Autopsy Rd 23, 2014 - Geelong vs Brisbane Lions

[3KZ is Football]

Yeah it looked interesting but a lot of other pieces of the puzzle were missing,work in progress etc...

This was absolutely the case with our defence tonight. Struggled to clear the defensive 50 too often, kicked it directly to Geelong players and failed to kill the ball too often. Composure will come in time, meanwhile, we just have to persist with players like Gardiner and Clarke.

 

[a mayes ing]

Clarke got monstered. He was okay when they were on the lead but too often he would just get pushed aside. He isn't big enough atm to play on those big power forwards yet. Should get some muscle over the off-season, along with paps.

 

[Dylan12]

Maguire's absence was notable.

 

[Lace Out]

I hope Clarke can fill out,seems pretty wiry though

 

[Hollow Knight]

I hope Clarke can fill out,seems pretty wiry.

I think they prioritised fitness in his first few pre seasons. Reckon they can start working on bulk now. He looks like he has a frame that will fill out. Massive shoulders.

 

[Big Lion]

I think Leuenberger can be our pure ruck (Dean Cox type) and Martin can be that roaming agile type (Natinui) which looks to be the ideal setup.

You may be right but i can see it working better the other way around, Martin the main man in the ruck and Leuy roaming the forward line.

 

[Big Lion]

Maguire's absence was notable.

Big time, they just seem far more composed when he is in the side.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Clarke certainly got monstered by Hawkins. Clarke just lacked that upper body strength to go with Hawkins. Didn't help that we got belted in the midfield. I think we might need to recruit a big fullback through the drafts.

 

[western royboy]

ZoB.

30 touches.

The only problem with that is if you fumble it ten and butcher it ten, you're not left with much. Not convinced.

 

[Bucking Beads]

The only problem with that is if you fumble it ten and butcher it ten, you're not left with much. Not convinced.

Yep. He fumbled it far too much. It was like watching Banfield at times.

 

[Skoob]

The only problem with that is if you fumble it ten and butcher it ten, you're not left with much. Not convinced.

Hopefully you're left something to work with. Not sure that he is that fumbley at reserves, so it might have been a combo of pressure and nerves that he can overcome. Having said that, he's no kid, like the other boys, so I hope that is all it was.

 

[western royboy]

Jackson Paine - need I say anymore? Clarke battled manfully, Hawkins monsters most people but he never gave up. Folks need to remember the cattery is a very skinny ground and space is at a premium, Geelong play it well obviously and it would have been a huge learning curve for our blokes. Given the mercy sitting we had out, it was a good game from our very inexperienced crew.

A few observations, from watching live with no contamination from commentary;

Geelong are a classy off field outfit at the conclusion there were interviews with Chis Scott and Selwood launched the 2015 Membership drive imploring the adoring masses to jump on board for 2015.
Geelong supporters are rivalling the Pies for Nuffies.
Lewy Taylor had at least 30 of his own personal supporters in attendance, amazingly we were seated virtually next to each other - bring on The Rising Star.
Not convinced about ZOB, he needs to spend considerable time with Cosmo Kramer in the off season - he lacks poise at the highest level - but at least he's getting it.
Massive appreciation for last years draftees and what they are providing in terms of enjoyment and hope. Aish has so many traits of his uncle it is not funny.

Never has a ten goal defeat at the Cattery had so much of a silver lining.

 

[POBT]

I thought ZOB had a good first quarter or so and then he lost a bit of that cleanness. To me, he still looks like a very good state league footballer with his capacity to find the footy but a bit of a one trick pony at senior level. Not sure where he fits in to a side with Rocky and Redden.

The one area where I was pleasantly surprised was some of his creative hand balling. A couple of times, he gave off a lovely weighted handball that opened play right up. Perhaps that might be his point of difference, aside from the scrappy hands and knees footy that he is obviously good at.

 

[POBT]

Clarke needs to develop some lower body strength, more than anything else. Against the big guys, he always looks off balance.

Still, is playing on the comp's best forwards at a very young age.

 

[western royboy]

I thought ZOB had a good first quarter or so and then he lost a bit of that cleanness. To me, he still looks like a very good state league footballer with his capacity to find the footy but a bit of a one trick pony at senior level. Not sure where he fits in to a side with Rocky and Redden.

The one area where I was pleasantly surprised was some of his creative hand balling. A couple of times, he gave off a lovely weighted handball that opened play right up. Perhaps that might be his point of difference, aside from the scrappy hands and knees footy that he is obviously good at.

Yep good assessment, agree with the vision, thought the kicking lacked a bit of penetration, as for Paine - pull the trigger now, at this stage it could be the worst trade in afl history - both ways.

 

[dlanod]

Maybe Krakouer and Marley Williams can attend on Maguire's behalf.

Swan, Shaw, Shaw and Didak too?

 

[POBT]

The last couple of weeks shows up one major area of weakness of our young guys - tackling. Opposition players are able to stand in tackles and give off handballs way too easily. We also have way too many arms tackles.

Obviously, there are some notable exceptions - Rocky and Reddo would be two, but we are not a good tackling side in terms of strength, technique and effectiveness. Big summer of tackling practice and strength work awaits for guys like Taylor, Aish, Mayes etc.

