Preview 2021 Internal Trial: Crow v Crow, 20/2/21 10.30am ACDT

Who will win this game?


  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .

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Murray2503

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Observations from watching the whole trial
1. Our field kicking and kicking for goal although improved still needs some further work.
2. Really impressed with Newchurch. Much better than I thought he would be.
3. Impressed with Worrell, Berry, Pedlar, Thilthorpe, Rowe.
4. Milera seems like he can get back to his best and looks fit.
5. Really impressed with Schoenberg, McPherson, McAdam.
6. Walker looks like he has dropped some weight and may be able to hold his spot.
7. Disappointed in McAsey. Unsighted. Fogarty was slightly better but didn't have a huge impact.
8. McHenry is not AFL standard. Will be delisted when his contract is up.
9. Butts will likely get a game due to injury but he lacks composure and makes errors.
10. Borlase seems like he has some potential.
11. Hately got plenty of the ball but just needs to be more damaging with it.
 
Aug 9, 2019
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McHenry was good but also starting to feel like his niche role is just straight up replaceable any way you slice it.
Observations from watching the whole trial

8. McHenry is not AFL standard. Will be delisted when his contract is up.



Disagree, elite endurance, elite defensive pressure, efficient ball user with plenty of footy smarts just starting to come into his own now he seems to be over his injuries and having put on size. Worth remembering Neddy hasn't played a lot of footy in more recent times also.
 

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Betts are off

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McHenry wins contests and uses the ball efficiently. When he doesn't win the contest he applies outstanding defensive pressure. He struggled while he didn't have the body shape for his game style but is starting to come online now. I remain optimistic. Hopefully 22 games as a half forward the next couple of years, maybe some time in the midfield after that.
I’m also optimistic about Ned. I’m just also optimistic about a lot of young players who play midfield, wing and small forward on our list. I just worry for him that his lack of tools outside of pressure and endurance make him expendable.

For what it’s worth I hope I’m wrong
 

Betts are off

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Disagree, elite endurance, elite defensive pressure, efficient ball user with plenty of footy smarts just starting to come into his own now he seems to be over his injuries and having put on size. Worth remembering Neddy hasn't played a lot of footy in more recent times also.
Mate I hope you’re right. I just see a throng of players being drafted with more ideal AFL physical traits and who can play pressure forward/mid equally well if not better.

And as much as I like Ned, he needs to be a full step or 2 ahead of those guys to warrant his selection going forward. Right now I put it as a line ball selection between him and as many as 6 guys. And that alone doesn’t bode well for him
 
Aug 21, 2008
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Just watched the replay. I was quite pleased overall and think there were some very encouraging signs. Some sloppy work as you'd expect, but also some excellent passages and individual plays.

Out of the new guys:

I thought they were all super impressive to be honest.

TT looked the talent that SOME of us know he is. Has so many tools for a big man and also a very good football brain. Kruezer hopefully without the injuries.

Pedlar has a touch of Hodge about him without the elite foot. Strong and powerful, moves well in traffic and just has that look about him that he'll be a dominant mid. Tidying up his footskills is probably his biggest thing to work on.

Berry surprised me. Similar to Pedlar really.

Rowe looks ultra classy when he gets the ball.

Borlase steady in the backline. Looks up to the task at this early stage.

Newchurch also surprised a bit. Thought he'd be no where near it but did some nice things.

Notable games from the rest:

Hately looks like he'll be a consistent clearance player. Lacks some polish though from what I've seen. Was a positive start imo.

Laird is going to be a beast again in the midfield.

Milera looked very confident through the midfield and I think his classy ball use and decision making is much needed through the middle.

Sholl is a player we have been in desperate need of for many years. Excellent foot skills on both sides. He looked really sharp and I think he'll kick on from where he left off last year.

Worrell was impressive. Looks an AFL player with his size and composure.

I actually liked McHenry's game. I was pretty down on his chances after what I saw last year, but he now has at least some size to back up his game, which is frantic both with and without the ball. Happy to see him get some more games.

Schoenberg and Jones had similar games. Looked good when they got the ball but fell in and out.

Hamill struggled to get into it.

Fog was good when he got his chances. Wasn't involved heaps though.

McAsey continued to look a few levels below the pace. Looks like he tries too hard and really drops his head when things don't work for him.

Butts looks like an okay prospect and is more ready to play than McAsey.

McPherson had some nice and average moments, but I'm very confident he's going to be a polished AFL player.

ROB had a stinker and Strachan actually looked okay.

Let's hope Walker can bring that during the year. Still has something left in him imo. Probably his last year though.

I think we need to reinvent Sloane's role as he enters his last years. Outside gut runner or something like that. Just has no influence as an inside player anymore.

Overall there were some great signs from the new guys, with Pedlar the standout. He showed A LOT imo. Some skillful passages when the ball gets in the hands of the right players. Looking to the future, our midfield will still lack that elite class. None of the guys brought in have elite footskills, despite how much I like them as players. We need to go hard at this draft for 2 high picks for some elite midfield class. We're building a midfield of hard nuts that will still be working class at the end of the day.
 
May 17, 2009
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I think McHenry is just the type who needs more AFL experience. Looks to be trying to do a bit too much with it at times, but once he starts to get comfortable and gain experience I think he'll become a bit smarter in knowing when he just needs to do the basics and when he can start trying to be more aggressive in his moves.
 

