DeeSpencer

Melksham my lord. Incredible

The chase down tackle earlier then the mark and goal, please don’t tease me like that Joel Smith

I didn’t bring them either of them up in this thread. Macca asked, I answered

Prime Lachie Hunter was absolutely a line breaker. Could still be if we gave him the ball first option when he was in space - not by leg speed but by the speed of his brain creating overlap by switching from defence to attack. We make life very hard for him by mucking around with it before it gets to him when his space is closed. But the reality is he’s not getting the ball in space, not trusting himself to kick more than 30 on the run and is now a defensive positioning, slow safe kicks and handball player. That’s still useful, but isn’t a complete wingman at all. He’s providing little more than what JJ did last year and the attacking spark he gave us in preseason isn’t there. He hasn’t had many actually effective kicks in weeks. Not the Champion Data version but the real version. Quick, accurate, corridor or zone breaking.

Because his intensity to start the Eagles game was absolutely awful. And we could’ve beat them with 16 on the field so I suggested (not seriously) that Goodwin sub him off and let someone else have a go. The poor intensity for most of the team in the Eagles game was reflected by getting our pants pulled down by the Bombers. Last night we were on from the start. If that wasn’t a reflection of Goodwin not wanting a repeat of the Eagles game I’d be shocked.

Cross (great to see him running for the Roos last night), Vince, Dommy Tyson and others Roosy got just about spot on. Missed on Lumumba. Lewis was a Goodwin decision and Goody was far too enamoured with the Hawks resume and not the player he was by 2016. He thought Lewis was going to show Oliver, Petracca and so on the ropes. All he showed them was shirking contests and giving away 50m penalties was acceptable. Took until 20/21 for our guys to find their own path. Clarko tipped out legends and bought in big ticket flops, had to balance the staged exits of the veterans with draft picks or true A graders the way Geelong have. Sam Mitchell’s possibly cut it too thin now but that’s a different argument, I watch the Hawks young mids and think he’s actually almost got it right.

I’m a big Spargo fan but are we sure it’s zero? Not even 10%? To me it’s very simple, JJ or Spargo, and whilst overwhelmingly the evidence is for Spargo we get a 3rd winger, 5th on baller and a big bodied hard working flanker with JJ. Chandler and Pickett get to stay closer to goal. Tracc plays forward more. Hunter and Langdon get more rest. We get more prime beef around the footy. Spargo is super valuable for his inside 50’s and he’s a major zone organiser and generally just super switched on with positioning. He’ll find his way back to the 22 quickly, but a week at Casey could sharpen him up coming back from injury. I wouldn’t be against it. Has to be considered.

Pretty sure I was almost immediately on board with T Mc as a forward in 17 and 18. Was more than happy trading Hogan because Tom was an excellent CHF for a while there. Not a fan of anything he’s done since outside a brief patch of form to start 2021. Lewis, best thing he did was retire. Set our standards of accountability, attack on the contest and leadership back 3 years. I’m aware of Gus’ role and I’ve said he’s a very decent interceptor. But he’s not a good back flanker and I’ve said Lever and Gus were playing the same role last year for disastrous results. Interestingly they’ve made Lever the second tall and used Hibbo to recalibrate the skill, run/carry and defensive manning balance down back. I just don’t value playing spare across half back unless you’re winning a lot of intercepts (peak Lever) against quality opposition and/or using the ball with speed and precision. And I think it’s a role that requires leg speed and change of direction to drive up at the contest too, rather than always being over the back.

I disagree. If you think a guy has a genuine chance of being best 22 then you have to stick by them. But if you think you’re bringing someone in just for a look then it’s ok to send them back down. People may point to someone like Chandler last year but I don’t think his VFL performances really showed a guy who was 100% ready. Not until the VFL finals which where a strong statement for him. His contested work and ball use improved in the finals and he’s bought that to the top level this year. Laurie isn’t physically ready, any taste of AFL he gets this year is a bonus. Schache, he’s been improving at Casey and he’s physically mature but I still don’t see a guy at Casey who’s completely stamping himself as an AFL player. That was franked last night, now he knows he has to do even more at Casey. Lever said post game how much Schache has improved his contested work. He’s on a journey to where it needs to be, it’s not going to improve by more AFL games until he’s really earning them.

