Not to worry...

[lamby29]

Obviously it's disappointing to go down by 1 point, but there were some very good signs that came out of the match.

Best players were: Green, Davey, Thompson, Rivers, Bizzell, Neitz, Trav

I'll go through every player and give them a rating out of 10:

Heffernan: 6 - Fairly quiet, but went in hard and did some nice things.

Bizzell: 7.5 - Got a ****load of the ball, made some mistakes, but the guy is a star.

McLean: 1 - Spent virtually the whole match on the bench.

Thompson: 8.5 - Outstanding. I really believe that Thommo will make a HUGE difference to our midfield this year. Keep it up Scotty.

Miller: 5 - Took a couple of strong marks, but once again his kicking let him down. His disposal must improve for him to have a real impact at CHF in 2004.

Nicholson: 0 - Horrible, just horrible. Holland has to take over at FB when fit.

Neitz: 7.5 - Good, especially when you consider that Scarlett was his opponent. Kicked straight.

Ward: 7.5 - Nice game. Got a fair bit of the pill, but also made a few clangers.

Jolly: 6.5 - The big man returned with a decent performance. Very physical.

Yze: 5.5 - Quiet, but again did some nice things.

Johnstone: 7 - Promising, very promising. Looked dedicated and got a fair bit of the ball.

Green: 9.5 - Outstanding... just brilliant. 2004 is his year. An absolute ball magnet with beautiful skills (but still a receiver!).

McDonald: 6 - His usual self. A fair return.

Robertson: 4 - Disappointing. Made a couple of crucial mistakes, and generally had no influence on the game.

Brown: 5 - He was OK.

Williams: 5 - See Brown.

Rivers: 9 - Very, very good. A definite starter for Round 1.

Godfrey: 6 - Good without being great. Disposal is improving.

Wheatley: 3.5 - A disappointing game given his recent form.

Bruce: 5 - Didn't notice him much, but was quite solid.

White: 5 - See Bruce.

Davey: 9 - Officially my favourite player. The kid is amazing.

Carroll: 0 - Did he even get a run?

Whelan: 4 - Was OK, but that mistake in the last quarter was awful!

 

[The Shev]

What happened to Carroll? I didn't see him at all.

Bruce, White, Robertson, Heffernan and Yze were quiet.

Johnstone: Good, but not great. Got some touches and a goal.

McLean: Hardly got a run. Showed some aggression.

McDonald: Good. Got some of the ball but nothing special.

Godfrey: See McDonald.

Jolly: Average. Quiet compared to his usual self.

Nicholson: Bad. Not a good game by him at all.

Bizzell: Great. Took some nice marks, but the odd clanger.

Neitz: Good. 4 goals but two were free kicks. Injured his back.

Davey: Was flashy, kicked a ripper goal plus another one.

Miller: Decent. Good marker but needs to improve more.

Ward: Good. Another solid game in the back line.

Williams: Average. Didn't have much of an impact.

Whelan: Between good and average. Got a bit of the ball.

Wheatley: Quiet. Not his best game. No super goals.

Brown: Decent game. Showed absolute courage which deserves to upgrade his game to a 'good'. Therefore, he was good.

Thompson, Green and Rivers were my best on ground for Melbourne!

 

[Broadbridge_20]

Not happy at all, especially since I backed us at the TAB.

I thought the final score flattered us a bit. We won the ball from the middle but other than that we were totally outclassed in our half of the ground, our forwards struggled in the air, they generally used the ball better than us through the midfield and we looked undermanned defensively.

Every move forward seemed as if it was rebounded straight back by either Scarlett, Harley, Milburn or Mooney

A player like Ben Holland wouldve helped us enormously in just providing a marking contest and making one of them more accountable, or even as a backman because Nicholson looked lost tonight.


Some thoughts on some of our players:

Cameron Bruce - Uninfluential. Needs to do more.

Nicholson - Bad. No excuses when you get beaten by Ben Graham. And then Kent Kingsley. I like Nicho but tonight he was not one of his better games.

Daniel Ward - Magnificent early. Needs to show a bit more accountability sometimes.

Godfrey - I liked his game. Kept Ling relatively quiet after half time and got some of it himself. Becoming a very good midfielder.

