View Full Version : Eagles vs Crows- GBU
Another week, another nailbiter, and another West Coast win- is there a pattern emerging?
Maybe in a few weeks time, we'll be able to look back on this as an entertaining, excellent game, but right now, it was just too close for comfort at the end- maybe it was just me, but I seriously think this game was more in the balance than those against Sydney and Carlton, even though we actually led for the entire second half. Adelaide looked pretty close to unstoppable about the ten minute mark of the last quarter, and when the margin wilted to 14, well, it didn't look pretty.
Having said that, this was a must win game in terms of breaking us free of the pack, and we won it. With a 8/5 record and Geelong next week, we're within striking distance of the top 4. Sweet.
Anyhoo-
The Good: First, the obvious- Ben Cousins was superlative. He gathered more touches in the first quarter than most players manage in a game, kicked two goals and set this game up. To be totally honest, that was the best WC single player performance in a quarter of football i can remember since i certain long haired hippy by the name of Peter Matera put on his kicking boots in the '92 gf.
Then, late in the last quarter when the game was very much in the balance, the Energizer Bunny bobbed up again. Happy Birthday Cuz. Also,in all fairness, I couldn't write this without mentioning Mcleod for Adelaide, his last quarter was almost good as Cousins' first.
Now, onto the mere mortals. LYNCH-MANIA is alive and well at Subi!! Lynch showed that his two goal performance last week was merely a taste of things to come- with 5 goals, (each of which was well and truly wellied out of the ground) and 7 Marks, Lynch has cemented his spot in the senior team, whilst an increasingly nervous Troy Wilson looked on in the stands.
Fletcher and Dan-the-man Kerr were both very good indeed, perhaps most satisfyingly, they put in sound defensive efforts as well as their normal damaging touch. Judd look refreshed by the week long break, and personally, I felt Callum Chambers played his best game for the season, with 20 possessions, 7 marks, and 3 gamebreaking goals Hunter had his second good game in a row- a third straight handy game, and I'll be tempted to say something rash about him having arrived. Phil Matera was also tidy, with 4 goals, but in the final quarter, when the game was there to be won, three people stood up, (aside from El Kapitan of course!). Two of these were the vets- when the game was very very much in the balance, Jakovich was the proverbial rock- gathering enormously significant posessions off the back line, and displaying the usual 'don't even think about tackling me bitch' attitude. Peter Matera was also most damaging in the final stages of the last quarter, and Gardiner (sporting some more wacky headgear, this time a karate kid style bandage/bandana) had a good first game back, and picked up some very hand possessions in the dying stages. All in all, a very even, strong team performance.
The Bad: Players aside, the final quarter fade out looked very bad indeed. In our defense, I'd like to plead the case that Adelaide are a very very good side indeed. They were always going to make a run, and when it came, it wasn't so much a case of us easing off, as just an awesome team firing with all its guns in an attempt to win the game.
Of the players, Glass, alas, was patchy at best. Picked up one handy defensive mark, but aside from that, was consistently beaten to the ball, made some very annoying errors, and failed to justify his recall. The end of this year is going to be crunchtime for Glass- if he doesn't show something between now and the end of the season, I wonder if he'll hold his place.
Williams also had a very quiet game, and will doubtlessly be bumped out of the team next week with the imminent return of Wilson, and the handy WAFL form of Kasey Green.
Wirrpunda also had another downer, and whilst probably not under the pump just yet, could probably benefit from a good game very quickly.
The Ugly: Another injury- Rowan Jones. hope it ain't serious, but having said that at least this eases the pressure on the list a little, and ensures that no in form guys lose their spots. The Umpiring could best be described as erratic rather than bad- they made some good, but also some very very odd decisions indeed. Also, somehow they managed to mess up bounce after bounce after bounce, there was a point in the last quarter where there were consistently sending it about five metres in Adelaide's direction off every centre bounce :mad:
There was also a very very ugly run of play for us in the last quarter, when we brought it 20m away from our open goal, then handballed it through three players, none of whom were prepared to take the kick, and finally lost it. Predictably adelaide headed straight up the field and kicked a goal. Ouch.