 

[chopperduck]

I think ZOB just needs to get some strength. He is smart, he goes in hard and fights and scraps well and can find the footy, even at this level. But I feel as if he isnt strong enough. He gets inside and wins the ball, but he then often cant get a clean disposal off. Handballs are often effected by the tackler and he just cant shrug them off for a second to dispose of it. Needs to bulk up so he can hold his ground and get rid of it better.

I like him as a prospect, he just gets how footy works and isnt scared to get dirty. Coming from bush league this doesnt surprise me, but he needs a year or 2 in a professional team to get his body in right condition.

 

[chopperduck]

I think Leppa wants some changes with our conditioning of players and I expect some changes in our fitness staff. His style of play requires winning hard ball and our boys will need to bulk up to do that. They are young so I think it will come, but I think new conditioning guys bulking our boys up is likely.

We have looked like one of the smaller teams for awhile, even with our experienced players compared to other teams. Whilst running fitness is still important in the modern game, the game is more congested so I think players need to have the strength to win the ball and clear it in those conditions. Interchange cap has made elite endurance less important I think and we havent adjusted to this yet.

You look at the Tigers players and they are much more bulky, even most of the young guys.

 

[Viceregal]

Interchange cap has made elite endurance less important I think and we haven't adjusted to this yet.

I was under the impression that individual endurance was *more* important if you didn't have as many interchanges to play with - I suspect I am not understanding where you are coming from....

 

[Skoob]

I think Leppa wants some changes with our conditioning of players and I expect some changes in our fitness staff. His style of play requires winning hard ball and our boys will need to bulk up to do that. They are young so I think it will come, but I think new conditioning guys bulking our boys up is likely.

We have looked like one of the smaller teams for awhile, even with our experienced players compared to other teams. Whilst running fitness is still important in the modern game, the game is more congested so I think players need to have the strength to win the ball and clear it in those conditions. Interchange cap has made elite endurance less important I think and we havent adjusted to this yet.

You look at the Tigers players and they are much more bulky, even most of the young guys.

Was evident again last night. Looking at the size (I'm talking muscle) of even some first year players at other clubs always has me gobsmacked. Our boys look like the nerds of the AFL in comparison. Maybe there has been a concentration on trying to create athletes, but there hasn't been much going on in the weights department.

 

[possum8]

Not only do they have to work on bulking up our players they need to work on training the players fast twitch fibres. Some of our players naturally have explosive pace but some of our players could be quicker off the mark/more agile if it was trained. Unfortunately from what i have heard it isn't trained under Burton/Hass. Personally hoping Burton is given the flick and we get someone that can get the balance right.

On Zob i think he has the potential to become a good player, he has the whole finding the ball thing going for him just needs to clean up his disposal and reduce his fumbling (Which i don't remember being that bad last time i saw him play). He has only played 4 senior games (a few as sub) but because he is a little older we don't give him the adjustment period of any other first year player. You got to also remember our midfield was completely depleted, Zob was pretty much playing rocky's position against against 100+ mature bodied players.

Clarke got monstered by pure bulk last night but the he might never fill out much due to genetics. However he can definitely get alot stronger then he is now. He reminds me a bit of Dustin fletcher. We should however probably be looking to draft another defender in the draft. The good thing is we have plenty of players to work with now, recruit a couple more kpp players and we will be looking good.

Next year is looking rather promising with the return of key personal, a preseason under leppa and the gameplan becoming second nature for the players. Leppa is really intelligent and if something isn't working he will change things up, you could actually see the progression with the gameplan as the year went on. He is from all reports a great communicator too, he lets players know what they need to do to improve without being negative. He has the playing group and we have the talent, we just need time. For the the first time in many years i feel confident we are going places.

 

[whatboutbob]

...as for Paine - pull the trigger now, at this stage it could be the worst trade in afl history - both ways.

I think he's unlikely to make the grade , but I'd be happy to see another year from him.

- the already long list of delistings this year.

- He's coming off a very low fitness base, after injury last year and bugger-all pre-season this year.

- he played in a very unfamiliar forward line last night.

- Still reckon he showed a bit in pre-season last year at the Pies.

All moot points anyway, given that he's contracted for next year.

 

[Lionheart182]

All very easy for me to say sitting from my couch, but I reckon that was one of the worst games I have seen from Beams. Refused to crack in or tackle whatsoever. Got over the back for a couple of cheap goals but really if we were playing next week I would drop him based on that.

Bourke I thought struggled with the pace and looked a bit overawed however he had a real crack at it. Something to work with there but not quite ready yet IMO.

Taylor was one of our best, Leuey looked good at ground level and in the ruck and Martin racked it up but seemed largely ineffective with his disposal. Also ZOB is on some serious angry pills!

 

[Fatcat08]

Thin Zob comes out of that game with a fair few things to work on this offseason. Tend to think his hands problem was largely due to trying to accelerate everything he did that bit too much to keep up with the pace. Only takes a fraction of a second going up early to lose your grip on the ball. Part of that is he needs to adjust to being able to dispose of the handball while lower. Tend to think he tries to get upright bit too often before firing the handball. He tends to try to run through guys a bit too often but once again that's an adjustment to the higher level. Still he needs to be able to make those adjustments quickly as I tend to think he'll continue to be largely a fringe/depth player