing forward is the fault of the midfield for looking for him too often or at the wrong time. I agree that Hogan's leading patterns or lack thereof when inside 50 need some work but proposing to trade the guy is a going just a whisker too far. A dragon's whisker too far.

"This is not a knee-jerk reaction to Sunday's game, but it's a knee-jerk reaction to Sunday's game".

Nah, I like it a lot. He didn't have much of an impact in his one and only Vic Metro game, but some of what I saw at TAC cup level was pretty special. As Pennant says, I reckon he's the type of player that will benefit enormously from an AFL club enviro given his untapped potential. He and Trac in the same forward-line would certainly trigger a trouser-murmur.

I reckon his ball-use isn't as bad as some seem to think. And I am ultra-critical when it comes to ball-use.

We're a contested ball winning midfield that lacks balance. We have some of the best young up and coming contested players in the game with Viney, Oliver, Petracca (specialised player) and Brayshaw. Then we have a host of support players who are also strong inside the contest in Tyson, Trengove, Harmes, ANB, Vanders etc. Stretch, Salem and Hunt provide our run and skill with only Salem being the elite kick in that group. Stretch I don't particularly rate and Hunt obviously provides some key elements. As an example, Carlton have a much much better blend of attributes through their midfield. Whilst they don't have the same depth as us, they have a more balanced top group. Cripps is the specialised contested ball winner and whilst Murphy and Gibbs are also good inside, their outside game is far superior to any of our mids. Which is why they were able to move the ball so much better than us on the weekend with flow and smart decision making and execution. It was deja vu really. They outworked and maneuvered us earlier this season and the end of last year too. Addressing our imbalance won't be hard through the draft and/or targeting players. Someone like Higgins could be a smart option although I am a fan of height through the midfield.

I've seen him in the flesh a few times and some of the attributes that he possesses and has displayed in games are in the elite bracket. His speed, ball-handling, leap, contested marking for his size and awareness set him apart and you're just drawn to him. Reminds me of Robbie Gray with some of the things he does. Probably with more explosive power though. He's never really had huge possession numbers given he plays forward a lot and he can definitely drift in and out of games. But keep in mind he was a basketball star and that was his number one sport up until recently so his exposure to these elite teams is limited. I also like that he's not afraid of the contest which is a huge positive for a player with his skill-set. So much untapped potential, I reckon he'll be a steal whoever manages to land him.

^ Of course Jack won't play against Port Adelaide. He had an operation to repair his Plantar Fascia which had to be fully torn in order for it to repair and heal fully. He is yet to start walking. WALKING. The Port game is in 10 days. Jack is keen to play asap, obviously. And when asked a silly question by Burgan, he is going to give a silly answer. Why Matt Burgan would then quote Jack's silly words to use in a headline and article that then gives Ben Guthrie fuel to fill the AFL website with more [censored] filler is sooooooo boring. Most obviously he is not going to play, even if he says "I'm going to try and get up for the Port Adelaide game". It's amazing what can be written about these days.

I could only rate the players that I've watched live and keep in mind that's not every TAC Cup side. I've seen Eastern, Northern, Sandy, Gippsland a few times so have a better grasp on individuals from these sides. Chargers, Falcons, Rebels and Bushies once. When I saw the falcons, most of their stars were playing state footy that weekend so can't comment on Ling. Two players who didn't happen to play state footy in every game are Trent Mynott from Eastern and Jack Petruccelle from Northern. Those two both impressed me and Petruccelle especially had some incredible moments at tac cup level. Both will probably be second-rounders but I'd love either of them at the club as players who have gone under the radar a bit. Garner and Coffield could certainly be gettable at around our picks. Depends what we're after though and who's available.

Rookie idea, sure.

Have been going to Tac cup games this year for reasons I won't specify. (May or may not be to do with the club) *cough* Happy to shed some light on any players in question.

^ Very good.

O-Mac played on Curnow for much of the day and I reckon Charlie benefitted from that. He was always going to be quicker and more agile on the lead and when the ball hit the deck. And Oscar again failed to kill what should have been some elementary aerial contests for a defender. Curnow certainly has talent, but he was playing on a young and inconsistent key defender. As for Weid. He'll be fine.

Remind who the 5th star is?

Just doesn't lose one-on-one contests. Ever. He's just a rock for us in defence, amazing player.

Haven't mentioned this but Lever's brother has been playing in the Crows SANFL development team this year I'm pretty sure. I don't really know what that means but it may work against the thought of a move south. It also may not. Dees.

I genuinely have no idea what you're on about. My point was pretty clear cut.

Nice points. It's still possible to obtain class without needing super high draft picks thanks to free agency and trading. IMO, what's most important for us is having quality covered across all lines who can and will come through together. Atm, our key defenders are our weak-link. We don't have consistent quality there. And I mean high-end quality. Lever is high-end. I'd be more than willing to give up a future first-round pick plus a depth player like ANB for Lever. Lever is in the same age bracket as our talented core and is without a doubt going to be one of the best key defenders in the competition in time. Lever T-Mac Viney Hogan Weideman That spine is absurd and granted we keep them, they'll play in those positions for us for years.. I understand T-Mac is slightly older. I consider him super important as a future leader along with Gawn, Jetta and Watts. Add our other young core group to the squad and the team reads: Jetta Lever Hunt T-Mac Viney Salem Watts Hogan Petracca Weideman Foll: Gawn Oliver Brayshaw Once the 9 bolded players hit above the one-hundred game mark, we'll be laughing and we'll see sustained success for a while. Adding class to a team like that won't be hard. Through FA, players will be keen to join us I'm sure. Kelly is commanding way too much coin and whilst he is an amazing talent, I'd rather hit Lever hard for our spine. The rest will come.

With a fit and firing Hogan, Watts, Weideman, Pederson and a resting Gawn as forward at times, why on earth would we play our current best defender as a forward/ruck? It makes little to no sense to me. Oscar and Frost are nothing but potential atm. Hopefully I don't need to bring up the multiple examples of players who have shown potential but ultimately don't cut it.