Finally, cheers to channel 9 for actually providing a passable commentatory team (well, one out of three, anyway!) and showing us the team song. Last of all, in the time honored way of captains everywhere, Ben Cousins capped off an excellent game with a 3/3 perfect sweep in the cliche department in the post game interview- "We set up the game pretty well, but full credit to Adelaide they really came back hard, and at the end of the day we're just happy to get the win."
Next week, Geelong at Baytec/Kardinyia/Skilled/Whatever the hell they call it stadium, an winnable game, and one which could, if the other games fall right, put us into the top 4!
Originally posted by Mead
Of the players, Glass, alas, was patchy at best. Picked up one handy defensive mark, but aside from that, was consistently beaten to the ball, made some very annoying errors, and failed to justify his recall. The end of this year is going to be crunchtime for Glass- if he doesn't show something between now and the end of the season, I wonder if he'll hold his place.
I've only watched the first half and I know that Burton kicked 6 goals "on" Glass but I've got to stand up for the poor bloke for the first three goals (the only ones I've seen).
Goal 1: Glass isn't in the picture and Burton slots through one from around 40 m on the boundary. Has WC players around him but they didn't try too hard. Was Glass even on him really early in the game? If not, can't say he kicked the goal on him.
Goal 2: Pretty soft free kick directly in front of goal when the ball wasn't even going for either player. Glass was pretty unluck there.
Goal 3: Glass goes into apply a successful bump (which floors both players) on an Adelaide player (not Burton). Despite there being other WC players around, who does the ball go to, Burton who slots the ball through.
Burton was really Adelaide's only tall forward in attack and so it was inevitable (in the first half anyway) that the ball was going to go to him.
I'm pretty ****ed off at how Glass has been treated. I don't reckon he will ever be FB for WC but he's still a decent player when fit and confident. Everyone seems to forget Glass' games early in the season where he towelled up quality opposition. Then he has a couple of bad games on pretty good opposition, gets dropped, recalled, dropped, recalled all whilst people are bagging the **** out of him forgetting what he can do. Can't blame the guy for having no confidence can you?
LMAO, getting rid of him at the end of the year would be a dumb arse move. Who else is there?
Belgarion
30 Jun 2002, 22:23
I enjoyed reading your assessment Mead, and I agree with most of it.
I disagree with you about Glass, however. I think he just needs 2 things: 1 - More experience, and 2 - put a bit more muscle on his bones.
I would like to suggest something to you that will make your posts much easier to read: Leave a clear line between paragragraphs. This makes it much easier for the eye to follow; otherwise it all becomes a blurred mass of text.
Other than this suggestion on style, I want to say that I really enjoy your opinions. I agree with you in particular in your assessment that the crows are a really good team, and they were having a real crack at winning the game, as all good teams would do.
Catch you later, and keep the posts coming.
Belgarion
Originally posted by Visro
I'm pretty ****ed off at how Glass has been treated. I don't reckon he will ever be FB for WC but he's still a decent player when fit and confident. Everyone seems to forget Glass' games early in the season where he towelled up quality opposition. Then he has a couple of bad games on pretty good opposition, gets dropped, recalled, dropped, recalled all whilst people are bagging the **** out of him forgetting what he can do. Can't blame the guy for having no confidence can you?
LMAO, getting rid of him at the end of the year would be a dumb arse move. Who else is there?
I beg to differ. A player has several consistently poor performances, its natural that they're going to get bagged. C'est la Football. In a good player, the confidence should come from within, and criticism should sting them onto better things- you could hardy say that, for example, Josh Wooden was getting massive props from West Coast fans last year, but to his credit, he's stepped up significantly, and seems to have turned his career around.
If, as you say, Glass is not going to be the FB for WC, then the questions need to be asked- why keep him? As you said, there isn't anyone else for the full back position. Given Milli isn't going to be around for ever, there has to be a point where Glass either starts playing to his potential (and he does have potential), or the club starts looking for another way of shoring up the full back position, if he still hasn't developed by the end of the season, do we trust that he'll come good next year, or that Mcintosh will stay healthy all season? If at the end of this year there were a chance of us getting a decent FB through an acceptable trade, then Glass would be gone.
