Game Day Practice Match | North Melbourne v Melbourne | Feb 28th 1.10pm @Arden St. [Live on nmfc.com.au]

[kaboom kid]

You are absolutely correct , and my initial intention wasn’t to single out Will, but rather, highlight the previous recruitment department’s obsession with speculative picks in recent years.
They appear to get too cute with selections
Guys that didn’t even feature in the plethora of phantom / mock drafts
J Williams , Neilson, Watson etc that we burnt decent draft picks on , who would’ve been available much later if we had that much of a hard on for them
On draft night I’m sure most of us were shocked/ surprised when Will’s name was read out , but of course I hope the kid has a great career and in years is discusssed as a bargain pick up


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Yeah Williams, Neilson and Watson were total busts, that's for sure. Would agree 100% with the previous regimes poor track record. That seems to have improved markedly recently with the likes of Larkey and Zurhaar so hopefully its onwards and upwards from here.

 

[kaboom kid]

They took a punt a struck gold for 2 years. There were clearly question marks as he probably should have gone in the top few on talent alone. Now he’s nicked off home and Geelong are back to square 1 with not much to show for it.

They got two first rounders (one this year and WCE's 2020 first) plus 24 and 37 this year. That's a pretty good haul for mine. For sure, a lot depends on how those players pan out but its still turning pick 23 into 4 picks for one player including 2 first rounders. Plus they had Tim Kelly for 2 years.

 

[Nutjob]

Where is Snake? Could use him now to sort this place out

Still bailing water out of his mum’s basement. He might have just gone to bunno’s to get a pump.


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[the flying ham]

Personal attacks and ideological stands aside, his footy insight is probably better than most on this board.

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[Elite Master]

Or if we win round 23 by playing all our best 30 year olds, dropping 5 draft spots, all for our “culture”

Worst part about this is that other club supporters and there condescending remarks about how 'brave' we are for finishing 9th-13th and then say something about there admiration for the shinboner spirit but what they are really thinking is mid-table mediocrity for 'poor old North'. Meanwhile they are happy for there team to rank up the early draft picks.

 

[D23D]

Has a distinct whiff of saintly, I thought. I’d be shocked if it isn’t.

Yes it’s Saintly and I also wonder if it’s iub

 

[GunSchwatta]

Yes it’s Saintly and I also wonder if it’s iub

Now please.

IUB.......i actually have no idea what that means. Is it sexual?

 

[D23D]

Now please.

IUB.......i actually have no idea what that means. Is it sexual?

Just a big drinking dude who used to post here a long time ago.
anyway, how’s the R1 going?
And if I remember correctly, the xr6 turbo?

 

[adas]

Only positiveS for me so far this preseason has been Taylor, and to a lesser extent Xerri.

Everything else has been pus!

We have a softer draw at the start of the season, so if we fail to get our act together, it’s gonna be 2019 all over again. Minus the strong run home.

So more 2018.

 

[kaboom kid]

Whether you're worried that the underwhelming preseason performances will be indicative of our early season premiership season form or not, we are really struggling with our ball movement out of defence. This has been happening every preseason for a number of years. We play sides in JLT, Marsh etc that hammer us with small forwards who pressure up and we can't deal with it.

You'd think that we'd be practising this all summer. But the problem is that we can't because we only have 2 small forwards on our list. So in intraclub scratch matches the two backlines don't face anywhere near the same heat they do against other sides.

Then against real opposition they either chip it around conservatively in D50 and go nowhere, try a chain of handballs which comes unstuck or try a risky kick that our half backs can't make. Finally we might kick it down the line where our forwards have pushed up to try take a mark at half back. If they do, we might get it out but usually it spills and our 6"2+ top heavy forwards get killed at ground level. Repeat.

This is spot on. And the worry is that whatever you may think about the merits of their selection, Pittard, McDonald, Williams, and McMillan were all senior players / first 22 last year that are experienced and know the system. So we haven't played the kids in defence. That said, our defence actually functioned pretty well in the 2nd half of the year. Scott Thompson is clearly a major loss. It was great to see Taz back, that helps a lot. It would be great if Maj could get back to his 2018 form but that's far from a given. With our growing midfield depth might be worth considering rotating some of the younger mids through half back eg LDU or Bonar. Might not be the worst thing in the world for their development and gives us a bit more class in a problem area. Shaw clearly has half an eye on changing things up within the backline with the Wood experiment. Will be interesting to see how it pans out in the season proper.

 

[Gasometer]

Yes it’s Saintly and I also wonder if it’s iub

Probably one degree of separation away from IUBs painfulness

 

[Heaps of fun]

Only positiveS for me so far this preseason has been Taylor, and to a lesser extent Xerri.

Everything else has been pus!

We have a softer draw at the start of the season, so if we fail to get our act together, it’s gonna be 2019 all over again. Minus the strong run home.

So more 2018.

There have been more positives than that. Mahoney looks a goer. Comben looks as likely to be an elite AFL footballer as anyone we've seen in their first year. Daw has played a ton of footy which is miraculous. Hosie looks like a ready to go 30 goal a year forward. Bonar might not have been good enough for GWS's midfield but he looks good enough to slot straight into ours. Simpkin, Thomas, Zurhaar, Scott and Larkey all fit to back up their impressive 2019s. Plenty to like going forward.

 

[GunSchwatta]

Bonar is impressive to me.

May not start round 1 but rapt we have him.

 

[GunSchwatta]

Curtis Taylor.

We may have a gem here

 

[GunSchwatta]

Frankly even watching Daw out on the park (after mental health issues) in his ripped condition.