Comeonden

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I thought jones and mchenry played great.

Wish we still had keath.. kpd stocks look slim. Hopefully one of doedee or talia plays round 1.
 

JohnnyD

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I've watched the trial, have to agree with most comments so far, i thought most of the new guys showed some promise...

The one i was most excited about was Worrell, nice to have a good-sized defender/swingman with some attacking flair, something we have lacked of late...he looked comfortable at the level and composed, albeit was just an internal trial...

Liked both Berry and Pedlar cracking in hard against more senior teammates...
 

hey shorty

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LOL - I just think it sounds like nuffy talk. Let's actually get him ready to be a key forward, which he's perfectly built for and we desperately need.
The coaches have spoken about getting miles into him, I think that's why he played there yesterday
 

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Santoz

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Forgot to mention Davis, which was.....an interesting move. Not really sure if it suits him and I did like what he showed up forward before his disappearance last year. Have to wait and see on what they do with him.

I thought Davis was very solid down back. Looked like his natural spot.
 

John Who

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Forgot to mention Davis, which was.....an interesting move. Not really sure if it suits him and I did like what he showed up forward before his disappearance last year. Have to wait and see on what they do with him.
Seems to get involved in a lot of defensive plays and some nice intercept work. I’d rate Davis’ game as excellent and hope he gets some chances this year.

Other observations:
- I have difficulty differentiating between Berry and Pedlar, from the one camera view of the Internal trial. However, what I can conclude is that either or both have excellent potential!

- Jones look a lot more confident, likely with the benefit of added weight. I think he will bounce back this year.

- Milera looks like he’s got some spring back in his legs; some nice plays with him weaving around traffic. Hopefully it was just a simple brain fade with the late scuffle with Kelly.

- Worrell impressed me; it probably also helped he was the most recognisable with the hair! Looked very solid whenever the ball got near him.

- Borlase also impressed; seems to have some nice strength and quite clean with the ball, can see him play some games this year.

- Fog and Tex had solid games; I think they both can fit in the team because they both are excellent kicks not only at goals, but in general field play.

- Liked Frampton’s game; seems like he’s in direct competition with Himmelberg.

- Thilthorpe looked like he doesn’t mind contested marking, and runs well for a big bloke. I really like his versatility, would love to see how he goes with hopefully at least a handful of AFL games.

- Rowe and Newchurch impressed with their goal sense. With Betts gone and Stengle’s future cloudy, would love to see these 2 get some AFL opportunities this year, with Rowe being the more likely.
 
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I was pretty happy with how Ned performed overall. The only issue is he lacks a bit of composure. Im hoping that comes with experience but I get the feeling that its just part of how he plays. He's got a severe case of white line fever. He works his ass off defensively but we need to get him to focus a little more on being damaging with his possesions.
 
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Still think we should have him as a defensive backman although we have plenty of promising young guys who need a run through there too.

Forwards I think we have too many other selections that Sloane doesn't really help with the build.
And thats the problem.. we cant move him into a defensive backman position because we already have very decent looking young prospects filling the position... same with the other end of the ground where some have suggested we make him a forward..

We have him signed to a large contract until the end of 2023!!!...
In the midfield i’d have;

Mcrouch
Laird
Keays
Hately
Shoey
All in the 22 before Sloaney... And just on what we saw yesterday it wont be long before pedler and berry are added to that list.

We get another gun mid or two (like a horne) in this years draft and that list above will get even longer.

Sloane needs to find his 2017 form.. the form before teams worked out how to tag him to death and the form before his 2018 foot injury..

I’m worried that this is a pipedream and its only further downhill for sloane from here. He’s not completely cooked but hes not far off.
 

Santoz

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Without seeing the game, I wonder if you mean he just started the game slow? If that's the case, I feel like that's going to be a problem for O'Brien for most of his career. He doesn't seem capable of jumping at all, after 15-20 minutes most ruckman really slow down and that's when O'Brien comes to the game in terms of hitouts - always has plenty of solid efforts around the ground.

Strachan matched him in the efforts around the ground generally speaking aside from a patch in the second where ROB took a good contested mark and had the better going. ROB also snuck forward off the bench in the 4th for a goal, but when matched up in general play they were both pretty similar in output. Hitout numbers would have been fairly similar & ROB didn't bully Strachan as many might have expected as the knock on Strachany on this board has always been his size.
 

dylan123

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Was Milera mainly playing midfield or off half back and a run through the mids? Or potentially forward if Kelly was on him at a point.
 

Murray2503

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Strachan matched him in the efforts around the ground generally speaking aside from a patch in the second where ROB took a good contested mark and had the better going. ROB also snuck forward off the bench in the 4th for a goal, but when matched up in general play they were both pretty similar in output. Hitout numbers would have been fairly similar & ROB didn't bully Strachan as many might have expected as the knock on Strachany on this board has always been his size.
ROB was going through the motions. He started slowly last year as well.
 

CROW in BALI

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Was good to see a lot more movement at stoppages from the mids. Not doing the old Campo plant your feet and try and hold position and have the ruck tap it down to them.

Also felt like the players are trying to play through and break tackles more. Probably helps in that regard that they all came back in great condition and some of the younger guys especailly have continued to put on some size.
My eyes were always on Schoenberg at stoppages last year also , gathers on the run at speed, reminiscent of a young Craig Bradley. Like the look of our draftees , Haggis has had a very good year.
 
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