Anyhoo, in a constructive sense, what bothers me most about Glass is he doesn't seem to have the footspeed to match it with most FFs. His body on body stuff is pretty good (he took one very good defensive mark on Burton), but I don't know if that is enough for a full back.
Is this just me being an uncharitable so-and-so? I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks about Glass..
Au_Blue#24
30 Jun 2002, 22:50
heres my 2.2 cents worth on glass. I reckon he's a talented player who is lacking abit of confidence. I also think/hope that he is about to have a blinder very soon and maintain that standard.
Also, what about a posi up forward, half foward flank or pocket ??
I'd imagine he'd be fairly difficult to match up on.
Thoughts....
Originally posted by Au_Blue#24
heres my 2.2 cents worth on glass. I reckon he's a talented player who is lacking abit of confidence. I also think/hope that he is about to have a blinder very soon and maintain that standard.
Also, what about a posi up forward, half foward flank or pocket ??
I'd imagine he'd be fairly difficult to match up on.
Thoughts....
Glass could actually be a pretty handy tall forward, but my problem with that is which person do you cut to give him a spot? Given how stacked our Forward line is with big blokes- Wilson, Gardiner, Lynch, Siera etc, where do you fit him in?
Good
------
ok there were your usual suspects in the centre doing well but for me it's the players that are starting to stand tall that are doing it for me.
Hunter. keeping ricciuto & bickley quite for most of the game and a goal to top it off.
Chambers. When he had that ball on the wing and was charging towards goal i knew he would get it. 3 for the day off the bench. I would say he would now be in our top 10 players for this year.
Lynch. 5 goals 4 points. Nuff said.
McLeod. Man he is deadly.
All in all a thorough team effort by the boys.
Bad
----
You would think that a 40 point lead at 3quater time would be fairly safe but that is due more to Mr McLeod rather than our boys playing too badly.
Ugly
------
An indecent I heard on the radio comes to mind. I'll set the scene. Late in the first quater dean Cox marks the ball on the fifty. He lines up for a shot.
Ken Judge: There are probably a few other players I would rather have taking the shot than big Cox.
Karl Langdon: Not me. I love big Cox. :eek:
As far as the glass debate goes I would give him more time. Yeah he would be vying for worst a field honours but he has talent. We could get rid of him but we are short of defenders once you get rid of Jak and Milli. Keep him in defence cause there is a surplus of players who can play up forward for us.
Good assessment of the game Mead, heres my GBU:
Good:
Cousins first quarter
Lynch providing a strong option at FF
Team effort to hold on after Adelaide came back to within 2 goals
Bad:
Allowing Adelaide to kick 9 goals in the last quarter
Centre clearances after 3 quarter time was woeful, partly due to McLeod and Riccuito
Ugly:
Some of the bounces by the umpires, consistently went to the Adelaide ruckman.... i seem to remember this happening a few weeks ago too??
Overall a very good win :) :)
My thoughts on Glassy,
Surprisingly I didnt think he was that bad today - he did some good things and as per a previous post some ofthe goals Burton got were not a fault of his. In the second half Buron kicked an absolute blinder of a goal - he even dodged Roo which is no mean feat!!! There were a couple of good marks on the lead and not many Full backs could have stopped them (except for McIntosh - but he is a champion!) - Glass certainly isnt in Milli's class but few FB's are - he shapes as a good defender for the oppositions 2nd or 3rd best tall.
So I think we need to persist with him in the team and let him build up some confidence (and a little bulk). Quality defenders are hard to find and I think Glassy can be a quality defender - he is just not showing it consistently at the moment. Anyway its up to Woosh and the boys to decide and I am sure they know what they're doing - Wooden, Hunter and Chambers improvement shows what having a bit of confidence can do for a player.
Best of luck Glassy - lets hope you develop to your full potential.:D :D
one more to add to the good.
the crowd. how good was it singing happy birthday to ben as he lined up for that first goal.
Thrawn666
1 Jul 2002, 00:52
Originally posted by noodle
one more to add to the good.
the crowd. how good was it singing happy birthday to ben as he lined up for that first goal.
