Game Day North Melbourne vs Adelaide - NAB Cup 1 (STREAMS CAN COME TRUE!)

[naturally north]

Don't judge his intensity in practice games.

Yeah good call and I'd suggest Robbie just wanted to get through the game, and that's perfectly understandable.

 

[naturally north]

Someone in authority (Brad) should lay down the law in no uncertain terms to Lindsay. Everyone bitches when he cops weeks, under the old MRP code, but here we go again. TWO stupid off-the-ball free kicks from inside our forward line because.....Lindsay gets frustrated? His stupid actions cost the team and will cost him weeks. I would make him pay another $1000 to the Huddle to remind him that he has obligations to our club. I don't want my membership dollars paying his fines that many on BF will 'laugh off'. Do stupid things in practice games and do stupid things in real games when the pressure is really on.

I'll laugh of his antics, his great out weighs he bad by so much it aint funny.

Do you know how hard it is to play football as a small/med fwd?

 

[FAILTOSUCCEED]

I didnt see the match. One a scale of 1 to 10, how did taz go in defence?

3

 

[niko11]

If Basti played the way everyone said then yeah he needs to step it up... I think the depth in the team is playing on his mind cause a few yrs back he was a walkup start

 

[Kimbo]

I'll laugh of his antics, his great out weighs he bad by so much it aint funny.

Do you know how hard it is to play football as a small/med fwd?

It's not mutually exclusive nn.

His good does far outweigh his bad AND his bad tarnishes his good.
His role may be difficult AND plenty of others do it without doing stupid s**t.

Lindsay is, himself, on record as saying he wants to cut out the staging stuff. Same goes for this imho. It was completely unnecessary. Watch Dal or Dish for how not to react to stuff.

I have a long and proud history of praising LT - he is just about my favourite player - AND I'm getting pretty bloody sick of this stuff. Why? Because it diminishes what might otherwise be an outstanding reputation. Wise up Lindsay! :sternlook

 

[Harris 10]

I'm still cross at you for calling me a Knob.

I'm sure you've been called worse than that, I know I have

 

[niko11]

First Nab game and L.T is still up to no good tells me things arnt going to change with him.. Yeah hope Brad lays down the law..

 

[Lavy_Panther]

Lindsay plays on the edge. Sometimes he gets a little too close to the line and he falls over it, sure, but I'd rather he stays there than go back into his shell and lose that competitiveness.

Who was the last small forward who didn't have that campaigner in their game?

 

[Kimbo]

Lindsay plays on the edge. Sometimes he gets a little too close to the line and he falls over it, sure, but I'd rather he stays there than go back into his shell and lose that competitiveness.

Who was the last small forward who didn't have that campaigner in their game?

Bruest?

I don't accept the dualist notion that he's either good/on the edge OR he's uncompetitive/in his shell. There are other options.

 

[Lavy_Panther]

Bruest?

I don't accept the dualist notion that he's either good/on the edge OR he's uncompetitive/in his shell. There are other options.

Bruest is not a small forward, he's over 6 foot.

Who are you, or I, to say Lindsay Thomas doesn't play his best when he's in your face? For mine, his best attribute is his simultaneous attack on the ball and player, nailing massive tackles after a big chase.

Professional sport is LITTERED with cases of players whose psychological state greatly impacted their performances.

Take two examples from cricket.

Firstly, Brian Lara was so imperious when engaged in a dog fight that the Australian cricket team employed a sledge embargo on him. Their thoughts were that Lara lifted to another level when targeted verbally.

And on the other side of things, former South African bowler Andre Nel, who was a journeyman at best, was psychologically tested and discovered that he performed his best when his mind was in an ultra aggressive state. This manifested into him starting arguments during a spell for no reason just to lift himself into that territory. He looked like a knob in the process, and it wasn't sustainable, but it's another example.

Lindsay is such a great player. Yes it hurts that every now and again he gives a free kick away off the ball. Or he might get sighted for a bone crunching collision that goes a bit high, but that's what he brings to us. He's a street fighter, and if you tell him to play any other way than his natural instincts you will risk what makes him a great asset for our team.

All players have areas they need to improve. But in an instance like this I think you take the good with the bad.

 

[Dirty_11]

Actually I've got to say it was the most bearable, even dare I say enjoyable, call I have ever listed to coming out of SA. For a praccy game, they were actually better researched and more informative than expected.

Disagree, the commentary was many things but it certainly was not what I would call researched and informative.

 

[Tas]

Don't judge his intensity in practice games.

His intensity was s**t last year, he doesn't have the luxury imo to start of like a millionaire.

