grazman

The warning signs were there in the warm up. The boys looked flat, they didn't seem to be enthused by the conditions. I know there was mention last year that they hit the wall towards the back end of the season after a huge preseason and there was talk this would likely happen again this year until they get more miles in the younger legs. I mentioned this to a Tiger supporting mate who was there (who is bullish about us- but still neutral) who was looking at me for an explanation of sorts. I was positioned in front of the defensive transition drill and noticed a couple of concerning issues. Firstly was the lack of intensity it appeared that they were going through the motions on a cold Thursday afternoon rather than preparing to actually play. The second concern was there was that while the drill was ostensibly about getting players radar calibrated for the windy conditions there were a couple of basic issues that weren't addressed. Firstly players failed to adjust the drill when Player A got too close to Player B they still kicked rather than hand balled. Twice in the game (ANB and Vince) chose to kick less than 10 meters when they could have more effectively hand balled. The issue here is the indecision that it creates in the receiving players mind. Anyway the second issue was two players who couldn't adjust their kicking to the conditions and speared low passes past the receiving player. Hibberd and Hunt. One of the commentators on the radio mentioned that Hunt's kicking action makes it almost impossible for any of his team mates to mark the footy and I think Hibberd has the same issue. Over distance the issue isn't as pronounced, but over shorter distances they tend to bullet the ball and it's something that needs to be addressed. I know the game plan emphasises fast movement, but there were so many turnovers created yesterday by trying to spear players rather than putting the ball out in front of them to run onto it. I agree, we really struggle to position ourselves properly for the wind, most notably standing too shallow against the wind and letting it sail over our heads, this was most evident in the first quarter. At least in the third he had Tom Mac go back who I thought was fantastic all day and should have had at least four extra free kicks for the day for being dragged down in the contest or hit in the head. I thought with GWS best three forwards out they would struggle to find an avenue towards goal, but it was us who struggled. So poor was our ball movement that it gave the GWS defenders time to get back and when we did move it in quickly we failed to account for the wind and made their job easy. The other reason they were able to get so many free options going forward was that a lot of their forwards began to 'cheat' by running forward rather than stay near an opponent when we had the ball knowing we would turn it over. You can do that I guess when you have a scoreboard pressure. We failed to move the ball properly and this was exacerbated by a general lack of presence from our forward line. I love having the ball in Jack Watt's hands the trouble is how to get it there. He's simply awful one on one as a KPF. He's been tried on the wing and that hasn't worked. For a side crying out for good ball users how do we get him into the game? I'm not slashing my wrists just yet, but clearly we missed having some outside run that could counter Scully and Kelly. I think Hannan and Stretch must come straight back in as well as Brayshaw if he's ready. Tyson's ability to get his hands on the ball and get through traffic are amazing, but he just torches the ball so often. If James Harmes can learn to work within his limitations he'd also be a much better footballer. A number of times yesterday he tried to do too much when giving the first option would have helped him have a much better game.

You beat me to it Hardtack. Bit damp underfoot at the moment (Manuka has very good drainage though) and sky clearing out here in the Western badlands where the weather blows from. Should be tropically balmy by the time the game starts and will only require the one beanie!

I thought it was his left hand he lacerated and they removed some of his hamstring tendon to repair the damage... but it was a while ago now and my memory has never been that reliable.

I was wondering if Billy had played as I'd hardly seen him mentioned. Looks like from the stats at least he had a reasonable game. 13 Tackles would indicate that his work rate at least was there.

We won the free kick count, but I have to agree in the second and third quarters and it was the same umpire. I think Mathew Nicholls must have a poster of Razor Ray in his locker. There's a funny thread on Big Footy about him.

Port are very Jeckyl and Hyde. Beaten at home by Richmond and in terms of form they haven't really beaten anyone in the 8 (except for Sydney at the start when they were depleted on their way to 0-6). We don't usually play well after being in Darwin, but I think getting fresh legs back in is a must. We will need more than just Tyson and Watts, depending on Casey form I think we should also consider Stretch (outside run) and maybe Kennedy/Trengove if Viney doesn't get up.

