Fat Tony
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Everything posted by Fat Tony
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The list needs a big cut. A significant number of our young depth are not quick enough or skilled enough.
AMW shows a bit but his disposal is not good enough. Disappointing half by Woewodin, with too many mistakes. He needs to get stronger and cleaner. Brown is a clever player. But is too small for AFL at the moment. Jefferson shows no AFL qualities. Tholstrup does some good things but not enough. Laurie is a good ordinary VFL player. Schache played a decent half but doesn’t have the competitive spirit to play as a forward in the AFL.
Too many mistakes by Woewodin this quarter. He needs to be much cleaner to get into the AFL.
Jefferson is no where near it.
So the best draftees wait a year to play AFL. No way the AFLPA should agree to that.
It will be a big hit for the bottom teams and almost identical to the situation when GWS came into the competition. The wooden spooner will get pick 5 instead of pick 1.
If they are going to extend the season, I think it would make more sense to go through to October than start in early March.
The Dogs are as talented as any team in the AFL, so it was a great win. Ben Brown was very good in perfect conditions. I doubt Brown can be a premiership spearhead in 2024, but he did well and helped our forward line function well. It was great to see Oliver play with so much endurance and power. TMac played a solid game and is faster than Tomlinson and better at competing for the high ball. Hore kicked a couple of lucky mongrels. I am still a bit of a sceptic. Chandler was great and is clearly ahead of Spargo and Laurie in my eyes because his faster and able to compete better in the air. May is playing great footy. Max was excellent in perfect conditions. Billings was excellent and is really well suited to play the high half forward role in our system. Windsor's dexterity and decision making is exceptional for a two game player. He will be a gun inside the square if he can get stronger. Salem was good and is playing well, but it is having a knock on effect to Sparrow, who has been forced out of the midfield. I still think I would push Salem back (in place of Hore) and bring in another forward. The defence could be tested by speedy small forwards in less ideal marking conditions. I thought is was a bad tactical error to start the game with Viney, Kossie and Salem in the centre square and Viney got outsized by Bont.
Salem has to go back to take Bowey's role. We need someone with elite kicking in the back 7. Oliver and Viney both take 80% of game time in the midfield, which leaves 140% of game time to be split across the other midfielders. Petracca, Sparrow, Pickett and Billings can easily take those minutes and Salem won't give us more than those four. I am not sure who takes Schache's spot. TMac, Ben Brown and Fullerton are all upgrades but none are great options. Laurie is a VFL standard player IMO. Small, average kick, slow, poor tackler and small hands. Spargo also looks underdone. My changes would be: INS: TMac, Pickett, Billings (starting), Woewodin (sub) OUTS: Spargo, Schache, Laurie
Surely Salem goes back given Bowey is out. They are the most like for like. We need him to be our composed/skilled high half back. Kossie will come into the midfield at times, to go with Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Sparrow. Billings might also get a full game and can go through the midfield.
It’s only a bog ordinary assessment if he ends up an AFL quality forward.
I think Jefferson’s best chance to make it is as a defender like Mitch McGovern. He has zero ground game, lacks second efforts/intensity and will never be big enough.
We have not played well in humid, slippery conditions since Roos/Goodwin took over. (We have struggled in Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and Gold Coast.) My theory is that the slippery ball takes away the aerial strength of Max and our intercept defenders. Plus our midfield is not skilful and overuses the ball to exit stoppages. The team selection was poor last night, with too many midgets. We need to place a greater value on small forwards who can compete in the air. The game has gone past players like Spargo and Laurie, who are hopeless in the marking contests, and not quick. We need Woewodin and Tholstrop to come on. Oliver looks too heavy and lacked pace. Schache just isn't urgent enough or strong enough. Howes looks good and will be a player. Windsor did some great things and will get better but is still really a 2025+ prospect. I am often critical of Tomlinson, but he played a good game. We can still win the flag this year, but we will need everything to go right.
We will see mono. The gap between AFL and VFL is huge.
Hopefully Howes can adapt to the pace and intensity of AFL reasonably quickly. He has the skill and athleticism but he will need to be more desperate than he has shown in the VFL.
My mail is Hunter is struggling. So that’s optimistic.
We played extremely well and had no injuries. Perfect. While our delivery inside 50 was better, we were a bit risky going inside the corridor at times and this cost us several turnover goals. I don't think we have to take a lot more risk with our ball movement than we did last year. We need to be a bit more precise with our final delivery inside 50 and kick straight. Kossie, Fritsch and JVR need to convert better. I still have doubts about Laurie and Schache but we are low on soldiers early in the season. Windsor needs to work on his kicking but is clearly a future player. Tholstrup looked great for 2 possessions. Salem did well in the midfield and exceeded my expectations. Not sure how he fits when Clarrie comes back though.
Hopefully we get salary cap relief for 2024, as well as later years.