Red Army did that, im surprised at how influential they are at the city end of the ground, im at the subi end and can often hear them.
I thought Glass did alright today and has tremendous potential.
I don't think todays footy is about static positions such as who will be our FB because it's all about player match ups. The best opponent for Tony Locket is not the same as for Matty Lloyd.
I think Woosha is deliberately putting Glass on the tallest, leading opponent rather than Milli because he needs the experience. And we need to develop players rather than having to trade for them. Who would we be prepared to give up for Hay or Gaspar? Maybe Cuz or Judd or Gardy? I think not. Or do we expect other clubs to let us have their best players for nothing?
We need several tall options in the squad because injuries happen and players lose form. We have Jako, Milli, Hunter and Glass. Potentially Lynch and McDougall too. That's not a lot of depth so we need to keep the good young talent we have and develop them.
player has several consistently poor performances, its natural that they're going to get bagged. C'est la Football.
I realise that the above happens but I don't like it. What happens is a player loses confidence, gets bagged and gets worse.
As true supporters I think we should be getting behind those players and boosting their confidence right back up. It's not as if we don't know Glassy has talent. I remember him giving Hamill a bath last year. And we don't know what injuries he may have that are niggling either. Just look at those that bagged Jako last year and all because he had a pre season ankle injury to carry.
This is a great young Eagles squad under a great young coaching group. This season I am absolutely rapt by what I have seen. Eight wins after 13 rounds...geesh...I'd have settled for 8 wins for the year as a great improvement over the last two years.
Get behind Glassy and every other Eagle.........I implore all.
TheRealBuzz
1 Jul 2002, 01:51
The Good:
- Three wins in a row, still undefeated at home and entrenched in the eight. Finals are looking very likely.
- The midfield. Ben Cousins is a champ, Kerr is hard as nails, Fletcher is now consistently good, Wirra/Judd/Chambers are fantastic impact players, while Peter Matera is the icing on the cake.
- Big Quinten. He's talented, young and tall. Let him develop into a big, strong, pack-smashing full forward.
- Jako and Milli keep confirming their champion status each week.
- Fido fought back well, after initially having his colours lowered to the young (and very talented) Johncock.
- Adam Hunter continues to impress as an attacking half back flanker.
The Bad:
- Didn't put Adelaide away when we had the chance.
- Banners really struggled to hold Ricciuto in the last qtr.
- Unable to find anyone to stop McLeod in the last qtr. But this bloke is a bloody champ and I don't blame Wooden at all.
And just on Glass. Darren is one of my favourite players, but I admit he is struggling a bit. Although to be fair some of the goals Burton scored were a mixture of luck and others peoples mistakes (Jako's handball).
I watched him quite closely today, and he seems to do well in the initial contest, but then loses his opponent when going in for the second effort. He has to learn to keep touch with his opponent at all times.
And I also agree with Vis about the shabby way he has been treated this year. He should never have been dropped in the first place, and the 'in one week - out the next' crap has really screwed with his confidence.
I still consider him a vital cog in the present side, and one of the Key players in the future. I've seen enough to tell me that he can play.
On Glass....i actually thought he played well. Not bad, not world beating, but good. I dont think Burton was his opponent all day, i thought Collica picked him up for a while and some of Burtons goals as we have discussed were a bit lucky. I doubt he will be dropped for next weeks game.
I think he will be an important part of our defence for many years to come, whether he matures into a FB to take over from Milli or just stays our second or third tall defender. Either way i think he will play a lot of games for our club.
Mcleod and Cousins put on quite the show...16 and 2 for Cuz in the first and 14 and 1 for Mcleod in the last....im gonna give the win to Cousins though :D
Ill be furious come Brownlow night if McLeod picks up the 3 votes as the commentators were saying just after the game. McLeod was nowhere to be seen in the first half when we were convincingly on top. Plus Cuz is on the winning side, 33 disposals and 2 goals on a winning side is better than 37 disposals and 1 goal on a losing side. Im sure this game will stick out in my mind on Brownlow night ...
Goldenblue
1 Jul 2002, 12:27
Another great read, thanks Mead! :D
Glass is a little unlucky to be dragged through the mud though. I thought his game was not too bad and he was a little unlucky to be caught out of position a couple of times. he just needs a little more experience and to put on some muscle and I think he will be a great player for us in years to come.
