DeeSpencer

We need the 2 pressure forwards. With 2 big guys, Fritsch, Melksham and Jones we're very light on for pressure and the Dogs are really dangerous if they get running. Daniel and JJ both need to be restricted. If Pickett needs a rest - and I don't think he does, he was great against North - then I'd go for Hannan. I'd like to see Harley again but in place of Jones or the extra mid and when the opposition suits. Petracca and Goodwin have clearly said our game plan is all based on a solid defensive set up and the pressure forwards are the first line of that set up.

The cumulative effect of a moderate knee injury as well as ankle surgeries and a sore toe have certainly combined to impact his athleticism but no I don’t think he has an acute issue. A case of turf toe should’ve settled a long time ago. He had a full summer and has been rested from games this year. He’s always been a great straight line runner and not so good at changing direction. Similarly he’s always been a kick first player, some players are. All those year running off half back and the miracle Eagles goal came about from it. He’s not as strong or as quick now, he has to learn to dish off handballs to runners. His pressure was dreadful at the start of the year. He’s made a concerted effort to be better but it’s not a strength no matter what the stats say. What percentage of his pressure points have come from being an undersized ruck able to pressure around stoppages?

I was impressed by Fritsch coming up the ground and taking marks/ getting involved on the flanks. He was an important target out of the backline. His pressure around the ball isn’t good at all but he does chime in most weeks with a sneaky intercept when teams underrate his aerial ability and closing speed. The spoil and tap back to keep the ball in play yesterday was the latest example. Obviously has to improve his pressure but if he can hit the scoreboard and be a good target up the ground he’ll be making a good contribution

The minor toe injury he had BEFORE the 2018 season? Seems unlikely. Agility is a huge problem for him. It's never been a strength. He can't use his endurance in the shortened games and it's hard to find space for hard leads these days, hitting the wings as a lead up CHF isn't really a thing any more. What I'm seeing is a guy who was never really trained up how to apply forward pressure properly and is struggling to learn now the hammer has finally dropped and he knows he has to do better. Plus at the same time his belief to hit packs and clunk marks just isn't there. There's still moments - the dropped mark that led to the soccer goal for Melksham was a really strong contest and he wasn't far off holding that grab. The difference between a good and bad game is probably holding a couple of marks and then having the confidence to crash a few more packs rather than settling for being out of position. The other big issue is he's always been a kick first player. He looks to fend off and dish off little kicks when he really needs to know he's a handball or quick kick player these days. He doesn't have the strength through the legs to fend and still get a kick away. It's a bad habit he has to break.

Ancient Greece?

Outside a couple of first quarter goals against the Swans last year Preuss up forward was the concrete body! If he goes forward then Weid is forced to play higher which takes away what he's doing well and the forward pressure (even though it's not Tom's strength by any means) likely gets worse. For now I think just covering Max is all we've got for Preussy.

Gawn for Preuss if he's 100%. Anything less stick with Preuss. Harmes made plenty of mistakes but in general I thought he was better and could be close to settling at half back. Do you disrupt that now or do you keep backing it in to work? There's 2 places we can use Harmes and then fill his half back spot with Rivers or even try Chandler: 1. I'm still less than convinced by Jones even if he played well, he just doesn't have the speed or change of direction to effectively pressure. Crisp left him for dead several times. 2. Sparrow's doing a job but found it tougher against a good midfield. Harmes could play forward/tagger and be set for Bailey Smith or JJ. Food for thought but my expectation is they leave things the same. Otherwise I'll continue my weekly concern about Tomlinson as a key defender. Just 1 intercept possession today. He's not winning the ball and he doesn't use it well enough to be a clear cut advantage there.

I love grumpy Garry. Not afraid to call it as it is sometimes with some of our players and some of the teams faults. Gets nervous during games like I bet most of us do. I certainly do. Yes he had moments of negativity but did everyone upset miss how effusive some of his praise was of the performance? He was clearly enjoying several parts of the game too.

Hibberd dropping deeper has really replaced Nev and Lockhart is used in short bursts off the bench at half back covering a lot of ground at speed. Has a habit of dropping marks under perceived pressure despite being a great mark and tough as old boots. Hopefully he cleans that up. Otherwise he just has to keep working on his kicking and decision making. His ability to get out of traffic is really good.

20 for the rucks, 60 for the mids. Both the first and second quarters finished with goals that didn’t go back to the centre I believe

So Darren Burgess calls all over the world and gets clearance for Max to play with his Lat injury and then he hurts his knee late in the game in a completely unrelated incident and he shouldn’t have played? I’m all for resting players on short breaks and not aggravating existing injuries, but it’s footy, injuries will happen. Max might be fine, if not we’ll give Preuss a run or carry on with the Jackson and T Mc combination

The players he’s most likely to replace in the side are Melksham and Fritsch. Leading forwards with good skills and iffy pressure. Expecting him to be a genuine key forward is missing what he does best and miscasting him due to his height. If he was a few years younger he’d probably be in the side at CHB too. He’s an insurance policy against T Mc struggling, Weid not coming on and Jackson taking time to find his feet. That’s ok. Hasn’t hurt to have a smart forward for the guys in the Reserves and at training as well

Play Petracca, Oliver, Gus and Viney all forward! Brayshaw does give a more outside mix to the on ballers but it comes at a cost with his lazy defending around a stoppage and lack of speed. His game against North was very good in attack but Aaron Hall was torching him the other way at times. Viney’s movement around the packs is still vital. And he’s not a primary forward, any talk of comparing him to someone like Toby Greene is bonkers. Best case scenario would be a shorter less skilled Mitch Wallis. That would be a waste of a gun midfielder. A rotation that sees all our prime mids get their share on ball and forward is the best balance.

