DeeSpencer

Maybe below par, I thought really about par, but definitely not very very poor.

Nah the defenders all set up and it was a deliberate snap. He wanted it to go longer and not right to Motlop but it was a really smart play

Harmes wasn’t good and Brown wasn’t bad. That’s just not true

It’s crap but we aren’t dropping him for the Lions unless he’s further injured. He had the guts and smarts to kick to the corridor to set up the winning goal though, so it’s not all bad

Running, sharing the ball and intensity at the contest to win the ball and to force errors from the opposition is the key to our best football. Tracc and Clarry have been waiting for finals all year I think. Whether they’ve got another gear or not we’ll soon find out. Otherwise we drafted Laurie, Bowey, Howes and JVR all for a reason and they’ll get their chances in coming years. Everyone knows what the team needs, the kids just can’t get a game over 19 premiership players even if our style and skills are a bit off

Not sure where you think I said we didn’t need to improve those things? My replies are all in the suggestions to change the forwards. Given this is the changes thread. Our midfield and half backs are responsible for those issues as much as the forwards. We’ve tried to improve all 3 lines with the change of Hunt in, Brayshaw on ball, Petracca forward. It’s helped marginally. Harmes didn’t look like the answer from his Casey form today. Not sure we’ve got anyone who is the answer.

Efficiency and pressure both poor, but pure scoring ok. The method of getting it in and how predictable it is to defend are both things we can massively upgrade with form, fitness, focus. The forward personnel I really don’t think we can do much about.

McDonald chased and covered the ground far better than Brown and Weid do. If Weid is going to play as a lead up CHF he needs afl abilities to do so. If he’s going to be stand and deliver under high balls we’ve all see enough of that this year. Our first halves in the 5 games since Melk has come in have produced scoring. And in total it’s been 83, 100, 85, 89, 79. All could’ve been winning scores. The lack of efficiency is partly the leading patterns, partly Brown and the rucks being no good, a good chunk due to our midfield and backline lack of skills and change of direction and partly due to Melk being 187cm not 195. Weid in only fixes 1 of those issues and hurts all the rest.

Spargo played all of 5 minutes on the wing because Brayshaw was needed on Cripps. Sure, give me Bowey for those 5 minutes. For the rest of the game Spargo, Bedford and Chandler are all ahead of a massive dice role on Bowey. Spargo was good against Freo, very good against Port. He’s had a couple of tough weeks against good sides in really tough conditions, that’s the life of a small forward.

Bowey’s never played half forward flank at afl level. The idea of just dropping him in to a new position with no development in it really doesn’t make sense. He won’t know the structures, he won’t make space for team mates. If the coaches had any desire to try Bowey at half forward they would’ve played him there today.

We would then have 2 non chasing talls and often a ruck. Plus Weid was all big body work on small opponents today. At afl level he doesn’t have the tank, speed or clunking hands to get out on the lead at CHF. He’d be a sitting duck for a good key defender. He doesn’t kick it well enough to be a weapon with the ball either. Not sure why we have such desire to change the Brown, Melk, Fritsch and rucks combo. Scoring really hasn’t been the problem since Melk came in to the side.

Weid’s first half was really ordinary, so many times caught out of position. His second half at chf, hitting up at the ball and using his frame to protect the ball was very good. Buntine was probably best on at half time then faded out. Bowey maybe the best 4 quarter player. Howes and Laurie both showed they are a class above, they just need to work on their deficiencies and physically develop

Deak Smith played a far better second half since he ditched the long sleeves

He had far more time and space but Harmes took the simple option, got it to JVR who crashed 2 in the pack and created the space for Steele to finish.

Absolutely grim defensive work starting with Mitch Brown not manning the man gifts Carlton a goal Casey a risk of thinking the wind will do it for them

Credit to Oskar Baker who has looked at Harmes’ failed attempts to break tackles and decided he can do the same with equally awful results

Weid finally took a mark and led to a great scoring chance that Steele smacked out of bounds. Harmes continues to think he’s Dusty with increasingly diminishing returns. JVR can’t hold a mark either but his attack at the contest has been first class. Laurie gets the benefit and converts. Casey in to the diagonal breeze this quarter

Umpires rob us a goal from sheer panic. Maybe evens up the Smith one from the first quarter

Harmes and Dunstan can’t get any separation at the clearances. Laurie (stuck forward) and White should be given the hit outs.

If you ever want to a game that illustrates: a) the value of small forwards b) the reason not to pack a team with ordinary talls c) Why Harmes is in the 2’s then this is it

Absolutely, more bounce from half back, half forwards leading hard and above everything a greater midfield work rate would really open things up. But good teams aren’t just giving the corridor up repeatedly.

JJ’s (nearly) fatal flaw is he can’t weight his kicks on the run. He has an elaborate kicking action with good penetration but it has a big wind up that struggles unless he’s balanced. He can kick a goal on the run because there’s no concern about depth. But when he gets the ball and has forwards streaming to different patches of space that require a 20-40m weighted pass he often won’t pull the trigger. He’ll just wait for the shot target to unlock and chip it. Langdon can’t kick either but backs his legs and has developed a pop pass that works at times. Gus will sometimes hold play up, other times will go for it and either make it or send it 4 rows deep in the crowd. In handball situations JJ is usually good. Draws tacklers, keeps the legs pumping, covers a heap of ground. But with teams so good at covering the corridor and our half backs so bad at providing genuine drive there’s a question of how much attack we are losing by having such a safe player on the wing. Honestly I’d love to try Petracca on the wing in very short bursts when it’s clear the ball is getting stuck there. He’d get great one on one match ups and space to use his powerful risk/reward kicking.

If he’s going to tag Neale on Friday then he can only play a half at most today. Maybe even not at all

Gawn gets man handled at every marking contest and averages 1.8 free kicks a game. Should be 6+! Given he competes for at least 30 marks a game I’m impressed he doesn’t flop for more. Certain coaches would be in the media every week after the treatment Gawn gets. May likes to leap forward when pushed in the back. That should be a free kick. He definitely takes a risk in playing it up and maybe he shouldn’t. But he only takes front position when he’s read the ball better and he gets clean shoved in the back. No better example than when Hawkins tore his hamstring by shoving him. I’m more worried that May gets a little nervous and drops marks when he isn’t sure what’s behind him, but that’s part of his quirks.

May was excellent at times but had a couple of howler moments. Including the big gamble off McKay that gifted the goal and a smothered kick. I liked Brayshaw’s game on Cripps around the ground. People get angry on here when you question Gus’ disposals but it was his standard throw it on the boot and pray it works out. And whilst it wasn’t Salo’s finest moment Gus drilled a 15m kick that was nearly impossible to mark just to mix it up from the bombing