Game Day Oh yeah it's on

[Donkey Chop]

Awesome work What was Clarkes disposal like? Was pretty dodgy when I saw him, be great to read otherwise.

 

[Dan]

Woeful.

The older ones let him know it too.

Not good...

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

Not good...

Very worrying.

 

[FAILTOSUCCEED]

Frothing

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

Frothing

Heavy breathing.

 

[naturally north]

Have to ask- how'd you rate Majak's game and did he run out of puff?



Oh and you're all welcome

 

[HELLSBELLS]

That seems closer than expected.

And effing LOL at the predictable Gibson replacement calls as if disposal is the only criteria.

Well disposal is pretty bloody important i would of thought.
Like my dad says "No use running fast and jumping high if you can't kick the bloody thing"

 

[fool]

Have to ask- how'd you rate Majak's game and did he run out of puff?



Oh and you're all welcome

I doubt people will question you next time
So long as you don't use that fact to trick them hehe

 

[naturally north]

I doubt people will question you next time
So long as you don't use that fact to trick them hehe

The reality is I don't mind, have enjoyed taking the piss over the two very successful threads I've started- just wanted to add that. All good and a wonderful bunch of North fans we have here.

 

[KangaFan35]

Boy oh boy does this get me excited.

 

[Tas]

I thought this draft was touted as shallow? or was it just pretty even ?

Either way, sounds like we've picked a few beauties.

It wasn't shallow where we had most of our picks, it just dropped off pretty quickly with a lot of kids that looked like they would need a lot of development and would be difficult to tell if they might make it or not. Losing Bastinac helped us to secure some decent picks.

 

[winalotroos]

Just got home from work and loved reading the reports on this page, I must say I have a woody right now.

 

[naturally north]

It wasn't shallow where we had most of our picks, it just dropped off pretty quickly with a lot of kids that looked like they would need a lot of development and would be difficult to tell if they might make it or not. Losing Bastinac helped us

EFA

 

[Tas]

EFA

That is a bit unfair, I think NDS pushed Bastinac out and he has been a sideways upgrade with a shorter shelf-life, Dal Santo is better in the guts, but Bastinac was better on the scoreboard. Both are fairly soft though. :stern look

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

That is a bit unfair, I think NDS pushed Bastinac out and he has been a sideways upgrade with a shorter shelf-life, Dal Santo is better in the guts, but Bastinac was better on the scoreboard. Both are fairly soft though. :stern look

Nick is closer to retirement and therefore opening up a spot for someone else. If people want to see it that way.

 

[naturally north]

That is a bit unfair, I think NDS pushed Bastinac out and he has been a sideways upgrade with a shorter shelf-life, Dal Santo is better in the guts, but Bastinac was better on the scoreboard. Both are fairly soft though. :stern look

Fair enough, just thought he never went on with it. I don't think he wanted it enough.

 

[Arden]

Have we always had those patches on our shorts? They look like the ones Carlton bought in with the chamois.

Only Wellsy had them. He uses them to towel up his opponent.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Who kicked that goal on the left from fiddy?

 

[kangaspurs]

Who kicked that goal on the left from fiddy?

After the handball from Wells? I'm fairly sure it was BMac.

 

[Ocha905]

Some random observations.

This game was competitive!

Fordham took the game on, at one stage in the 3rd quarter running through congestion around the defensive 50. Showed great awareness in traffic.

Atleys disposal has been criticised but he set up two goals in the first quarter with accurate 40m kicks from dashing runs. He also gave it to Daw on two separate occasions, one when Majak had a two on one on the wing, screamed 'Effing kick it!' Majak subsequently lured the opposition, handballed and the support kicked it inside 50. Maybe the gameplan is to hit the first option. The other time was when Majak gave away a free tackling inside 50 (at least Daw was trying to impose himself) and Atley yelled 'Effing hell!' Interesting.

Petrie took a great pack mark on the wing. Nailed a 40m slight angle goal which can be dicey for him. Tracking nicely although Waite showed more.

Brown looked rusty without his usual athleticism, a lack of a preseason probably hurts but he could also have been restricted by knock in the first quarter.