Played half back flank in a 100 point win against the worst collection of forward flankers you’ll ever see. You’d get 30 touches just for turning up. Probably shook hands with Turner and Tucker at the start of the game and sat back and waited for them to kick it to him. 3 score involvements, 4 pressure acts and 320m gained from 14 kicks. Not a high intensity or damaging performance. That said, he won his share of excellent contests and used the ball well, if most safely, just as he did last week when I gave him praise for a good game against a pretty decent side. But his challenge will come when he’s matched up against speedy or strong half forwards that good sides have. I’m still predicting he’ll move back to the wing if Salem can get up and going because there’s a wing spot that’s looking more open by the week.

If you don’t go fairly long and direct against any team and especially a side like the Pies they’ll have folded 15 behind the ball and then you’re in trouble too. I thought the first half was about the perfect balance last night. Forwards were getting deep and opening up space. Mids and backs were running and then using the half forwards and corridor. Tracc, Nibbler, Pickett and Chandler were all buzzing up around half forward and getting it to leading targets.

Brown’s final series in 2021 was supremely underrated with his contested work. Can he get form and fitness to do it again? I still think he can but it will be a matter of timing his run. And ideally having a CHF ahead of him to limit his kms. Gawn and Petty are the best CHF options. The rest of our talls aren’t remotely reliable in the contest at this stage. BBB can’t get to enough contests. Schache would make a decent lead up target but we consistently ask our key forwards to get deep or long down the line. We aren’t a lead up side.

Very professional effort on a short break. Flashes of excellent ball movement and mostly the right tempo. The most pleasing part was the unselfish work of our forwards. Fritsch and Pickett clearly got the message after some of their efforts last year and it’s great to see it spread through the side.

There’s rules and interpretations and for a long time now spoiling the ball out has been allowed in marking contests but if it’s not a marking contest you have to show sufficient intent to keep the ball in. Also ‘the what other option’ is nonsense. These are highly skilled athletes. Gus had the option of punching it forward or to the corridor. He could’ve taken possession. He could’ve not touched it at all. He punched a bouncing ball straight over the line. That might make the video for insufficient intent. It’s clear cut. Its not even a bad play by Gus. We concede possession but have time to set numbers back rather than getting caught on the back flank. It’s not nearly as much of an issue as several of the frees paid.

I’m not against giving Schache a go but he was primarily recruited because he can be the back up ruck. I’m sure he would’ve played against the Swans when Gawn was out. He does make some sense at CHF with JVR more FF. Although if BBB is right he probably gets the nod, just not sure what to make of his Casey game. That’s all assuming Petty is needed back or to have a rest. I’m inclined to rest him but the club might not be. Turner for Hibbo still seems the most sensible tall change. And at least one fresh runner seems necessary.

Gawn hasn’t jumped in the ruck since about 2016 and it’s not a surprise it’s getting more and more difficult for him to chase quick mids (or even quick rucks). Grundy’s not a great jumper either and his tap work is haphazard, but hopefully he builds that cohesion. His follow up is certainly excellent. Still some work with defensive positioning and with his decision making with the pill. Hint for Brodie; none of our mids can kick, don’t be afraid to pull the trigger yourself! 80% TOG against 2 rucks found him out, but rucking 50-60% and some short stints forward is about right. The bit I really like is when the rucks can call their own change based on a big effort or match up. That way we aren’t wasting rotations and can get fresher legs on the long down the line and at stoppages.

We put the 3 firsts on the table for Essendon, my mail said Phillipou, with an Essendon second rounder back, which really means it’s the equivalent of 2. Clubs have put similar big deals together for Petracca, JHF, Dusty and probably others. The problem is if you get a consensus superstar number 1 pick it’s very hard to see a team giving that away. Best case scenario is our pick is the last one of the first round. Freo’s pick we’ll likely try to upgrade but hey, let’s just get an Oliver and pick 4, that will do.