Looking beyond the current season I think there were a number of pleasing signs for us. Firstly add any two of the missing Jones, Viney, Watts, Tyson and Salem and I think the outcome of last night looks a damn sight closer, which is something to consider because Adelaide are a genuine top 4 side. How good is Petracca, His awareness and delivery is unbelievable, while he's not getting a heap of the ball at the moment he will in future years and he's absolutely going to tear games apart. Add him to Jones, Viney, Tyson, Oliver and that's a very good contested ball bunch in the middle. I thought JKH for the first time didn't look out of place last night. We are really starting to bat deep now with genuine AFL players. (although its difficult to replace your best 6 at any stage when injured) Obviously while they are young and need games, ANB, Smith, Hannan, and Wagner are all going to push hard for selection with a full list. You can add Brayshaw and Stretch to that list as well. Finally on a side note - Lever looked to have injured his Hamstring again last night. That would be a concern for any team wanting to throw money at him. Everytime I see Sydney win and Zak Jones sing the song I think to myself he's the one we should be pitching for.

and wasted every single one of them.

I think Viney's injury is an AC. I had a similar one about 12 years ago. I'm pretty sure he will play, might need some pain killers though. Doubt that he'd be in trouble for the hit on Hurn, both were going for the ball -you can see Jack looking at the ball trying to take possession in the air.

Get Ready for Nick Riewoldt then.... urghhh!. Seen nothing from Nick Dal Santo on Foxtel that leads me to believe that he should be involved in the media either. Trouble with the industry is they tend to celebrate the 'superstars' by rewarding them with jobs in the media where there insight is nothing more than captain obvious moments. At least boundary riders like Dipper and Cam Mooney had/have lively personalities.

Ahhh - I see you've fallen for the player that is a spud against every other team, but played alright against Melbourne once in their career. See Tim O'Brien.

I think it is, they are young and with youth comes inconsistency, but when we were charging in the last quarter all were prominent. Watts could learn something about attacking the ball in the air from the likes of Hunt and Hogan.

Haven't since 64 -and he certainly didn't in 88 and after that. That's why the club has invested in Viney, Hogan, Oliver, Salem, Petracca, Hunt etc. They are super competitive.

looked like cramp, you can see him stretching his calves.

Couldn't believe it when he missed that shot, surprising as he is a really good kick. He did have a very bad corkie so I think that kick was a bit of an anomaly.

I don't usually hate on Melbourne players, but Melksham just gives me so many reasons.

Is it Essendon or Melbourne fans booing Milkshake?

After the JLT series I'd have VDB in the best 22 along with potentially Joel Smith in time. VDB's importance to the structure, particularly with Watts going into the ruck and providing the decoy option so we aren't kicking it to Jeffy in one on one marking contests shouldn't be underestimated.

Stretch and Weideman are emergencies for tomorrow, might be some late changes perhaps.

ditto

We're still a very young side and are transitioning from being an average team to being a good team. We see that in patches in matches. The upside is that only a couple of quarters this year have been below par in terms of intensity. Yes we overuse the ball, but that is part of the transition to learn how not to do that. I am bullish about the future when we transition from being a good side (would help to have 22 fit players including your best 6 out there) to being a very good side.

We recruited Smith and Keilty as KPF insurance along with Pedersen. We have four ruck men on our list. I'm not sure a fifth would have provided the right list balance given that most sides only play one ruck man in the team. The issue with our list is it's age/game profile. We just need to get more games into our developing talls like Weideman, Oscar, Frost, McKenna, and Joel Smith (who I think could play CHB), You can throw Hogan in there too for a KPF that's only played two seasons of AFL. I agree re Lumumba and Melksham though... very odd recruitment decisions. Most supporters (including from their original clubs) didn't rate them - why did we? I think we win with Bernie and Hibberd. I am ambivalent about Tyson though, does he wear contact lenses?

Makes the idea of Hawthorn trading Cyril for a couple of top 20 picks (as has been suggested) to get back into the first round a bit silly then.

Aaron VDB as well, I think we underestimate how important he is in the role he plays. Big body that runs the angles. Doesn't get a heap of it, but would have been handy yesterday.

In Fiji with the Hong Kong Rugby Seven's on... no such luck. I will be sitting down to watch it soon though.