I would not think of putting him on the market at the end of the year. I was critcal of Hunter earlier in the year, but it's come back to bite me on the a$$. Hunter is playing well, seems to have gotten his defensive game going and deserves the accolades he is getting at the moment.
After viewing the whole match and specifically Glass' peformance, you're being a pretty stingy bugger Mead. My analysis of every goal Burton kicked:
Goal 1 (1st qrt): Jako running out of defence, McIntosh applys sheperd, Jako keeps running, spins around, finds himself in trouble, handballs to no one except Burton who kicks a very good goal from 35m out close to the boundary line. Glass is about 15m away from this which is hardly his fault considering that it was Jako that buggered it all up.
Goal 2 (1st qrt): Free kick to Burton at the top of the goal square despite the ball being 10 m away from both player about to go through for a point. Burton should get an acting degree for the free anyway, there was holding but he exaggerated.
Goal 3 (2nd qrt): Burton goes on the lead with Glass right behind. Ball bounces short and goes over both players heads. Biglands ends up with the ball, Glass applies the tackle but the ball is passed to Burton who kicks the goal. Pretty unlucky there for Glass.
Goal 4 (3rd qrt): Good long kick into pocket with Glass right behind Burton. Attempts punch but Burton still marks. Pretty hard ball to spoil and Burton kicks another good goal from the boundary.
Goal 5 (4th qrt): Will come close to goal of the year. Ball is going to the boundary line with Collica and Biglands in pursuit. Biglands manages to keep it in and handballs to Burton. Burton weaves in and out despite there being Pe Matera, Collica and McIntosh in the area with Glass guarding the top of the goal square. Burton kicks another great bending goal.
Goal 6 (4th qrt): Good pass to Burton leading fast on the boundary. Glass is behind him but the pass is very good from Johncock and Burton marks. Kicks another good goal from tight on the boundary line about 35-40 metres out.
So to sum it all up, of the 6 goals kicked by Burton, 3 of them you could properly blame on Glass, those being goal 2,4 and 6.
You got to keep in mind as well that Burton was on fire yesterday kicking 6 goals 1 behind, a lot of the goals from tight on the boundary line which normally a player wouldn't kick as much. The passes to him were also spot on and didn't give Glass much of a chance.
I reckon Glass actually played quite well yesterday. With Burton being their main man in attack and getting 3 goals kicked on you from your actual efforts isn't a bad job in my opinion on a firing and confident full foward.
Voice of Reason
1 Jul 2002, 15:18
Sorry I'm late.
I actually thought Glass played better yesterday than he has done in most games this season. I know it sounds ridiculous when his opponent has kicked 6.1, but Burton was absolutely fantastic yesterday and, as analysed above by Vis, only 2 or 3 were Glass' fault, if you can call being outmarked by Brett Burton a fault.
Gee, it was a marvellous game. I can't remember a better first quarter by a player than Benny put in and Adelaide's last quarter was terrific.
The overwhelmingly Good thing was that we won because we were the better team. I would say they had better individual performances all round, but we exploited their weaknesses (1. lack of forward options, 2. poor defensive midfield & 3. failure to stop the Lynch/Matera show) better than they exploited ours.
I thought the crowd was bit quiet when the players needed them.
Adelaide did give us a fright in the 4th quarter, but the only thing I can see is that even though they kicked 9 goals, we also kicked 5.... and if.... some of those points we kicked were goals.... well!!!!
Originally posted by Visro
After viewing the whole match and specifically Glass' peformance, you're being a pretty stingy bugger Mead. My analysis of every goal Burton kicked:
Goal 1 (1st qrt): Jako running out of defence, McIntosh applys sheperd, Jako keeps running, spins around, finds himself in trouble, handballs to no one except Burton who kicks a very good goal from 35m out close to the boundary line. Glass is about 15m away from this which is hardly his fault considering that it was Jako that buggered it all up.
Goal 2 (1st qrt): Free kick to Burton at the top of the goal square despite the ball being 10 m away from both player about to go through for a point. Burton should get an acting degree for the free anyway, there was holding but he exaggerated.