 

[Bigeasy]

His intensity was s**t last year, he doesn't have the luxury imo to start of like a millionaire.

Tas, he was forced to play an outside role last year but he's an inside mid essentially. Doesn't have the pace in open field. He has to be played in his natural position. How would Cunners go as a winger?

 

[naturally north]

It's not mutually exclusive nn.

His good does far outweigh his bad AND his bad tarnishes his good.
Hiis role may be difficult AND plenty of others do it without doing stupid s**t.

Lindsay is, himself, on record as saying he wants to cut out the staging stuff. Same goes for this imho. It was completely unnecessary. Watch Dal or Dish for how not to react to stuff.

I have a long and proud history of praising LT - he is just about my favourite player - AND I'm getting pretty bloody sick of this stuff. Why? Because it diminishes what might otherwise be an outstanding reputation. Wise up Lindsay! :sternlook

Bruest is not a small forward, he's over 6 foot.

Who are you, or I, to say Lindsay Thomas doesn't play his best when he's in your face? For mine, his best attribute is his simultaneous attack on the ball and player, nailing massive tackles after a big chase.

Professional sport is LITTERED with cases of players whose psychological state greatly impacted their performances.

Take two examples from cricket.

Firstly, Brian Lara was so imperious when engaged in a dog fight that the Australian cricket team employed a sledge embargo on him. Their thoughts were that Lara lifted to another level when targeted verbally.

And on the other side of things, former South African bowler Andre Nel, who was a journeyman at best, was psychologically tested and discovered that he performed his best when his mind was in an ultra aggressive state. This manifested into him started arguments during a spell for no reason just to lift himself into that territory. He looked like a knob in the process, and it wasn't sustainable, but it's another example.

Lindsay is such a great player. Yes it hurts that every now and again he gives a free kick away off the ball. Or he might get sighted for a bone crunching collision that goes a bit high, but that's what he brings to us. He's a street fighter, and if you tell him to play any other way than his natural instincts you will risk what makes him a great asset for our team.

All players have areas they need to improve. But in an instance like this I think you take the good with the bad.

I started typing similar in response to Kimbo's post, just couldn't get the words out efficiently enough.
Very well said and agree 100%

 

[LuvtheKangas]

I started typing similar in response to Kimbo's post, just couldn't get the words out efficiently enough.
Very well said and agree 100%



View attachment 113239

Also agree 100% about Andre Nel being an absolute utensil.

 

[Kimbo]

Bruest is not a small forward, he's over 6 foot.

So, being 4cms shorter, means LT receives a 'temper handicap'?

Who are you, or I, to say Lindsay Thomas doesn't play his best when he's in your face? For mine, his best attribute is his simultaneous attack on the ball and player, nailing massive tackles after a big chase.

Lindsay is such a great player. Yes it hurts that every now and again he gives a free kick away off the ball. Or he might get sighted for a bone crunching collision that goes a bit high, but that's what he brings to us. He's a street fighter, and if you tell him to play any other way than his natural instincts you will risk what makes him a great asset for our team.

Apparently you're qualified to offer an assessment that he plays his best when he's in your face, but I'm not?! Sure.

Professional sport is LITTERED with cases of players whose psychological state greatly impacted their performances. Take two examples from cricket.

Firstly, Brian Lara was so imperious when engaged in a dog fight that the Australian cricket team employed a sledge embargo on him. Their thoughts were that Lara lifted to another level when targeted verbally.

And on the other side of things, former South African bowler Andre Nel, who was a journeyman at best, was psychologically tested and discovered that he performed his best when his mind was in an ultra aggressive state. This manifested into him started arguments during a spell for no reason just to lift himself into that territory. He looked like a knob in the process, and it wasn't sustainable, but it's another example.

Yes, and from tennis McEnroe is another. It's about lifting from below 'the zone' to being 'in the zone'. I get it. But there is such a thing as 'above (or beyond) the zone' too. It's also why sledging does work with some sportsmen, because they are taken above or outside the ultimate performance zone. They lose focus and become scattered and ill-disciplined.

Lindsay is such a great player. Yes it hurts that every now and again he gives a free kick away off the ball. Or he might get sighted for a bone crunching collision that goes a bit high, but that's what he brings to us. He's a street fighter, and if you tell him to play any other way than his natural instincts you will risk what makes him a great asset for our team.

All players have areas they need to improve. But in an instance like this I think you take the good with the bad.

I love that Lindsay wears his heart on his sleeve and agree that it's a big part of who he is, and how he plays. I just don't agree that it ends there.