Robertson - I liked his game too. Took some important marks, kicked an important goal and put his body on the line when it mattered.

Whelan - Solid game. Did some stupid things but made up for it by laying some important tackles.

Green - Probably the best game I've seen him play. Neat disposal and starting to look more comfortable up the ground. Starting to impose himself physically too which is good.

Nietz - I got in late and missed his first 2 goals, but I thought Scarlett intimidated him. Looked nervous and very aware of Scarletts presence.

Heffernan - Poor. Will be lucky to be around next season.

Davey - Impressive. Fast and very clean. Struggles in the air but as a specialist crumber you can live with that.

Brad Miller - Solid, especially early. Did all the things you want from a CHF. Struggles a little in the air but looks as if he's improving.

 

[BT]

Stupid bloody glorified practice match!

I'm not going to go through it player by player right now.

Overall that 2nd quarter & our kicking for goal cost us dearly.

There were a lot of errors from both sides & it'd be unfair single out too many incidents in such a close finish.

Nicho had a shocker, i'm a big fan but Geelong exposed him beautifully. Without Jared Rivers it would've been a hammering.

The forwards were ok, but the delivery wasn't great on few occasions.

The midfield scrapped on nicely & our 2nd half was very solid.

Thompson has to play like that every week & if he's injury free I don't see why he can't be first 18 midfielder. Gutsy display from him & Godders (as usual).

Out of the Mickey Mouse shield & on to Bendigo & the Pies.

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

I can see some positives though for this year.

Should be a great match when the Hawks play Melbourne come round 1.

 

[footyman]

There are issues that need to be looked at after last night though.

The best signs were Scott Thompson and Brad Green in my view.

The forward line structure needs a lot of tinkering with. I don't know about lining them up the corridor, and I don't know about having White and Neitz with Miller close to goal, then smaller forwards around half forward. Do we move Neitz to CHF while White plays goalsquare? Miller was OK, but lead out wide.

I expected to dominate more out of the middle. Jolly wasn't winning the taps and we weren't winning it out of the centre.

Kent Kingsley won Geelong the game and on no occassion was Bizzell near him in the last quarter. Bizzell is an attacking type of player so he's riskier too close to goal.

Only the Wizard Cup? Well it cost the club an automatic $50,000 and the chance at another $100,000. Not a great result really.

 

[BT]

Originally posted by footyman
There are issues that need to be looked at after last night though.

The best signs were Scott Thompson and Brad Green in my view.

The forward line structure needs a lot of tinkering with. I don't know about lining them up the corridor, and I don't know about having White and Neitz with Miller close to goal, then smaller forwards around half forward. Do we move Neitz to CHF while White plays goalsquare? Miller was OK, but lead out wide.

I expected to dominate more out of the middle. Jolly wasn't winning the taps and we weren't winning it out of the centre.

Kent Kingsley won Geelong the game and on no occassion was Bizzell near him in the last quarter. Bizzell is an attacking type of player so he's riskier too close to goal.

Only the Wizard Cup? Well it cost the club an automatic $50,000 and the chance at another $100,000. Not a great result really.

I don't think Neeta is a CHF anymore. We'll get more out of him at FF. I'd like to see Nick Smith tried there against the Pies with Miller at FF.

Hope we go with something like this against Collingwood.

B: Williams, Lamb, Whelan
HB: Bell, Rivers, Newman
C: Johnstone, Thompson, Broadbridge
HF: Davey, Smith, Wheatley
F: Hunter, Miller, McDonald
R: Jamar, Fisher, McLean
I/C: Carroll, Holland, Armstrong, Read, Johnson, Armstrong

Rested: Neeta, Ward, Yze, Nicho, Bizzell, White, Vardy, Sylvia, Walsh.

 

[Broadbridge_20]

Originally posted by footyman
The forward line structure needs a lot of tinkering with. I don't know about lining them up the corridor, and I don't know about having White and Neitz with Miller close to goal, then smaller forwards around half forward. Do we move Neitz to CHF while White plays goalsquare? Miller was OK, but lead out wide.

