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

SonofSamsquanch

Enjoy decent coffee but don't dunk yer biscuits
Mar 31, 2016
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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
Ahh. So the Saintly theory is looking better.

Nobody meh IUB
 

Krakoueraddict

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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.

It exposed some as not being able to be the go guys of a team, but when you have your go to guys in there they open it up for the other blokes. Not to say there isn't some deadwood in our squad, but these blokes won't all be getting a game together in the season proper (unless we have a shocking run with injuries). 1 bad kick or handball piles the pressure on real quick in today's game and if you're trying to link together 6 players all with average skills it comes unstuck real quick, you take out 4 of those dodgy players and replace them with our best then that chain is going to work out much more often than it did in either of the praccys.
 

Passmore

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It exposed some as not being able to be the go guys of a team, but when you have your go to guys in there they open it up for the other blokes. Not to say there isn't some deadwood in our squad, but these blokes won't all be getting a game together in the season proper (unless we have a shocking run with injuries). 1 bad kick or handball piles the pressure on real quick in today's game and if you're trying to link together 6 players all with average skills it comes unstuck real quick, you take out 4 of those dodgy players and replace them with our best then that chain is going to work out much more often than it did in either of the praccys.

Absolutely agree. We need to be weeding out the weak links and getting more of these high ceiling kids in as soon as possible though.
 

justroyal

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Why the * are so many people picking out at things like we just played round one? If it happens then,sure, the sky is falling. But we're fielding guys with no real spine and it's proven to be a win because we have young kids ready to stand up.
Hosie, Xerri, Bonar, Scott, Crocker all want it.

It just weeds out Dumont, Wood, McDonald, Jmac, Garner type of players who are going to be put under the microscope more and more
 

DunderHead

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Apr 12, 2007
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Yeah, there’s like 14 better guys I think that we could add to Friday’s group. Probably close to our best 14 guys too. That was a pretty average team that got fielded.

We needed to find 10-12 blokes in this Practice game to ensure we have depth and quality across the park.

Turns out we don’t really have much depth. But at our best we do have a decent team.
 
I can think of:

Brown, Larkey, Thomas, Simpkin, Ziebell, Polec, Cunnington, Higgins, Scott, LDU and Goldstein. At their best they are in this side.

Mahoney, MacDonald, WWalker and Hayden have all shown enough to be potential 15 to 26 players this year. Three have had serious injury issues that they are over or soon to be over so should push for spots. The other one is a draftee that seems to be worth a shot.

Turner, Jacobs and Vickers-Willis could all play if they aren't injured.

That's potentially 18 players not playing in that game who could push for selection in the team if they weren't in the best 22.

In that side Anderson played a half at most and was pretty good for most of that. Dumont played most of the game but seemed to be missing a bit when we were in trouble, ie not in the midfield at all as opposed to being on field but doing sweet fa.

Taz, Pittard, JWalker, maybe Zurhaar, Maybe Maj depending how his touch is are the only others who be locks.

Maybe 7 players.

Leaves a lot of competition between JMac, Ats, Garner, Wood, Hosie, Taylor, Hall, Ahern and Bonar for not many spots.
 
Last edited:
Oct 9, 2003
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I can think of:

Brown, Larkey, Thomas, Simpkin, Ziebell, Polec, Cunnington, Higgins, Scott, LDU and Goldstein. At their best they are in this side.

Mahoney, MacDonald, WWalker and Hayden have all shown enough to be potential 15 to 26 players this year. Three have had serious injury issues that they are over or soon to be over so should push for spots. The other one is a draftee that seems to be worth a shot.
He's played all of 1 full quarter.
 

The Anvil

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Oct 5, 2004
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We couldn't get the ball out of the back half for very long periods. Obviously in this day and age all 6 forwards push right up the ground to the back flank and wings to try get it out.

As has been the case for years now, we usually play 5 forwards at 6"2+ and 1 small, and as has also been the case for years, that combination gets beaten at ground level around our half back and the wings as we try get the ball out. So poor exits out of D-50 accounts for some of why the ball went straight back but so does our lack of competitiveness at ground level.

Suspect this is the reason the club value Turner so much, his only job is to make up for the deficiencies of getting beaten at ground level with being too tall up forward.
 

Pykie

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Is that really true? We could have had Pickett with our first pick but we traded it to Melbourne. In the end, we don't value them so we don't pick them.

We’ve obviously got irons in the fire for this year.

We judge the last 2 years at the completion of this years trade/draft.
 

Steele7

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We’ve obviously got irons in the fire for this year.

We judge the last 2 years at the completion of this years trade/draft.

