Review How did our Captain go?

[ftmch]

Haven't seen the game yet, but very interested to know how VB stood up in the first real game of the year where on field leadership was needed more than normal.

This was my biggest issue with him as Capt. last year - his tendency to go missing when the chips were down and games were slipping from our grasp.

It's a genuine question - has there been improvement on this front? I'm not looking for him to be in our best 5 players necessarily (though it would be nice), but hoping he managed to at least be a meaningful contributor when the game was on the line.

Any observations?

(PS - I note Thommo was listed as our best player once again...)

 

[Southerntakeover]

Here we go again.

 

[earlsta]

Didn't really make the right decisions, just an average player with great leadership qualities.

Honestly, I like the guy, but he's just not good enough to be our captain, hardly ever stands up either.

He had a lot of team mates today in the same boat.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

One of the few afc players who can hold his head up high. Good game by the captain.

 

[earlsta]

One of the few afc players who can hold his head up high. Good game by the captain.

Are you just looking at how many touches he got?

He ran at 54% DE! Not a good performance.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Which was the product of him winning contested ball and clearances, and throwing the ball to a contest.

 

[Southerntakeover]

BTW, it was my impression at times (and I could be wrong, I was more than a little distracted) that he was playing a negating role on Mitchell.

Anyone else see that?

 

[Glenno23]

BTW, it was my impression at times (and I could be wrong, I was more than a little distracted) that he was playing a negating role on Mitchell.

Anyone else see that?

I thought he shared the job a bit with Sloane.

VB had a fait bit of contested ball, and the fact was, anytime one of our players got it, there was a Hawks player ready to pounce. Even Thommo struggled to get it out which was strange for him.

Danger thrived in the environment though, used his strength well today

VB was pretty quiet in the first qtr though

 

[ruscy002]

Our captain was fine. Our contested ball winners were all fine except Sloane, who had a bit of an off day. Our outside runners were as bad as it gets, and we can discuss this somewhere else.

/thread

 

[CrowCro]

One of the few afc players who can hold his head up high. Good game by the captain.

He is a bit like Reilly. Has no lateral movenment and shocking when in traffic. Like a deer in headlights. Runs into people all the time. He just tiies hard and keeps on goping because he is fit. Like Basset said on radio last week - he is an just a good footballer. However this is purely beacuse of his heart. But what we need to remember you cant win finals footy with too many like this .

Our players are straight line runners- i think if we did a test of running around cones they would struggle

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

BTW, it was my impression at times (and I could be wrong, I was more than a little distracted) that he was playing a negating role on Mitchell.

Anyone else see that?

I thought he shut Mitchell out of the game in the first half.

 

[cmndstab]

One of the few guys in the engine room who could really hold his head up high. Put his body on the line, took the opposition's best player and shut him out of the game in the first half, set the tone early.

If you were to prepare a list of 100 issues we have to deal with after today's game, VB's name wouldn't make it onto the list.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Must be a disappointing thread for fatoomsch.

Doesnt even watch the game, sees the result, assumes its time to pile in on his whipping boy and noone bites.

 

[ftmch]

Must be a disappointing thread for fatoomsch.

Doesnt even watch the game, sees the result, assumes its time to pile in on his whipping boy and noone bites.

Haven't been able to watch the game due to family commitments - god forbid that I hit an internet forum to ask for the perspective of those who did see it.

My assumption was absolutely that vB went missing again, which based on his form in games of meaning last year is hardly an unreasonable one.

Based on most (not all) comments on here, he played his role and led from the front, which is all we've ever wanted from him.

 

[Geoffa32]

Our captain was fine. Our contested ball winners were all fine except Sloane, who had a bit of an off day. Our outside runners were as bad as it gets, and we can discuss this somewhere else.

/thread

This.

We won contested ball and I think clearances. VB Thommo Danger and even Rory held there own in the middle.

Outside recievers (Vince, Mackay and Pets) and forwards not kickimg crucial goals cost us the game today.

 

[Allefgib]

No drive from half back hurt us too.

 

[Paladin]

No drive from half back hurt us too.

And we had our best playmaker from half back twiddling his thumbs in Adelaide. Baffling

 

[Slippery Pete]

He was ok, solid without standing out, but he rarely does.

I had to switch off his press conference though after I started falling asleep at the wheel.

He makes Vader sound positively entertaining.

 

[Swifty18]

Anyone else watched the after match press conference?? VB looked very peeved! He even threw Sando a few glares, which seemed weird, almost looked like VB was annoyed with him. Never seen VB look so mad! It was kind of refreshing, in an odd way, especially since Sando looked so relaxed.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

And we had our best playmaker from half back twiddling his thumbs in Adelaide. Baffling

Jaensch? I'd agree with that. We could have used some precise kicking.

 

[lunacy]

He is a bit like Reilly. Has no lateral movenment and shocking when in traffic. Like a deer in headlights. Runs into people all the time. He just tiies hard and keeps on goping because he is fit. Like Basset said on radio last week - he is an just a good footballer. However this is purely beacuse of his heart. But what we need to remember you cant win finals footy with too many like this .

Our players are straight line runners- i think if we did a test of running around cones they would struggle

Interesting comment (when talking about VB) considering he did this exact test in his draft camp and they still do. VB holds the equal 3rd best time dating back from 1999 to now. He got 7.8 secs. Only Stephen Hill and Danyle Pearce have recored a better time out of about 1500+ players.

 

[macca23]

Anyone else watched the after match press conference?? VB looked very peeved! He even threw Sando a few glares, which seemed weird, almost looked like VB was annoyed with him. Never seen VB look so mad! It was kind of refreshing, in an odd way, especially since Sando looked so relaxed.

That's a really interesting comment, particularly as I saw it exactly as you did.

VB did look absolutely pissed off while Sando was talking, and as you say, glared at him at times while Sando was speaking. He had pretty wild eyes, did VB, which is so unusual for him.

My take on it was that Sando wanted to give an air of calm in defeat, as it gave him a guide as to where we were at and the deficiencies that we have to work on to match motors with the big boys.

VB on the other hand IMO appeared really pissed off with the team's performance and some very lame individual efforts and wasn't in the mood for niceties during the press conference.

VB was hurting on the day because he knew it wasn't a good effort. Sando as a coach knows that it's a marathon, not a sprint, and hasn't lost his faith in where we're going to in spite of the loss, to which we contributed in part.

Different individuals coming from different directions IMO.

 

[Geoffa32]

Good coaches dont let emotion cloud their judgement.

Good players play with emotion.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Haven't been able to watch the game due to family commitments - god forbid that I hit an internet forum to ask for the perspective of those who did see it.

My assumption was absolutely that vB went missing again, which based on his form in games of meaning last year is hardly an unreasonable one.

Based on most (not all) comments on here, he played his role and led from the front, which is all we've ever wanted from him.

If you didnt watch the game, most people would have found it inappropriate to start a thread attempting to bag a player based entirely on nothing more than their inherent bias. Not you apparently.

Top effort.

 

[Adelaide Cows]

If you didnt watch the game, most people would have found it inappropriate to start a thread attempting to bag a player based entirely on nothing more than their inherent bias. Not you apparently.

Top effort.

Brilliant assesment

Even managed to get the Thommo reference in the post aswell

Agenda uncovered