I dont like the up the middle forward set up much either. All it does is force the forwards to lead sideways and to the flanks instead of at the player and clogs up the corridor. I know in theory the first or middle 2 forwards in the setup are supposed to lead the defenders to the flanks freeing up the corridor for the full forward to lead into and that looks good when it works but very indirect when it doesnt. When the ball comes in quickly the corridor is just too congested and the forwards are robbed of space to work with in front of them and as a result we have Cameron Mooney taking 16 marks.

I think our best set up is Nietz in the goal square with Vardy beside him. Miller playing the classical CHF role and leading up the ground deep. Holland being the marking target behind Miller and sometimes besides Nietz, playing a closer to goal CHF role (John Barker 2001 style), and Davey crumbing in and around him. Green and Robbo playing the exact roles theyre playing now.

White is not a forward and should only be used there if we're desperate.

 

[StingaArmstrong]

Some very good points made here, I thought Greens game was excellent and also Davey's defensive pressure was brilliant. I think thats the sort of game he'll play, probably wont get more than 10 possies but if chases hard and kicks a couple of goals then thats all i could ask from him.
Jollys physicality was very good but he needs to do a lot more around the ground.
Why not just have Neitz in the goalsquare and everyone else on the fifty, with davey and vard running back to get the crumbs off him.

 

[BT]

Originally posted by Broadbridge_20
I dont like the up the middle forward set up much either. All it does is force the forwards to lead sideways and to the flanks instead of at the player and clogs up the corridor. I know in theory the first or middle 2 forwards in the setup are supposed to lead the defenders to the flanks freeing up the corridor for the full forward to lead into and that looks good when it works but very indirect when it doesnt. When the ball comes in quickly the corridor is just too congested and the forwards are robbed of space to work with in front of them and as a result we have Cameron Mooney taking 16 marks.

I think our best set up is Nietz in the goal square with Vardy beside him. Miller playing the classical CHF role and leading up the ground deep. Holland being the marking target behind Miller and sometimes besides Nietz, playing a closer to goal CHF role (John Barker 2001 style), and Davey crumbing in and around him. Green and Robbo playing the exact roles theyre playing now.

White is not a forward and should only be used there if we're desperate.

That "Indian File" forward line we used only works if the delivery is pinpoint & certainly doesn't work when we are bombing it in! We were so slow & indecisive about getting it in there too often.

It worked in the 3rd term because we got it in quick (Thank you Mr.Thompson!) but our conversion was shocking. Too often we had midfielders running into the little space we had. Selfish act by those players, it all comes down to discipline lads.

 

[BT]

Originally posted by StingaArmstrong

Why not just have Neitz in the goalsquare and everyone else on the fifty, with davey and vard running back to get the crumbs off him.

Sounds ok, but I've rarely seen it work for a whole game.

 

[Broadbridge_20]

Originally posted by BT
That "Indian File" forward line we used only works if the delivery is pinpoint & certainly doesn't work when we are bombing it in! We were so slow & indecisive about getting it in there too often.

It worked in the 3rd term because we got it in quick (Thank you Mr.Thompson!) but our conversion was shocking. Too often we had midfielders running into the little space we had. Selfish act by those players, it all comes down to discipline lads.

I don't like it. It's the type of set up that will work against the weaker sides when were controlling the midfield and flop under pressure against the top sides when the delivery might not be as sharp. I'd rather have a set up in place prepared for the pinpoint pass AND the long bomb and one thats not so easy to defend against.

 

[BT]

Originally posted by Broadbridge_20
I'd rather have a set up in place prepared for the pinpoint pass AND the long bomb and one thats not so easy to defend against.

Sounds good mate, how are we gonna set it up?

I reckon we need a CHF that stays at CHF, Miller is the favourite but I'm not discounting Nick Smith. Neeta has the square to himself I reckon with Vardy not to far away. Let Robbo roam around & have Davey running the flanks. In an ideal situation Davey & Vardy could both get the crumbs from Neeta, but Davey will still rove Miller/Smith at half forward.

It should generate some space & keep the flankers moving around.

 

[The Shev]

Definately is one thing we need to work on. We've got the resources, just not the right system. If we can fix the forward line structure, I reckon we would be a 4 goal better side.