Clarke played great (particularly liked a play on the wing, he ran an option towards the wing, was covered by his opponent, opponent stopped, Clarke noticed he had tuned out and made a quick second lead and received the ball, Smart) but calls that he gave Cunnington a bath are too far in my opinion. Ben was great particularly in finding options in traffic, he also got extra physical with Firrito on one occasion.

Harvey was on the angry pills. Absolutely gave it to the umpire for not giving him a free in second quarter for having his jumper held by McDonald (play on IMO). Luke and Brent threw a few arms at each other and in the next contest Harvey gave away a free kick. Boomer also verbally abused himself when he missed a tough shot out of a pack. He is definitely as competitive as ever. McDonald had a first half to forget but fought back with a nice long range goal and improved disposal in the second.

Nahas was quiet for the most part, making some mistakes but he still had an impact slotting two goals by reading the play well, one from a mark, one crumbing.

McMillan and Ray played on the wing against each other for most of the second half with neither particularly effectual from limited opportunities.

Wagner has awesome composure. Montford had a star-like spurt in the third or fourth quarter (can't remember) where everything he touched turned gold. Hibberd also great. This rookie class will have at least 3 200+ gamers.

 

[Phillyroo]

Who kicked that goal on the left from fiddy?

Bmac

 

[Roo Beauty]

Brilliant work by Pykie and everyone else who attended, cheers for that guys.

I can't ******* wait for footy to be back. Bring on rd 1!

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Bmac

Wowsers.

 

[Pykie]

My observations:

#2 McKenzie: Would have had about 10 touches, drilled a nice goal from 50, mostly unsighted, pretty much what we’ve come to expect from him, needs to step up.

#3 Anderson: Superb. Was excellent in the first half, provided zip across half forward, spent about 30% of the time in the center bounces, kicked a couple of goals including the goal of the day.Hard at it, clever player knows where to run. Jet.

#6 Hansen: Got cleaned up in the first contest of the day, but played the rest of the match out, played on Aaron Black. Black kicked the first goal of the game on him, then got a cheap free kick, he barely touched it otherwise. Hansen himself barely did anything.

#7 Ziebell: Played a half, was just ok I guess, was probably shown up by Clarke at times, hard to gauge where he is at, but he looked like 15-20 touches a game type Jack, rather than a big step up.

#8 Wells: Played forward of center a lot more, just class in everything he did. He didn’t get a ridiculously huge amount of it, but was 100% damaging, kicked 4 goals. He’s back.

#10 Cunnington: Played excellent in patches but got shown up, particularly by Clarke in large sections of the second half, couldn’t keep up with him on the spread, was good when he was in the play though.

#11 Firrito: Played on Wood, pretty much his perfect match up type, killed him. Had one of his typical games.

#13 Clarke: Would have had 30 touches today, disposal was excellent by hand and neat by foot, made excellent decisions. Clearly a big motor, and plenty of potential in that frame, like I said earlier, he must of done a bit of rowing when he was younger, his shoulders are big, he will fill out to a very strong inside/outside mid in time. Clearly the pick of the kids, going off today, he’s easily on the Dumont/Wood/McDonald level of the 23rd player spot.

#14 Dumont: Super in the first half against NDS/Swallow, killed him in the first QTR in fact, would have had 15 to half time and was in everything, quiet in the second half. Seems to have lost a fair bit of weight, looks trim and fit a real chance for a round 1 spot, Anderson may have pushed him out of that spot though.

#15 Dal Santo: Not sure how much he played, but I barely noticed him after the opening 5 minutes.’

#16 Thompson: Played on Brown, didn’t do anything offensively, but Brown barely touched it.

#17 Mullett: Played pretty good I thought, looked like the Fish of old, but our team is stronger these days, probably ahead of McDonald offensively atm.

#18 Atley: Standard game from him.

#19 Wright: See above.

#20 Petrie: Played on Wilson from Werribee, took a specie on the wing in the 3rd qtr, got amongst it, was pretty good.

#21 McDonald: Did some great things, did some horrible things, played about 2 qtrs on Boomer while he played forward, and probably learnt more then than his last 20 AFL games, Harvey was running rings around him, and letting him know, McDonald got one back, was a fair bit of niggle in their contest, Boomer definitely won the points though.