I’m not sure the AFL’s elite concussion protocols are available but you’d think they’d match pretty closely to the community ones. It’s pretty much rest for 1-2 days, light exercise, rest, skill session, rest, non contact team drills, rest, full training. Even if he had a few days of symptoms early last week he could’ve progressed to a skills session by Sunday. https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2021/05/02/2b197edf-0f6f-4004-a3ee-0e0de4425de9/Return-to-Play-Following-Concussion-Checklist-Form.pdf

Our wingers are excellent at rolling back, so are our mids. If anything our mids we’re caught too deep against Richmond as they squared the ball outside 50 multiple times which worked early. Our half are generally very good although we missed Spargo whos one of the best at getting the spacing set up across the ground. The issues come on fast transition after clear turnovers or bad inside 50’s where our mids and Hunter all aren’t great on speedy transition. The first line of defending that is better inside 50’s with proper pressure, once that happened after quarter time against Richmond we drastically cut down those problems. I agree there’s probably a degree of confidence with May’s kicking, but the other thing is just a lack of run from all the backline and mids. Interspersed with guys like Lever and Viney trying to do the team thing and get rid of the ball within 3 seconds offen to their own detriment. Hibbo mainly, with some occasional McVee and Riv stand out for their desire to run and get overlap handballs, the rest of the backline are keen for chip kicks or handballs wide to the pocket. And often to the thin side pocket which is congested and makes 20-30m kicks near on impossible. Get the handballs going and the kicks will follow.

May had 11 intercept possessions against Richmond and for a fair part of the game I thought he played very well. Our zone system asks May to stay back inside 50 and let his man go up and mark outside 50. Largely that has served us well. By the time a forward marks around 60m out someone comes and takes the mark, others fill in the spaces and May nullifies the corridor meaning teams can’t get high quality shots on goal. The issue is teams have identified the 40-50m zone as an area where May will still drop back and surrender leads in to. This is still a low percentage shot on goal but it’s a bit higher than I’d like to give up! Personally I think May plays his best games where he’s given a dangerous one on one match up and told not worry about the zone. But when he’s not playing on Buddy or Naughton and especially when he doesn’t have full faith in the other defenders he will default to zoning. When the zone works with upfield pressure you end up with teams kicking long to May by himself inside d50. That doesn’t end well for them. I’m not buying the injury excuse. He looks fine when he’s coming up at contests with confidence. He’s always been a little iffy when forced to attack the ball on the ground and he’s 31 now. There’s a couple of tweaks I’d like in our zone, the first been for May to trust the deep defenders a touch more and see if he can win contests around the 50m arc. He had one such big win in the 3rd with an aggressive spoil that started a chain of possessions for a goal. The second one is just more communication with Brayshaw, Rivers, McVee etc when he’s going to let his man come free outside 50. I don’t necessarily think we have to go taller (short term) but the flankers have to be more aware of the handover. And especially for Grundy when he’s the ruck who often takes that handover.

I don't think this is our year either, and I could do a lengthy post about our lack of backline run and kicking skills, our midfield looking one paced and being unable to hit the side of a barn and how I'd like our forward line to have both another dangerous small as well as a pair of high quality talls. But I don't understand criticising the coaches for not sticking with the same ageing talls who haven't done much of anything since 2021 whilst also saying things are similar to last year. BBB and Tommy combined for 1.7 in the VFL. JVR kicked 3 in the last quarter to win the match. Gawn was instrumental in the 3rd quarter. And whilst Petty hasn't set the world on fire up forward he has got first hands on the footy a fair bit and his ability to change direction and chase is a mile better than Brown and T Mc.

I thought Sparrow was rock solid. Nibbler was Nibbler but he helped turn the game. And I’m not sure what more you could want from Langdon who was excellent.

Koz has great attack on the man but his attack on the ball goes wanting, really poor dropped chest mark last night when he was worried about what was coming. Often puts up low disposal numbers in big high pressure games. He was also used exclusively as a pressure small because without Spargs and with incohesive talls we definitely needed all the pressure he could give. Still should’ve kicked a couple. Hopefully they can find a way to get him some easier touches. Even if he’s starting forward I’d like him to be the guy charging in to the square at centre bounces and to be given a role at forward half stoppages.

Tom re-signed in 2018 when he was just about All Australian at CHF. No issues with that deal even if it aged like milk. We did have Lever though, and May was on the way in for Hogan out. The issue was the 2 year extension given in 2021 to spread out his 2022 money over this year and next. Unless that gave us incredible cap savings in 2022 it’s likely been a mistake as it’s hurt us this year and next. We might’ve been better just taking the hit last year and then having him at his real value now and if he goes on. Personally I still think he has the physical gifts to be a strong lead up CHF but he refuses to jump at the ball. Maybe that’s injuries but it might be mental trying to avoid further injury. I’d play him down back at Casey and let him play with freedom.

I thought it was Petty, but yes Vlastuin about 5m behind the contest copped a minor block. Completely inconsequential to the actual marking contest