Goal 3 (2nd qrt): Burton goes on the lead with Glass right behind. Ball bounces short and goes over both players heads. Biglands ends up with the ball, Glass applies the tackle but the ball is passed to Burton who kicks the goal. Pretty unlucky there for Glass.
Goal 4 (3rd qrt): Good long kick into pocket with Glass right behind Burton. Attempts punch but Burton still marks. Pretty hard ball to spoil and Burton kicks another good goal from the boundary.
Goal 5 (4th qrt): Will come close to goal of the year. Ball is going to the boundary line with Collica and Biglands in pursuit. Biglands manages to keep it in and handballs to Burton. Burton weaves in and out despite there being Pe Matera, Collica and McIntosh in the area with Glass guarding the top of the goal square. Burton kicks another great bending goal.
Goal 6 (4th qrt): Good pass to Burton leading fast on the boundary. Glass is behind him but the pass is very good from Johncock and Burton marks. Kicks another good goal from tight on the boundary line about 35-40 metres out.
So to sum it all up, of the 6 goals kicked by Burton, 3 of them you could properly blame on Glass, those being goal 2,4 and 6.
You got to keep in mind as well that Burton was on fire yesterday kicking 6 goals 1 behind, a lot of the goals from tight on the boundary line which normally a player wouldn't kick as much. The passes to him were also spot on and didn't give Glass much of a chance.
I reckon Glass actually played quite well yesterday. With Burton being their main man in attack and getting 3 goals kicked on you from your actual efforts isn't a bad job in my opinion on a firing and confident full foward.
I seem to be in the minority on this one :rolleyes: I guess I'll have to pop the tape in and have another check, but i would say there seems a suspicious correlation between forwards having blinders, and forwards playing on Glass. The thing which upsets me about Glass's game in general, and specifically against Burton, was he was consistently being led to the ball by a fair distance. To say that Glass was unlucky because someone gave Burton a good pass doesn't seem to tally up from where i'm sitting- i mean, if you're a FB wouldn't you *expect* your forward to get a good pass, and play accordingly? The thing which makes Milli such an awesome FB is that he never gets left behind on the lead, and even if the pass is dead set perfect, he'll be practically inside the other guys pants spoiling.
Or maybe I'm just being a pretty stingy bugger :) Here's hoping Glass has an excellent game next week and shuts me up.
bunsen burner
1 Jul 2002, 18:36
Originally posted by Mead
I seem to be in the minority on this one :rolleyes: I guess I'll have to pop the tape in and have another check, but i would say there seems a suspicious correlation between forwards having blinders, and forwards playing on Glass. The thing which upsets me about Glass's game in general, and specifically against Burton, was he was consistently being led to the ball by a fair distance. To say that Glass was unlucky because someone gave Burton a good pass doesn't seem to tally up from where i'm sitting- i mean, if you're a FB wouldn't you *expect* your forward to get a good pass, and play accordingly? The thing which makes Milli such an awesome FB is that he never gets left behind on the lead, and even if the pass is dead set perfect, he'll be practically inside the other guys pants spoiling.
Or maybe I'm just being a pretty stingy bugger :) Here's hoping Glass has an excellent game next week and shuts me up. I'll be in the minority with you then too.
Forget all the excuses, and look at the facts - Darren Glass's opponent kicked six goals on him. It doesn't matter about all the other variables in the equation. Good defenders overcome all of these variables and stop their opponents from kicking a bag.
Almost everytime Glass has played this season, he has been towelled up by his opponent. I still think he has a future, but I don't understand how people ignore the statistics and think he is a definate starter in the best 22???????
bunsen burner
1 Jul 2002, 18:40
Originally posted by Visro
Goal 1 (1st qrt): Jako running out of defence, McIntosh applys sheperd, Jako keeps running, spins around, finds himself in trouble, handballs to no one except Burton who kicks a very good goal from 35m out close to the boundary line. Glass is about 15m away from this which is hardly his fault considering that it was Jako that buggered it all up.
