Earl Hood

6 Petracca 5 Oliver 4 Gawn 3 Hunt 2 Rivers 1 Langdon

Kid can play

Jeremy Howe walking out has cost us a lot in retrospect. We would not have needed to chase Lever as an intercept back and instead would have taken our first rounders. So far Lever is just a player, hope this changes.

Trouble is work rate is mental stuff not fitness. We got arrogant in the second quarter, thinking it was just going to be a stroll in the park and what worries me the over confident, lairising culprits were our on field leaders, Max and Steven May in the second quarter giving away 2 goals and letting the Blues back into the game. After that the team lost its nerve and confidence. That said it is Smith out, OMac in I think. Kossie in and Lockhart possibilities. And the Weid in and need to seriously look at TMac

Andrew you are making sense, don’t worry you will learn! Welcome aboard.

Ummh 2 goals what though? If they kicked their set shots?

Sorry I am a Smith fan but he was shizen today, no idea when to go or when to stay back on your man, total liability. Yes his first game down back but I worry now about his footy IQ. He has ability but how do you use it. I wonder if he is best used on the wing, looks like a limited future. I thought Tomlinson was okay today myself. He wasn’t recruited to take big marks.

Definitely watch the first quarter but not after.

Logic says it can’t be the coach or the players because it has been going on for so long. I don’t have an answer but it seems to be part of our culture, a tendency to be arrogant and to coast along when we have a half decent side. Oh for the days of Norm Smith and Ronald Dale! Tough and hard, never give an inch stuff!

Exactly you could sense trouble with about 5 minutes to go in second quarter, we started to lairise and Captain Max was number 1 culprit, then we had May trying for a specy off the back of the pack that led to their first goal. Added to that we stopped running and dropped tacking pressure. In short we dropped back a gear then found ourselves besieged and had no idea how to regain control. Worrying signs for me. Their is a lot of potential talent there but big questions on player selection, game plan and leadership.

Ummh not good. Smith had a shocker, May made a couple of poor decisions he would regret and as for his kick outs, could you once look for an option to your right? You know just to keep them guessing. Why was Jetta on Mackay and Smith on Betts? Lever just not sure, you need to be at the ground to see the full value he is adding, it was not obvious on TV. And do we cut Salem some slack for his first game as his disposal at times was atrocious. Rivers was superb I thought.

The better side lost Uncle! I have serious concerns for the mental fragility of this squad, well at least the leadership group.

Yes but what was that arrogant flip out the back from the boundary throw in that went straight to Carlton while all our mids are in front of him? That set up their first goal after May instead of punching tried to take a screamer from behind. I hope a Goody has a word to both. God after last year how could you get over confident in 2 quarters of good football?

Struggling with the pace of ball movement so fumbled a couple but he is getting into the right positions and hopefully the nerves settle.

I watched our round 1 game recently and interesting comments from Gerard Healey and Pav as we continually bombed the ball long to McGovern and Barass was the real problem was the mid field bombing long while the forwards were leading out leaving West Coast to mark unopposed! This went on all game, so the forward line strategy hasn’t been communicated to the mid? Or if the mids are under pressure don’t you alter the forward tactics and leave a tall in the goal square to compete? Today will be interesting to see if the disconnect has been rectified.

Yes I have noticed that. It may not last but so far he has taken a clutch mark and run thru the lines and passed off to nearby player which is what he was doing with us but we don’t need that. But is that partly because we spent so many first round tickets on May and Lever? And then we have issues with turning Smith into a back and let’s face it Weideman should be developed into a kPB if we want to keep him.

I hope not. Kossie is just a kid. He will learn from it and is probably devastated to not only miss the game but also Nev’s 150! Don’t like the ANB in, would have preferred Bedford or Lockhart. I thought Locky played well in round 1 and Bedford showed glimpses especially in the last quarter as he came to grips with the tempo.

Re the forward line I don’t think they will line up that way but it was interesting to watch round 1 replay today of our loss to West Coast. Gee we were rusty in the first half but what kept being repeated by the commentators was our forward line/midfield disconnect which I found interesting as I missed this at the time. I remember us repeatedly bombing the ball in long to just see McGovern or Barass line up to take turns for intercept marks. Very frustrating but what I didn’t realise at the time was, as the commentators said, the problem is not the bombing long, it is the fact the forwards are all leading out toward the ball carrier only to see it go overhead. if the plan is to bomb long that is not a real problem as long as your big forwards stay long then bring the ball to ground for our small forwards to crumb but this didn’t happen. we had forwards leading with entries flying over their heads to the opposition! This is really dumb stuff but it has been there for some time but why? The commentators kept asking is the midfield game plan on the same page as the forward plan? The main culprits were Oliver, Langdon and Hibberd but sometimes they booted forward under pressure but our forwards weren’t in the obvious place. That is another issue. Let’s hope all is sorted now after a 10 week break but I am not confident we won’t burn another kid in Jackson.

Well a number were/are not duds, Frawley, Scully, Hogan, Howe, Watts, Gawn then Petterd, Trengove were cruelled by injury. Still I agree not the greatest return.

H Petty indefinite! A groin, are we talking osteopubis? And I note AVB still working toward full fitness! After what 10 months to get fit we still have 5 on the injury list plus AVB still working toward selection. Oh well to be expected as our usual year on year injury list average always seems to be around 10 to 12.

And Harmes down back who is a goal kicking mid and a great tagger.

Did Petracca play?

OMac shut Darling down if I remember so gets a game. Any info on Sparrow, I liked the look of him in preseason but who knows now? Think Harmes is wasted down back, he is a tagger/run with player and midfield goal kicker. Maybe Smith comes in down back and any intel on AVB?

No I read this on MFC media site where Troy Chaplin was talking about the backline options for round 2. Was surprised to hear his summation of Joel, superior leg speed and endurance. Sounds to me like he might be in round 2 based on that. I wasn’t aware of his endurance capability. I have always liked him as a footballer, he looks like a natural, he just can’t get a run at it and maybe never will.

And he was a big wrap for Joel Smith, talking about his unparalleled athletic endurance! I was not aware of this, watching him only at training. It is obvious he has natural footy ability and is a natural forward but understand their thinking of throwing him back. But it is interesting if he has always had endurance and he does have some leg speed why hasn’t he been tried on the wing? Ok that maybe just because he is always injured.