#22 Goldstein: It seems crazy, but he may even improve this year, his spread and cruising speed from contests is insane, literally the best I’ve ever seen from a ruckman, Majak just couldn’t go with him consistently at times, had a big 3rd qtr, was nullified in the ruck by Majak and Preuss, which should give you an indication of the strength of our second and third rucks.

#28 Nahas: Had 5 or so touches, lined up on Hibberd, kicked one or two, was well beaten in my opinion.

#29 Harvey: Was super, hasn’t missed a trick, loved the return of Wells and fed off of each other at times. He’s such a competitive little campaigner though, he treated it like it was a Prelim final, he was complaining to the umps, gave McDonald a few tummy jabs after he held his jumper in a contest and a few words were exchanged. You can see why he didn’t make a great captain imo, just too competitive and hot headed, probably also explains his longevity also.

#30 Waite: Easily the best forward on the ground, took a string of defensive marks from kickouts, kicked a couple, Tippett had no answer.

#31 Preuss: Love his aggression, dumped some players, good around the ground and was more than competitive in the throw ins against Goldy, is going to be pretty decent in a couple of years. I’d expect him to be pretty good at VFL level this year.

#32 Wood: Played deep forward on Firrito, not a great matchup for him, Spud has made a career out of playing on guys like him, it showed, think his workrate was right down today as well, didn’t demand the footy enough imo.

#32 MacMillan: Was OK, thought he was the pick of the defenders in the first half. One of his typical games tbh.

#35 Black: Kicked 2, one was a free, from about 4-5 touches, Hansen and Black were witches hats for a fair portion of the game.

#36 Tippett: Didn’t have a great day. Waite killed him for the majority of the day.

#37 Fordham: Had a great battle with Gibson, definitely took the chocoloates in the first qtr and a half, then Gibbo fought back, probably finished about square, maybe Will shaded him. Did a heap of neat things, nothing outstanding. I’d have him behind Clarke and Dumont tbh.

#38 Daw: Was excellent in the first half, broke even in the ruck, dangerous around the ground, ariel threat, loved his follow up work and his workrate against an aerobic animal. I’m not concerned at all if Majak had to take over the reigns, it’s a shame though, he’s developed a lot in the last 2 years, he would be the #1 ruckman at some clubs imo, he could be similar to a Stefan Martin if given the right AFL experience.

#39 Hibberd: Played a bit of everywhere, first half on Nahas, held him well, then moved into the middle and then forward. Smart user, no frills and an excellent mark overhead. McDonald would want to watch out, because he could assume his spot quite easily. Natural replacement for Spud imo, as he will be a big unit when he’s developed. Birchall comparisons are good.

#40 Turner: Is bigger, is developing into a more “AFL looking” player in how he moves etc, rather than a raw kid, getting some power in his game also. Didn’t get much, but what he did was class. Will have to look out for Wagner.

#41 Wagner: Will be a fan favourite imo, like I said earlier, is a lot like Harper in how he moves, probably had 10-15 touches, started a few centre bounces in the guts, up forward, played on Boomer. Wasn’t awesome, but showed some awesome signs, if that makes sense. Real class player, that has a big future at half forward/wing imo.

#42 Mountford: Flashed into the game in patches, but when he did flash in it was qulity. Did most of his work breaking from traffic and congestion, kicked a nice goal, and almost followed up with a ripper from the following centre bounce. Is tall, powerful and fast, definitely something to work with.

#43 Gibson: Up against Fordham, was getting his colours lowered early, but worked into the game, didn’t have a huge amount, and missed a couple of easy goals from 40 odd out.

#44 Ray: Was handy, would have had 10-15, decent backup, and if anything will provide a bit of direction and leadership to the young mids at Werribee.

#50 Brown: Looked underdone and besides a few contests on his head, only had a few touches in a half, didn’t see any of the trademark leading right up the wing. Needs some miles in the legs in the NAB Cup.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Clarke sounds like a gem.

Mountford sounds like he has all the tools.

Vickers-Willis is fast becoming the least useful player on our list! This years draftees have already gone past him.

McDonald seems as though he is going to spend a lot of time in the VFL again this year which is disappointing.

Black step up is awesome. Wood step down sucks.