VFL VFL v Essendon - Sunday April 23rd @ Vic Park. 12pm.

[Jen2310]

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Seems a reach to say Harrison “stepped up” with 12 possessions. 3 possessions a quarter on average… I wish my employer was that effusive in praise of my efforts!

 

[sr36]

We are in dire need of more talent to develop in the 2s to eventually come through looks decidedly bare down there.

I'm more confident than you. Players are lasting longer. Allan and Ryan look good and Harrison and Reef are really good athletes who flash in and out, but when they flash in they do AFL things. Murley too, but he's so small.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Macrae and Ruscoe are basically AFL standard now, just a matter of how they can cement themselves.

Allan and Ryan appear to just be a matter of time.

Reef is probably good enough but I think needs a role change first. Similarly Carmichael is not suited to playing inside mid due to his dislike of handballing, so needs an opening as a wing or half-forward at AFL level unless he adds strings to his bow.

Draper, Harrison and Murley have tools but are quite a way from AFL selection due to only having short periods of influence at VFL level.

Steene is a long term project.

Begg doesn’t have a position and probably needs to be a key back.

Kelly is just barely holding on and will only find it harder if Begg and/or Reef are switched back.

 

[swoop42]

Was Reef given any midfield minutes yesterday?

Doesn't seem to be getting much development in any role other than forward at present in the VFL and while I understand that structurally he might well be needed forward given the injuries to our taller options he was also drafted as that mid/half forward option wasn't he?

Do the coaches believe he doesn't have the necessary tools and/or possess the aerobic capacity to be AFL relevant in a midfield position?

 

[live fast pieyoung]

Macrae and Ruscoe are basically AFL standard now, just a matter of how they can cement themselves.

Allan and Ryan appear to just be a matter of time.

Reef is probably good enough but I think needs a role change first. Similarly Carmichael is not suited to playing inside mid due to his dislike of handballing, so needs an opening as a wing or half-forward at AFL level unless he adds strings to his bow.

Draper, Harrison and Murley have tools but are quite a way from AFL selection due to only having short periods of influence at VFL level.

Steene is a long term project.

Begg doesn’t have a position and probably needs to be a key back.

Kelly is just barely holding on and will only find it harder if Begg and/or Reef are switched back.

Agree with all of this!
I think reef has very clean hands and he runs and handballs through traffic well. I think he really suits our gameplan as a mid, tank permitting

 

[Kirby]

Was Reef given any midfield minutes yesterday?

Doesn't seem to be getting much development in any role other than forward at present in the VFL and while I understand that structurally he might well be needed forward given the injuries to our taller options he was also drafted as that mid/half forward option wasn't he?

Do the coaches believe he doesn't have the necessary tools and/or possess the aerobic capacity to be AFL relevant in a midfield position?

I can't remember him being at any centre bounces but he was up the ground a couple of times, but that may have been because he was being defensive on his man.

In other words, if he played any midfield minutes it was bugger all.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I forgot to mention Wilson and Bianco. Which says quite a bit I suppose.

I think Wilson has the Derek Hine versatility stamp, but doesn’t have pace, or a lot of strengths in any one area, and is undersized for a KP post.

Bianco is also slower, and doesn’t play tall enough to really defend. He is a good player but not ideally suited to the way McRae wants us to play; i.e. he has the footskills but not the speed.

In fact Wilson probably fits that mould too; excellent ball user but too slow and not big/strong enough, hence they are depth options who’ve been overlooked for the likes of Markov in the search for run and carry.

 

[sr36]

I can't remember him being at any centre bounces but he was up the ground a couple of times, but that may have been because he was being defensive on his man.

In other words, if he played any midfield minutes it was bugger all.

He spent the best part of a half in the midfield last week and didn't touch the footy. He's good depth for Elliott, but that's about it at the moment.

 

[ipswichpies]

Had an interrupted preseason. Happy to see how he develops through the season.

HH has had a few problems with his hamstrings and sometimes they can play on your mind a little,I think last season early many thought he would debut early because he was impressive pre season and has some nice size on him.

 

[No SPIN]

Needs to be more involved more often, same with Murley. Both go cold for too long in the game.

tbh we haven’t got a lot to write home about down there going to be interesting when our plus 30s retire.

Seriously?
Have you taken into account our injury list?
Most would say with a full list the competition for spots will be intense- that suggests we have excellent depth.

 

[Mollythedolly]

Seems a reach to say Harrison “stepped up” with 12 possessions. 3 possessions a quarter on average… I wish my employer was that effusive in praise of my efforts!

