VFL Essendon v Southport

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Did Bryan provide a presence around the ground? Did he take some marks today?
Yes and no. Was in the best and took a couple of contested marks and a few others in space.
Still gets run out of the contest too easily but he was good today.
 
The current VFL reminds me so much of what happened to the Sheffield Shield.

Players will always want to win but fundamentally they are now development leagues where no-one cares too much about the results. Not supporters, not media, not even clubs I don't reckon.

I might be old-school but I feel like learning to win when it counts is as important as learning to work on your skills.

In my fantasy the AFL would get all teams into a reserve grade comp across AFL & AFLW, (ditching the Southports and the Werribees) and then create a club championship which includes the reserves results.

Seniors points would count for twice the 2s points.

Giant trophy, massive prize money, and for 12 months in every major city, a paid billboard that announces you as the best club in the land.
My view is there should be AFL reserves and the VFL should be a proper secondary comp alinged with the under 18 comp.
 
Anyway though loss but that was their best four quarter effort so far . Did not think they would be that close to Southport.
Hayes and Bryan my best.
Roberts good.
Shiel dropped away a bit after half time .
Caddy did a few good things.
Big V good. Is still a few years away physically but he has a bit of forward craft .
 

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Watching today I would only have Hayes in the mix IMO.

I don't watch much VFL but the standard looked very poor. Looked to be played in slow motion with nobody really giving a stuff.

A far cry from the old VFA days.
 
Bit of a tough loss after being a couple of goals up with around 8 or so minutes to go. Pretty scrappy game but the young VFL players where a bit better structure wise. Just a few fumbles and skill errors hurting us at times and not just from the VFL guys. Hately and O'Neill had their best games for the year. Foley was good in the back half. Cam Nyko was okay in his first VFL game. I think there are some guys who will have something to work with at this level but again it is going to take them a season or so to get the consistency at this level which is not ideal. If they play to yesterdays level most weeks then the AFL listed guys have a chance to better develop.

Shiel - much better this week started the game with some intent and physicality. Played the first half in the midfield as the inside guy. Not many kicks but a lot of handball gives to set up play. Played a lot more forward after half time and was not as prolific but it was more the style of game you wanted to see from him. No chasing cheap kicks yesterday. Maybe still one game short but he was good enough to be considered for Thursday.

Weideman . Good. Played all game in defense and he was really solid. Body language looked better. Good game. I still think he could make a good defender for someone. Maybe not us as but at a minimum he is a guy who could be a top end VFL defender for one of the stand alone clubs. If he keeps playing at that level I would have no issues playing him as a defender if we had a few injuries.

Hayes . Best again IMO. Is really in the groove. He his knocking on the door with a sledge hammer. I suspect if we where not winning he would be selected.

Bryan. Second best IMO. Got around the ground well and had 20 plus possessions . Dominated the hit outs . Easily his best game for the year. Took a couple of contested marks as well. Physical strength in a marking contest is still an issue for him but he was really good. Could easily play second ruck over Draper on this game.

Caddy. Pretty much a similar outcome Caddy again. Does a few really nice things. Second efforts are good. Leads up at the footy well. Just working on tying it all together across the whole game. One issue he does have to sort out is he can run under the footy on a hard lead. The judgment can be a fraction out.

Lual. Steady game for him. Involved in some of the play and was good enough defensively. Needs to increase his pressure across the whole game but he is going okay overall.

J Davey. Again he flashes in and out but he just needs games to find his rhythm and touch. Could have been a better day out but he ran over the footy a couple of times and missed the opportunity. Starting to pressure a bit more across the whole game but it is still a real work in progress for him. I doubt we see him at AFL level this year but that is not a shock given he has not played for 2 years.

Roberts. Not as good as he has been but still good enough. His kicking is really good .

Visentini. This bloke has something to work with as he actually does have some forward craft. He will need another couple of years to develop physically but he has some tools to work with.

Wanganeen. Bit of a quiet day for Tex. Kicked a goal late but he is just finding his feet again. Played around 70% game time.
 
Hey ant555 how was the VFL contingent?

Outsiude the former AFL listers, notice some of them had some reasonable amount of footy.

Foley (25), Eckersley (22), Toma (20), Nyko (18) Moorhead (16), Monti (14)
Still some issues with skill errors but you can see they are starting to get the structures a bit better and I think is something to work with but obviously the issue is we are developing our AFL guys at the same time as we are developing the VFL guys which is not ideal.
Foley was really good. Would say that it was Eckersley's best game. Nyko showed a bit for a first gamer. We are back where we where two seasons ago only this time I think there are a few more decent prospects. Problem will be keeping them and not just chopping up the list again.
 

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Still some issues with skill errors but you can see they are starting to get the structures a bit better and I think is something to work with but obviously the issue is we are developing our AFL guys at the same time as we are developing the VFL guys which is not ideal.
Foley was really good. Would say that it was Eckersley's best game. Nyko showed a bit for a first gamer. We are back where we where two seasons ago only this time I think there are a few more decent prospects. Problem will be keeping them and not just chopping up the list again.

Id love for us to get a VFL KPP involved as well. We've been pretty lucky over the years to have one at either end, Kefferd, Freezer etc.
 
Id love for us to get a VFL KPP involved as well. We've been pretty lucky over the years to have one at either end, Kefferd, Freezer etc.
Will Hoare is starting to look really solid as a KPD. He looks like a keeper and he has been on the edge of our system for a couple of years now.
 
Is Hayes ready for CHB?
Looks like he is ready for his first look at it. He is still not 100% physically ready but the form has been there every week.
 
Will Hoare is starting to look really solid as a KPD. He looks like a keeper and he has been on the edge of our system for a couple of years now.
don't see that much any more so may have missed him. Young enough to develop? not that we really need more KPD depth on the (AFL) list
 
don't see that much any more so may have missed him. Young enough to develop? not that we really need more KPD depth on the (AFL) list
VFL level.
 
My view is there should be AFL reserves and the VFL should be a proper secondary comp alinged with the under 18 comp.
I reckon AFL reserves for those outside Victoria (plus Southport and Tasmania) and VFL back to what it was before the merger with the NEAFL
 

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