If you see it as (at least) three options, not two, you might see my point too.

 

[Kimbo]

I started typing similar in response to Kimbo's post, just couldn't get the words out efficiently enough.
Very well said and agree 100%View attachment 113239

See my nail hitting back.

 

[Lavy_Panther]

So, being 4cms shorter, means LT receives a 'temper handicap'?

Bruest doesn't even play anything like a small forward. Just because he's shorter than Roughead and Hale doesn't make him a small forward.

Apparently you're qualified to offer an assessment that he plays his best when he's in your face, but I'm not?! Sure.

Read the fourth and fifth words of the paragraph you quoted.

I love that Lindsay wears his heart on his sleeve and agree that it's a big part of who he is, and how he plays. I just don't agree that it ends there.

If you see it as (at least) three options, not two, you might see my point too.

I see your point, I just don't agree with it. I don't want to risk losing what is great about LT in the pursuit of the perfect footballer. You do. That's where it lies.

 

[Black2Blue]

Disagree, the commentary was many things but it certainly was not what I would call researched and informative.

It's all comparative Dirty. I suppose my baseline of expectations was pretty low, imagining worse than the usual pro-SA blathering. After the stream didn't work for me, I gritted my teeth for the radio call and ended up actually enjoying a South Australian radio broadcast of a North loss, which I don't think I've even been able to say before. Maybe just been missing footy too long.

 

[Dirty_11]

It's all comparative Dirty. I suppose my baseline of expectations was pretty low, imagining worse than the usual pro-SA blathering. After the stream didn't work for me, I gritted my teeth for the radio call and ended up actually enjoying a South Australian radio broadcast of a North loss, which I don't think I've even been able to say before. Maybe just been missing footy too long.

Understandable B2B. I just can't stand how commentators who have chosen this as their profession choose not to research the simple task of players' names. By no means are the guys from the weekend alone in this department. It has become somewhat of a pet hate of mine.

I also find AFL commentators as a whole very uncritical, as though they want the players to like them, they should take a leaf out of the NFL broadcasts and call it how they see it.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Understandable B2B. I just can't stand how commentators who have chosen this as their profession choose not to research the simple task of players' names. By no means are the guys from the weekend alone in this department. It has become somewhat of a pet hate of mine.

I also find AFL commentators as a whole very uncritical, as though they want the players to like them, they should take a leaf out of the NFL broadcasts and call it how they see it.

Loved commetis comments about Thomas and that he has to effectively shot to get a free.

 

[Hunters Host #3]

Ripping read that game-day thread.

Every year, anything other than a winning performance never fails to draw the ire of starved supporters. It's understood, but practice matches, should be viewed as exactly that. Some of our poorer pre-season performances in years gone, such as the Hawks last year, seemed to be of more concern when we fielded stronger squads, whereas yesterday, it seemed to me like a lot of experimentation with best 22 players out injured/rested and other best 22 players trialed in new positions and nursed through the game.

We're still five full weeks out from Round 1, with time to fine tune on a delayed pre-season campaign.

I've only flicked through some of the reviews on the last 10 pages, so my apologies if I repeat the thoughts of others.

It was a good hit-out and great to see the boys take the field again. We were very rusty early on. They jumped us in the first, but we persevered. The third quarter wasn't as bad as some here have made it out to be imo. They hit the scoreboard early, but we worked into and against the wind well, and outside of a 3 goal burst at the end of the quarter (including the Van Berlo supergoal), we weren't too bad. We dominated possession and territory in the last quarter and we found a groove when our intensity lifted.


Centre Square attendances.

We certainly experimented through the middle of the ground.

No Goldy allowed us to get a decent look at Currie and Daw's ruck-work early in the year in the centre square and at stoppages around the ground.

Daw attended (15)
Currie attended (11)

Crusher showed a bit at stages, but Daw was a clear standout. His around the ground ruck-work was some of the best I've seen from him, and his marking looked to be on song. I'd be looking closely at seeing if he can back that up over the next few weeks because he can struggle to back up a solid performance. He read the flight of the ball extremely well and most importantly, he impacted with defensive positioning. Refer to the beginning of the second quarter shortly after the Wells smother on the boundary. Stood under a high ball, which suggested to me an improvement in his positioning and reading of the ball, when he is much more comfortable with a 'run and jump'. Good performance returning from a serious injury.