Thought Sam Flanders would of been a good get at North’s 1st pick. If the 2020 draft is good. Wouldn’t be opposed to trading 2021 pick 1st for anther 2020 1st pick. Reckon there will be a big list turn over this year.
 
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We’ve obviously got irons in the fire for this year.

We judge the last 2 years at the completion of this years trade/draft.

Agree with you there; the instructions to the recruiting staff this year seem to have been to load up for next year to give Brady Rawlings something to work with, and then you can do what you like with what's left in the 2019 draft. But it still doesn't explain to me how we can overlook an All Australian small forward (Elijah Taylor), who clearly fills a need, in favour of a boy (Perez) who hasn't played for two years. Hopefully Flynn brains it, but as an objective management decision, it borders on inexplicable
 

Passmore

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Agree with you there; the instructions to the recruiting staff this year seem to have been to load up for next year to give Brady Rawlings something to work with, and then you can do what you like with what's left in the 2019 draft. But it still doesn't explain to me how we can overlook an All Australian small forward (Elijah Taylor), who clearly fills a need, in favour of a boy (Perez) who hasn't played for two years. Hopefully Flynn brains it, but as an objective management decision, it borders on inexplicable
I thought Perez missed 1 season not 2.

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GarnerSmash

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I thought Perez missed 1 season not 2.

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fair enough, I think he got hurt in a camp over the summer of 18-19? still doesn't explain to me with so little to go on, we would go that way over others like Taylor with demonstrated current form. It goes to some of the other comments about our drafting, which has been based on what seems like 'hunches' - McKay, Neilson, Will Walker, Josh Williams, Declan Watson etc
 
Suspect this is the reason the club value Turner so much, his only job is to make up for the deficiencies of getting beaten at ground level with being too tall up forward.

Pretty much. Whether people think he's the way forward long term is a side matter really. Every year I hear people lamenting that he doesn't kick enough goals and it seems completely unfair given his role. Would we like it - yeah, absolutely. But is it reasonable to expect a mid skilled player that isn't lightning quick and has a lockdown role covering for others? Probably not.

I hope they're taking a good look at Hosie and Taylor amongst others though. I'd personally prefer a couple of attacking and smart defensively minded players than 1 offensively limited bloke doing all the heavy lifting. FWIW it's also part of the reason JZ forward was so useful at times - he provides serious ground level threat at times, slower, but lethal.
 

Passmore

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fair enough, I think he got hurt in a camp over the summer of 18-19? still doesn't explain to me with so little to go on, we would go that way over others like Taylor with demonstrated current form. It goes to some of the other comments about our drafting, which has been based on what seems like 'hunches' - McKay, Neilson, Will Walker, Josh Williams, Declan Watson etc
Not sure how you can be critical of the drafting of Walker. He was looking good until injured. McKay was always in draft calculations.

Let's see how Perez goes before we write it off as a mistake.

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remfan101

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Oct 23, 2015
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Agree with you there; the instructions to the recruiting staff this year seem to have been to load up for next year to give Brady Rawlings something to work with, and then you can do what you like with what's left in the 2019 draft. But it still doesn't explain to me how we can overlook an All Australian small forward (Elijah Taylor), who clearly fills a need, in favour of a boy (Perez) who hasn't played for two years. Hopefully Flynn brains it, but as an objective management decision, it borders on inexplicable
Elijah Taylor isn’t a small forward, he’s like 189cm or something. Basically the exact same player as Curtis Taylor, Hosie, Thomas (the forward) and Garner, ie not what we need.
 

Nutjob

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fair enough, I think he got hurt in a camp over the summer of 18-19? still doesn't explain to me with so little to go on, we would go that way over others like Taylor with demonstrated current form. It goes to some of the other comments about our drafting, which has been based on what seems like 'hunches' - McKay, Neilson, Will Walker, Josh Williams, Declan Watson etc

It’s pretty ridiculous to criticise picking Perez over Taylor when neither have set foot on the field. I don’t even think Perez has set foot on the training track. It’s impossible to judge this early and an assessment really can’t be made for at least 2-3 years.
Same goes for the Walker/Kelly comparison. It’s pretty easy in hindsight to say we should have done this or that. Every club repeatedly passed on Kelly year after year. It’s far too early to pass judgement anyway, especially with Walker being out injured for so long after a promising start.
We clearly have some dead weight to phase out in the next couple of years. It was never going to happen over one off season. I actually think our drafting since the Simpkin draft has been very good and we have picked some gems late also.
I also think Shaw wanted to keep the majority of the list together and judge the players under his watch, not Scott’s. It’s clearly make or break for a lot of players particularly in that 21-24 age bracket.


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