2016: gets a taste at the end of the year for 3 games after a decent enough VFL year. 2017: Plays the first 4 and has another couple of chances at the end of the year. Clearly isn’t ready. 2018: Stuck behind an excellent pairing of Hogan and McDonald. Still gets 4 games early and then gets his chance at the end of the year to breakout in finals. ——————————————————————— Surely no one has major complaints with how much Sam was played in his first 3 years? Last year he played 11 of the first 16 and probably would’ve come back in to play a few more. That’s despite injuries and confidence issues. I understand the argument that he should’ve just played every game he was fit for in 2019 but I don’t really believe it. Getting him back to Casey for a bit of confidence probably helped him more than grinding through 22 games of misery.

Good point. Fritsch kicks across the ball with a rounded arc, it’s like a soccer kick or golf swing in that it’s the best way to get penetration. Keeping everything straight is actually quiet inefficient in terms of biometrics. So when Fritsch takes a set shot in a straight line he risks slicing the ball and drops the ball higher up to keep things straight. Hannan is the same. Its very well worth asking the question if he’s best off trying to keep everything straight or if he should allow himself some arc to match his field kicking style.

Petracca certainly get more momentum and get his head over the ball. Fritsch get that ball drop lower and swing straighter. He carves across the ball and it’s high risk/high reward. Weid is such a confidence set shot. If he nails his first he’s usually ok. Hit the post but his first set shot was good and then he got one from the square. I think it’s all about monument with Sam. When he gets nervous he loses that rhythm.

Certainly more a list management error than on Taylor but any senior player bought in who gives nothing is a mistake. That said, we’ve mostly tried either expensive trade ins who have delivered to some extent or cheap bargain buys. Lumumba cost little at the trade table but likely got a contract too large to write off as just a swing and miss unlike a Mitchie or Balic or similar. The same probably goes for KK.

The form of Sparrow and Jackson over the last couple of weeks has changed the out look a bit! If Spargo can find some consistent form as well things will be looking very good. It’s interesting to review our history and see that we’ve pretty much given Taylor either early and late picks or a bunch of middle picks. Last year was the first year he got 3 in the top 30 ish and we didn’t give him any later picks to look at. We’re only a few good flankers away from having a very strong list and that’s without the benefits of multiple father sons, free agency, or priority picks.

Gets the vast majority of his kicks in uncontested situations - that’s not a knock. So his DE should be high. He just isn’t a good kick. Limited length and penetration. Kicks little flops. A good kicking wingmen would’ve had a goal a game given his opportunities. There’s an opportunity cost to his short kicking too, where a longer kick could get over a zone or hit a long switch. Not recruit of the year but he’s been as advertised - the good and the bad.

Jones came in to the side as the second winger when Vanders was out, then the last two weeks has played a bit wing and a bit half forward. Kind of a mix of Gus’ wing minutes and Harley’s half forward role. I think it’s about the best use of Jones’ tank and ability to get to good spots. They’ve been reluctant to entrust Bennell with any wing time (fitness and defensive efforts) but it’s nearing time to free him up from the pure forward flank and in to that kind of role. Otherwise Harmes and Sparrow should be used in this kind of role. Or If you want to keep Harmes back in the hope he settles down we could try Rivers. His tank would be the main issue, otherwise he has a lot of the attributes we’re desperately searching for on the wing.

1. Without the confidence of good practice match footy and the midfield using it better we might’ve killed Weid if we played him earlier. He earnt his spot, and played like he did. 2. Oscar was the answer 2 weeks ago, now he’s the problem again? 3. Oliver, Petracca and Viney are just better. So was Harmes last year. Until that changes the put Gus on ball fans are missing the obvious. Beating up on a weak North side doesn’t mean Gus is a great mid again. 4. Why? Wasn’t going to change that we were getting thumped. Leave things mostly the same and work on fighting back. He did move Fritsch to a wing and try to mix the forward line up. May was keeping Dixon quiet, which is more than most defenders have done this year. 5. Is that true? We were effective in 2018 and we’ve been effective in probably 7 of 10 games this year. Apart from Harmes, Brayshaw (due to oversupply of mids) and Tom McDonald who is Goodwin not getting the most out of?

Doesn’t tackle, can’t evade tackles, naturally isn’t strong in the air but he’s hardly winning it at ground level all that well either. Doesn’t break lines or burst out in space. He used it well enough and it’s always hard to value the importance of a guy who still knows pretty well where to run. But he’s an aging midfield playing wing/forward. If we’re a decent side we’ll have better options

McDonald’s always been a terrible forward pressure player and he has 3 tackles and is suddenly the answer? I don’t think so. One of those tackles was when McKay landed on the ball after a marking contest and Tom landed on top of him. Not sure what the other 2 were. It was nice to see Tom give defensive effort his best shot. But the effective forward pressure was mainly from 2 things: 1. Fresh Pickett, Spargo and Hannan in 2. North’s defenders being headless chooks

I’m not saying Tom is ahead of them just if either of those two medium guys came out we could think about 3 talls. Tom would play lead up CHF/cover Weid if he needs a rest and Jackson would play smaller in a flank role and ruck more than he has been with Gawn in. Tom has to clunk a lot of marks and do a power of running to really be useful as a forward given his limited mobility but credit where it’s due for his effort tonight. Gave it his best.

Fritsch and Melk are the other forwards that Tom can cover. Can’t play 3 talls and 2 mediums that don’t defend well. If one of those medium guys went out we could try the 3 talls again, especially if we lowered all their minutes and Gawn’s so only 2 were forward at any time.