Outside of Cunnington and Dal Santo, we experimented a lot with our centre square set-ups with up to 10 players trialed, not mentioning those who ran through the middle or off the wing/hf in 'general' rotations (eg. Turner, Atley, McDonald)

Dal Santo attended (17)
Cunnington attended (16)
Ziebell attended (14)
Bastinac attended (8)
Dumont attended (7)
Wells attended (5)
Gibson attended (4)
Harvey attended (3)
Thomas attended (3)
Higgins attended (1)

Cunnington was solid all day long. Looks good at this stage of the pre-season. Dal Santo was probably our slickest midfielder (which is no surprise), but provided the most from stoppages and pushed the ball forward to good effect. Wells first half was indicative of his strong pre-season.

Outside of those three, Ziebell looked unhindered by his shoulder and looked to be quite strong, picking up a lot of Swallow's 'inside first' work.
Dumont showed some glimpses with 5 of his centre square attendances coming in the first half, before he was trialed in more of an outside role.

In fairness the Crows experimented in the middle with Betts, Jaensch and Laird etc, but I did have a good laugh at a centre square setup of Daw/Dumont/Thomas/Boomer. Thomas and Boomer will see that many centre square attendances for the whole of 2015 with our full complement of midfielders available.

Observations

Higgins - Looked very sharp. I pray we don't get sucked into moving him into a role any further back than 'forward of centre'. I never liked the look of him as a half-back for the Dogs, and he provides exactly what we wanted from a Sam Wright, before we settled Sammy down back. With Sam, Luke, McMillan and Atley off of the half-back line, Higgins should see a majority of his game time forward of centre with stints in the middle. He'll be best 22 come round one and will force Adams to really work for a role in which he performed well yesterday.

Waite - I was a big advocate for getting him to the club and I made reference to his contested marking ability here on BF when we signed him. He excites me because, providing he stays injury free, he will straighten us up immensely. Takes pressure off of Drew, and with a really good hit-up forward, eg. Black/Wood, our forward line becomes pretty potent with every inside 50. I thought Jarrad went well yesterday, looked sprightly and worked well on the hit-up whilst pitching in defensively.

Warren - Has copped a bit of stick. I don't think he should be on the list, and I was baffled we didn't take a Capiron or project player in the rookie draft, but in saying that, I don't think he was 'that' bad. He was actually pretty good defensively in the first half. Betts had three by half time, but one of his three came from when he was running through the middle, and Warren was manned on Cameron, and the other two, he didn't do much wrong, other than Betts getting to his feet quicker to run into an open goal, and another (for memory), where Tarrant should have killed the ball, but allowed Betts a half chance. The other couple in the second half, Max was forced to push up and cover Ramsay who Tippett lost in transition, which allowed Betts goalside and the last goal I can think of, Betts clearly pushed him in the back. Max, lacks a lot offensively and he did turn the ball over kicking into the wind, but so too did Boomer which cost us a goal in same quarter. He's a rookie listed player who can perform a role, but he's not an AFL standard footballer. Wish him all the best for North Ballarat this year and I'd be surprised if he adds to his one game tally.

Jacobs - We seem set to persist with him down back. Noticed through the pre-season simulation, that he is persisted with in a role across half-back. He was good yesterday, but his decision making, deep in defence in particular is a big concern for mine. He looks fitter, was cleaner than usual and made some pretty good decisions further afield, providing multiple handball receive options. Needs to go on with it.

Dumont - Big wrap for this kid, and he'll be better for the run. Slow out of the blocks but showed glimpses.

Daw - One of the biggest positives from the game as stated above. The innate things like pushing back off the mark and delivering a short 15 metre pass effectively, which comes naturally to others, are areas he is clearly improving in.

Back line - Will be our biggest headache going into Round 1. Tarrant was underwhelming and he got lost throughout, but will be better for the run after missing a lot of football. Tippett was also a bit underwhelming but probably looked more comfortable deep in defence or guarding players who have decent leading patterns. Always had time for Loose, but I wrote him off after the Hawks game last season when I kept a close eye on him. Has stripped much fitter this pre-season, but I would have him a fair way down the pecking order behind others who can perform similar roles.

A lot of experimentation, and I'm looking forward to seeing the inclusions of Wood and Black among others next week before a full dress rehearsal against the Tigers on the 21st.

Footy is back and it has been a long time coming!

 

[Golumless]

Crouch is a gun, just quietly.

Damn straight he is.

Also, I'm slightly jealous that you have Turner, just looks like he'll end up being an absolute gun. (and fast becoming one of my favorite non Adelaide players, despite having two very good games against us)

 

[Flawed Genius]

god almighty post moar hh3

 

[GarnerSmash]

god almighty post moar hh3

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