Earl Hood

Interesting I watched the game again to look at our ball movement and we do seem to have a problem seeing the best loose man option down back and obviously up forward. I thought one of our problems for years is players who don’t present as an option forward of the ball carrier and I believe it is still not perfect. However watching the replay we often had players running into space but were ignored by the ball carrier who then kicked down the line. I noticed Lockhart repeatedly running into space to be an option only to be ignored by the carriers. Is it that hard to see free options at ground level? It’s too long since I played and back then you just kicked it forward so I can’t remember. Reminds me of when we used to see Jack Watts alone on the half forward line yelling out for the ball only to see Maloney or Jones bomb it long to a contest. Things don’t change much.

Christ remind me not to go to Wellsies place, how many doors are there?

Come on who amongst us hasn't got on the spirits, walked out the wrong door and found themselves naked in the street and then picked up by the cops? Well I might have but then that was a long time ago when streaking was all the rage and I wasn’t VC of an AFL team in COVID lockdown!

Why did we only have 14? We have 4 long term injured so have about 40 available. Of the 18 reserves did we have 4 emergencies for the ones?

Should be playing up at half forward not so deep and TMac has to contest deep if we are not playing a second tall. Hard to tell on TV but Fritsch is playing deep and Mac just trying to make a contest to every inside long bomb!

A Hawks friend said they are tending to minimise any changes and sticking with players who have played together a lot in previous seasons. It may be a bit unfair to those trying to get a game but it is due to the limitations of training this year. Makes some sense to me and we are going with 5 or 6 unforced changes each week playing newbies who may have ability but don’t instinctively know how their fellow line players play. So let’s limit the changes next week. I would say bring in Weid for forward structure and Bennell.

Indefinite! Osteo pubis I suspect.

Maybe not this game but we are not far off just playing the future to work out what we have got. But for the next game I think it is Weid in AVB out. Maybe OMac in down back as well but depends on matchups. I would like to see Sparrow get a run but who do you drop from the midfield and let’s face it given this years training, playing restrictions I say don’t make more than 2 changes per game. We made 12 changes in 2 games so the side struggles to know what players are going to do. I still have the feeling we have some good cattle but we are not instructed well and don’t have a great game plan.

6 Gawn 5 Brayshaw 4 Oliver 3 Tomlinson 2 Hibberd 1 TMac

Strewth you can argue TMac’s impact but lack of effort? Got too numerous contests, took one front on and kicked an important goal in a shizen game.

Will certainly be watching how we deliver the ball into our forward 50. We have gone with a smallish forward setup so we better not be bombing long to the square!

Hey Rusty I don’t think we have 6 on the bench this year but I am agreeing with you, Harmes should play a shutdown mid role and drift forward when he can because he can score. But they are struggling to fit in a number of contested mids who don’t naturally have a second string, e.g. Brayshaw, Viney, and Oliver to some extent.

Is all this a result of us drafting a similar player type over about 5 consecutive draft years? Under Roos and now Goodwin we have brought in a plethora of contested midfield types who largely have clicked. That is good but now we don’t know where to play them all.

They probably won’t push Smith forward I think as he has trained down back all preseason, so am hoping they go with Jackson to give us at least 2 talls up forward and take some heat off Fritsch and Melk.

Many more candidates ahead of Petty for a delist. We are very short on tall key position players at the moment.

I think the only MFC KPF star of yesteryear that would struggle today would be Jakovich. More than enough talent but he had attitude issues, didn’t like training all that much, wasn’t overly fit and was a free spirit who would not have liked being put in a straight jacket with all of today’s team rules and coaching.

We could be too fresh after one game in how many months? I hope tomorrow’s Intra Club at the MCG is full on. I don’t want manic tackling but it should go the full time to test their fitness and make it clear performances will count.

Well come on Saty you can make that argument but if we insist on bombing it in long we may as well train for it even though many say, as I do we used to train differently. From my PreCovid training observations we move the ball around but in a game we bomb long? Que.

This was always likely, anyone watching Frost over his journey could see he was progressively limiting his clangers and increasing his zingers, if that is a word to describe his extraordinary athletic and often audacious dashes out of defence. He was always a defensive weapon just had to work to his strengths, size and speed and limit his kicking errors. In a well organised defence it seems it is working.

Tigers totally outplayed yet had one less scoring shot and kicked I think 2 goals 6 from set shots and those set shots weren’t difficult. Now we regularly kicked the same from set shots last year and reckon it cost us about 4 games. Can’t work out why they don’t put more store into goal kicking accuracy. It wins games.

Christ can Hawthorn just go away, ever? They look like premiership stuff this half again!

Looks like it is going to be a bizarre year. The Tiges are making every error you can think up.

That last free for holding the ball in front of goal was rubbish. Yes the tiger grabbed the loose ball was immediately tackled, no prior but actually got a stifled handball in to release the ball, but gets pinged. Hawks look to be on fire but the Tigers have been insipid.

What’s going on with the Tigers? They look like us, missing targets by foot, handballs to your feet, missing a set shot from dead in front, leaving key forwards unguarded. Bizarre.

Would love Sparrow to get a guernsey to see what he has got. But gee as an inside/outside mid he is going to struggle to get a run with Oliver, Viney, Tracc, Brayshaw and Harmes and newbies Langdon and Tomlinson ahead of him. Only so many midfield/wing spots available I suppose.