If you have a look at the tape, you will find out it was actually MacIntosh who stuffed this one up. Macca handballed the ball to Jako and failed to apply the shepherd. Jako, thinking that his mate had backed him up, did a turn and ran into the player that macca should have stopped.
But at the end of the day, it was Glass's man, and Glass was nowhere to be seen.
Voice of Reason
1 Jul 2002, 19:11
Originally posted by Mead
I seem to be in the minority on this one :rolleyes: I guess I'll have to pop the tape in and have another check, but i would say there seems a suspicious correlation between forwards having blinders, and forwards playing on Glass.
Aaaarrr, now there I agree with you. That has generally happened this season. I guess I'm the proponent of the "There's lots of reasons why" school of thought:
1. Glass' confidence
2. Lack of small defender to cover (Read, Morrison, Prior etc are the reasons why)
3. Our game plan/lack of HF line and (away from home) midfield defence.
etc
etc
It was just that yesterday, I thought Burton was superb and Glass didn't do too much wrong (I'm at the Subi end in the 3 tier so get a good view of him for half a game at least). If Woosha thought Glass was going badly, I think he would have switched McIntosh onto Burton.
My biggest problem with Glass is his disposal. He really needs to work on his kicking big-time as at this level players soon work out if you're always looking to give off the handball.
GoEagles
1 Jul 2002, 20:29
Good
- 1st quarter of Ben Cousins. Outstanding, pure class, the list goes on. He would of hit the 40 possession barrier if Ayres didn't put someone to tag him.
- Lynch has arrived! I think there will be an earthquake at Subiaco Oval when Lynchie's playing with Wilson.
- Return of Gardiner. It was very reassuring to see him run out through the banner after about 6 weeks on the sidelines!
Bad:
- Last quarter midfield collapsed. Riccuto, Goodwin and Mcloud were sensational in clearances.
- Not the best start to the game with the Crows kicking the first few goals, but good spirit to come back and be in front at quarter time
- Bouncing in the middle by the men in white was terrible. The WAFL umpires seem to be able to do a better job.
- Wirrpunda & Jakovich seemed to be a tad rusty from past weeks. Hopefully they will be back to their best against Geelong
Very Ugly:
- No more bald umpires for the rest of the season, thanks!
Funny Stuff:
- How the camera kept showing Troy Wilson with his Penthouse Pets in the grandstand. Wilson's expression was "What The?!?"
bunsen burner
1 Jul 2002, 20:39
Originally posted by GoEagles
Bad:
- Wirrpunda & Jakovich seemed to be a tad rusty from past weeks. Hopefully they will be back to their best against Geelong
How come no one has mentioned William's and Merenda's performances? Maybe they were so bad that no one noticed them?
I thought Jako was the standout defender, and Wirra had an injury.
Belgarion
1 Jul 2002, 21:10
I thought that our last quarter wasn't a bad effort at all, considering we kicked 5 goals, some at crucial moments agaisnt Adelaide's run.
Also, Ben Allen mentioned on the foxtel broadcast late in the 3rd quarter that Adelaide were going to finish with a 3-4 goal wind helping them. When the cameras showed the flags on top of Subi, they indicated the wind was blowing strongly.
Adelaide are a good team, and in the second half they got their act together, and their champions like Ricciutto & McCloud were firing on all cylinders.
With all that we still managed to hold the lead with some important goals at crucial moments.
I'm looking forward to the Wilson-Lynch combination on the forward line!! They could turn up a treat for us.
Belgarion
GoEagles
1 Jul 2002, 21:15
Originally posted by bunsen burner
How come no one has mentioned William's and Merenda's performances? Maybe they were so bad that no one noticed them?
I thought Jako was the standout defender, and Wirra had an injury.
Merenda was on/off the bench for long periods of time, so it was hard to judge his performance.
Williams seemed to be very quiet now I think about it. Do they drop him again or give him more match experience?
Originally posted by bunsen burner
I'll be in the minority with you then too.
Forget all the excuses, and look at the facts - Darren Glass's opponent kicked six goals on him. It doesn't matter about all the other variables in the equation. Good defenders overcome all of these variables and stop their opponents from kicking a bag.