Seriously cool.

He is amazing.

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

Is it Tef?

Maybe it's IUD or whoever (was before my time but his name comes up every now and again for some reason - must have been popular here I spose).

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

There have been more positives than that. Mahoney looks a goer. Comben looks as likely to be an elite AFL footballer as anyone we've seen in their first year. Daw has played a ton of footy which is miraculous. Hosie looks like a ready to go 30 goal a year forward. Bonar might not have been good enough for GWS's midfield but he looks good enough to slot straight into ours. Simpkin, Thomas, Zurhaar, Scott and Larkey all fit to back up their impressive 2019s. Plenty to like going forward.

These are the things to look for from practice matches. Most clubs won't be playing to win at all costs. They would probably also much rather see the players under some real pressure so they can iron out the deficiencies rather than being front runners in a shoot out where nobody learns anything.

The positives H2H called out are good enough for me from a couple of practice matches. Gives the coaches something to work with and grounds the players (I'm betting the contender speeches for media interviews are already torn up by now).

 

[arden station]

"That said, our defence actually functioned pretty well in the 2nd half of the year."


Apart from 2016, they've tended to get better as the year has gone on, as has the side in general.

The big problem has been about the entire team not being able to get the ball out of our defensive half in the earlier part of the season. That includes our forwards who are all up on our back flank and not able to win the ball from the D-50 exit kick down the line. It's not always the backs kicking it to the opposition although that's obviously a problem too and the lack of line breaking ability. Either way, that whole problem just saps the confidence and energy and spills over into other areas.

It's as though our players need a whole lot of real matches against real forward half pressure to get used to it and make it work. Last year we started kicking down the line more from D-50 and got more competitive at the fall. And in the depths of winter, it's harder for sides to keep up the forward half pressure they were able to fresh off preseason.

Why can't we better at it now and for round one? My theory is that our intra club games are full of 189cm plus forward lines playing against big 189cm plus back lines. They're competitive against each other and great practice for our key position guys. But these match ups do little to prepare us for the teams we face who invariably apply a ton of pressure with a host of small forwards and smaller mids in prime fitness.

 

[Gasometer]

Maybe it's IUD or whoever (was before my time but his name comes up every now and again for some reason - must have been popular here I spose).

It’s not IUB

Has none of the characteristics and he was friendly enough with some of us on here that he would have Inboxed to test the waters.

Besides he would have been far more clever witted and had more humility than the mess of posts that derailed the 20’s Thread late this afternoon

 

[ferball]

Tef is Snake?

Yes.

 

[Nate7]

It’s not IUB

Has none of the characteristics and he was friendly enough with some of us on here that he would have Inboxed to test the waters.

Besides he would have been far more clever witted and had more humility than the mess of posts that derailed the 20’s Thread late this afternoon

We both have some "fan mail".

 

[Krakoueraddict]

In both praccy matches we've had good stretches of the games on our terms but weren't able to capitalise through poor disposal coming forward. Then when the other team has got on top we've been stuck deep in defence unable to make our way out because we've chip chip chip for no gain, taken on risky switches/kicks up the middle which haven't worked or bombed down the line which we haven't been able to mark, or even turn into a stoppage. Last half of last year when we went down the line it was either a mark or a stoppage and then reset.

Better skills out of HBF would obviously be ideal, but we were able to beat good teams without them by not letting the play be so exclusively in our back half. I reckon having the attacking half of our spine back in Larkey, Brown, and Goldy will go a long way to helping us stop repeat entries. Then we will have to neaten up heading forward which Higgo, Polec, and to an extent LDU will really help with that. The cattle is there to execute a similar game plan as to the end of last year. We just need it rolling earlier than round 8.

The top 4-6 players in any team obviously have a huge impact not only in terms of direct possesions, but also putting other blokes into advantageous situations. You replace you're top 6 players with your bottom 6 and the whole dynamic of the team is hugely compromised. I'm not worried about where we're at.

 

[krakouers]

Not really. His WAFL form was pretty good (2nd in league B&F I believe the year he got drafted. Surprising that the WA clubs never selected him.

He got drafted before the WCE pick they were intending to use on him, previously there were concerns with his disposal at higher levels

 

[The Nostradamus]

Would love an LDU update

need a full game in him marsh 2

 

[Passmore]

In both praccy matches we've had good stretches of the games on our terms but weren't able to capitalise through poor disposal coming forward. Then when the other team has got on top we've been stuck deep in defence unable to make our way out because we've chip chip chip for no gain, taken on risky switches/kicks up the middle which haven't worked or bombed down the line which we haven't been able to mark, or even turn into a stoppage. Last half of last year when we went down the line it was either a mark or a stoppage and then reset.

Better skills out of HBF would obviously be ideal, but we were able to beat good teams without them by not letting the play be so exclusively in our back half. I reckon having the attacking half of our spine back in Larkey, Brown, and Goldy will go a long way to helping us stop repeat entries. Then we will have to neaten up heading forward which Higgo, Polec, and to an extent LDU will really help with that. The cattle is there to execute a similar game plan as to the end of last year. We just need it rolling earlier than round 8.

The top 4-6 players in any team obviously have a huge impact not only in terms of direct possesions, but also putting other blokes into advantageous situations. You replace you're top 6 players with your bottom 6 and the whole dynamic of the team is hugely compromised. I'm not worried about where we're at.

Absolutely they will help. It also means we’re not expecting A grade output from our role players.

What it has exposed is a bunch of 23-26 year olds who just aren’t up to the mark. That’s where our depth suffers.