Playing as a small forward with an opposition consistently marking everything going in to F50 isn’t an easy gig. Needed the talls to at least bring the footy to ground.

 

[No SPIN]

HH is bigger than Murley, but even coop has added on some size over the summer. But HH is a big boy. He's the one the club is quite bullish on. Both have some weapons. Both with pace. Also still young, especially HH who just turned 19 a few months ago even though he was taken a year before Nick, but Nick is older haha funny that

People keep forgetting HH was doing so well he was an emergency after only a few AFL games.
He’s going to be fine given his pace and good size for a mid.

 

[ElliottsMaggies]

Playing as a small forward with an opposition consistently marking everything going in to F50 isn’t an easy gig. Needed the talls to at least bring the footy to ground.

And if there were any talls left, they probably would have

 

[Mollythedolly]

And if there were any talls left, they probably would have

There were enough. They were just soundly beaten in the air.

 

[ElliottsMaggies]

People keep forgetting HH was doing so well he was an emergency after only a few AFL games.
He’s going to be fine given his pace and good size for a mid.

They've had to teach him to run differently too haven't they? Due to his constant hamstring issues... I'd imagine that would take some time to get used to as well.

 

[No SPIN]

I'm more confident than you. Players are lasting longer. Allan and Ryan look good and Harrison and Reef are really good athletes who flash in and out, but when they flash in they do AFL things. Murley too, but he's so small.

Murley is the same height as JD.
His bullet pass to hit Reef was sensational.
I think his talent is emerging and am optimistic compared to most particularly because he seems to make good decisions.

 

[Jen2310]

People keep forgetting HH was doing so well he was an emergency after only a few AFL games.
He’s going to be fine given his pace and good size for a mid.

Yeah he would have debuted when reef did last year but then he got Covid then when he got his fitness back (set him back 6 weeks) he did his hammy


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[buzzbuzz]

I have to say, I think our best use of Reef is as trade capital. He's nowhere near as talented as someone like Ollie Henry, but he has potential - or appears to. We don't need medium forwards, we need talls.

 

[sr36]

I have to say, I think our best use of Reef is as trade capital. He's nowhere near as talented as someone like Ollie Henry, but he has potential - or appears to. We don't need medium forwards, we need talls.

He was pick 25 and in his third year still playing ressies. Not getting much for him in trade.

 

[TheVillageIdiot7]

Question for those who saw the game.

Was Carmichael playing the JDG offensive mid game?
Looks from the highlights that a lot of his ball on transition was similar to how JDG is used?

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Was Reef given any midfield minutes yesterday?

Doesn't seem to be getting much development in any role other than forward at present in the VFL and while I understand that structurally he might well be needed forward given the injuries to our taller options he was also drafted as that mid/half forward option wasn't he?

Do the coaches believe he doesn't have the necessary tools and/or possess the aerobic capacity to be AFL relevant in a midfield position?

Seemed to play the whole game well forward of centre. I thought he got some midfield minutes the week before. Didn't do a lot with them.

 

[RobJD]

Was Reef given any midfield minutes yesterday?

Doesn't seem to be getting much development in any role other than forward at present in the VFL and while I understand that structurally he might well be needed forward given the injuries to our taller options he was also drafted as that mid/half forward option wasn't he?

Do the coaches believe he doesn't have the necessary tools and/or possess the aerobic capacity to be AFL relevant in a midfield position?

Reef doesn't play tall, he'll be better once we get a bit of run through the centre and start winning some centre clearances. TradeDraft - do you know anything about Tomasiello? Thought I heard the commentator's say that he had his first game in the seniors in the Yarra Valley league last week, kicked 4 goals in a close game and the next week he's in our VFL side - thought he looked great and showed a lot of class.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Playing as a small forward with an opposition consistently marking everything going in to F50 isn’t an easy gig. Needed the talls to at least bring the footy to ground.

No doubt. Still fluff from the club media department, which ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Jen2310]

Reef doesn't play tall, he'll be better once we get a bit of run through the centre and start winning some centre clearances. TradeDraft - do you know anything about Tomasiello? Thought I heard the commentator's say that he had his first game in the seniors in the Yarra Valley league last week, kicked 4 goals in a close game and the next week he's in our VFL side - thought he looked great and showed a lot of class.

I thought he looked good in his first game also.

He came 6th in the yo-yo test last year in the nab league testing. Ahead of sheezel, weddle, hollands. So has some good endurance.
Just turned 19 in feb.