Almost everytime Glass has played this season, he has been towelled up by his opponent. I still think he has a future, but I don't understand how people ignore the statistics and think he is a definate starter in the best 22???????
I'll give a far fetched analogy here.
Say you have a FB with a 100m speed of 10.2s and a FF of 11.2s. Say they are alone in the fifty. If the attacking midfield kicks to a forward lead then the FB has no chance unless he is impeding ( shirt pull etc, that Milli is expert at). So Glassy is 21 (last month)and hasn't got that experience yet and Burton is brilliant but inconsistent. I can only say that it was great experience and that he did well.
No, good defenders don't and can't overcome an accurate ball played to a good forward leading into space.
Regarding Merenda and Williams, they were no where to be seen. The only time i saw Merenda was when he lined up to take the kick for Phil Matera (he missed)
Williams was very very quiet but i think he spent a fair bit of time on the bench
Originally posted by bunsen burner
Almost everytime Glass has played this season, he has been towelled up by his opponent. I still think he has a future, but I don't understand how people ignore the statistics and think he is a definate starter in the best 22???????
Out of interest, who would you then bring into the side to be our third tall behind Milli and Jako? He is in our best 22 IMO but even if he wasnt, he would still get a game because we dont have anybody else to come in as a third tall in defence.
Harding
Collica
Hunter
All not tall enough...
Gaspar
Lynch
Embly
All being used up forward..
Carroll
McDougall
Not good enough to even break into the side??
Just on Williams' quiet game. If there is one thing that has annoyed me about Whoosha's coaching this year, it is the criminal underuse of Andrew Williams. I think if he played instead of warming the bench he would be a permanent fixture on a half forward flank. He is very underated and i think he is being starved of opportunity.
bunsen burner
2 Jul 2002, 11:38
Gaspar
Lynch
Embley
Anyone of these players - particularly Embley.
Embley can't kick accurate enough to be a forward. Has heaps of talent going to waste. I would develop him as a defender. That would give Williams an opportunity on the HFF.
With Wilson due to come back, and Gardiner possibly at CHF, Lynch could be tried in the backline. So too with Gaspar.
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Glass and just think he needs more time, but the facts are that a lot of opposition players have kicked bags on him this season. An undeniable fact.
Originally posted by jod23
Out of interest, who would you then bring into the side to be our third tall behind Milli and Jako? He is in our best 22 IMO but even if he wasnt, he would still get a game because we dont have anybody else to come in as a third tall in defence.
Carroll
Not good enough to even break into the side??
I never thought I'd say this but I would like to see Carroll given a run. I think his performances last year were at least equal to those of Glass this year. And you never know, Woosha might be able to get a bit more out of him like he has with so many other players.
I agree regarding Carrol. He was solid for us in defence in a year where our defence was always under pressure
I'd like to see him get a run soon
larrikin
2 Jul 2002, 17:41
Originally posted by Mr Q
I never thought I'd say this but I would like to see Carroll given a run. I think his performances last year were at least equal to those of Glass this year. And you never know, Woosha might be able to get a bit more out of him like he has with so many other players.
I'd much rather the Eagles left Glass as the 3rd tall, or even moved one of the other youngsters (eg Embley, Lynch) down back than bring in Carroll for that role. Carroll is never going to be in the club's best couple of defenders, and if anywhere he could be tried across half forward. He gives away too many free kicks when he has the opportunity to halve the contest.
The other thing to consider is that Glassy is far younger, and still has the potential to be the No. 1 full back at the club. I hope they give him the time to develop
Im with Mr.Q and Iceman on this one...i would like to see Carroll get a game. Whoosha seems to be turning everyone into better players and i think Carroll could be a pleasant surprise if he ever get a run.
Carroll has already got a run this year and wasn't too impressive. He got dropped the next game and Hunter came in, off the top of my head.
Originally posted by Visro
Carroll has already got a run this year and wasn't too impressive. He got dropped the next game and Hunter came in, off the top of my head.
That is correct.
He looked way down on skills but put a lot of effort in. And I think that sums Trent up quite well. I don't think he is up to AFL standard as a defender, which leaves him as a potential half forward and we have a lot of them!
My guess is that Wooshas had his look at Trent and we wont be seeing him gain.